Research & reports

Tony Ngwenya, Pfano Mashau · Problems and Perspectives in Management · South Africa (Durban)

This study investigated institutional support for youth-owned Small, Medium, and Micro-Enterprises (SMMEs) in Durban's urban agribusiness sector using a quantitative methodology. Findings indicated that CSR interventions had not yielded a fundamental impact, and there was a lack of tangible, result-driven institutional support from policymakers and authorities. Furthermore, targeted technological transfer was a constraining factor, and a lack of monetary and non-monetary access hampered the SMMEs' competitiveness and profitability.

Mulugeta Chane Wube · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Ethiopia

A descriptive study analyzed the effect of industry extension service packages on the performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in Dessie, South Wollo, and Oromia Special zones, Ethiopia, sampling 248 out of 646 MSEs. The analysis revealed that industry extension services provided by TVET trainers were inadequate across all four dimensions: technical, technology, Kaizen, and entrepreneurship. The overall performance of the surveyed MSEs was found to be very low, concluding that the provided extension services were insufficient in improving their performance.

Dauda Rotimi Awoniran, Omotayo Ben Olugbamila, Emmanuel Olufemi Omisore · Analele Universităţii din Oradea Seria Geografie · Sub-Saharan Africa (Lagos)

This study examined urban agriculture practices and land use changes in Lagos Metropolis, Sub-Saharan Africa, over three decades using satellite imagery and primary data from four Local Government Areas. It found that cultivated lands decreased by 28.70% between 1986 and 2000, and by 19.25% between 2000 and 2016. Urban farmlands converted to other uses by 89.48% between 1986 and 2000, and by 75.64% between 2000 and 2016, indicating that food security is under threat as land for urban farmers shrinks.

Mawuna Donald Houessou, Mirte van de Louw, B.G.J.S. Sonneveld · Sustainability · Benin

To identify the main constraints to the expansion of urban agriculture (UA) in Benin, a systematic literature review, a survey among experienced urban gardeners, and in-depth interviews with stakeholders were conducted. The synthesis revealed five predominant constraints: lack of land and tenure insecurity, insufficient government support, restricted market access, limited access to productive factors, and inequality issues. Specifically, the survey indicated a political unwillingness, which was explained by the unperceived benefits of investing in UA and the lack of enforcement of urban development plans.

Idris Mohammed, Abdella Kosa, Nuredin Juhar · Agricultural and Food Economics · Ethiopia

This study assessed the economic linkage between urban development and the livelihood of peri-urban farming communities in Ethiopia, focusing on current practices and policies. Data was collected from 30 municipal officials and 200 evicted peri-urban farmers across five municipalities in the Amara regional state. Findings indicate that the continuous eviction of peri-urban farmers from their indigenous land for redevelopment negatively affects their livelihood, highlighting significant equity issues. Factors contributing to urban expansion include economic policy reform, private investor incentives, and public sector projects, further exacerbated by policy limitations and lack of municipal intervention.

Michael Rudolph, Evans Muchesa, Florian Kroll · International Journal of Natural Resource Ecology and Management · South Africa

This paper reflects on key socio-economic challenges in South Africa and the role of urban agriculture in addressing health disparities and promoting ecological health. Using a structured mixed literature review and primary/secondary data, the study demonstrates the high prevalence of food and nutrition insecurity. However, it also emphasizes the positive outcomes of an integrated approach to addressing nutrition and food security, suggesting that multi- and trans-disciplinary methods based on ecological health promotion can improve food security, public health, and socio-economic development.

Sileshi Azagew, Hailu Worku · ENVIRONMENTAL SYSTEMS RESEARCH · Ethiopia (Addis-Ababa)

This study assessed the status, accessibility, and constraints of urban green infrastructure (UGI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It revealed that UGI land use decreased by 9.2% from 2003 to 2016, with urban agriculture declining by 11.9%. City residents lack sufficient recreational UGI, with park per capita at a very small 0.37 m² compared to Ethiopian standards of 15 m², and over 90% of the population lacking access to existing parks within walking distance. Major constraints identified include weak implementation of development plans, density, built-up area expansion, and lack of priority for UGI development.

Amélie Robert, Jean Louis Yengué, A. Fanny, Mikael Motelica‐Heino, Edmond Hien, Alain Sanou · Risco Revista de Pesquisa em Arquitetura e Urbanismo (Online) · Africa

This research, conducted in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, utilized in situ observations, interviews with farmers and decision-makers, and an analysis of planning documents. It found that urban agriculture has experienced a significant increase in surface area and is popular among city residents. However, it is not officially considered in urban planning, revealing divergences in viewpoints between farmers and public decision-makers.

Derek Du Bruyn, Marietjie Oelofse · New Contree · South Africa (Bloemfontein)

This article investigates the Bloemfontein Municipality's efforts to establish Batho, a new location for black and coloured people (ca. 1918-1939), as a 'garden location' within the historical context of British-style urban planning and racist, segregationist policies. Initiatives included securing water supply, allocating allotment gardens, providing a fresh-produce market, and planting trees. While some motivations were aesthetic, others were deeply rooted in segregationist ideology. The article critically assesses whether these attempts to create a garden location were 'successful'.

Eliana Camargo Nino, Sam R. Lane, Kanako Okano, Irvanu Rahman, Bo Peng, Hannah Benn, Christina Culwick Fatti, Gillian Maree, Samkelisiwe Khanyile, Carla-Leanne Washbourne · Occasional paper · South Africa

This paper aimed to understand urban agriculture within the green infrastructure network in the City of Johannesburg, South Africa, and identify ecosystem services delivered by maintaining and investing in these assets. A multi-method approach was used to identify interlinkages between urban agriculture and social, economic, and environmental systems, validate them with stakeholder input, and visualize them through spatial analysis of food gardens. Urban agriculture was shown to enhance food security, provide economic opportunities, and strengthen ecosystem services such as climate change mitigation and disaster resilience.

Isaac Otieno Dawo, George Mark Onyango, Francis Ang’awa Okere · The International Journal of Humanities & Social Studies · Kenya

This study investigated the influence of planning policy frameworks on urban agriculture practices in Eldoret, Kakamega, and Kisumu towns in Western Kenya. A cross-sectional survey of 205 urban farmers found that the economic influence of urban planning legislation declined, social influence increased only in Kakakamega, and environmental influence doubled in all towns. Newly enacted urban planning legislations had no major influence on the planning, promotion, and regulation of urban agriculture, though a significant low positive correlation with urban agriculture practice was observed.

Amsalu Woldie Yalew · Regional Economic Development Research · Ethiopia

This paper provides an overview of urban agriculture in Ethiopia, synthesizing existing evidence on its role in the overall agricultural sector, urban economy, and urban employment, based on official reports and statistical surveys. Despite scant evidence, urban agriculture shows considerable contributions. However, the review reveals existing gaps in institutional and policy support for urban agriculture.

Murtah Shannon, Kei Otsuki, Annelies Zoomers, Mayke Kaag · Urban Studies · Mozambique (Beira)

This article examines the implications of global interventionism in African cities for existing claims to urban space, particularly those of farmers, using Beira, Mozambique, as a case study. A historical-political analysis demonstrates that urban farming has been a distinct feature of Beira's urbanism amidst successive and contradictory state-land regimes. A new urban regime, formed by municipal leaders and international donors, aims to erase urban agriculture from the city through urban 'development', indicating a need for better understanding of manifold claims to urban space beyond slum urbanism.

Achamyeleh Gashu Adam · IntechOpen eBooks · Ethiopia

A case-study and desk-review analysis of how new urban built-up properties form in the transitional peri-urban areas of Ethiopia. These areas are described as sites of intense competition between agricultural and non-agricultural land use, where rural agricultural land rights are vanishing. The study finds that both formal and informal actors play a significant role in converting peri-urban agricultural land into non-agricultural urban built-up property, and that these properties result from land-use conversion through both formal and informal channels.

Naudé Malan · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · South Africa

A reflective essay revisits iZindaba Zokudla (IZ), a multistakeholder engagement project in Johannesburg, South Africa, aiming to create opportunities for urban agriculture within a sustainable food system. IZ runs the Farmers' Lab, a social lab used as a transitional mechanism toward sustainability, and the essay argues that significant stakeholder integration is needed to move South Africa's urban food system toward ecological soundness, economic productivity and social equity. It details the project's history from 2013 to the present, its creation of a social-lab-based ecosystem, the applied research opportunities it has generated at universities, and the resulting changes to agroecological practice in Johannesburg.

Isaac Otieno Dawo, George Mark Onyango, Francis Ang’awa Okere · International Journal of Sciences: Basic and Applied Research · Africa

A cross-sectional survey of urban farmers in three towns in western Kenya — Eldoret (n=137), Kakamega (n=145) and Kisumu (n=158) — examining how local governance institutions' economic, social and environmental roles influence urban agriculture (UA) practice. A stratified sample of 205 respondents (63 in Eldoret, 68 in Kakamega, 74 in Kisumu) completed questionnaires and key-informant interviews. The department of agriculture, livestock and fisheries was identified as the most important institution promoting UA, cited by 64.8% of respondents in Eldoret, 42.2% in Kakamega and 40.0% in Kisumu. Pearson correlation showed a statistically significant moderate positive relationship between county government institutional roles and UA practice (n=205, r=.532, p<.05).

N. K. Fidelis, M. K. Winnie, W. K. Joyce, K. Juliana, Kotey Ashie Daniel, M. Scholastica, Mbijjiwe Jacob Kathure Catherine · Journal of Engineering in Agriculture and the Environment · Africa

In Nairobi, Kenya, stratified random sampling, field surveys and questionnaires were used to identify existing water sources and wastewater treatment systems and their reuse status, in an investigation of the potential for eco-friendly urban and peri-urban agriculture (EcoUPA). Of the 300 respondents interviewed, only 66 (22%) reused wastewater, and only 54 of those reused it for crop production. Ninety-eight respondents (33%) wanted information on wastewater treatment systems allowing reuse, and 124 (41%) were willing to pay for a new system. The findings indicate that limited urban water sources constrain the spread of urban and peri-urban agriculture.

Tinashe P. Kanosvamhira, Daniel Tevera · African Geographical Review · South Africa (Cape Town)

This paper investigated urban agriculture as a source of social capital in Mitchells Plain, a low-income neighborhood in Cape Town, South Africa. Using a mixed-methods approach combining a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews, the findings showed that urban agriculture increases social interaction among urban gardeners and the community. Non-governmental organizations and government actors were also found to be crucial in enhancing social interaction within the community.

Thulasizwe Mkhabela · · Southern Africa

This chapter examines trends in large and urban agricultural markets in Africa, focusing on Southern Africa and using South Africa as an example. It notes the increasing importance of urban agriculture markets due to growing urban populations, purchasing power, and changing consumer preferences. The chapter analyzes the evolution of these markets, including the rise of alternative marketing channels like farmers' markets, and discusses the linkages between rural and urban areas in food marketing, suggesting policy interventions to enhance urban agricultural markets.

Hendrick J. Bruins · · Africa

This paper discusses drought mitigation in urban and peri-urban Africa, where severe droughts threaten food production under rainfed agriculture. It argues that while urban and peri-urban farming's informal private sector should not be government-controlled, the treatment and use of urban wastewater in agriculture requires government planning, investment, and extension services. Participatory development is suggested to integrate central wastewater planning with private farmer use.

Valerio Bini, Maria Bottiglieri, Egidio Dansero, Andrea Magarini, Yota Nicolarea, Roberto Sensi · · Africa

This paper explores urban food policies from a Global South perspective, focusing on African cities and their unique urbanization processes and city-food linkages. It describes an overview of initiatives in African cities, aligning with the New Urban Agenda and Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, to promote new forms of cooperation among cities, universities, research bodies, and civil society organizations. The paper aims to identify cross-cutting issues like land tenure, climate change, and urban agriculture to compare cases across different African perspectives.

Nicolette Tamara Jonkman, Boris Jansen · Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability · Sub-Saharan Africa

This literature review on urban agriculture (UA) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) identifies a significant constraint: conflicting stakeholder perceptions of UA, which hinders its development into a sustainable business. Some view UA as illegal and unsustainable, while others see it as a means to food security and employment. The review highlights a knowledge gap regarding land-use history and its effect on UA soil composition and nutrient status, proposing that UA sustainability requires understanding this historical context to build inclusive business models.

Mawuna Donald Houessou, B.G.J.S. Sonneveld, Augustin K. N. Aoudji, Fréjus THOTO, Smith A. R. Dossou, D. J. Snelder, Anselme Adégbidi, Tjard de Cock Buning · Sustainability · Benin

A study explored and compared international standards of prevailing organizations and their functioning among 261 urban gardeners in two cities in Benin. It found that a vast majority of urban gardeners are members of a cooperation. However, their membership is largely titular because gardeners mostly behave semi-autonomously, and few decisions are taken collectively. The obvious economic advantages of leveraging bargaining power, reducing transaction costs, and increasing possibilities for loans are seriously underutilized.

Erik Engel, Karin Fiege, Anja Kühn · · Africa

The UFISAMO project analyzed urban agriculture (UA) in Maputo and Cape Town. In Maputo, UA is the main income source for about 5% of the population, though it often does not cover monthly food costs, and a major challenge is the uncontrolled application of pesticides due to mono-cropping. In Cape Town's townships, UA plays a negligible role in income and food security due to small plots, sandy soils, water stress, and weak market links.

Lemi Gonfa · · Africa

This paper reviewed the role of urban agriculture in socio-economic and environmental sustainability in Africa, drawing on theoretical and empirical literature. While urban agriculture is recognized for job creation, improved diet, and environmental benefits like urban greenery and biodiversity, challenges such as difficult land access, lack of experience, financial support, training, and credit facilities, as well as low land productivity, animal grazing, and theft, were identified. These factors present potential negative externalities and hinder the development of urban agriculture.