Research & reports

· Wikipedia · Global

The URL for 'Peak phosphorus' now redirects to the Reserves section of Wikipedia's 'Phosphorus' article. Per a 2023 USGS estimate, world commercially extractable phosphate rock reserves are 72 billion tons, against 2022 world mining production of 220 million tons — implying roughly 300 years of supply at zero growth. Before new deposits were discovered in Norway in 2023, Earth's commercially affordable phosphorus reserves were expected to be depleted in 50-100 years. Reserve estimates are described as contested: a 2010 IFDC report is criticized by a 2014 review as presenting 'an inflated picture of global reserves,' particularly for Morocco, where largely hypothetical and inferred resources were simply relabeled 'reserves.' The article also states that a shortage in rock phosphate or significant price increases might negatively affect world food security. Mitigation measures cited include reducing agricultural runoff (no-till farming, contour tilling, windbreaks), incinerating phosphorus-rich sewage sludge and recovering the ash, and recovering phosphorus-rich materials such as struvite from waste — though current recovery technologies are described as not yet cost-effective given phosphorus market prices.

· Wikipedia · Global

This Wikipedia article on 'metabolic rift' explains that German agricultural chemist Justus von Liebig, in his 1840 'Organic Chemistry in its Application to Agriculture and Physiology,' argued that if all solid and liquid excreta of city inhabitants were returned to farmers, land productivity could be maintained for centuries virtually unimpaired. Marx, combining his understanding of the labor process with Liebig's analysis, wrote in Capital Vol. 1 that capitalist production, by concentrating population in cities, 'disturbs the metabolic interaction between man and the earth' and prevents the return of soil constituents consumed by humans as food and clothing — defining this as 'an irreparable rift in the interdependent process of social metabolism.' John Bellamy Foster, in his 2000 book 'Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature,' reassessed Marx's ecological perspective, arguing the metabolic rift concept enabled the development of a critique of environmental degradation. The article notes that as food and fiber were transported over long distances, soil nutrients moved to cities as agricultural produce but were not returned as human and animal waste, producing 'a one-way flow of materials' — a plundering of the soil to sustain society's reproduction.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on agriculture in Singapore. The country imports about 90% of its food. The 2019 'Singapore 30 by 30' goal (30% of nutritional needs grown locally by 2030) was revised in November 2025 into a new target of 20% for produce like leafy vegetables and 30% for protein (including seafood and eggs) by 2035. As of 2024, there were 225 farms (153 land-based, 72 sea-based) with total production value of S$231 million.

· Wikipedia (English) · Singapore

English Wikipedia entry on the Singapore Food Agency, established on 1 April 2019, consolidating the food-related functions of the former Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) along with parts of the National Environment Agency and Health Sciences Authority. The '30 by 30' goal — raising home-grown food from 10% to 30% of nutritional needs by 2030 — was announced on 8 March 2019, and was revised again in 2025.

· Wikipedia · Singapore

This Wikipedia article on food security in Singapore states that about 90 percent of the country's food comes from overseas imports, and that the government set the '30 by 30' goal to produce 30% of its nutritional needs locally by 2030. It further states new targets for 2035 to produce 20 per cent of the country's fibre consumption and 30 per cent of protein consumption (eggs and seafood) domestically, and that as of 2024 eight per cent of fibre and 26 per cent of protein consumed in Singapore was produced domestically.

· Wikipedia · Singapore

This Wikipedia article on Lim Chu Kang, a 17.3 km2 area in Singapore's North Region, describes it as the nation's main agricultural zone, housing a diverse range of farms engaged in food production, aquaculture, and agri-technology. Approximately 62 farms operated in the western part before being cleared progressively from April 2020 to December 2022 for military development. As of 2025 the area had a population of only 30, one of Singapore's least populated planning areas.

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) · FAO · Global

An overview of FAO's 'City Region Food Systems' (CRFS) approach under its Food for the Cities Programme, which frames all actors, processes and relationships involved in producing, processing, distributing and consuming food as linking urban centres with their surrounding rural and peri-urban areas, aiming to improve economic, social and environmental sustainability with an emphasis on supporting local government policy shifts.

Kremer, Peleg, Borowiak, Craig, Scolio, Madeline · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · 米国（ペンシルベニア州フィラデルフィア）

US community gardens embody a conundrum: vital to community well-being and integral to urban social infrastructure, yet profoundly vulnerable through insecure land tenure, fragmented policy support and systemic disinvestment. This reflective essay examines the Philadelphia Garden Data Collaborative (PGDC), a multistakeholder initiative documenting, protecting and advocating for community-managed green space, from the authors' position as participant researchers. It traces the shift from grassroots mapping to coordinated data stewardship, which enabled both emergency interventions (such as preventing sheriff-sale evictions) and long-term preservation strategies, and examines the ethical dilemmas of collecting sensitive community data where bureaucratic neglect has rendered gardens invisible and where visibility can expose them to new risks. It concludes that data can strengthen advocacy and inform policy, but must be coupled with secure tenure mechanisms and sustained public investment.

Aguiari I. · Agriculture and Human Values · イタリア

Debates on food and agriculture have long noted the depoliticising pull of neoliberal governance, technocratic regulation and consumer-oriented solutions. Collective action in grassroots agrifood initiatives is well studied, but how politicisation actually emerges is not. Treating the political as an ever-present dimension of social relations, the author uses political semiotics to trace how politicisation and depoliticisation unfold in everyday communication, drawing on participatory mind-mapping workshops co-created with three community agriculture initiatives in Italy. Politicisation is encouraged where relational interaction, contextual interpretation, symbolic expression and an orientation toward collective action reinforce one another.

Nkrumah B. · Urban Science · アフリカ（都市部・系統的レビュー）

A systematic review of the irony between abundant arable land and persistent hunger in African cities. It asks why a disproportionate share of urban residents do not produce their own food, even as food insecurity rises with heavy reliance on market-bought food, high poverty and rapid urbanisation, screening peer-reviewed literature via PRISMA and five inclusion benchmarks to clarify the debate on low uptake of urban agriculture.

Noxolo B.M., Kanosvamhira T.P. · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · 南アフリカ・ケープタウン（低所得地区）

Surveys and interviews assess whether hydroponics, of interest because dense settlements leave little space, is actually viable in Cape Town's low-income urban areas — deliberately supplementing a literature skewed towards Global North cities. Farmers perceive benefits in improved yields, water conservation and efficient land use, all valuable in a water-scarce, space-constrained city, but high setup costs and limited government support remain significant obstacles. Drawing on urban political ecology, the paper argues these financial and institutional barriers are rooted in historically produced inequality and ongoing capitalist dynamics of urban development. It concludes that while hydroponics has potential as a sustainable alternative, its high costs hinder broader applicability, and it is not yet a viable large-scale route to food security where resources are unequally distributed; supporting actors must first address financial feasibility and local expertise.

Kanosvamhira T.P., Magidi M. · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · 南アフリカ・ケープタウン／ジンバブエ・ノートン

A qualitative case study comparing the motivations, operational dynamics, land access challenges and legislative contexts of urban agriculture in two contrasting cities — Cape Town (South Africa) and Norton (Zimbabwe) — through stakeholder interviews and policy analysis, guided by social capital theory. In Cape Town urban agriculture is semi-institutionalised, backed by governmental and civil society actors and framed within wider food justice and community development agendas, yet practitioners face significant constraints from land access, urban policy fragmentation and competition over space. In Norton it is largely informal, a survivalist response to persistent socio-economic hardship with minimal formal support but relatively flexible regulation, where land-tenure insecurity and the threat of eviction are the pressing concerns. The paper argues that context-specific legislative frameworks, secure land rights and inclusive urban planning are the enabling conditions, situating urban agriculture within debates on land governance and urban informality.

Kissoly L. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · タンザニア・ダルエスサラーム

An exploratory qualitative case study and policy analysis of urban agriculture's current landscape and possible futures in rapidly urbanizing Dar es Salaam, drawing on targeted literature and document review, a policy and regulatory scan, and 52 key informant interviews with municipal actors, urban farmers and food-system practitioners conducted between April and September 2025. Urban agriculture is valued for household food supplementation, small-scale income and fresh-food provisioning through short-cycle vegetable production close to consumers, but remains shaped by tolerated informality, insecure land access, fragmented regulation, contamination risks, weak institutional coordination and pressure on peri-urban land. Five evidence-informed trajectories are proposed — managed river-corridor cultivation; sacks, buckets and roofs for dense-ward micro-production; institutional land clusters; peri-urban foodshed belts with circular-resource hubs; and small-scale aquaculture with insect-based feed — presented explicitly not as tested feasibility models but as differentiated options requiring further technical, environmental, spatial and economic assessment. The paper argues the future depends not on a single large-scale model but on risk-sensitive, institutionally grounded forms of support.

Annamaria Alabiso, Giorgio Buratti, Fiammetta Costa, Matteo Meraviglia, Luciana Migliore, Attilio Nebuloni · · Global

A transdisciplinary research project investigated reusing treated kitchen wastewater for irrigating edible vegetable production in households. The project developed a prototype with an engineered biological filter to reuse dishwasher wastewater for growing vegetables and ornamental plants for domestic use. This approach aims to reduce water and fertilizer consumption, enabling the production of healthy, safe, and local food.

Maria de Nazareth Oliveira Maciel, Luann Yago Oliveira Maciel · Aracê. · Global

This descriptive review study examined whether urban agriculture aligns with SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) of Agenda 2030 and generates social benefits for producers, analyzing articles published from 2019 to 2022 from Scielo, Scopus, and Web of Science databases. The results showed that urban agriculture aligns with SDG 12, generating ten main social benefits, including improved quality of life, social inclusion, food security, and promotion of mental and physical health.

Chua Siu Ting, Hazreena Hussein · Journal of Surveying Construction & Property · Malaysia (Port Dickson)

This study explored residents' perceptions of social spaces in Port Dickson, Malaysia, during the COVID-19 pandemic, using a mixed-method approach combining photographic documentation and a questionnaire survey. The majority of respondents experienced significant stress during the pandemic due to anxiety, job loss, and livelihood challenges, emphasizing the importance of effective space allocation and varied options within residential neighborhoods. These findings imply that strategically designed social spaces and zoning practices are key to developing self-sufficient communities in residential areas.

Paul Β. Thompson · · Global

This article discusses urban agriculture, noting that the decline of grocery stores in inner cities and projected vulnerabilities in megacities outside the global West suggest distinct moral imperatives. It contrasts urban agriculture with rural resilience and sustainable intensification, highlighting its focus on consumption and present needs. The article describes two urban agriculture archetypes: one embracing high-tech solutions and another emphasizing local solidarities and urban-based control over the food system.

Florien Misago, Isaac Nzayisenga, Henri Jacques Ngirinshuti, Leon De Pere Irakoze, Richard Mind’je · East African Journal of Agriculture and Biotechnology · Rwanda (Kigali)

This study evaluated the potential of rooftop and wall-based urban agriculture to enhance food security in Gasabo District, Kigali, Rwanda. It used GIS and remote sensing to map suitable spaces and assessed 400 household heads using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS). Findings showed that 41.5% of households experienced moderate to severe food insecurity, and approximately 32% of rooftops and walls were structurally appropriate for urban agriculture. While 57.8% of households expressed willingness to adopt rooftop or wall gardening, 67.4% cited structural and financial constraints.

Elza D’Cruz · Landscape Research · Global

This article discusses the critical issue of reclaiming space for urban agriculture in contemporary cities, which is central to debates on urban food growing. It highlights that collective and individual food-growing is widely recognized as a means to address food-related challenges.

Olivier Parfait Bissemb, Rosette Christelle Ndjib, Patrice Brice Mvogo Ottou, Jacques Bruno Ngotta Biyon, Zenabou Ndiang, Georges Maxime Lamy Lamy, Eric Ngansop Tchatchouang, Ivant Stevy Nganmo, Jean Lagarde Betti, Richard Jules Priso · Journal of Environmental Protection · Cameroon (Douala)

This study assessed floristic diversity and agricultural practices around five stormwater drains in Douala, Cameroon, identifying 67 species from 24 families. Floristic diversity, measured by the Shannon-Weaver index (H'= 0.99) and low evenness (E = 0.23), indicated an unbalanced plant community dominated by a few cultivated and ruderal species. The analysis also revealed significant homogenization between drains, suggesting common agricultural practices and environmental pressures in these polluted environments.

Agustin Windianingsih, Wiwin Wiwin, Tanti Febrianti · Journal of Finance and Business Digital · Global

This research investigated the potential of urban agriculture to overcome food crises and impact food security. Using a mixed-methods approach (quantitative and qualitative), the study found that people practicing urban farming are supported in terms of urban farming skills, food security, creation of green open spaces, entrepreneurial opportunities, fulfillment of nutritional needs, enjoyment of fresh crops, creation of community bonds, educational benefits, and awareness for mental health and the environment.

Imran Ali Lakhiar, Haofang Yan, Tabinda Naz Syed, Chuan Zhang, Sher Ali Shaikh, Md Rakibuzzaman, Rahim Bux Vistro · Horticulturae · Global

A systematic review of soilless farming (SLF) systems globally identified their role in enhancing horticultural resilience in urban and peri-urban settings. SLF offers advantages like water conservation and increased yield, but faces significant challenges. High setup costs, substantial energy demands, and the requirement for specialized technical expertise continue to limit its widespread adoption.

Talent Moyo, Chipo Hungwe, Faith Zengeni · · Zimbabwe (Bulawayo)

This chapter examines urban resilience within the New Urban Agenda (NUA) using three pillars—adaptive capacity, absorptive capacity, and transformative capacity—in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. In Zimbabwe, urban resilience has been promoted through urban agriculture programs and efforts to regulate and capacitate informal economic activities. The qualitative case study argues that urban resilience primarily benefits individual urban citizens through livelihood creation, expanded livelihood portfolios, skills and knowledge development, meeting basic needs, and community support.

Shamir Abujder · AGRO - ECOLÓGICA · Bolivia (Sucre)

This study analyzed the market dynamics of fresh organic products in urban districts of Sucre, Bolivia, examining their potential to strengthen food security and foster sustainable enterprises. The research focused on two groups: consumers and producers/marketers, within the context of urban and peri-urban agriculture. Using a qualitative descriptive approach, it aimed to provide knowledge on the economic viability of commercializing fresh organic products and contribute to citizen knowledge on responsible and healthy consumption aligned with agroecology.

Sini V. Pillai · Social Responsibility Journal · Global

This research reviewed global urban agriculture practices to propose an adaptable model for developing countries, addressing food security and livelihood generation. Findings indicate that developed countries prioritize self-sustainability and community, while developing countries focus on income and food security but face technological, policy, and socio-cultural barriers. The study suggests technology-supported infrastructure and adaptive policies are needed for successful implementation in developing nations.