Research & reports

袁新华 · 环境 · Global

Amidst the trend of sustainable development, various environmentally friendly lifestyle attempts have spontaneously emerged worldwide. Examples include neighbors sharing laundry rooms and gardens to reduce resource consumption, exchanging old refrigerators for food or pianos via radio programs, and transforming abandoned land into community gardens. People who enjoy these sharing and collaborative behaviors are called "Pīn Kè".

Rodrigue V.C. Diogo, Andreas Buerkert, Eva Schlecht · Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems · Niger (Niamey)

This 24-month study investigated nutrient efficiency and food safety in urban and peri-urban agriculture in Niamey, Niger. Nutrient inputs and offtakes were quantified for 10 vegetable gardens and 9 millet fields, and contamination of irrigation water and selected vegetables with fecal pathogens and heavy metals was determined. Above-threshold levels of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli were detected in lettuce irrigated with river water and fertilized with animal manure, and in lettuce irrigated with wastewater, indicating food safety concerns.

Bolanle Wahab, M. K. C. Sridhar, Aramide Ayorinde · Urban Agriculture Magazine · Nigeria (Ibadan)

The Sustainable Ibadan Project (SIP), established in 1994 by UNCHS (HABITAT), identified waste management and conversion to organic fertilizer as top priorities for Ibadan. Participants at a 1995 City Consultative Forum jointly identified aerobic composting technology using windrows as a viable method to collect and recycle waste, generate income, and use compost for urban agriculture.

Dionys Forster · DORA Eawag (Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag)) · Vietnam (Hanoi)

This work aims to develop a methodology for determining nutrient flows and budgets in peri-urban agricultural systems in Hanoi, Vietnam. The methodology will assess nutrient status at farm, village, and communal levels, considering the spatial and temporal variability of crop and nutrient management. This is intended to support the recycling and reuse of solid and liquid organic waste in peri-urban agriculture.

P. Kirai, J. Gachugi, Anne Scheinberg · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · Kenya (Nairobi)

The 'Converting City Waste in Compost Project' aims to develop a viable system for collecting, processing, distributing, and marketing organic city waste for urban and peri-urban agriculture in East Africa, particularly Nairobi. Phase one of this project involved an inventory and analysis of organic waste sources, quantifying and characterizing non-domestic organic waste streams in Nairobi City. This study presents the findings of phase one, providing a basis for evaluating the potential to divert Nairobi's organic waste for compost and biogas production.

Crispen Dirwai, P.M. Makonese, N. Mboto · Figshare · Zimbabwe (Harare)

This study investigated how urban poor (Mabvuku-Tafara) and urban rich (Mabelreign, Marlborough, Westgate) communities in Harare, Zimbabwe, addressed the food crisis between 2005 and 2008. Using a mainly qualitative methodology to compare urban agricultural activities, findings showed that the urban poor engaged in seasonal, often inorganic, less paying off-yard farming, exposed to nature's vagaries. In contrast, the urban rich practiced on-plot perennial, often organic, researched (including soil testing) farming with greenhouses, which yielded better returns.

Lorenzo Montero San José, Reinaldo Cun García, Jeny Pérez Petitón, Martha Paula Ricardo Calzadilla, Julián Herrera Puebla · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba (Ciudad de La Habana)

This study, conducted at the "Camilo Cienfuegos" urban farm in San Miguel del Padrón, Havana, Cuba, investigated the effect of wastewater irrigation on sorghum and maize yields for animal feed. Applying a total net dose of 1775.4 m3·ha-1 of wastewater over 31 irrigations significantly increased grain yields to 4.29 t·ha-1 for sorghum and 1.73 t·ha-1 for maize, compared to rainfed conditions.

Martina Předotová, Eva Schlecht, Andreas Buerkert · Nutrient Cycling in Agroecosystems · Niger (Niamey)

An experiment quantified nitrogen and carbon losses from animal manure stored in urban vegetable gardens in Niamey, Niger. During a 3.5-month dry season experiment, cumulative gaseous nitrogen losses were highest (0.11 g kg−1 manure DM) in the uncovered control, decreasing by 72% with plastic sheet roofing and 50% with roofing plus rock phosphate. In a second 3.5-month rainy season experiment, carbon losses from the control were 164 g kg−1 manure DM, reduced to 77% and 65% of the control by roofing and roofing plus rock phosphate, respectively. Leaching losses during the rainy season were only observed for the unroofed control.

Andreas Buerkert, Eva Schlecht, Martina Předotová, Rodrigue V.C. Diogo, Katja Kehlenbeck, Jens Gebauer · eScholarship (California Digital Library) · Sub-Saharan Africa

This study analyzed urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) systems in major Sub-Saharan African cities, measuring carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fluxes and conducting biodiversity studies. In Niamey, low-input gardens showed annual gaseous carbon emissions of 20-25 t ha-1, predominantly CO2, and high-input gardens irrigated with wastewater had annual CO2-C emissions of 27 t ha-1, with N2O as a major nitrogen loss contributor. Animal manure stored in the open was subject to large carbon and nitrogen losses, indicating environmental tradeoffs. However, UPA gardens in Niamey maintained a large variety of fruit and vegetable species, with richness increasing with garden and household size and commercialization.

Ana Puertas, L Hidalgo-Díaz · Revista de Protección Vegetal · Cuba

An experiment in Cuba investigated the effect of different organic fertilizers on the establishment of the biological control agent Pochonia chlamydosporia var. catenulata in the substrate and rhizosphere of tomato plants. High colonization levels of the substrate and tomato roots were observed across all treatments using soil, cattle manure, and worm humus in various proportions. Results indicated a tendency for higher root colonization values in organic fertilizers and proportions that allowed medium or lower substrate colonization. Both organic fertilizers can be used to support the application of P. chlamydosporia var. catenulata in urban agriculture.

Joël Sotamenou · · Cameroon (Yaounde)

This paper identifies determinants of domestic waste recycling and use in three swamp areas of Yaounde, Cameroon, based on data collected from 126 farmers between August and September 2005. Findings indicate that vegetable production, short farm-to-home distance, use of recycled livestock waste, education level, and farm surface positively influence the decision to use domestic waste. Conversely, farmer age has a negative effect.

Delia Nicoleta Vieru · · Global

This text discusses organic waste reduction, noting that over 50% of household waste is organic and often leads to pollution. It explains the importance of managing compost processes for quality compost, emphasizing a 30:1 carbon to nitrogen ratio for efficient decomposition. The text proposes school-based compost production as a method to engage the school community in environmental efforts, promoting resource recirculation, education on compost benefits, waste attitude change, reduction of school canteen waste, student involvement, and the creation of fertile soil for school gardens.

Olufunke Cofie, Adeoluwa Olugbenga, Philip Amoah · Urban Agriculture Magazine · Nigeria; Ghana

This study introduces human urine as an alternative fertilizer source for urban agriculture, presenting case studies from Nigeria and Ghana. It suggests that proper collection and use of human urine can improve urban environmental sanitation and reduce crop production costs. The approach integrates agriculture, environment, and sanitation sectors.

Y. A. Iyaka, SE Kakulu · African Research Review · Nigeria

This study determined the levels of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn) in soil samples collected from cultivated farmlands near abandoned industrial sites in Minna and Bida, Niger State, Nigeria, using flame atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Concentrations ranged from 12-89 mg Cu kg-1 and 2.8-41 mg Zn kg-1 for Minna, and 2.4-6.5 mg Cu kg-1 and 0.57-36 mg Zn kg-1 for Bida. Apparent accumulation of Cu was found in Minna cultivated farmlands, with a mean Cu content of 24 ± 22 ppm, which was almost five times that of the control soils. Other mean values were similar to soil background averages.

Delia Nicoleta Vieru, Narcis Paul Vieru · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global

This descriptive article on composting states that about half of household waste consists of food remains, vegetable, and garden waste, and that over 50% of waste is organic material that ends up in storage sites, cesspools, or is burned, causing significant pollution. As an alternative, it describes transforming organic material through microbial, biochemical, chemical and physical processes into a humus-like material called compost. Producing quality compost requires managing the pile's dimensions, humidity, structure, and composition so decomposition agents (bacteria, fungi, mites, springtails, woodlice, worms, millipedes) have an ideal, nutrient-rich substrate; these agents need nitrogen ("green" elements, from food remains, cut grass, and green leaves) alongside carbon ("brown" elements, from wood chips, dry leaves, and sawdust), maintained at roughly a 30:1 brown-to-green ratio through alternating layers. The article states that producing compost in schools can bring the whole school community together for environmental work, contributing to natural resource recirculation, community education about compost's benefits, a shift in cultural attitudes toward waste, reduced food-remainder volume from school canteens, student involvement in extracurricular activities, and fertile soil for school gardens and planting. The abstract text is truncated at the end, cutting off its description of composting's benefits as a fertilizer.

G. Palaniappan, Christine King · Queensland's institutional digital repository (The University of Queensland) · Australia

A conceptual paper framing local food production systems—termed "alternative farming"—against a backdrop of global environmental changes (retreating sea ice, landscape drying, shifts in seasonal timing and animal migration) and climate-driven increases in energy prices and dependence on fossil fuels, which the authors say have raised interest in localization and sustainability among communities worldwide. It examines systems including organics, natural farming, biodynamics, permaculture, community gardens, and community-supported agriculture (CSA) in terms of how they might contribute to localizing food production and consumption, and discusses the transition from globalized to localized farming and re-localization's ecological and social dimensions. The paper argues that sustainability can be grounded in local ecological, social, economic, and political systems, but the discussion is conceptual rather than based on presented empirical data.

C. T. de T. Machado, A. T. Machado · · Global

This review compiles ecological principles for urban agriculture—crop diversity, organic and mineral-based fertilizers, and non-toxic pest and disease management—and describes international examples such as diversified plots in Austria and the "organoponico" system in Cuba. It surveys Brazilian experiences from pioneering ecological urban agriculture in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, to later programs in Campinas (São Paulo) and Natal (Rio Grande do Norte), as well as initiatives in Rio de Janeiro, the São Paulo municipal urban agriculture program, and Brasília, presenting the rationale, alternatives, and constraints of ecologically based crop management in urban agriculture.

· Wikipedia · United States

This Wikipedia article covers San Francisco's Mandatory Recycling and Composting Ordinance (No. 100-09), passed by the Board of Supervisors in 2009 and described as the first US municipal ordinance to universally require source separation of all organic material. By August 2010 the city reached a 77% waste diversion rate, and composting increased 45% after the ordinance took effect. An earlier 1999 pilot, the 'Fantastic Three' programme, achieved over 90% diversion among participants within seven months. The ordinance polled at 85% support before passing; maximum fines are $100 for single-family homes and $1,000 for large businesses.

Consuelo Montes Rojas, Víctor Felipe Terán Gómez, Diego Fernando Ortiz Tovar · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Colombia (Popayán)

This research aimed to design a hydro-organic system for vegetable production in small areas to contribute to urban food security and solid waste utilization in Popayán, Colombia. An alternative system was designed using recycled materials and evaluated with three nutritional treatments using cilantro as a biological indicator. The system achieved productions of up to 627 g m-2, surpassing traditional agriculture (227 g), and the common nutritional solution was identified as the best nutritional source.

Stephan Barthel, Carl Folke, Johan Colding · · Sweden (Stockholm)

This thesis investigated how social-ecological features influence ecosystem service (ES) generation through case studies in Stockholm, Sweden. Findings indicated that urban ES flows are products of co-evolutionary processes, requiring governance to consider historical rights and diverse actor groups. Informally managed allotment gardens showed higher pollinator abundance compared to other urban green spaces, and social-ecological memory among gardeners was found to retain and transmit practices linked to ES generation. The study concluded that sustaining urban ES depends on management practices by people and local communities of ecosystem practice.

Jason P. Kaye, Anandamayee Majumdar, Corinna Gries, Alexander Buyantuyev, Nancy B. Grimm, D. Hope, G. Darrel Jenerette, Weixing Zhu, Lawrence A. Baker · Ecological Applications · United States (Phoenix)

A study in a 7962-km2 area around Phoenix, Arizona, USA, used a hierarchical Bayesian model to predict soil organic carbon (oC), inorganic carbon (iC), total nitrogen (N), and available phosphorus (avP) storage. Both Bayesian and traditional approaches indicated that oC, N, and avP were higher in mesic residential and agricultural areas than in deserts or xeric residential areas. Cultural variables like impervious surface cover, tree cover, and turfgrass cover were significant predictors, and an estimated 1140 Gg of oC and 130 Gg of N had accumulated in human-dominated soils.

María Amalia Lorda, Jezabel Franza, María Belén Kraser, Daniel Paoloni, Silvina Raitzin, Gabriel Oscar Reiter · Revista de Lengua y Literatura (National University of Comahue) · Argentina (Bahia Blanca)

This communication provides the foundations for implementing "Park-Gardens" in Bahia Blanca, Argentina, to recover urban and peri-urban spaces. Park-Gardens are described as multifunctional public spaces, participatively managed by the state and civil society using ecological cultivation techniques. They contribute to local development, strategic planning, improved sanitary conditions, strengthened biodiversity, and sustainable resource management, while enabling agrochemical-free food production.

C.J. Arene, G.I.O. Mbata · Agricultural Economics (Zemědělská ekonomika) · Nigeria (Abuja)

This study analyzed the profitability of urban agriculture using metropolitan organic waste in Abuja, Nigeria. Results indicated that the enterprise is profitable, with output price being the most important determinant of maximum variable profit. The study also showed that farmers' education level, age, per capita farm income, and household size are important determinants for choosing urban agriculture for food security and environmental quality improvement.

Wei Xu · Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment · Global

This study examines the interaction between the sustainable development of urban agriculture and the increase in peasants' income, treating them as a combined system. It identifies a synergistic relationship between increased peasant income and urban agriculture development, but also a competitive relationship between maximizing short-term income and ecological sustainable development. The research suggests that a sustainable urban agricultural resource allocation mechanism can foster coordination and positive interaction, with urban circular agriculture economy being a basic strategy for this coordination.

Rui Chen · Chinese Agricultural Mechanization · Global

Urban agriculture is based on a combination of manufacture, life, and ecology, emphasizing urban and rural development in step, and the co-prosperity of economy, ecology, and society. This study adopted the analytic network process (ANP) to construct an evaluation index system of urban agriculture, based on domestic and international research. Theoretical foundations of ANP were discussed, and dependence and feedback among indexes were analyzed. The result of the ANP model for the index system was obtained with SD software.