Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
2531 results(46 / 102)
Local food communities: exploring health-related adaptivity and self-management practices
2021Ilona Liliána Birtalan, Ágnes Neulinger, György Bárdos, Adrien Rigó, József Rácz, Szilvia Boros · British Food Journal · Global
This study qualitatively examined the influence of local food communities, specifically Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) participation, on health-related adaptivity and self-management practices. Based on semi-structured interviews with 35 participants, the findings suggest that local food communities can influence health in themes such as awareness of product origins, enhanced food-management capability, expanding applicability and usability of the food environment, and strengthening one's food-related self-image.
CSA & TeikeiHealthCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceBuilding a food-resilient city through urban agriculture: The case of Ilorin, Nigeria
2021Akeem Ola · Town and Regional Planning · Nigeria (Ilorin)
This study examined the effects of urban planning practices on urban agriculture (UA) in Ilorin, Nigeria, and its contribution to the city's food shock resilience. Findings revealed that UA contributed 16.9% to meat/fish/egg requirements, 4.5% to yam/cassava/potato, 0.58% to vegetables, 0.6% to fruits, and 0.5% to grain requirements. However, the Respondents’ Agreement Index (RAI) indicated that poor access to finance (0.93), limited land area (0.75), and lack of tenure security (0.44) were dominant variables influencing UA's poor contribution to food security.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunityFACTORS AFFECTING URBAN AGRICULTURE DEVELOPMENT IN THAI NGUYEN PROVINCE, VIET NAM
2021Vu Bach Điep, Dinh Hong Linh, Bui Thi Minh Hang · International Journal of Legal Studies ( IJOLS ) · Viet Nam
Thai Nguyen province in Vietnam is experiencing agricultural land reduction due to rapid urbanization. This article analyzed five groups of factors affecting urban agricultural development in Thai Nguyen province during 2015-2018: Socio-economic; Natural conditions and infrastructure; Policy factors; Planning factors; and Links and integration. Descriptive statistical methods were used to analyze and synthesize secondary and primary data sources.
PolicyEconomicsClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceRefugee Community Gardens and the Politics of Self-Help
2021Cecilia M. Tsu · Amerasia Journal · United States
This article examines community gardens established for refugees from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos in the United States during the 1980s. It argues that refugee gardeners perceived a significant disconnect between their rural lives in Southeast Asia and the role of vegetable growing in the U.S., despite advocates emphasizing continuity with their past. The gardens provided a measure of economic empowerment, but highlighted the disjuncture in their resettlement experience.
Equity & displacementCommunityWelfareEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban and Peri-Urban Agriculture
2021Prem Nath · · Global
This paper discusses the challenges of urbanization and population growth and the potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) to address food demand, poverty, and unemployment. Various international conferences and initiatives have highlighted the importance of UPA and horticultural crops. However, it has been realized that very few countries have actually investigated the real opportunities and constraints linked to the urban agriculture sector.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justicePolicyPerspectivas de la agricultura urbana y periurbana para la seguridad alimentaria en Colombia
2021Sandra Patricia Montenegro Gómez, Yulian Adalberto Sepúlveda Casadiego · Universidad Nacional Abierta y a Distancia eBooks · Colombia
This paper contextualizes relevant experiences and technical tools for implementing urban and peri-urban agroecological orchards in Colombia. It notes that urban and peri-urban agriculture can alleviate food insecurity and create jobs, but currently, Colombia lacks government policies to support these processes. The study aims to transfer knowledge on crops to communities to strengthen food security through vegetable production.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justicePolicyEconomicsCommunityAlternativas económicas hacia la construcción de otros mundos posibles
2021Elizabeth Chaparro y Peredo · Encartes · Mexico (Guadalajara)
This study investigates alternative economic practices that emerged in response to structural crises, aiming to satisfy needs outside conventional markets, using Guadalajara, Mexico, as an example. By mapping actors in the city's alternative economies, a network of spaces promoting practices such as alternative markets, consumption cooperatives, community gardens, and bartering clubs was identified. These practices aim to foster community and autonomy, recovering social relations, the environment, and public health.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceIn Search of Maudell Sleet's Garden
2021Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore · Southern cultures · United States
This article examines urban gardening practices by women in the New South during the early 20th century, which provided self-sufficiency and profits. It chronicles how urban planners and zoning eliminated most of these urban gardening opportunities by the late 1930s. The study considers these practices through two collages by artist Romare Bearden, focusing on the gardener Maudell Sleet.
Governance failureCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePolicyUsing Different Substrate Materials (Local and Imported) For Producing Eggplant on Rooftops
2021· Current Science International · Egypt (Giza)
An experiment conducted in a rooftop garden in Giza, Egypt, during the summer seasons of 2019 and 2020 investigated the effect of nine different substrate mixtures on eggplant growth and yield. Sand:rice husks (1:1) v/v (SR1) resulted in the highest plant growth and yield, followed by sand:rice husks (2:1) v/v (SR2). When considering cost-effectiveness, SR2 was the cheapest growing medium, followed by SR1, with initial costs of 10.75 E.P and 13.5 E.P respectively, and average yields of 10.96 kg/m² and 12.68 kg/m².
DIYFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPutting the Garden Back: Cultivating Life through Urban Gardening in India
2021Camille Frazier · Hong Kong University Press eBooks · India (Bengaluru)
This paper examines motivations for organic terrace gardening among middle-class individuals in Bengaluru, India, who grow food for home consumption. Gardeners respond to worsening health and environmental conditions, but class and caste inequalities limit their engagement with a broader community of urban food producers. These inequalities restrict the transformative potential of organic terrace gardening as an intervention, indicating a critical finding regarding equity.
Equity & displacementDIYCommunityHealthFood sovereignty & justiceRooftop Gardening: An Explorative Study in Urban Area of Cochin City
2021Tomcy Thomas, Susan Cherian · Journal of scientific research · India (Cochin City)
This exploratory study investigated rooftop gardening trends in Ernakulam city, India, with a sample of 102 respondents. It found that urban homemakers cultivate various vegetable and ornamental plants, partly driven by the COVID-19 pandemic for self-sufficiency. The study concluded that irrigation techniques and pest management among the sample should be improved.
DIYFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityHealthUrban farmers land injustice: Assessing the impact of land development projects on agriculture in Dar es Salaam City
2021Mkwela Hawa · Journal of Geography and Regional Planning · Tanzania
This study used a qualitative approach to examine land injustices faced by urban farmers in Mbweni-Mpiji, a sub-urban area of Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania. Findings indicated that farmers experience constant pressure from land insecurity, inferior land rights, informal land access, stiff competition from other land users, degrading land quality, and a continuous decrease in agricultural land size. These factors negatively impact the daily livelihoods, including food security, social status, and income, of those entirely dependent on urban farming.
Equity & displacementPolicyEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityMaking locals through local agriculture: citizenship and urban gardens in Rock Island, Illinois, 1913-2018
2021Brian James Leech, Christopher Strunk · Food Culture & Society · United States (Rock Island)
This research explores the historical evolution of urban gardening in Rock Island, Illinois, a post-industrial city, from 1913 to 2018. It finds that while urban agriculture was prominent during 20th-century crises, it has maintained a constant presence, with initiatives like Victory Gardens and community gardens sharing common goals of addressing poverty and food access. However, gardening programs have often failed to acknowledge the underlying causes of food insecurity.
CommunityWelfareFood sovereignty & justicePolicyThe Unwanted Heritage of Prefabricated Wartime Air Raid Shelters—Underground Space Regeneration Feasibility for Urban Agriculture to Enhance Neighbourhood Community Engagement
2021Paweł Matacz, L. Świątek · Sustainability · Poland (Szczecin)
This article addresses the problematic heritage of Nazi German underground air raid shelters in Szczecin, Poland, by exploring their revitalization for urban agriculture. Through inventory and analysis, a modular hydroponic plant-growing system adapted to these prefabricated spaces was proposed. This solution aims to overcome negative associations, strengthen food sovereignty, initiate bottom-up community activity, and build social ties in residential neighborhoods.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceDigital agricultureUrban–rural linkageHorta Comunitária e Quintais Produtivos da Comunidade Coelho Atikum Jurema e os Desafios da Covid-19 / Community Garden and Productive Backyards of the Coelho Atikum Jurema Community and the Challenges of Covid-19
2021Elijalma Augusto Beserra, Vivianni Marques Leite dos Santos, Eva Mônica Sarmento da Silva, Lúcia Marisy Souza Ribeiro de Oliveira, Hesler Piedade Caffé Filho · ID on line REVISTA DE PSICOLOGIA · Brazil
This descriptive, qualitative, and quantitative research, conducted from September to December 2021, investigated how the community garden of the Coelho Atikum Jurema Community in Brazil was affected by Covid-19. The study identified a series of adversities faced by the community in adapting to the market changes resulting from Covid-19 social interaction rules. These rules directly impacted the community's marketing techniques, posing challenges to economic viability.
Economic viabilityCommunityEconomicsHealthFood sovereignty & justiceConvivial Agriculture: Evolving Food and Farming Activism in South China
2021Daren Shi-chi Leung · China Perspectives · China (Guangzhou)
The Chinese community-supported agriculture (CSA) movement advocates for peasant farming and food sovereignty, promoting "ethical" food often through intermediary certification. However, controversy exists among CSA activists who question the effectiveness of certification in improving consumer-producer relationships. This paper presents an alternative approach focusing on strengthening participatory culture within the consumer-producer nexus, based on an empirical study of Chengxianghui (CXH) in Guangzhou and outlining a "convivial agriculture" framework.
Governance failureCSA & TeikeiFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityPolicyCan urban gardens improve food security, health, well-being and financial sustainability of households?
2021Helena Guerreiro, Tânia Fernandes, Madalena Bettencourt da Câmara · Annals of Medicine · Global
This abstract discusses the potential for urban gardens to improve communities by enabling a supply of fresh fruit and vegetables, thereby contributing to food security, health, well-being, and financial sustainability. Increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is associated with health benefits, and urban gardens can contribute to conscious decisions about eating and lessen the health costs of populations.
HealthEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood strategies and restitution of urban agriculture illustrated by the case of selected solutions of metropolitan areas
2021Aleksandra Płonka, Wojciech Sroka · Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology Organization and Management Series · Global
This paper aimed to present the importance of food strategies in creating sustainable development of metropolitan areas and the restitution of agriculture. By reviewing Canadian and French solutions, among others, it indicated the importance of urban agriculture in shaping sustainable development. A descriptive case study was adopted as the qualitative research methodology, using urban plans, literature, and legislative acts as empirical basis. Findings show that only planning and new generation strategic plans of a metropolis that account for urban food systems can balance long-term development objectives and protect natural resources.
PolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceSDG Implementation through Technology? Governing Food-Water-Technology Nexus Challenges in Urban Agriculture
2021Sandra Schwindenhammer, Denise Gonglach · Politics and Governance · Germany
This qualitative and participatory case study in Germany examined the governance implications of an emerging technology in urban agriculture that connects wastewater treatment and agricultural production for urban hydroponics. The analysis found that while this technology has the potential to facilitate SDG implementation, it simultaneously creates new sector interlinkages between water and food, leading to policy demands that necessitate more integrated policymaking.
Governance failureDigital agriculturePolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceMultivariate analysis to support urban horticultural production strategies definition
2021Alline Gomes Lamenha e Silva, Miguel Aloysio Sattler · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Brazil (Feliz)
This article presents a multivariate analysis to identify areas available for urban food production in Feliz/RS, Brazil. The analysis synergistically considered the served population, family income, and continuous available areas. The results can strategically contribute to identifying suitable areas for urban food production, supporting food security policies, green corridor implementation, or environmental education initiatives.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyFood educationCommunityVisions of Ecotopia
2021Meredith Gaglio · · United States
The "Ecotopia" concept, promoting ecologically and socially responsible American Appropriate Technology (AT), included innovative urban planning like rooftop gardens. However, the expansion and contraction of the intranational Ecotopian network built by former Rainmakers in the mid-to-late 1970s revealed a crisis of purpose within RAIN and signaled a crisis within the AT Movement itself.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceAgriculture urbaine et périurbaine dans la ville de Lomé et ses banlieues
2021Wouyo Atakpama, Madjouma KANDA, Fousséni Folega, Denis Talate LAMBONI, Komlan Batawila, Koffi AKPAGANA · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Togo
This study mapped agricultural spaces, characterized participants, practices, and species, and evaluated the socio-economic importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Lomé, Togo. Using Google Earth, field inventories, and surveys of 89 producers, it found that indigenous, married landowners were most involved. Maize (57.7%) and cassava (39.0%) were the most frequently cultivated among 34 identified species.
EconomicsCommunityPeri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceCan urban agriculture be used to improve green infrastructure and social well-being? The urban garden in the Ponticelli neighbourhood of Naples
2021Fabio Amato, Lucia Simonetti · Journal of urban regeneration and renewal · Italy (Naples)
This paper focuses on the social urban garden in the Ponticelli neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Naples, Italy, an area facing significant social and cultural problems including high unemployment and crime rates. The urban garden demonstrates how social cohesion can be built through urban agriculture and contribute to sustainability. However, the initiative risks remaining isolated and providing limited benefit to regional environmental sustainability efforts if not framed within an overall metropolitan strategy.
Limited or null effectCommunityHealthClimate changeFood sovereignty & justicePEMBERDAYAAN MASYARAKAT TERDAMPAK PANDEMI COVID-19 MELALUI PENERAPAN BUDIDAYA HIDROPONIK
2021Ratna Zulfarosda, Vita Fibriyani · JMM - Jurnal Masyarakat Merdeka · Indonesia (Jawa Timur)
This activity aimed to empower the community of Ngemplakrejo Village, Pasuruan, East Java, to practice hydroponic cultivation as a solution for food security during the COVID-19 pandemic. The process involved introducing cultivation techniques, demonstrating hydroponic planting, and community practice. The activity resulted in increased community understanding of plant cultivation and hydroponic techniques, and participants successfully practiced sowing.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareConsumer Citizenship Outside the Consumption Domain: Conceptualizing Motivation from a Self-Determination Perspective
2021Eranjana Kathriarachchi, Dinuka Wijetunga · Sri Lanka Journal of Management Studies · Global
Consumer citizenship has gained attention, with consumers exhibiting citizenship behaviors in non-consumption arenas, beyond choice, purchase, and use. Such behaviors are evident in consumer involvement in organized movements related to organic farming and consumption, like Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS). Guided by Self-Determination Theory and current literature, this paper presents three propositions on how consumers may be motivated to engage in citizenship behaviors outside the domain of consumption, such as volunteering as evaluators in PGS.
CSA & TeikeiFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity