Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
2530 results(69 / 102)
In This Issue: Food Systems Resilience
2017Duncan Hilchey · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Global
This combined spring and summer issue of JAFSCD highlights the growing interest in food systems resilience, presenting various strategies such as supporting critical organizational and physical infrastructure along with social capital, incubating new farmers, protecting farm landscapes, using season-extending technology, and supporting labor. It also emphasizes adapting to climate change and creating stronger connections between farmers and residents in need who are in close geographic proximity. The issue includes columns on Latinx/Hispanic issues in food systems work, the role of "freedom farmers" in the civil rights movement, and the under-appreciated contribution of urban agriculture to communities.
Climate changeFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageEconomicsCupuaçu sob sistemas agroflorestais: qualidade agroindustrial das polpas e a susceptibilidade a doença vassoura-de-bruxa
2017Pedro Vitor Pereira Guimarães, Maria Fernanda Berlingieri Durigan, Hyanameyka Evangelista de Lima-Primo · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil
Cupuaçu is important for family and peri-urban agriculture and indigenous communities in the Amazon, contributing to local food security. This study aimed to characterize pulps from cupuaçu plants with varying susceptibility to witch's broom disease. Differences were observed mainly in chemical and physical-chemical characteristics among pulps, with emphasis on susceptible and highly susceptible plants. All evaluated pulps complied with established quality standards, but significant differences were found between physicochemical characteristics, proportional to the plants' susceptibility to witch's broom disease, particularly for soluble solids (SS) and titratable acidity (AT).
Peri-urban agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceLandscape: from common good to human right
2017Laura Menatti · International Journal of the Commons · Global
This paper analyzed how the concept of landscape relates to notions of the common good, commons, and common pool resources (CPRs). Through theoretical research supported by practical examples like community gardens, it argued that landscape can be defined as a common good and can include commons and collective management of common pool resources. This analysis led to the possibility of defining the "right to landscape," arguing that landscape is a domain where human rights can be claimed and a right to which human beings are entitled.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceThe hybrid landscape of public space in Thessaloniki in the context of crisis
2017Evangelia Athanassiou · Landscape Research · Greece (Thessaloniki)
Trends redefining public spaces in Thessaloniki, Greece, are analyzed. One trend involves official urban policies introducing private and voluntary sectors into public space management, while another consists of citizen-led initiatives reasserting 'publicness' through collective activity, exemplified by urban farming in an abandoned military camp. These trends are argued to create a hybrid landscape of public space where the public and private binary is redefined, representing divergent imaginaries of 'publicness'.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceChallenges and Opportunities in Urban Farming
2017V. Kumar, K. Sentamilselvan · Advances in business strategy and competitive advantage book series · Global
This study is an initiative to explore the feasibility of urban farming and focuses on its challenges and opportunities in the context of rapid global urbanization. It aims to bring out societal views on urban farming and suggest ways to overcome hindrances. The research seeks to facilitate the utilization of urban farming's benefits.
Climate changeHealthFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsViele Orte überall: Care-Logik in alternativen Projekten und Potentiale von Gegenmacht
2017Christa Wichterich · Feministische Studien · Global
This essay explores the transformative potential of caring and commoning in alternative projects such as community agriculture and urban gardening. While these self-organized experiments develop caring practices towards nature and humans, their transformative impact on society is limited. This limitation stems from unintended mechanisms of social or racist exclusion, or from appropriation by the municipality or the state.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyResilience to Economic Shocks: Reflections from Zambia's Copperbelt
2017Etienne Nel, Jessie Smart, Tony Binns · Growth and Change · Zambia
This study examined resilience to economic shocks in Zambia's Copperbelt region, which experienced significant economic destabilization after the 1970s. Following massive job losses in mining and manufacturing, the local population shifted to informal sector activities and food self-provisioning. The practice of urban agriculture served as a case study of how households strengthened their food security through their own actions in the absence of formal sector employment opportunities.
EconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceAgricultura urbana: espacio de encuentro entre procesos de educación no formales y la comunicación para el cambio social (CPCS)
2017Lorena Meneses · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Colombia (Palmira)
In 2015, Pontificia Bolivariana University implemented the 'Environmental Education' project in Palmira, Colombia. This project aimed to offer an alternative means of food acquisition for children at Fundación Hogar Divino Niño and identify plants usable on the land to minimize negative environmental impact and promote food sovereignty. Although conceived from an agricultural perspective, it became a participatory scenario where non-formal education and communication for social change played a role in uniting a community around a common good.
Food educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareCultivating an Alternative Paradigm in Urban Areas to Achieve Greater Food Certainty in The United States
2017Owen Beatty · ScholarsArchive at Johnson & Wales University (Johnson & Wales University) · United States
This study analyzed food insecurity in the United States, focusing on populations below the poverty threshold. It found that large-scale agricultural production has led to "food deserts" isolated from affordable, quality food. Urban agriculture, by localizing production, was identified as a viable resource and potential solution for individuals experiencing hunger and those in food deserts.
Food sovereignty & justiceWelfareEconomicsPolicyUrban agriculture, dietary diversity and child health in a sample of Tanzanian town folk
2017Natascha Wagner, Luca Tasciotti · Canadian Journal of Development Studies/Revue canadienne d études du développement · Tanzania
This study explores the link between urban agriculture, dietary diversity, and child health in urban Tanzania, using weight-for-age and height-for-age Z-scores. Utilizing two rounds of observational data for urban Tanzania and an instrumental variables estimation approach, the research shows that practicing urban agriculture leads to the consumption of a greater variety of food items, and the health status of urban children living in households practicing urban agriculture significantly improves in both the short and long term.
HealthWelfareEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceGlobal urban agriculture into the future: urban cultivation as accepted practice.
2017Antoinette WinklerPrins · CABI eBooks · Global
This chapter highlights three main points regarding urban cultivation. First, urban cultivation is much more than producing food. Second, it should be seen as a normal and accepted livelihood in all urban areas, requiring land rights and regulatory environments to align with this reality. Third, urban cultivation has a critical role in making cities sustainable, green, and more resilient in the future.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceCrowd-based production
2017Klaus Philipsen · · Global
This text discusses how custom production, facilitated by technologies like 3-D printing, challenges traditional mass production theories. It notes that urban agriculture is exploring experimental, low-impact production methods to integrate urban surfaces into food production for a growing urban population. The high costs of mass production prototypes can be significantly reduced by 3-D printing, allowing for greater product variation at lower costs.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeEconomicsAdults and Children in Low-Income Households that Participate in Cost-Offset Community Supported Agriculture Have High Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
2017Karla L. Hanson, Jane Kolodinsky, Weiwei Wang, Emily H. Morgan, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Alice S. Ammerman, Marilyn Sitaker, Rebecca A. Seguin‐Fowler · Nutrients · United States
This study surveyed 41 adults and children (2-12 years) in August 2015 and 23 in February 2016 from low-income households participating in a 50% subsidized Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program in the United States. Participants' fruit and vegetable intake (FVI) was higher than US averages, and they more frequently met vegetable recommendations. While some seasonal produce was consumed more often when locally in-season, causality between CO-CSA participation and FVI could not be inferred due to potential self-selection bias.
CSA & TeikeiHealthWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceEconomic Empowerment of Urban Farmers in Benin Metropolis
2017C.O. Edeoghon · IOSR Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science · Nigeria (Benin Metropolis)
This study assessed the effect of urban agriculture on food security and farmers' economic empowerment in Benin Metropolis, Edo State, Nigeria, by surveying 120 randomly selected urban farmers. The majority (62.6%) were male, with a mean age of 45 and an average household size of 9. Reasons for urban farming included high living costs, profitability, and household feeding. Urban agriculture provided economic empowerment for acquiring household equipment, better education, and medical services. Major constraints identified were land acquisition, capital, and transportation difficulty.
EconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceFarm fresh in the city: urban grassroots food distribution networks in Finland.
2017Sophia E. Hagolani‐Albov, Sarah J. Halvorson · CABI eBooks · Finland
This chapter examines grassroots food distribution networks in Finland, focusing on their role in creating farmer-consumer linkages for urban foodsheds. It discusses and compares two networks: Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), exemplified by the Herttoniemi Food Cooperative, and REKO Circles, which are based on the principle of 'fair consumption'.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceCreating Socioecological Novelty in Urban Agroecosystems from the Ground Up
2017Monika Egerer, Alessandro Ossola, Brenda B. Lin · BioScience · United States (California central coast)
This study conceptualizes community garden soils within the novel ecosystem framework, arguing that gardeners cultivate novel agroecosystems from their garden beds' soil. On the California central coast, community garden soils may not be influenced by land-use legacies associated with geographic location. Instead, intensive soil reworking by gardeners can wash out legacy signals and decadal chronological trends, leading to soil homogenization that reduces biophysical ties to the underlying earth.
Environmental trade-offsCommunityBiodiversityFood sovereignty & justiceOrganic cycleCommunity gardens: Exploring race, racial diversity and social capital in urban food deserts
2017Jennifer Jettner · VCU Scholars Compass (Virginia Commonwealth University) · United States
A mixed-methods approach examined race, racial diversity, and social capital in community gardens located in Southern urban food deserts in the United States. Results indicated that while gardeners were racially diverse across the sample, most community gardens were racially segregated, and the majority of gardeners appeared middle-class. Community gardens showed limited potential to advance social justice and indirectly enhanced community food security, primarily through the efforts of people of color, rather than directly benefiting food-insecure gardeners.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareKözösség által támogatott mezőgazdaság regionális vizsgálata
2017Nóra Gombkötő, Judit Vincze, Judit Hegyi, Károly Kacz, Gombkötő, Nóra, Vincze, Judit, Hegyi, Judit, Kacz, Károly · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Hungary
A questionnaire survey was conducted among producers and consumers regarding Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) systems in Hungary's West Transdanubian region. The study found that CSA is not mature in Hungary and requires broader support. Producers were predominantly over 45 years old, with few engaged in animal product production, and primarily used traditional markets, missing out on other sales opportunities. Consumer awareness of CSA types was low, with only 25% preferring buyer communities and 3% each for subscription/box systems and share farming.
Governance failureCSA & TeikeiCommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justicePerspectivas da Agroecologia nas cidades: Experiências da Agricultura Urbana na região do M’Boi Mirim da cidade de São Paulo
2017Zilma Borges de Souza, Lya Cynthia Porto de Oliveira, E. C. A. S. S. LIMA, Fábio Bruno Queiroga, Joyce Rodrigues · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil (São Paulo)
This research analyzes the development, functions, social practices, and income generation of urban agriculture in Jardim Angela and Jardim Sao Luis, located in the M’Boi Mirim region of São Paulo, Brazil. It maps existing initiatives and prospects opportunities for agroecological food production in private and collective spaces. The study presents partial results from an interdisciplinary project involving three universities.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceOrganic cyclePoblación y organoponía como estrategia de desarrollo local
2017Wendy Castañeda Abad, Angelina Herrera Sorzano, Roberto González Sousa, Eduardo San Marful Orbis · Revista Novedades en Población · Cuba (La Habana)
This research studies the organization, structure, and development of urban agriculture in Cuba, focusing on organoponics as a high-yield modality using agroecological techniques. The study evaluates the behavior and community impact of these centers in Havana Province, an urban territory, as a factor for local development.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceRECOVERY OF HEALTHY AND SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES THROUGH EXPERIENCES OF AGROECOLOGY AND URBAN AGRICULTURE
2017Silvana Maria Ribeiro, Jessica Franco, Mariana Tarricone Garcia, Cláudia Maria Bógus, Helena Akemi Wada Watanabe · DEMETRA Alimentação Nutrição & Saúde · Brazil
This paper discusses the recovery of practices focused on food, health, and the environment through four workshops held in Brazil in 2012 and 2013, which systematized experiences from the agroecological urban agriculture project "ColhendoSustentabilidade." This participatory qualitative research, involving 24 participants, revealed that contact with land in garden activities contributes to cultural recovery and new knowledge construction, promotes gradual changes in eating habits by emphasizing the food-health-environment relationship, and provides opportunities for social interaction involving food.
HealthFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationA view from the south: bringing critical planning theory to urban agriculture.
2017Stephanie White, Michael W. Hamm · CABI eBooks · Global South
This chapter discusses urban agriculture's role in urban food systems, particularly in the Global South, and proposes theoretical framings of urban agriculture as an 'urbanistic practice'. It argues that urban agriculture studies can enhance understanding of regional food provisioning and exchange, especially concerning informality, shed light on urban socio-ecological processes including food insecurity and marginalization, and provide case-study accounts of peripheral livelihoods that challenge conventional understandings of urban construction.
Food sovereignty & justicePolicyCommunityContribución cultural de la agricultura urbana
2017C. Alejandro Rafael Socorro Castro, C. Fernando Carlos Agüero Contreras, MSc. Raúl Ramón Rodríguez Rodríguez · Revista Científica Agroecosistemas · Cuba
This study evaluates the cultural contribution of urban agriculture as a global phenomenon expanding since the second half of the 20th century. Its universality is observed in industrialized and emerging economies, characterized by a tendency to face correlated ecological or alimentary dangers. Urban agriculture's contributions stand out in both material and spiritual culture associated with agrarian and agricultural productive processes. The Cuban experience, examined in Cienfuegos, confirms international literature and highlights essential contributions that are indispensable to study and socialize for Cuban society's efforts towards 2030 goals.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceDesigning urban agriculture education for social justice: Radical innovation through Farm School NYC
2017Kristin Reynolds · International Journal of Food Design · United States (New York City)
Farm School NYC, an adult education program in New York City, was examined as an example of radical innovation in urban agriculture education for social justice. Based on research conducted between 2013 and 2014, the program uses critical pedagogy and popular education to train adult students in urban farming, social justice advocacy, and teaching skills. A network of urban agriculture practitioners, educators, and activists created this community-based training program, which infuses radical visions of social change into its daily educational activities.
Food educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justicePoblación y organoponía como estrategia de desarrollo local. Population and organoponia as a local development strategy
2017Wendy Castañeda Abad, Angelina Herrera Sorzano, Roberto González Sousa, Eduardo San Marful Orbis · Novedades en población · Cuba (Havana)
This research studied the organization, structure, and development of urban agriculture in Cuba, focusing on organoponia as a high-performance modality developed with agroecological techniques in the urban territory of Havana province. The study considered the behavior of these organoponicos in the territory and their impact on the community as a factor in local development.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justice