Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3701 results(50 / 149)
Study on Participatory Community Vegetable Garden Landscape Design from a Micro-Renewal Perspective
2023Yichen Ma · International Journal of Environmental Sustainability and Protection · Global
This article explores participatory community gardening theory and practices, using an old community as an example, to find ways to establish and grow community gardens for residents. It aims to provide a reference for establishing community gardens and exploring sustainable methods within urban micro-renewal, especially in response to challenges like the COVID-19 pandemic affecting residents' access to necessities.
CommunityDIYFood educationWork in progress: power in transformation to postcapitalist work relations in community–supported agriculture
2023Guilherme Raj, Giuseppe Feola, Hens Runhaar · Agriculture and Human Values · Portugal
This comparative case study of three Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) initiatives in Portugal analyzed how power shapes transformations to postcapitalist work relations. Results showed that while CSA creates non-alienated, non-monetized, and care-filled postcapitalist work relations, they insufficiently unmake unbalanced power relations established in capitalist work relations. The selected CSA initiatives could benefit from actively deconstructing internal hierarchies, decentralizing decision-making power from farm owners, and addressing oppressive power relations ossified in their local and cultural context when establishing postcapitalist work relations.
Equity & displacementCSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceNature-based solutions in informal settlements: A systematic review of projects in Southeast Asian and Pacific countries
2023Erich Wolff, Hanna A. Rauf, Perrine Hamel · Environmental Science & Policy · Global
This study analyzed past Nature-based Solutions (NbS) projects in informal settlements across Southeast Asian and Pacific countries, utilizing both grey and academic sources. Six main types of NbS were identified, used to address various social, ecological, and cultural challenges in these settlements, including traditional community gardens and constructed wetlands, some differing from those in the Global North. NbS are often framed as grassroots initiatives led by local communities or as technical systems implemented within "upgrading programs."
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceClimate changePolicyApplication of Human Urine in Vegetable Production in a School Garden: A Participatory Action Research
2023Govinda Prasad Devkota · Pragyaratna प्रज्ञारत्न · Nepal
This participatory action research in a public high school in Nepal explored the applicability of urine diversion toilets for organic vegetable production and sanitation improvement. It found that urine diversion toilets prevent surface water pollution and improve students' hygiene. Additionally, using human urine as fertilizer increased vegetable production by 40% compared to animal fertilizer in plots of the same area.
Organic cycleFood educationCommunityBiochar for Wastewater Treatment and Soil Improvement in Irrigated Urban Agriculture: Single and Combined Effects on Crop Yields and Soil Fertility
2023Isaac Asirifi, Korbinian Kaetzl, Steffen Werner, Stefanie Heinze, Felix K. Abagale, Marc Wichern, Manfred Lübken, Bernd Marschner · Journal of soil science and plant nutrition · Ghana
This study evaluated the agronomic and soil fertility effects of using municipal wastewater or anaerobically treated wastewater for irrigation and applying biochar to a soil from the Guinea savanna agroecological zone of Ghana. In a pot trial, lettuce and carrot were grown on soil mixed with raw biochar, water-washed biochar, or biochar used as wastewater filter material at 20 t ha−1, and irrigated with untreated municipal wastewater, anaerobically treated wastewater, or clean water. Results indicated higher crop growth and yields (up to 90% increase) with untreated and anaerobically treated wastewater than clean water, with anaerobically treated wastewater being more beneficial than untreated wastewater (up to 10% increase). Combining raw biochar with anaerobically treated wastewater increased pH, CEC, and P availability in the highly weathered acidic soil.
Organic cycleCompostPeriurbano/agricultura periurbana: tres perspectivas: ecológica, social y territorial
2023Juan Camilo Ochoa Céspedes · Entorno Geográfico · Colombia (Medellín)
This paper critically analyzes peri-urban and peri-urban agriculture, addressing problems of territorial tension resulting from the accelerated expansion of real estate into peri-urban areas due to low urban land availability. The discussion questions the economic, environmental, and social risks of this expansion, highlighting tensions and resistance. The paper illustrates these issues with examples from the peri-urban area of Medellín and its metropolitan area.
Governance failurePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsClimate changeCommunitySmart Irrigation Systems in Agriculture: A Systematic Review
2023David Vallejo-Gómez, Marisol Osorio, Carlos A. Hincapié · Agronomy · Global
This research aims to conduct a systematic review of available literature on smart irrigation systems. It focuses on systems using artificial intelligence techniques for soil crops in urban and rural agriculture to identify those currently in use or adaptable to urban agriculture. A modified PRISMA 2020 method was applied, screening 170 articles, with 50 selected for detailed analysis.
Digital agricultureUrban–rural linkageDistribution, Source and Contamination Level of REEs and Heavy Metals in Agricultural Soils of Fez-Upstream, Morocco
2023Naoual Zerrari, Naoual Raïs, Mustapha Ijjaali · Soil and Sediment Contamination An International Journal · Morocco (Fez)
Nine soil samples from agricultural soils in Fez-Upstream, Morocco, were analyzed to assess concentrations of major elements, Rare Earth Elements (REEs), and heavy metals. The soils were enriched by light REEs, and the contamination factor and degree of contamination indicated moderate and low contamination, respectively. However, all sampling sites showed PLI values above 1, indicating obvious anthropogenic pollution due to human activities.
Contamination & food safetyHealthPeri-urban agricultureDesign of a serious game for participatory planning of nature-based solutions: The experience of the Edible City Game
2023Josep Pueyo‐Ros, Joaquím Comas, Ina Säumel, Joana Castellar, Lucía Alexandra Popartan, Vicenç Acuña, Lluís Corominas · Nature-Based Solutions · Global
A paper addressing the problem that serious games proposed as a tool to foster civic participatory processes often fail due to lack of funding or design skills, presenting a new framework for designing serious games for participatory planning of nature-based solutions, with guidance on definition, content, and evaluation steps. The framework's usefulness is illustrated through the design of the Edible City Game (ECG), a digital serious game for participatory planning of edible city solutions (urban nature-based solutions with a food component), which was implemented on Tygron, a platform providing a graphical interface for urban-planning serious games. The paper argues that while Tygron provides user-friendly software for designing serious games, the final product still requires a proper design-oriented process to fulfil its purpose.
CommunityPolicyDigital agricultureScalable agritech growbox architecture
2023Ryan Fraser Kirwan, Farhat Abbas, Indriyati Atmosukarto, A. W. Y. Loo, Jong‐Hwan Lim, Sang-Soo Yeo · Frontiers in the Internet of Things · Global
This study, conducted with a Singaporean urban farming company, presents an IoT-based automated farming system consisting of an agnostic growbox and a web dashboard for monitoring crop growth. Using an image analytics approach to classify crop disease phenotypes — specifically chlorosis and tip burn — in lettuce, the researchers compared it against a machine learning approach on the same dataset. The image analytics approach showed scalability, time efficiency, and accuracy in disease detection, with advantages over the machine learning approach in time and cost efficiency.
Digital agricultureCommunityCOMPOSTING: A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO WASTE MANAGEMENT
2023Alpana Kusum · · Global
This chapter reviews composting, the conversion of organic waste into nutrient-rich compost, distinguishing between municipal solid waste, agricultural residues, and industrial organic waste as source materials, and describing aerobic composting, anaerobic composting, and vermicomposting methods. It states that managing the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, moisture, temperature, and aeration is important for effective composting, and lists benefits including improved soil fertility, nutrient recycling, water-holding capacity, erosion control, and reduced greenhouse gas emissions through carbon sequestration. It covers applications in agriculture, horticulture, landscaping, urban gardening, land reclamation, and bioenergy production, while also noting challenges such as managing contaminants, odor control, monitoring, and regulatory compliance.
CompostOrganic cycleInterventions to Strengthen Environmental Sustainability of School Food Systems: Narrative Scoping Review
2023Grace Gardner, Wendy Burton, Maddie Sinclair, Maria Bryant · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · Global
A scoping review following Arksey and O'Malley's methodology searched Scopus and grey literature to identify interventions aimed at strengthening the environmental sustainability of school food systems; of 6,016 records screened, 24 were included. The most common intervention types were sustainably designed school lunch menus, school food waste reduction, sustainability education delivered through school gardens, and dietary interventions with an added environmental component, and the review concluded that further research is needed to establish the effectiveness of these interventions.
Food educationPolicyClimate changeFrontiers in blue-green infrastructure
2023Michael Hardman, Katherine C. R. Baldock, Stuart Connop, Kenny Taylor, Ross Stirling · · Global
Against a backdrop of high interest in blue-green infrastructure (BGI), this chapter examines how developers, planners, engineers, architects, and other actors are incorporating BGI into urban and rural environments. It notes that evidence shows approaches are often basic, relying on traditional landscaping methods that fail to explore BGI's possibilities, and reflects on advances in more radical approaches. The chapter begins with a review of how pollinator biodiversity can be enhanced through innovative BGI systems, then addresses incorporating food growing into BGI strategies and co-benefits with low-carbon energy.
PolicyBiodiversityPollinatorsEnvironmental assessment of a new building envelope material derived from urban agriculture wastes: the case of the tomato plants stems
2023Pere Llorach-Massana, Laura Cirrincione, Jorge Sierra-Pérez, Gianluca Scaccianoce, Maria La Gennusa, Javier Peña, Joan Rieradevall · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · Global
This study assessed the environmental impact of a new infill wall material derived from urban agriculture (UA) waste — tomato plant stems from a building rooftop greenhouse tomato crop — using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology per ISO 14044 and ISO 14067, based on data from laboratory-scale sample production. The results indicate that when biogenic carbon fixed in the UA waste is accounted for, the material achieves a negative carbon footprint of -0.2 kg CO2eq per kg, meaning it can fix rather than emit carbon emissions over its life cycle; for the scenario considered, approximately 0.42 kg CO2eq per square meter per year could be sequestered. However, the crop area required to produce enough waste to manufacture a unit of the material was found to be quite large, and the study identifies reducing material density and exploring urban crops with higher waste production rates as directions for future work.
Climate changeThe Socio-Cultural Benefits of Urban Agriculture: A Review of the Literature
2022Ilieva R.T., Cohen N., Israel M., Specht K., Fox-Kämper R., Fargue-Lelièvre A., Poniży L., Schoen V., Caputo S., Kirby C.K., Goldstein B., Newell J.P., Blythe C. · Land (MDPI), 11(5):622 · Global
A systematic review of 272 peer-reviewed publications drawing on urban-agriculture sites in 57 countries, organizing socio-cultural benefits into four domains: cohesive communities, health and well-being, economic opportunities, and education. Community connection and learning emerged as the most frequently reported benefits.
CommunityHealthFood educationEconomicsCommunity gardens and their effects on diet, health, psychosocial and community outcomes: a systematic review
2022Hume C., Grieger J.A., Kalamkarian A., D'Onise K., Smithers L.G. · BMC Public Health, 22:1247 · Global
A systematic review synthesizing 53 eligible studies. Community garden participation was positively associated with fruit and vegetable intake and several psychosocial and community outcomes, though effects on physical health indicators were mixed.
CommunityHealthFood educationCommunity gardens as local learning environments in social housing contexts: participant perceptions of enhanced wellbeing and community connection
2022Gray T., Tracey D., Truong S., Ward K. · Local Environment, 27(5):570-585 · Australia
A mixed-methods study of 42 social-housing residents across six new community garden sites in Sydney. Participants reported greater health and wellbeing awareness, new interest in growing fresh food, shared produce and recipes, happiness, and frequent socialization and community connectedness.
CommunityWelfareHealthFood educationUrban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Sourcebook – From Production to Food Systems
2022FAO, Rikolto, RUAF · Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Rikolto & RUAF · Global
A comprehensive guide co-published by FAO, Rikolto and RUAF for local decision-makers, urban planners and practitioners. It frames urban and peri-urban agriculture from production through to urban food systems and policy, promoting reduced food loss via short supply chains, biodiversity protection, social inclusion, and urban-rural linkages.
PolicyCommunityOrganic cycleFood lossEconomicsBiodiversityEvaluating the impacts of school garden-based programmes on diet and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes and practices among the school children: a systematic review
2022Chan C.L., Tan P.Y., Gong Y.Y. · BMC Public Health, 22:1251 · Global
A systematic review of how school garden-based programmes affect children's diet- and nutrition-related knowledge, attitudes, and practices. Synthesizing studies from multiple databases, it concludes that such programmes are a promising and cost-effective intervention for improving healthy eating among schoolchildren.
Food educationHealthCommunityまちを変える都市型農園 コミュニティを育む空き地活用
2022Shimpo N. · 学芸出版社 (Gakugei Shuppan), ISBN 978-4-7615-2821-8, 208pp · Global
Shimpo's single-authored book on 'urban-type gardens' that activate underused spaces scattered through cities—suburban abandoned farmland, corners of urban parks, commercial-building rooftops, housing-estate grounds. Drawing on advanced cases and practitioner interviews from Germany, Austria, New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Japan, it shows how such gardens address vacant-land use, community revitalisation, greening and food/environmental education.
CommunityFood educationOrganic cyclePolicyEcosystem service delivery by urban agriculture and green infrastructure – a systematic review
2022Evans D.L., Falagán N., Hardman C.A., Kourmpetli S., Liu L., Mead B.R., Davies J.A.C. · Ecosystem Services, 54, 101405 · Global
A systematic review synthesizing 157 peer-reviewed articles that compares which ecosystem services are delivered by different types of urban agriculture and green infrastructure. It finds that community gardens, green spaces and parks deliver the most diverse services, that local climate and air-quality regulation are best provided by green infrastructure alone, and that biological control and genetic-diversity maintenance peak when green infrastructure is combined with urban agriculture.
BiodiversityCommunityHealthEconomicsMeanwhile Use for London
2022Greater London Authority, Arup · Greater London Authority (GLA) · Global
A GLA report institutionalising 'meanwhile use' of vacant land/units awaiting development, presenting support via competitions, guidance, land provision and time-limited change-of-use permissions for interim community uses including gardens.
PolicyCommunityEconomicsThe 'Covid-Trigger': New Light on Urban Agriculture and Systemic Approach to Urbanism to Co-Create a Sustainable Lisbon
2022· Systemic Practice and Action Research · Portugal (Lisbon)
A study examining, through a systemic urbanism lens, how COVID-19 brought new attention to urban agriculture in Lisbon, exploring how participatory urban farming can be co-created and embedded in sustainable city-making.
CommunityPolicyState of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of 25 major crops
2022Ramirez-Villegas J., Khoury C.K., Achicanoy H.A., Diaz M.V., Mendez A.C., Sosa C.C., Kehel Z., Guarino L., Abberton M. · Nature Plants 8:491-499 · Global
A global gap analysis predicting distributions of over 70 landrace groups across 25 crops, finding a mean 63% represented in genebanks and major collecting gaps in South Asia, the Mediterranean, the Andes and Africa.
Heirloom & landraceBiodiversityPolicyExploring Conventional Economic Viability as a Potential Barrier to Scalable Urban Agriculture: Examples from Two Divergent Development Contexts
2022Kafle A., Hopeward J., Myers B. · Horticulturae 8(8):691 · Australia, Nepal
Analyzes urban agriculture viability across 40 sites in Adelaide and the Kathmandu Valley, calculating margins and benefit-cost ratios from land, labour and distribution costs, finding land cost the primary driver and labour a critical constraint to scalability.
Economics