Research & reports

David Pearlmutter, Bernhard Pucher, Cristina Sousa Coutinho Calheiros, Karin A. Hoffmann, Andreas Aicher, Pedro Pinho, Alessandro Stracqualursi, Alisa Koroļova, Alma Pobrić, Ana Galvão, Ayça Tokuç, Bilge Baş, Dimitra Theochari, Dragan Milošević, Emanuela Giancola, Gaetano Bertino, Joana Castellar, Julia Flaszynska, Makbulenur Onur, Mari Carmen Garcia Mateo, Maria Beatrice Andreucci, Maria Milousi, Mariana Fonseca, Sara Di Lonardo, Veronika Gežík, Ulrike Pitha, Thomas Nehls · Water · Global

This paper proposes a new paradigm for closing urban water cycles using nature-based solutions, specifically green roofs and vertical greening systems (VGS). Simulations of VGS evapotranspiration performance in six cities (Copenhagen, Berlin, Lisbon, Rome, Istanbul, Tel Aviv) showed that VGS could recycle 44% (Lisbon) to 100% (Berlin, Istanbul) of rainwater roof runoff, with greywater bridging dry month shortages. Additionally, 27–53% of building greywater could be managed on greened surfaces.

Kamonashish Haldar, Katarzyna Kujawa-Roeleveld, Marco Schoenmakers, Dilip Kumar Datta, H.H.M. Rijnaarts, Jeroen Vos · Journal of Environmental Management · Bangladesh (Khulna)

This study assessed stakeholder awareness, perception, and willingness towards urban water reuse in Khulna City, Bangladesh, using a questionnaire with 385 urban respondents, 32 farmer interviews, one farmer focus group, and ten key informant interviews. It found an overall positive attitude among major stakeholder groups toward planned water reuse for peri-urban agriculture, with 53% of citizens willing to pay for wastewater treatment and 66% of farmers willing to pay for better-quality irrigation water. However, the public sector requires adjustments in rules and regulations, addressing issues like lack of transparency, coordination, and resources, to implement planned water reuse.

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.

Julissa Basurto-Bajaña, Victoria Rendón-Ledesma, Oscar Caicedo-Camposano, Georgina Jácome-Lara · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Ecuador

This study aimed to characterize peri-urban agricultural production systems in the Febres Cordero parish. It notes that food insecurity is not uniform across Ecuador, with rural Sierra regions showing higher concentrations of households lacking access to basic food baskets and a higher prevalence of chronic malnutrition. A multicriteria analysis was used to group surveyed families, illustrating their situation in the study area.

Diana Maria Reyes Avalo, Misterbino Borgès Garcìa · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Cuba (Jiguaní)

This study in Jiguaní municipality, Granma province, Cuba, aimed to enhance the sustainable production and diversification of yam cultivation under agricultural drought conditions using biotechnological seeds. The accelerated yam seed production technology, combining biotechnological and conventional methods, was implemented in urban, suburban, and family agriculture. This led to the successful implementation of certified yam seed technology, increasing plant numbers from 2000 to 6000 in 2018 for a total area of 0.6 ha, and contributing to local development.

Fatiha Hakimi · Journal of Analytical Science & Technology · Morocco (Rabat)

This study assessed the practices, roles, and challenges of peri-urban farming in the metropolis of Rabat, Morocco, surveying 50 respondents. Peri-urban agriculture is a multifunctional activity contributing to job creation, income generation, food supply, and environmental beautification. However, it faces several constraints, including precarious and costly labor, absence of regulating laws, lack of training and technical supervision for peri-urban farmers, and water resource shortages.

Sofia Nikolaidou · Cahiers de la Méditerranée · Greece (Athens)

This article analyzed the role of peri-urban agriculture and alternative food networks (AFN) in the Athens metropolitan area, Greece, using a mixed method approach including qualitative, quantitative research, and spatial data collection. Bottom-up claims for food security positively impacted sustainable food systems and public policies, while informal retail channels and self-production schemes strengthened agricultural resilience. However, poor land management and zoning control are major constraints to sustainable agricultural production and farmers' resilience in the Athens metropolitan area.

Shwan Mohammed, P. K. Nyade, Mohamad Abdulhamid, I. O. A. Hodgson · Water Science · Ghana (Accra)

This study assessed urban water quality parameters of the Nima Creek in Southeastern Accra, Ghana, sampling water from six locations. The results showed high enrichment of nutrients (ammonia, nitrate, phosphate) and elevated levels of BOD, COD, and grease at sites receiving solid and liquid wastes. Physicochemical parameters like conductivity, TSS, and TDS also exhibited elevated values, indicating significant contamination that poses challenges for sustainable urban agriculture.

Claudia Marani, A. Lighezzolo, C. Bisio, Beatriz Giobellina, Diego Pons · LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) · Argentina

This report, part of the SAT-CV-CBA Project, aims to inform provincial authorities and the community about the estimation of horticultural areas affected by extreme weather events in Córdoba, Argentina, at the end of January 2021. It estimates the number of farms, crop losses based on vulnerability, and storm intensity. The information is expected to be useful for supporting affected producers.

Wouyo Atakpama, Madjouma KANDA, Fousséni Folega, Denis Talate LAMBONI, Komlan Batawila, Koffi AKPAGANA · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Togo

This study mapped agricultural spaces, characterized participants, practices, and species, and evaluated the socio-economic importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Lomé, Togo. Using Google Earth, field inventories, and surveys of 89 producers, it found that indigenous, married landowners were most involved. Maize (57.7%) and cassava (39.0%) were the most frequently cultivated among 34 identified species.

Martin MASSOUANGUI-KIFOUALA · International journal of innovation and applied studies · Republic of Congo (Pointe-Noire)

This article analyzed precipitation data in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo, using agronomic criteria and frequencies to understand rainy season behavior for agricultural planning. The study found that Pointe-Noire has a bimodal rainfall regime, allowing for two cultivation periods annually. However, the rainy seasons are very random, with increasingly late starts, early endings, and shortening durations over the years.

Camille Dumat · Aspects in Mining & Mineral Science · Global

This paper discusses the negative environmental and health impacts of mining, such as air and soil pollution, despite its socio-economic benefits. It highlights that urban agriculture, particularly in areas near former mining sites, faces challenges regarding soil quality and the production of unpolluted vegetables due to public concerns about contamination.

Fatiha Hakimi, Mohamed Brech · International journal of food science and agriculture · Morocco

This study assessed peri-urban agriculture practices, roles, and challenges in Rabat Metropolis, Morocco, by surveying 50 respondents using purposive and stratified random sampling. Major practices included horticulture, crop farming, and livestock rearing. Peri-urban agriculture contributes to economic development by generating income, creating employment, supplying food, and enhancing land use and environmental beautification. However, it faces legal constraints, such as a lack of regulating laws and housing taxes, and technical constraints, including insufficient workforce, high labor costs, difficult access to irrigation water, and lack of training and support.

K.R.M. Swamy, Prem Nath · · Global

This paper discusses important messages emerging from several international horticultural conferences and workshops held in the new millennium. Messages from these conferences, conducted over the last decade in India and other countries, were extracted under headings such as the status of horticulture in the food world, education, research, extension, production, development, policy, and technical cooperation among developing countries.

Maria Elena Peralta-Culcay, Hugo Alberto Cedillo-Tapia, Alfonso Suárez-Tapia · Dialnet (Universidad de la Rioja) · Ecuador (Cuenca)

This research characterized the technological use among small (500-1000 m2) and medium (1000-3000 m2) peri-urban horticultural producers in San Joaquín, Baños, and Sayausí, Cuenca, Ecuador, using a survey. The survey found that most production is sold in local markets, following an ancestral system with some additional technology. The identified technological efficiency was at a medium level (3 on a scale of 1 to 5), indicating a technological deficit.

· Crop Research · Global

To address problems such as incomplete kernel development and shrivelled kernels during sweet corn growth, the spraying of liquid organic manures was attempted. An RBD study with eight treatments and four replications revealed that the combined application of FYM at 10t/ha with two sprays of panchakavya 3% at fortnightly intervals resulted in the highest values for all growth and yield parameters while maintaining soil fertility and productivity.

Noémie Maughan, Nathalie Pipart, Barbara Van Dyck, Marjolein Visser · · Belgium (Brussels)

This chapter shares insights from the establishment of the Brussels-based Cycle Farm, a reflexive research process involving various stakeholders. It highlights the need for small, local food producers to develop competitive advantages in the context of organic food sector industrialization, as emphasized by Eliot Coleman. The research involved workshops and focused on enhancing the resilience of the Brussels Region, with SPIN Farming concentrating on high-value crops.

Teresa Rodríguez-Espinosa, José Navarro-Pedreño, Ignacio Gómez Lucas, María Belén Almendro Candel · Journal of Geographical Research · Global

This paper argues, without presenting new primary data, that as world population grows toward a projected 9.8 billion by 2050 and urban agglomerations expand across all continents by 2035, competition for land near cities with high agricultural potential will intensify; it proposes that land rehabilitation using constructed Technosols on brownfield sites and de-sealed soils can recover ecosystem functions, including food-supply services, as a substrate for urban agroforestry.

Mosen Farhangi, Sara Farhangi, Paulien C. H. van de Vlasakker, G.J. Carsjens · Land · Iran

An exploratory case study of Rafsanjan county, Kerman province, Iran—where agriculture, one of the sectors most vulnerable to water scarcity and climate change, is losing pistachio orchards to water shortages—analyzed the actor network behind the rise of high-tech urban agriculture and examined the role of technology in supporting citizen participation in local urban planning. Against a backdrop where modernizing irrigation and transferring water from other regions had failed to succeed, data gathered through observation, document study, and in-depth interviews with farmers, planners, researchers, and policymakers showed that governmental planning bodies such as the Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO) and the 10-year greenhouse development plan were the most influential actors in the transition, reconfiguring relationships with the private sector, knowledge institutes, and farmers in ways that strengthened participatory decision-making in local urban planning.

Tarmo Pikner, Hannes Palang · · Estonia

A study of dacha-style allotment gardens in the border city of Narva, Estonia, on the eastern edge of the European Union, used ethnographic fieldwork and qualitative interviews to examine how plural mobility and emotional human-nature interactions shape periurban landscapes. Results indicated a persistent rural dimension and multiple engagements with nature within Narva's wider urbanization dynamics. Plural mobility and emotional care motivated and sustained by allotment gardening constituted dispersed landscapes as connective tissue across periurban features. Landscape histories of the periurban area showed particular ruptures and reassemblies tied to shifts in the state-border regime.

Carolina Baldini, Mariana Edith Marasas, Andrea Alejandra Drozd · Journal of Environmental Planning and Management · Colombia

A land-cover change study (Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 2021) applied a supervised classification of Landsat satellite imagery from 1986, 1996, 2005, and 2015 to Argentina's largest peri-urban horticultural region in South America. Between 1986 and 2015, open-field horticulture extent decreased by 51.47%, while greenhouse area increased by 2652.83%, high-density urbanization expanded by 111.58%, and low-density urbanization increased only between 1986 and 2005—expansion that came at the expense of natural grassland, herbaceous parks, and livestock land. The authors conclude this reflects a regional process of urban growth and productive intensification that has caused losses of open-field horticultural areas and produced a non-equitable distribution of remaining semi-natural areas, and they call for territorial planning that prioritizes ecologically resilient, semi-natural land cover.

WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities · WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities · Argentina

Rosario, Argentina launched an urban agriculture program in response to the 2001 economic crisis, evolving through a 2004 ordinance allowing temporary use of vacant land, two flood-mitigating 'Parques Huerta' opened in 2007-2008, and a 2011 ordinance designating 800 hectares of peri-urban land as a green belt. The program now covers 75 hectares of agroecological production plus the 800-hectare peri-urban belt, yields 2,500 tons of produce a year, involves more than 2,400 participating families, and has created 7 new permanent market spaces. Locally produced vegetables are estimated to cut associated greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 95%, and the project won the WRI Ross Center Prize for Cities 2020-2021 grand prize.

Guido Lautaro Padin · La tinta / Revista InterNos · Argentina

Reporting on Rosario's 2021 WRI Cities Prize win ($250,000, selected from 262 proposals across 54 countries), this article explains the programme's mechanics and history: 40 hectares across 7 Park Gardens (2.5-3 ha each) producing 2,500 tonnes a year, over 250 participating families/organizations, land granted through free indefinite loan (comodato). It also notes that around 2000-2002, roughly 800 community gardens sprang up within two years serving about 40,000 people, and that the municipality has reserved 700 hectares of peri-urban land as a protected 'green belt'.

Dora Neina, Sibylle Faust, Rainer Georg Joergensen · Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture · Ghana

A study in Ghana investigated the potential agricultural value of charcoal and firewood ashes by examining differences in their chemical and mineralogical compositions and the suitability of various extractants for plant nutrients. Charcoal ash had higher pH, EC, and CCE than firewood ash, while firewood ash contained higher levels of As, Cu, Mg, and Zn, and more Mg-rich minerals. Both ashes contained trace elements, but their bioavailability and plant uptake after field application may differ and may not necessarily lead to plant uptake.

Laura Wynne, Laure‐Elise Ruoso, Dana Cordell, Brent Jacobs · Australian Geographer · Australia (Sydney)

This paper investigates metropolitan-level strategic planning documents in Sydney, Australia, using a Foucauldian governmentality approach, to understand how they relate to peri-urban agriculture. The analysis reveals that prevailing rationalities, including the global city, compact city, and sustainability agenda, frame the urbanization of peri-urban agricultural lands as necessary and inevitable. Consequently, peri-urban areas are not considered to have unique planning needs but are instead imagined as latent spaces for future housing and job development, integrating agriculture only when it aligns with the 'global city' narrative.