Research & reports

Iwona Bisaga, Priti Parikh, Claudia Loggia · Sustainability · South Africa (Durban)

This study explores challenges and opportunities for sustainable urban farming as an integrated environmental management strategy for upgrading informal settlements in three case studies in Durban, South Africa. It demonstrates the need for municipalities to support community-driven processes for urban agriculture initiatives and sustained investment for maintenance. Policymakers are urged to create an enabling environment for academics, NGOs, and the private sector to co-develop water-efficient solutions and leverage local community structures.

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

A mixed-methods study in Mitchells Plain, Cape Town, examined the linkages between urban gardeners and supporting actors using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Findings indicate that the nature and strength of these linkages are critical for urban gardening success. However, there is minimal cooperation among non-state actors in the area.

Etienne Louis Nel · · South Africa

A 2019 book chapter examines community-based Local Economic Development (LED) in South Africa through three authority-based cases: Kei Road, the Independent Development Trust project, and East London. In Kei Road, a small rural service centre near Bisho in the Eastern Cape, the organization Eyethu launched a community-gardens project to promote household self-sufficiency and small-scale farming, and also runs a women's bulk-buying co-operative to reduce household costs. In 1993, Kei Road again drew attention when refugee numbers temporarily swelled due to people fleeing a faction fight in the neighboring village of Kwarini.

Beacon Mbiba · · Africa

This paper argues that the literature on urban agriculture is full of complaints about its negative treatment by researchers, urban managers and policymakers, who have regarded it as a new "eldorado" to be grabbed and exploited by whoever gets there first. Despite documented actual and perceived benefits to the urban economy, most cities in the region are said to lack policies that vigorously support urban agriculture. Most commentators hold that policy should provide more land, use of wastewater, security for crops and gardens, improved technologies, more demonstration projects, and credit, loans and extension services, and the paper concludes that a policy solution will not be found within urban agriculture itself but by taking the debate outside it.

Tinashe P. Kanosvamhira · Development Southern Africa · South Africa (Cape Town)

Based on a literature review, urban agriculture and its organizational forms in Cape Town, South Africa, were explored. A lack of effective coordination of initiatives among supporting actors was suggested to be a significant pitfall in the development of urban agriculture. Furthermore, the failure of farmers to self-organize was identified as equally detrimental. Therefore, improved synergies between state and non-state actors are called for to enhance the gains of urban agriculture.

Bolanle Wahab, Ayobami Abayomi Popoola, Hangwelani Hope Magidimisha · PLANNING MALAYSIA · Nigeria (Ibadan)

A study in Ibadan, Nigeria, investigated urban farmers' access to land and local planning authorities' land allocation activities, using questionnaires with 244 urban farmers and key-informant interviews. Rapid, unplanned urban growth limited farmers' access to land, with over 30% farming on family land and 17% on open spaces like floodplains or under power lines. Barriers included land unavailability, finance, and land tenure system issues.

Karina Landman · · South Africa

This chapter discusses the form and function of public spaces in post-apartheid South African cities. It analyzes six main groups of spaces, including parks, botanical gardens, urban agriculture, plazas, common open spaces in gated developments, and streets. The chapter indicates that the changing form and nature of these spaces give rise to four main trends: privatization, celebration, revitalization, and informalization.

Syeda R. Hussain · · Kenya (Nairobi)

This paper focuses on guerrilla gardening in Nairobi, Kenya, examining the use of the environment as both an aesthetic and a practical method to resist the politics of poverty in the city. It explores how this movement shapes the city's identity and analyzes the nexus between poverty and political ecology, with emphasis on the garden city movement and its influence on Nairobi’s 1948 Master Plan and Nairobi Vision 2030.

Liku Workalemahu Habtemariam, KetemaAbebe Tufa, Lise Byskov Herslund, Patience Mguni · Progress in Development Studies · Ethiopia (Addis Ababa)

This article explores water resource management in Addis Ababa's condominium housing and urban agriculture cooperatives to identify challenges and potentials for water-resilient livelihoods. Findings indicate both communities are heavily affected by water stress, with farming communities being vulnerable due to natural asset dependence but more flexible than condominium residents facing malfunctioning infrastructure. Potential for resilience exists if policy frameworks integrate local situations with landscape-based stormwater management.

Sky Roberts, Charlie M. Shackleton · Land · South Africa

This study investigated urban community food gardens in four towns in South Africa, using surveys and GIS analysis over three decades. It found that common motivations included cash poverty (37%) and the need to grow food (34%), with reported benefits such as a healthy lifestyle (58%) and food consumption (54%). A significant challenge was theft of garden infrastructure or produce, and there were declines in the number and area of urban community gardens, with only 16% of gardens from the 1980s still operating in the 2000s.

Désiré Bisimwa Byamungu, Affermi Kufinu Dia Matondo, Mireille Kimanda Asha · · Africa

A spatial analysis and socio-economic survey were conducted on land occupation, land conflicts, and their management in the Funa Valley in Kinshasa. The findings revealed a strong evolution of anthropogenic presence in the valley and identified multiple land conflicts, including illegal sales of parcels by customary chiefs and illegal occupation of agricultural land by non-market gardeners. The management of these conflicts is often referred to the district chief and the justice ministry.

Chihambakwe, Michelle, Mafongoya, Paramu, L., Jiri, Obert · University of Zimbabwe Institutional Repository (University of Zimbabwe) · Africa

This review examines the application of food sovereignty principles in urban and peri-urban agriculture in Zimbabwe. It notes that despite urban households integrating these practices into their livelihoods, institutional arrangements governing them remain ambivalent. The review concludes that the failure to involve all stakeholders undermines urban and peri-urban agriculture, leading to increased food insecurity and unsustainable practices.

Kwaku Obosu-Mensah · · Africa

This chapter examines the economic and socio-political factors behind changes in official attitudes toward urban agriculture in Africa, focusing on Ghana. Some officials are described as negative toward the practice and as acting irresponsibly to discourage it, while officials are more willing to condone urban farming when farmers hold higher social class or status. In Ghana, an official of the Agricultural Extension Services expressed concern about contamination from the wrongful use of chemicals. Public opinion is described as having shaped official acceptance, and in 1992 personal intervention by the President of Ghana helped encourage more positive official attitudes. Some Ghanaian officials held the view that the country would eventually industrialize and require more workers in the industrial sector.

Kwaku Obosu-Mensah · · Africa

This historical account argues that urban agriculture existing in African cities prior to colonization has been overlooked, despite African towns having been fundamentally agrarian, unlike their Western European counterparts, and that colonial authorities discouraged and cracked down on urban farming even as food shortages prompted the government to encourage Ghanaians to increase food production. It identifies the Rawlings regime's economic retrenchment as the most significant contributor to contemporary urban agriculture, having driven an increase in the number of people engaged in the practice.

Kra Kouakou Valentin · European Scientific Journal ESJ · Africa

A study of Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire, analyzes new land-use dynamics around intra-urban shallow lowlands (bas-fonds) and their effects on market gardening. It finds that rising stakes over these lowlands have drawn in new actors, reducing cultivated areas and making market gardening more unstable and casualized. The operating rules for the floodplain plots previously allocated to gardeners have been redefined, and public servitude land and unbuilt areas are increasingly subject to illegal land transactions and unauthorized construction — indicating a breakdown in land governance and the neglect of urban agriculture within public policy and city management in Côte d'Ivoire.

Shailesh Deshpande, Priyanka Verma, Piyush Yadav, Jay Gubbi, P Balamurali · Asian Journal of Geoinformatics · South Africa (Johannesburg)

Land Use Land Cover (LULC) changes in Johannesburg City, South Africa, were analyzed using Landsat imagery from 2000 to 2016. The analysis revealed that impervious surface increased by 57.03% during this period, leading to a 47.8% loss of urban vegetation (grass, tree cover) and urban agricultural land. Additionally, soil and water loss amounted to 16.75%.

Ophélie Robineau, Christophe‐Toussaint Soulard · Natures Sciences Sociétés · Africa

This article emphasizes the utility of the agri-urban system concept for analyzing expanding urban agriculture and the complex relationships between cities and agriculture, moving beyond traditional disciplinary boundaries. Based on a case study in Bobo-Dioulasso, West Africa, it aims to develop a framework for understanding these relationships at the city and regional scale. It distinguishes three groups of city-agriculture interactions: spatio-historical, interactions between the current urban system and agriculture, and interactions within the urban agrarian system, seeking to identify factors influencing the diversity and future of urban agriculture.

Olalekan John Taiwo · · Nigeria (Lagos)

A study in Lagos State, Nigeria, analyzed the characteristics of urban agriculture and the influence of land use diversity using 300 questionnaires and personal interviews. The research noted the rapid disappearance of urban agricultural sites within built-up areas, framing it within the concept of "survival of the fittest." Results indicated that land use characteristics where urban agriculture is located moderate its size, rental cost, profit, and accessibility to road networks, while having little to no influence on its distance from markets and water sources.

Ophélie Robineau, Christophe‐Toussaint Soulard · Natures Sciences Sociétés · Africa

This article highlights the agri-urban system concept for understanding the complexity of city-agriculture relationships, using a West African city as a case study. It aims to develop a framework for analyzing these relationships at the territorial scale of the city and its region. Three groups of city-agriculture interactions are distinguished: spatio-historical interactions, interactions between the current urban system and agriculture, and interactions within the urban agrarian system.

D. U. Okoedo-Okojie, C.O. Edeoghon · Journals & Books Hosting (International Knowledge Sharing Platform) · Nigeria

This study in Delta State, Nigeria, surveyed 120 extension workers from two research institutes. It found that only farm visits were regularly used for information dissemination, and extension principles focused on farmer needs and problem-solving were commonly practiced. Age, education, and rank significantly influenced the frequency of applying these principles.

Okoro Enyinnaya Okoro, Iwueke Nyainbau Tarinabo, Agunanna Henry Ibe, Ndulaka Chigozie Martin · International Journal of Environmental Chemistry · Nigeria (Aba)

This study investigated the economic and environmental contributions of urban farming in Aba, Abia State, Nigeria, using Landsat 8 satellite imagery and data from 100 urban farmers. Most respondents were self-employed females aged 41-50, primarily engaged in cassava and maize farming to supplement income. The findings indicate a significant environmental contribution of urban farming in Aba.

C. O. Odudu · Nigerian Journal of Environmental Sciences and Technology · Africa

This study evaluated how competition constraints affect land accessibility for urban crop farmers in Lagos, Nigeria, using multi-stage (purposive and simple random) sampling of farmers across seven of ten farming-active communities delineated by the Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority, with structured questionnaires analyzed by descriptive statistics and linear regression. It found 19.5% of farmers had been forced off their locations, 10.3% vacated voluntarily, 1.4% left due to high rents, and 67.8% were missing values; urban farmers were largely unaffected by competition or high rents because they occupied marginal land not sought by competing uses, yet regression analysis showed competition constraint explained only 3.5% of variance in farmer productivity while still significantly affecting it, given farmers' confinement to marginal land. The study concludes government should support urban farming by providing designated agricultural land in the metropolis.

Gareth Haysom, Jonathan Crush, Mary Caesar · Hungry Cities Partnership (Report No. 3), African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town · South Africa

Hungry Cities Partnership Report No. 3 examines Cape Town's demographics, economy, informal sector, urban agriculture and food security. A 2013 national survey found 26% of South Africans regularly experienced hunger and a further 28% were at risk, with urban informal areas showing especially high rates (36% hunger, 32% at risk). On urban agriculture, the report notes the City supports 201 community gardens with 1,849 beneficiaries, yet fewer than 5% of households in low-income study areas grow their own food.

Cristina D’Alessandro, Kobena T. Hanson, George Kararach · African Geographical Review · Southern Africa

This paper critically examined existing literature on peri-urban agriculture in Southern Africa, arguing it is a viable livelihood response to feeding urban residents. Despite its potential, the literature indicates that peri-urban agriculture does not play a major role in Southern Africa. The study concluded that a lack of political will and weak or absent policy frameworks, stemming from capacity deficits, hinder its promotion.

Kennedy K. Mwangi · IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science · Africa

This paper explores how legal information dissemination impacts socio-economic rights in informal settlements, focusing on urban agriculture rights in Kadoma, Zimbabwe. It investigates residents' knowledge of their urban agriculture rights and their information needs, as well as communication structures between the municipal council and residents. The research aims to provide legal information to enable residents to engage with available services.