Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
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Critical findings
2530 results(72 / 102)
Contesting Neoliberal Urbanism in Glasgow's Community Gardens: The Practice of DIY Citizenship
2016John Crossan, Andrew Cumbers, Robert McMaster, Deirdre Shaw · Antipode · United Kingdom (Glasgow)
This paper examines community gardens in Glasgow, acknowledging their vulnerability to neoliberal cooptation where citizen work may alleviate state service provision. However, it argues that even with neoliberal practices, these gardens cultivate collective practices that suggest a progressively transformative polity. This form of citizen participation, termed "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) Citizenship, encourages reconsideration of relationships and effective political practice.
Governance failureCommunityDIYPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceCommunity supported agriculture (CSA) as a transformational act—distinct values and multiple motivations among farmers and consumers
2016Christine Hvitsand · Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems · Norway
This article explores why Norwegian producers and consumers engage in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), identifying distinct values and motivations related to environmental protection, justice, health, participation, and communication. While CSA demonstrates transformational power in the agri-food system through sustainable practices and power reallocation, the challenge remains to upscale these actions and prevent the dilution of core values and agroecological practices.
Limited or null effectCSA & TeikeiFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityClimate changeTowards Regenerated and Productive Vacant Areas through Urban Horticulture: Lessons from Bologna, Italy
2016Daniela Gasperi, Giuseppina Pennisi, Niccolò Rizzati, F. Magrefi, Giovanni Giorgio Bazzocchi, Umberto Mezzacapo, Monique Centrone Stefani, Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Francesco Orsini, Giorgio Gianquinto · Sustainability · Italy (Bologna)
This paper analyzed current practices in the requalification of vacant areas as urban gardens in Bologna, Italy, using six case studies across four types of vacant areas. For most cases, urban horticulture improved the image and quality of the areas and provided social benefits like improved life quality, food access, and social interaction. Strong differences were found between top-down and bottom-up initiatives, with bottom-up approaches being preferable for citizen engagement.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyDIYKözösség által támogatott mezőgazdaság a világban és Magyarországon = Community Supported Agriculture in the World and in Hungary
2016Piroska Nagy · Repository of the Academy's Library (Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences) · Global
This study provides an overview of the development, geographical emergence, and key values of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) globally and in Hungary, using secondary research methods. The roots of CSA trace back to Rudolf Steiner's ideas in the 1920s, forming the basis for CSA movements in Germany, Switzerland, and the Americas. In contrast, the French AMAP and Hungarian CSA are based on the teikei communities that emerged in the 1970s. Both models were found to be motivated by consumers' desire for access to healthy food, with consumers initiating their establishment.
CSA & TeikeiFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityOrganic cycleIntegrating Spatial Technologies in Urban Environments for Food Security
2016Edwin Joseph, Elizabeth O'Dea · Advances in environmental engineering and green technologies book series · United States (South Bend)
This chapter examines South Bend, Indiana, a city facing urban decay and food insecurity among its poor, similar to some developing countries. It reviews the city's history, economic strategies, and efforts by various organizations to alleviate poverty and hunger. The chapter advocates for integrating spatial technologies, such as GIS, to promote collaboration and sustainable urban agriculture among diverse stakeholders to address poverty and malnutrition.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityDigital agricultureWelfareAffordable Microcontroller-Controlled Home Irrigation System for Urban Farmers in Nigeria
2016Eromosele George Oko-Oboh, Philip A. Adewuyi · · Nigeria
This work developed an affordable microcontroller-controlled home irrigation system for urban farmers in Nigeria, aiming to conserve water and mitigate urban poverty and food insecurity. The system, utilizing a PIC16F877A microcontroller, was designed to be cheap in procurement, maintenance, and running costs compared to conventional irrigation. Performance tests conducted in the Proteus VSM environment showed improved performance and energy savings over existing conventional irrigation systems.
Digital agricultureFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsAction Research: An Essential Approach for Constructing the Development of Sustainable Urban Agricultural Systems
2016Antonia Bousbaine, Christopher Bryant · Challenges in Sustainability · Global
This article proposes Action Research as a key approach for research to contribute to sustainable solutions in urban agriculture. It describes the researcher's roles, such as providing information, counseling, and organizing meetings, which are adopted based on requests from actors like citizens and farmers. The article synthesizes relevant research on sustainable agricultural systems in periurban areas and the co-authors' own research over eight years, identifying patience, process emphasis, and multi-actor participation as necessary characteristics of Action Research.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceGoverning Social Innovation: Exploring the Role of ‘Discretionary Practice’ in the Negotiation of Shared Spaces of Community Food Growing
2016Alex Franklin, Imre Kovách, Bernadett Csurgó · Sociologia Ruralis · Global
This article qualitatively examined a public sector-led initiative to instigate co-production of community food growing, focusing on the discretionary practice of front-line public sector workers. The study found that public sector-led initiatives lack sufficient intention or scope to transform existing social orders. However, they do contribute to propagating individual and smaller-scale occurrences of social innovation in community food security.
Governance failureCommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceIndividualist and collectivist consumer motivations in local organic food markets
2016Zachary Schrank, Katrina Running · Journal of Consumer Culture · United States
This study analyzed consumer motivations in Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs using interview data from 58 members in a large southwestern US city. Researchers investigated whether members were primarily motivated by individual interests (e.g., nutritional benefits, taste) or collective concerns (e.g., environmental, economic). Findings indicated that CSA members pursued individualist and collectivist goals equally, emphasizing environmental issues and sustainability through local organic consumption as a pathway to individual health.
CSA & TeikeiEconomicsCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Gardening, Food Coops, Community Supported Agriculture: Transformative Wirtschaftsformen – Konsumpraktiken – Marktbeziehungen
2016Irene Antoni-Komar · HiBiFo – Haushalt in Bildung & Forschung · Global
This study evaluated how new food-related economic forms, such as urban gardening, food coops, and community-supported agriculture, contribute to reshaping consumption practices and market relationships to foster a sustainable food economy. Based on empirical data, the research elucidated the specific characteristics and transformative potentials of these initiatives. The question is whether these initiatives can transform the prevailing food system from the bottom up.
CommunityEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceCSA & TeikeiLos medios de comunicación y el surgimiento de la cultura agrícola urbana en Venezuela || The Media and the Rise of Urban Farming Culture in Venezuela
2016Irama Flores · Razón y Palabra · Venezuela
This work reflects on the relationship between media communication and the promotion of urban agriculture, and the creation of a new agricultural culture in Venezuelan cities. The essay focuses on the rescue of values rooted in planting, against a backdrop where reduced production of staple items and black market premium sales, coupled with high inflation, violate food access. It also considers how urban dwellers with an oil culture are now motivated to use their yards or residential areas as nurseries to grow their own food to ensure food security during scarcity.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityFood educationDIYPolitics of grassroots innovations
2016Mari Martiskainen, Eva Heiskanen · INDIGO (University of Illinois at Chicago) · United Kingdom
This article examines grassroots innovations, such as community energy projects and community gardens, as forms of political engagement. It argues that while contemporary grassroots innovations may appear less explicitly political than their 1970s predecessors, they still represent political participation. Using UK community energy initiatives as an example, the paper asserts that these projects possess political dimensions extending beyond their immediate communities, fostering political engagement whether intentionally or not.
CommunityPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceThe Potential of Urban Vacant Land For Producing Fresh Vegetables in the City of Maribyrnong, Victoria, Australia.
2016Sri Tuntung Pandangwati, Ole Fryd · · Australia (Melbourne)
A study in Maribyrnong, Australia, used secondary data and GIS to assess the potential of urban vacant land for vegetable production in three suburbs: Maribyrnong, Footscray, and Seddon. Maribyrnong and Footscray could meet annual local vegetable demand using less than half their vacant spaces. Seddon could potentially produce 93% of local demand by utilizing all existing vacant spaces.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyWelfare‘Balik Kampong’: Is Malaysia Facing the Trends of De-Urbanization?
2016NUR HUZEIMA MOHD HUSSAIN, HUGH BYRD · Jurnal Antarabangsa Alam dan Tamadun Melayu · Malaysia
This paper questions whether Malaysia is experiencing de-urbanization, or a return to a new form of rural life, following rapid urbanization and a shift from an agricultural to a manufacturing-dependent society. It notes that urban growth has increased demand for resources, while recent debates on oil depletion and economic decline have prompted discussions about urban and peri-urban food production. The study explores the emerging decentralization of cities and population in Malaysia.
Urban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureEconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceHarvest to harvest
2016Rosanne Wielemaker, Jan Weijma, G. Zeeman · Resources Conservation and Recycling · Netherlands (Rotterdam)
This paper assesses the match between supply from New Sanitation (NS) systems and demand from Urban Agriculture (UA) for nitrogen, phosphorus, and organic matter in Rotterdam. Using the Urban Harvest Approach, the research found that UA's demand for nutrients and organic matter can be minimized by 65–85%, achieving 100% self-sufficiency for phosphorus and partial self-sufficiency for nitrogen and organic matter. The integration of NS and UA maximizes urban self-sufficiency.
Organic cycleCompostClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceMore‐than‐Active Food Citizens: A Longitudinal and Comparative Study of Alternative and Conventional Eaters
2016Michael Carolan · Rural Sociology · United States (Colorado)
Researchers in Colorado studied individuals participating in alternative food practices (CSA, farmers' markets, food cooperatives) and conventional eaters. Participants were surveyed and re-surveyed two years later, with 119 qualitative interviews conducted, and a phone survey of 106 conventional eaters. The study aimed to understand how alternative foodscape engagement compares to conventional eating, how responses change after exposure to alternative foodscapes, and why individuals might think and behave differently.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsAgricultura urbana e segurança alimentar: estudo de caso da horta comunitária da COHAB em Lavras/MG
2016Heliene Macedo de Araújo, Thiago Rodrigo de Paula Assis, Ana Paula Borges Martins · Cadernos de Agroecologia · Brazil (Lavras)
This qualitative case study aimed to identify the potential of urban agriculture in promoting food and nutritional security (SAN) based on the experience of the COHAB community garden association in Lavras/MG, Brazil. Interviews were conducted with 13 (48%) of the 27 association members using semi-structured questionnaires. Findings revealed that all interviewees had ancestral ties to farming, and cultivation was learned and passed down through generations. Food access was consistently ensured for families and neighborhood residents through commercialization, self-consumption, and donation, with 11 members prioritizing self-consumption. The garden produced 58 diverse products, demonstrating urban agriculture's link to SAN promotion and improved family diets.
Food sovereignty & justiceCommunityHealthEconomicsSTUDENT LEARNING, CHILDHOOD & VOICES | RESEARCH ARTICLE Community garden: A bridging program between formal and informal learning
2016Ranjan Datta, Rebecca English · · Global
This auto-ethnographic study explores the role of community garden activities in bridging formal and informal learning for urban children's science and environmental education. Based on five years of community garden activities, the author found that these practices promote relational learning methods and adhere to forms of agency such as embracing diversity, sharing power, and trust building. The study offers insights for environmental educators aiming to incorporate ethnic diversity and engage children in research leading to community action.
CommunityFood educationFood sovereignty & justiceHealthFrom sanctuaries to prefigurative social change: Creating health-enabling spaces in East London community gardens
2016Madeleine A. Guerlain, Catherine Campbell · Journal of Social and Political Psychology · United Kingdom (East London)
This qualitative research explored the impact of community gardens on the psycho-social well-being of marginalized groups in East London, UK, and their role in prefigurative social change. Through interviews, Photovoice, and participant observation with 28 gardeners from four groups, findings suggest that participation is driven by the shared practice of gardening, leading to unintended benefits addressing personal adversities. Community gardens create "health-enabling social spaces" and offer an alternative understanding of prefiguration based on participants' lived experiences.
CommunityHealthWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceNo. 04: Supermarkets, Wet Markets and Food Patronage in Nanjing, China
2016Zhenzhong Si, Steffanie Scott, Cameron McCordic · Scholars Commons (Wilfrid Laurier University) · China
This paper analyzed food purchasing patterns among 1,200 households in Nanjing, China, to understand the use of various food sources including supermarkets, wet markets, online markets, and urban agriculture. Findings indicate that while supermarkets are primary for staple grains, dairy, and processed foods, wet markets remain dominant for fresh produce and meat. The study highlights high food accessibility in Nanjing and the importance of diverse food sources beyond conventional retail.
EconomicsFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageUrbanization, Food Insecurity and Agriculture – Challenges for Social Sustainable Development
2016P. Kanmani, Karthikeyan Parthasarathy · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Global
This paper reviews contemporary thinking on urbanization, food insecurity, and agriculture, identifying urbanization and population increase as key drivers of growing food insecurity. It presents ideas and practices for agricultural sustainability, addressing agro-environmental sources, input systems, socio-economic systems, and farming systems. The paper also explores urban sustainability, including urban social sustainability and urban ecology, highlighting urban farming's role in enhancing urban food security.
Food sovereignty & justiceClimate changeUrban–rural linkageGrowing green values
2016Kajsa Ignell, Åsa Bugge Marin · · Argentina (Buenos Aires)
A field study was conducted in November and December 2015 at six urban agricultural sites in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The study aimed to map ecosystem services at these sites and assess urban agriculture's potential to strengthen adaptive capacity and resilience in Buenos Aires. The mapping and research showed that urban agriculture provides many ecosystem services, creating a sense of community and other social values, and contributing to urban temperature regulation, added biodiversity, and water infiltration.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceBiodiversityClimate changeCommunity gardening: cultivating subjectivities, space, and justice
2016Jennifer L. Barron · Local Environment · Global
This paper explored how neoliberal processes of privatization, state entrepreneurialism, and devolution intersect with community gardens. It argued that certain characteristics and orientations of gardens are more conducive to resisting neoliberalism. These include cultivating producer, citizen, and activist subjectivities, elevating the use value of shared lived space, advancing spatial justice through community access to non-privatized space, and promoting food justice through non-commodified means of obtaining food.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomicsPolicyUrban crop production in southeast Nigeria: Potentials and constraints
2016Asadu Anthonia, Enwelu Innocent, Ifejika Philip, Igbokwe Edwin · African Journal of Agricultural Research · Nigeria
A survey and interviews with 210 urban farmers in southeast Nigeria explored the benefits and constraints of urban farming. Farmers reported benefits such as food and income sources, but also faced significant constraints including land insecurity, lack of access to credit, theft, and crop destruction by stray animals. The study concludes that urban farming needs to be legalized and integrated into urban policy to realize its full potential.
Governance failureCommunityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceSocial Actions Transformed in a Post-Carbon Transition: The Case of Barcelona
2016Jesús Viçens · Palgrave Macmillan UK eBooks · Spain (Barcelona)
This chapter investigated which social actions in modern urban neighborhoods aid the transition to a post-carbon society and mitigate global warming effects, examining a neighborhood in Barcelona. Data was collected through eight semi-structured interviews (averaging 70 minutes), and Nonaka and Takeuchi's (1995) knowledge creation model was used for analysis. The study is based on the capacity of communities to support innovative social actions through experiential knowledge creation.
CommunityClimate changeFood sovereignty & justice