Research & reports

Kate A. Congreves · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems ·

An opinion article published in the Urban Agriculture section of Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems on 19 August 2022. The available abstract contains only bibliographic information, with no stated study details or findings on urban horticulture.

Ana Spataru, Robert Faggian, Victor A Sposito · International Journal of Agricultural Resources Governance and Ecology · Global

A paper proposing a comprehensive conceptual framework for assessing metropolitan peri-urban agriculture. It argues that peri-urban agriculture provides non-commodity benefits — food security, farm viability, environmental stewardship, and landscape and socio-cultural preservation — that free markets under-recognize, and that the double vulnerability created by urban pressure and systemic agricultural change has led to myopic policy interventions. The proposed framework integrates the concepts of multifunctional agriculture, resilience, climate-smart agriculture and alternative food networks into 21 enabling features across five dimensions.

LENI MARIA TARIGAN, I MADE SUDARMA, I Nyoman Gede Ustriyana · Jurnal Agribisnis dan Agrowisata (Journal of Agribusiness and Agritourism) · Indonesia

A study of the agricultural sector's role, leading sectors and competitiveness in Tebing Tinggi City, North Sumatra Province, Indonesia, over 2015–2019, using descriptive analysis, the Location Quotient (LQ) method and shift-share analysis, prompted by rapid conversion of agricultural land in the city. Results show agriculture is not the largest contributing sector, with food crops driving most of the sector's growth; the city has 12 leading and 5 non-leading sectors, with a projected future of 5 leading, 7 prospective, 5 lagging sectors and no mainstay sector. Wholesale/retail trade and vehicle repair, and health and social services, were the sectors with good competitiveness. The study recommends using household yards for community gardens, fish ponds and livestock, implementing a "Culinary Tourism City" concept, and strengthening support for lagging sectors to maintain food security.

Valéria Borges Yonegura, Henrique Manoel da Silva · Cadernos de Ciência & Tecnologia · Brazil (Curitiba)

A study of urban agriculture's effects in two neighborhoods of southern Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil - an area historically stigmatized for violence and poverty - that observed increases in quality of life, aesthetic improvement of the landscape, a greater sense of security and inclusion, and residents' topophilic attachment to place. Urban agriculture is used in the city's marketing, but the paper states that its continuity is partly threatened by the possible end of a partnership with the local electric utility and by real estate market pressure. Most results come from a master's thesis, with continued monitoring via media coverage and contact with community leaders.

Yue Jin, Hee Sun Choi, Daniel C. Elkin · · China

A mixed-methods study of three representative communities in Nanjing, China, examining the value of edible community gardens against the backdrop of COVID-19, associated government area controls, restricted access to daily food supplies, and elderly residents' unfamiliarity with online shopping. The study used GIS mapping of Nanjing's food system, site observations, questionnaires and interviews, analyzed with univariate and multivariate methods. It found that most elderly residents want and value edible community gardens, especially during the epidemic; that the gardens offer opportunities for new companionship and leisure; and that edible landscaping increases communities' ornamental value and interactivity. The gardens were also described as beneficial for sustainable food production in terms of ecological environment, economic benefit, social regeneration and local development.

Tama Bawack Ako, Clarkson Mvo Wanie · Current Urban Studies · Cameroon

This study examined challenges in rural-urban road transportation and coping mechanisms for food security in Maroua municipality, Far North Region, Cameroon. Primary data came from field observation, interviews and 261 administered questionnaires, supplemented by published and unpublished secondary sources, with descriptive analysis conducted in SPSS version 20 and Microsoft Excel 2013. Results showed that rural-urban roads in Maroua are dilapidated and inadequate, making movement difficult especially during the rainy season, which negatively affects multiple dimensions of food security. Adaptation mechanisms identified included urban agriculture and rehabilitation of rural-urban road infrastructure, and the study concluded there is an urgent need for stakeholders to improve this infrastructure.

Hazen Arrazie Kurniawan, Nurhajijah Nurhajijah, Wiidani Lubis, Imam Hartono Bangun · Jurnal Abdi Insani · Indonesia

In Pematang Ganjang village, Indonesia, where rice farmers relied on a single, seasonal source of income, a community service program used a participatory rural appraisal approach with lectures, demonstration plots, and mentoring to teach a fertigation system for growing cauliflower on unused yard land. The program reports that farmers responded enthusiastically to the technology transfer and adopted urban farming on yard plots as a supplementary income source beyond their original single livelihood.

Dea Widyaningsih, Ait Maryani, Achmad Musyadar · Jurnal Penyuluhan Pertanian · Indonesia

A survey of 40 youth farmers aged 15-35 across three sub-districts of Tarogong Kidul, Garut Regency, West Java, Indonesia, examined preferences toward urban farming between April and June 2020. Using descriptive analysis, multiple linear regression, and Kendall's W concordance analysis, the study found that 65% of respondents favored urban farming, with location type and market orientation identified as the influencing factors.

Abdul‐Lateef Balogun, Naheem Adebisi, Ismaila Rimi Abubakar, Umar Lawal Dano, Abdulwaheed Tella · Journal of Integrative Environmental Sciences · Sub-Saharan Africa

Against a backdrop where sub-Saharan Africa's agriculture sector -- about 23% of GDP and employing over 60% of the population -- faces serious threats from rural-to-urban migration and climate change, this desk-research study examined the potential for digitalization to enable sustainable urban farming under climate constraints. It found that most existing digitalization research is based on data from Asia, Europe, North America, and Oceania, with minimal documentation of applications and prospects specific to Africa, and drew on challenges seen in successful implementations in the Global North to propose pathways toward localized digitalization approaches for the region.

Pedro Neto · Sophia · Global

This editorial essay introduces the third thematic cycle, "Landscapes of Care," opening volume 7 of the journal Sophia, on contemporary photography and visual practices addressing how architecture, broadly conceived, can help heal a damaged planet. It draws on Elke Krasny's reframing of architecture as a form of caring labor and Wilfried Wang's argument that changes such as the renewal of urban farming, decentralized renewable energy harvesting, and smaller production facilities should reshape conventional zoning, and situates the "landscapes of care" concept — drawn from health geography, the arts, and architecture — as a lens for understanding architecture, city, and territory. The piece is an introductory editorial for the issue's theme and presents no empirical data or case findings.

Indri Ajeng Setyoningrum, Atika Indah Cahyani, Reza Gusmanti · KOLOKIUM Jurnal Pendidikan Luar Sekolah · Indonesia

A study of "Kampoeng Hidroponik," a social innovation run by the village youth group Rupa Desa in Sobontoro Village, Indonesia (2022), analyzes its business potential as a pioneering social enterprise aimed at improving slum-like settlement conditions. Using qualitative research with a PEST analysis of internal and external environmental conditions followed by a SWOT analysis, based on observation, interviews, and literature review, the study proposes product-management development strategies: product differentiation for customers, developing processed hydroponic vegetable products, building customer loyalty programs, marketing to upper-middle-class customers such as restaurants and hotels, joining hydroponics and business communities to disseminate information, and strengthening social-media promotional content. For strengthening community empowerment, it proposes increasing the capacity of Rupa Desa members as educational-tourism facilitators and managers, creating visit and training programs for students, universities, and homemaker groups, increasing urban-farming campaign activity, and raising awareness among surrounding community members who have not yet joined.

Per-Anders Langendahl, Maria Tunberg, Suvi Kokko · · Europe

Smart urban agriculture — food produced in closed, controlled and digitally augmented environments such as vertical farms, plant factories and aquaponics systems — is found in cities worldwide and is said to produce fresh food year-round using fewer chemicals and fewer food miles. However, critiques of smart urban agriculture note it is a marginal activity that often produces food with low nutritional value and requires energy-intensive artificial lighting. Using qualitative research methods, this report examines the development of smart urban agriculture in Sweden, identifying experimental and entrepreneurial initiatives and analyzing them in relation to high-level policy agendas such as food policy, smart cities and digitalisation. The findings show Swedish smart urban agriculture broadly consists of technology-oriented entrepreneurial start-ups and experimental initiatives split into production-oriented (mainly herbs and leafy greens), community-oriented (prioritizing social benefits), and technology-oriented (developing and supplying digital solutions and services) types. However, product output was limited to a small variety of financially high-margin crops sold at premium prices. In relation to high-level strategic agendas, smart (urban) agriculture is recognized for environmental and social benefits such as mitigating flooding.

Ningombam Sushma Devi, Preeti Hatibarua, Ningombam Bijaya Devi, Tadar Jamja, Nangki Tagi, Ruthy Tabing · Ecology Environment and Conservation · Global

This review argues that, amid exponential population growth, expanding urban dwellings, climate change, and limited natural resources, planting fruit and vegetable home gardens and using rooftops and small plots for small-scale vegetable production can provide households with sufficient production and income generation. It states that meeting the food and nutritional needs of growing urban populations requires integrating information-technology tools, breeding crops suited to urban farming, and closing water, waste, and energy loops, and it outlines the significant features of contemporary urban horticulture alongside the traditional practices, technologies, and innovations that support it.

Trifenaus Prabu Hidayat, Christine Natalia, Agustinus Silalahi, Andre Sugioko, Marcellina Chyntia · Jurnal Pengabdian Masyarakat Charitas · Indonesia

This report describes a community-service program by the Faculty of Engineering at Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia, in partnership with Sampora Village's Nagrek hamlet, focused on Mom's Farm, an organic hydroponic and urban-farming vegetable business. The business faced unclear and inefficient distribution to consumers, which was seen as a cause of reduced income for its farmers, and the program provided online marketing assistance using digital marketing apps such as Grab and Tokopedia.

Nitya Rao, Sheetal Patil, Maitreyi Koduganti, Chandni Singh, Ashwin Mahalingam, Prathijna Poonacha, Nishant Kumar Singh · · India

Despite growing interest in and recognition of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) as a nature-based solution, empirical evidence on its role in reconfiguring environmental functions (biodiversity, waste management, water recycling, micro-climate regulation) and social wellbeing (food and nutrition security, gender relations, work burdens, land tenure, community ties) in India was limited. This compendium, produced by the project "Urban and peri-urban agriculture as green infrastructures" (UPAGrI), which began in 2019 to address that gap, collects 29 innovative UPA practices from cities across India, loosely grouped into four themes: environment and sustainability; food, nutrition, and livelihood; gender and subjective wellbeing; and urban policy and planning. Written mostly by practitioners themselves, the case studies document UPA innovations and serve as a repository of lessons for peer-to-peer learning among practitioners.

国土交通省 · 国土交通省 水管理・国土保全局 上下水道企画課 · Japan

A Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism page on expanding fertilizer use of sewage sludge resources. Of the roughly 2.3 million tonnes of sewage sludge generated annually, about 50,000 tonnes of phosphorus content is present; roughly 1,000 treatment plants put sludge to fertilizer use, but this covers only about 15% of total sludge generated. The 'Food Security Enhancement Policy Package,' decided December 27, 2022, set a 2030 target of doubling fertilizer use of sewage sludge resources/compost and raising the share of domestic resources in phosphorus-based fertilizer use to 40%.

Singapore Food Agency · Singapore Food Agency (SFA) · Singapore

Published by the Singapore Food Agency on 11 Nov 2022, this article explains that Singapore is vulnerable to supply shocks because it imports more than 90 per cent of its food, while less than 1 per cent of its land is set aside for farming, and sets out the country's '30 by 30' goal to produce 30 per cent of its nutritional needs locally by 2030.

CONQUITO · CONQUITO (Agencia Metropolitana de Promoción Económica) · Ecuador

CONQUITO's presentation page for its AGRUPAR participatory urban agriculture programme, stating that more than 4,500 farmers participate each year, 84% of whom are women heads of household, and that around 105 organic products are handled through the programme.

Thulani Dube, Saziso Sibanda, Phibion Chiwara · Cogent Social Sciences · Zimbabwe (Bulawayo)

This study investigated farmers' perceived effects of climate change on peri-urban agriculture in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and their adaptation methods. Using a sample of thirty peri-urban plots, findings revealed that farmers perceived significant climatic changes negatively impacting their farming activities, including reduced precipitation, increased atmospheric temperature, and diminishing borehole yields. Adaptation methods included repeated planting, watering plants at night, renting animal space in other farms with more water sources, and purchasing supplementary feed for livestock.

Victoria Schoen, Chris Blythe, Silvio Caputo, Runrid Fox-Kämper, Kathrin Specht, Agnès Fargue‐Lelièvre, Nevin Cohen, Lidia Poniży, Konstancja Fedeńczak · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global North

This 2021 paper, based on data collected in summer 2020 from five Global North countries (France, Germany, Poland, UK, USA), examined the effects of COVID-19 on urban farms and gardens. The pandemic presented multiple challenges, including loss of support services, lost income, and reduced output due to labor supply issues. It also created opportunities like new local markets and increased community cohesion, demonstrating how gardens adapted to become more resilient.

Susana Toboso‐Chavero, Cristina Madrid‐López, Gara Villalba, Xavier Gabarrell, Arne Björn Hückstädt, Matthias Finkbeiner, Annekatrin Lehmann · The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment · Global

A comprehensive environmental and social life cycle assessment of perlite, peat, and coir growing media, imported to Spain from Turkey, Germany, and the Philippines respectively, was conducted for urban rooftop farming. Environmentally, coir had the lowest burden, while perlite had the highest impacts due to mining and transport. Socially, peat performed best, but coir showed the worst scores in community infrastructure and human rights, and perlite performed lowest in health and safety.

Christina Ergas · · Cuba

This chapter examines Cuba's urban agricultural food production, which developed through top-down government initiatives that later decentralized and subsidized local efforts in response to resource scarcity. While Cuban urban farmworkers' cooperatives enable local residents to sell produce at low costs, the program still faces social environmental stumbling blocks despite its successes in achieving high human development with a small ecological footprint.

Mariana Portilho, Camila Gonçalves de Oliveira Rodrigues , Annelise Caetano Fraga Fernandez · Portuguese National Funding Agency for Science, Research and Technology (RCAAP Project by FCT) · Brazil (Rio de Janeiro)

This study presents the formation of Arranjo Local da Penha, a community territorial network established in 2016 in the Penha favela complex in Rio de Janeiro. Primarily led by women and focused on promoting urban agriculture based on agroecology, this network fostered women's protagonism and built emotional ties between them and the place, mainly by enabling access to "real food" in the favela.

Bruno do Nascimento Macedo, Fernanda Nogueira Comas, Amarílis Lucia Casteli Figueiredo Gallardo · Journal of Urban Technology and Sustainability · Brazil (São Paulo)

This study discussed the main environmental services and disservices associated with urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in São Paulo, Brazil, using a systematic literature review and spatial analysis. It identified 12 environmental services and 5 disservices, mapping 197 UPA initiatives. The research concluded that UPA has the potential to offer environmental benefits, but can also exert negative pressures on the environment, including in areas that should be protected.

Moisés Savian, Pedro Boff, Mari Inês Caríssimi Boff · Research Society and Development · Brazil

This study analyzed the contribution of urban agriculture to sustainable development in Brazilian cities and communities by reviewing 40 scientific articles published between 2009 and 2019. The findings indicate that urban agriculture is practiced across all regions of Brazil, exhibits diverse multifunctional characteristics, plays a significant role in maintaining agrobiodiversity, and supports food and nutritional security. It also contributes to economic, social, and ecological aspects of cities, potentially benefiting urban spaces, promoting health, and aiding educational processes.