Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
4283 results(70 / 172)
Home gardening improves dietary diversity, a cluster-randomized controlled trial among Tanzanian women
2021Blakstad M. M., Mosha D., Bellows A. L., Canavan C. R., Chen J. T., Mlalama K., Kinabo J., Noor R. A., Madzorera I., Sando M. M., Spiegelman D., Masanja H., Fawzi W. W. · Maternal & Child Nutrition 17(2):e13096 · Tanzania
Cluster RCT among 1,006 reproductive-age women in Tanzania. A home gardening intervention improved women's dietary diversity and household food security after one year compared with controls.
WelfareHealthGlobal 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.
PolicyEconomicsCity Region Food Systems: Building Resilience to COVID-19 and Other Shocks
2021FAO, RUAF · FAO / RUAF · Global
A casebook on strengthening COVID-19 resilience of urban-rural food connections through the City Region Food Systems (CRFS) approach, demonstrating the interlinkage of food distribution, waste, food security and farmer livelihoods.
PolicyEnvironmental impacts and resource use of urban agriculture: A systematic review and meta-analysis
2021Dorr, E., Goldstein, B., Horvath, A., Aubry, C., Gabrielle, B. · Environmental Research Letters 16, 093002 · Global
A systematic review and meta-analysis (53 studies) of urban agriculture's environmental impacts and resource use, quantitatively showing that effects vary widely by farm form, scale and technology, and evaluating life-cycle assessment against rural farming.
BiodiversityUrban agriculture — A necessary pathway towards urban resilience and global sustainability?
2021Langemeyer J., Madrid-López C., Mendoza Beltran A., Villalba Méndez G. · Landscape and Urban Planning 210, 104055 · Global
Critically examines whether urban agriculture is a 'necessary pathway' to urban resilience and global sustainability, evaluating its contributions and limits across five dimensions: food, water, energy, ecosystem services and social integration.
BiodiversityAs 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.
CommunityPolicyEconomicsA 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 educationLow-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.
DIYEconomicsOptimization of Bokashi-Composting Process Using Effective Microorganisms-1 in Smart Composting Bin
2021· Sensors · Global
Optimizes bokashi composting of household organic waste in a smart composting bin, fermenting banana peels with EM-1 brans over 14 days while sensors log temperature, humidity and moisture.
DIYCompostDesign 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.
DIYEconomicsAssessing Reliability of Recycled Water in Wicking Beds for Sustainable Urban Agriculture
2021· Earth · Australia
Assesses the reliability of using recycled water in wicking beds, described as a simple system that can provide high yield and water use efficiency, for sustainable urban agriculture.
DIYHealthEvaluation 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.
DIYEconomicsA Novel Green Alternative for a Room Prototype Constructed with Entire Recycled PET Bottles and a Green Roof Composed of Waste Materials
2021· Applied Sciences · Global
Proposes a prototype room for low-income users enabling self-construction and upcycling of widely available waste materials, including a green roof of waste materials, with mechanical tests on filled PET bottles and PET-bottle/concrete blocks.
DIYOrganic cycleExpanding 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.
DIYEconomicsHorticultural Therapy Reduces Biomarkers of Immunosenescence and Inflammaging in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Feasibility Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
2021Wong G.C.L., Ng T.K.S., Lee J.L., Lim P.Y., Larbi A. · The Journals of Gerontology: Series A · Singapore
A feasibility pilot RCT with 59 community-dwelling older adults in Singapore found that a horticultural therapy program was associated with reduced biomarkers of T-cell exhaustion and inflammaging.
ElderlyHealthImpact of home garden interventions on household access to vegetables for nutrition security in Kavrepalanchok district of Nepal
2021· Horticulture International Journal · Nepal (Kavrepalanchok)
Evaluates how home garden interventions contributed to household access to vegetables and nutrition security in Nepal's Kavrepalanchok district during the COVID-19 period.
HealthWelfareFood educationBeekeeping in, of or for the city? A socioecological perspective on urban apiculture
2021Sponsler D. B. · People and Nature · Global (review)
A socioecological perspective on urban apiculture examining whether urban beekeeping serves cities, bees, or beekeepers, and its implications for wild pollinator conservation and management.
PollinatorsPolicyClosed-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 lossEconomicsGovernance of urban agriculture in African cities: Gaps and opportunities for innovation in Accra, Ghana
2021Puppim de Oliveira José A., Ahmed Abubakari · Journal of Cleaner Production · Ghana (Accra)
Empirical study of urban-agriculture governance in Accra. Finds UA marginalised by a lack of policy directives, fragmented institutions, and unfair land-use and tenure decisions, so government neglect leaves urban farming informal and unable to realise its potential benefits.
PolicyIs School Gardening Combined with Physical Activity Intervention Effective for Improving Childhood Obesity? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
2021Yufei Qi, Sareena Hanim Hamzah, Erya Gu, Haonan Wang, Yue Xi, Minghui Sun, Siyu Rong, Qian Lin · Nutrients · Global
A meta-analysis pooling 14 randomised controlled trials covering 9,187 children aged 7–12 that tested school gardening combined with physical activity. Fruit and vegetable intake increased significantly, but the intervention showed no clear effect on BMI and related obesity measures, with only a modest positive direction for weight reduction. The result separates dietary behaviour change from anthropometric change and shows that whether school gardens are judged effective against obesity depends heavily on which outcome is measured.
Food educationHealthUrban collective garden participation and health: a systematic literature review of potential benefits for free-living adults
2021Marion Tharrey, Nicole Darmon · Nutrition Reviews · Global
A systematic review searching January 2000 to August 2020 for quantitative studies on urban collective gardening and health among free-living adults in high-income countries; 15 of 1,261 identified articles met the criteria. Gardeners reported higher fruit and vegetable consumption than non-gardeners and most studies found positive associations with mental and social health, while results for physical activity and physiological measures were mixed. However, 13 of the 15 studies were cross-sectional and subject to selection bias and only 3 used objective measurement, so the authors conclude that longitudinal studies are needed before the suggested health benefits can be regarded as confirmed.
HealthCommunitySearching for the plot: narrative self-making and urban agriculture during the economic crisis in Slovenia
2021Petra Matijevic · Agriculture and Human Values · Slovenia (Ljubljana)
An ethnographic study in Ljubljana, Slovenia, carried out between summer 2014 and autumn 2015: informal conversations with 57 growers across 13 sites, 25 semi-structured life-history interviews, and participant observation on the researcher's own rented plot. Plot-taking surged during the post-2009 debt crisis (an 8% economic contraction; unemployment rising from 7% to 13% by 2013), and one gardening association had roughly 350 member households by 2015, over 40% of whom joined after 2010. The author argues, however, that this surge did not work as household food or income provisioning. Newcomers who took up plots for economic reasons frequently abandoned them within a year; those who did grow food continued to rely on market produce; and people at the very bottom of the economic scale had neither the skills, tools nor time to feed themselves from a plot. Growers were strongly opposed to selling surpluses and gave them away instead. The paper concludes that urban gardening functioned as a narrative practice repairing biographical rupture after unemployment or retirement, not as an informal economy.
EconomicsCommunityWelfare