Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
3765 results(58 / 151)
Consumer attitudes to vertical farming (indoor plant factory with artificial lighting) in China, Singapore, UK, and USA: A multi-method study
2021Ares G., Ha B., Jaeger S. R. · Food Research International 150:110811 · Global
Examines consumer attitudes to vertical farming across the USA, UK, Singapore and China using online surveys and a novel text-highlighting method, contrasting perceived benefits like sustainability with concerns over price and naturalness across markets.
EconomicsGrowing-Service Systems: New Business Models for Modular Urban-Vertical Farming
2021Martin M., Bustamante M. J. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 5:787281 · Sweden
Proposes and analyzes 'growing-service systems'—a product-service-system business model for modular urban-vertical farming—exploring how service-oriented value provision beyond product sales can create new commercial opportunities for the sector.
EconomicsThe global rise of urban rooftop agriculture: A review of worldwide cases
2021Appolloni E., Orsini F., Specht K., Thomaier S., Sanyé-Mengual E., Pennisi G., Gianquinto G. · Journal of Cleaner Production 296:126556 · Global
Systematic review of rooftop agriculture cases worldwide, mapping diverse business forms including commercial and social models, and their integration into urban food policy and planning.
EconomicsPolicyFood security: The role of urban and peri-urban agriculture. A case of Dar es Salaam City, Tanzania
2021Malekela A. A., Nyomora A. M. S. · International Journal of Biosciences (INNSPUB) 18(6):204-214 · Tanzania
This case study in Dar es Salaam finds urban and peri-urban agriculture positively contributes to food security: 84% of crop-producing farmers engaged primarily to obtain food and income, underscoring UPA's role for the urban poor.
WelfareEconomicsGlobal mapping of urban-rural catchment areas reveals unequal access to services
2021Cattaneo, A., Nelson, A., McMenomy, T. · PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) 118(2) · Global
The foundational paper on the Urban-Rural Catchment Areas (URCA) typology, mapping the urban-rural continuum worldwide as 30 classes (7 city sizes × 3 travel-time bands) and showing unequal access to services.
PolicyEconomicsEconomic and Social Development along the Urban-Rural Continuum: New Opportunities to Inform Policy
2021Cattaneo A., Adukia A., Brown D.L., Christiaensen L., Evans D.K., Haakenstad A.M., McMenomy T., Partridge M., Vaz S., Weiss D.J. · World Development / World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 9756 · Global
About 25% of the world's people live in the peri-urban areas of small and mid-size cities. Proximity to large cities is strongly correlated with lower poverty, while mid-size-city fringes face a 'peri-urban penalty'. Establishes URCA as a core policy framework.
PolicyEconomicsAs the city grows, what do farmers do? A systematic review of urban and peri-urban agriculture under rapid urban growth across the Global South
2021Follmann, A., Willkomm, M., Dannenberg, P. · Landscape and Urban Planning 215, 104186 · Global
A meta-analysis of 92 studies across 83 Global South cities, showing that peri-urban agriculture under rapid urbanization faces both pressures—displacement/marginalization of farmland and expansion/intensification driven by rising food demand.
EconomicsCommunity gardening in Hellinikon as a resistance struggle against neoliberal urbanism: spatial autogestion and the right to the city in post-crisis Athens, Greece
2021Apostolopoulou E., Kotsila P. · Urban Geography, 43(2), 293–319 · Greece (Athens)
Examining the Hellinikon self-organized guerrilla garden that emerged as resistance to real estate redevelopment of the former Athens international airport, the paper argues that community gardening can embed grassroots opposition to neoliberal urban transformation and assert the right to urban space.
CommunityPolicyWelfareEconomicsAssembling agroecological socio-natures: a political ecology analysis of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Rosario, Argentina
2021Hammelman C., Shoffner E., Cruzat M., Lee S. · Agriculture and Human Values · Argentina (Rosario)
Drawing on interviews with 30 stakeholders in Rosario, the study applies assemblage and urban political ecology frameworks to reveal how institutionalized agroecology constructs valued socio-natures amid land pressure and economic marginalization.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsCadenas de valor cortas hortícolas en Lima - Perú
2021Rendón Schneir E. · e-Agronegocios, Vol. 7, No. 2 · Peru (Lima)
Analyzes short horticultural value chains (cadenas cortas) in Lima, showing that removing intermediaries improves farmer incomes and strengthens urban food security, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyA systematic scoping review of the impacts of community food production initiatives in Kenya, Cameroon, and South Africa
2021Hutton G.B., Brugulat-Panés A., Bhagtani D., Maadjhou Mba C., Birch J.M., Shih H., Okop K., Muti M., Wadende P., Tatah L., Mogo E., Guariguata L., Unwin N. · Journal of Global Health Reports · Cameroon
This systematic scoping review synthesized 118 studies (from 4,828 screened) on community food production initiatives across Kenya, Cameroon, and South Africa, finding that economic and environmental impacts dominated the literature while health and social dimensions were understudied; Cameroon-specific studies (10 papers) primarily addressed economic impacts.
CommunityHealthEconomicsFood educationExploring the needs of urban producers in a rural state: A qualitative needs assessment
2021Catherine Sanders, Casandra Cox, Leslie Edgar, Donna Graham, Amanda Philyaw Perez · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States (Arkansas)
This qualitative study conducted in-depth interviews with 16 urban farmers in Northwest and Central Arkansas to assess their needs and their interactions with the University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. Needs were highly individualized by operation size, years in operation, and mission, but common needs included market pricing, co-ops, and equipment access; participants viewed Extension positively but noted it lacked resources specific to small-scale, sustainable farming.
EconomicsCommunityPolicyModels for cost-offset community supported agriculture (CO-CSA) programs
2021Marilyn Sitaker, Mackenzie McCall, Weiwei Wang, Mia Vaccaro, Jane Kolodinsky, Alice Ammerman, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Karla Hanson, Diane Smith, Rebecca Seguin-Fowler · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · United States
Using a qualitative approach, this study describes the organizational models and best practices of five well-established nonprofit cost-offset community-supported agriculture (CO-CSA) programs in the US, which aim to increase low-income households' access to fresh produce while helping CSA farms grow. Administration took several forms—direct subsidies to member farms, acting as an aggregator/packer/distributor, or sourcing from an in-house incubator or food hub—funded through government grants, donations, and fundraising, with dedicated staff and community partnerships identified as key success factors.
EconomicsWelfareCommunityAssessment of Urban Agriculture for Evidence-Based Food Planning: A Case Study in Chengdu, China
2021· Sustainability · China (Chengdu)
Assesses how urban agriculture can inform evidence-based food planning in Chengdu, China. The staple-food self-sufficiency rate was 83.82% in 2019, suggesting potential food-security pressures.
PolicyEconomicsComparative analysis of carbon footprint between conventional smallholder operation and innovative large-scale farming of urban agriculture in Beijing, China
2021· PeerJ · China (Beijing)
Compares the carbon footprint of conventional smallholder operations versus innovative large-scale urban farming in Beijing, China.
EconomicsOrganic cycleComprehensive Food System Planning for Urban Food Security in Nanjing, China
2021· Land · China (Nanjing)
Discusses comprehensive food-system planning for urban food security in Nanjing, China, including expansion of peri-urban greenhouse vegetable production.
PolicyEconomicsCausal Relations of Upscaled Urban Aquaponics and the Food-Water-Energy Nexus—A Berlin Case Study
2021· Water · Germany (Berlin)
Analyzes the causal relations of upscaled urban aquaponics with the food-water-energy nexus, using Berlin as a case study.
EconomicsOrganic cycleLow-Cost Smart Indoor Greenhouse for Urban Farming
2021· Computational Science and Its Applications – ICCSA 2021 (LNCS) · Global
Presents the design of a low-cost smart indoor greenhouse to cultivate herbs and vegetables with minimum human intervention, monitored by a web application. It builds on IoT-based monitoring systems for indoor micro-climate horticulture.
DIYEconomicsDesign and Implementation of an LED Automatic Lighting System for Plant Factories
2021· IEEE Photonics Journal · Global
Design and implementation of an LED automatic lighting system for plant factories that provides automatic dimming and multi-band colour mixing, adjusting light intensity and colour to plant needs to increase crop yield.
DIYEconomicsEconomic viability of a small scale low-cost aquaponic system in South Africa
2021· Journal of Applied Aquaculture · South Africa
The study analyzes the economic feasibility of a small-scale, low-cost aquaponic system in South Africa, examining how the fish-to-plant revenue ratio affects viability.
DIYEconomicsEvaluation of Lettuce Growth, Yield, and Economic Viability Grown Vertically on Unutilized Building Wall in Dhaka City
2021· Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Bangladesh (Dhaka)
Evaluates the growth, yield and economic viability of lettuce grown vertically on a building wall in Dhaka, finding a green-leaf cultivar in an organic medium significantly outperformed other treatments.
DIYEconomicsExpanding the Level of Technological Readiness for a Low-Cost Vertical Hydroponic System
2021· Inventions · Global
Presents a design advancing the technological readiness of a low-cost vertical hydroponic system using lighter, cheaper materials such as aluminum and PVC with integrated drip irrigation for resource-limited settings.
DIYEconomicsAssessing sense of community at farmers markets: A systematic review
2021Russomanno J., Jabson Tree J. · Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development · USA
A PRISMA-guided systematic review of how sense of community (belonging) at farmers markets shapes customer engagement, and how markets relate to food access for low-income shoppers.
CommunityEconomicsWelfarePost-harvest losses in rural-urban value chains: Evidence from Ethiopia
2021Minten B., Tamru S., Reardon T. · Food Policy · Ethiopia
Analyses self-reported post-harvest losses across farmers, wholesalers, processors, and retailers along rural-urban value chains for teff and liquid milk in Ethiopia.
Food lossEconomicsClosed-Loop Biodigesters on Small-Scale Farms in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Review
2021Kulkarni I., Zang J., Leandro W., Parikh P., Adler I., Da Fonseca-Zang W., Campos L. · Water · Low- and middle-income countries (review)
A review of closed-loop biodigesters on small-scale farms in low- and middle-income countries, converting organic waste into energy and nutrient-rich digestate fertilizer integrated with food production.
Organic cycleFood lossEconomics