Research & reports

John Wakhanu, Hudson Nyambaka, Judith Kimiywe, Mildred Nawiri, Wilson Thagana · Journal of Food Science and Engineering · Kenya (Machakos County)

This study in Kangundo and Kilalani primary schools, Machakos County, Kenya, investigated the impact of African Indigenous Leafy Vegetables (AILVs) on children aged 6-10 years (N=66 in Kangundo, N=46 in Kilalani). Over two phases (13 and 12 weeks), an experimental group consumed AILVs from school gardens, while a control group did not. Endline analysis showed that the experimental group had significantly higher (p < 0.001) % Fat Free Mass, mean serum iron, and zinc levels compared to the control group.

Lemi Gonfa · · Africa

This paper reviewed the role of urban agriculture in socio-economic and environmental sustainability in Africa, drawing on theoretical and empirical literature. While urban agriculture is recognized for job creation, improved diet, and environmental benefits like urban greenery and biodiversity, challenges such as difficult land access, lack of experience, financial support, training, and credit facilities, as well as low land productivity, animal grazing, and theft, were identified. These factors present potential negative externalities and hinder the development of urban agriculture.

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.

Richard B. Ford · · Africa

Field research in three rural Kenyan communities—Katheka, Mbusyani and Gilgil, each within a 90-minute drive of Nairobi—revisited earlier analyses and action plans meant to strengthen community institutions' capacity for natural resource management and production. The methodology combined questionnaires with group discussions and interactive data analysis drawing on Participatory Rural Appraisal techniques. The findings suggest that explicit attention to commercial crops suited to rainfed, dryland conditions would be more appropriate than Katheka's existing agricultural practices. The chapter concludes that a major new effort working with small, commercial, income-generating farmers in the drylands is needed to assist poor, small farmers such as those in Katheka, who are quickly running out of options.

Alice A. Oluoko-Odingo · Journal of Climate Change and Sustainability · Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines gender mainstreaming in adaptation to weather and climate extremes, centered on peri-urban farming in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although women provide most agricultural labour, they remain poor and among the most vulnerable to weather and climate extremes because of inequalities in ownership of and decision-making over land, assets and cash; even in well-planned African cities, developmental and environmental challenges continue to perpetuate inequality, discrimination and underdevelopment, with low-income communities living in risky areas without access to key services and facing heightened vulnerability. Combining literature review with fieldwork in peri-urban Nairobi (Machakos and Kajiado Counties), Kenya, the paper discusses how gender mainstreaming in peri-urban farming could support Sustainable Development Goals 5 and 13, while noting the research gap on gender mainstreaming in peri-urban farming as itself a problem the field has yet to address.

Alfred Tsikati, Sanele Motsa · Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education · Africa

Based on external agriculture examination results in Eswatini, this comparative study analyzed 27 schools — 15 high-performing and 12 low-performing (with 38 and 26 teachers participating, respectively) — using a questionnaire validated by three experts and two agriculture teachers and tested for reliability with a Cronbach's alpha of .82. High-performing schools were found to differ from low-performing ones in learner motivation to excel academically, practicing farming in the school garden, students consulting teachers, provision of extra lessons, monitoring of class attendance and absenteeism, and teachers attending classes regularly, with the Ministry of Education and Training, headteachers, agriculture teachers, and parents also more involved in high-performing schools.

· International Journal of Forestry and Horticulture · Africa

An article on urban horticulture in Nairobi County, Kenya (International Journal of Forestry and Horticulture, 2019) describes urban horticulture as encompassing fruit, nut, vegetable, ornamental and flower production, citing that 65% of urban farmers are women (Orsini et al. 2013) and noting food insecurity and malnutrition remain problems in Kenyan urban areas despite population growth of 2.11%. The abstract text available presents background and policy context rather than the study's own methods or measured results.

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.

Yolisa Wendy Sonti · · South Africa

A study of 152 stokvel members in South Africa's Nelson Mandela Bay Area investigated the possibility of using stokvels in urban agriculture. Findings revealed that stokvel members are aware of agricultural activities but do not use their stokvel funds for urban agriculture. However, there is interest among stokvel members in utilizing their funds for 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.

A. B. Juma Edwin, Omondi Paul, W. Kareri Raphael · Journal of Geography and Regional Planning · Kenya (Kakamega Town)

This study collected data from 159 urban youth farmers in Kakamega Town, Kenya, to investigate the effect of youth engagement in vegetable production on household well-being. A significant association was found between time spent on the farm and the size of the vegetable plot, with 90.5% of respondents reporting they would continue vegetable production. 34.0% reported vegetable production was 'more than adequate' and 28.9% 'adequate', and urban farming was found to contribute to the greening of the city.

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.

Joyce-Ann Syhre, Meike Brückner · · Kenya (Nairobi)

This chapter illustrates agricultural alternatives in Nairobi, Kenya, emerging through practiced urban agriculture. These alternatives enable socio-ecological spaces of food sovereignty, biodiversity, and agency. The chapter discusses the socio-cultural values of farming and food, the role of gender in Nairobi's urban agricultural landscape, and the diverse perceptions of human-nature relations among female farmers.

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.

Céline Veríssimo, Leo Name · · Africa

This essay by Veríssimo and Name examines community practices of edible landscaping in outdoor domestic spaces in the city of Dondo, Mozambique, framing them as a form of quiet resistance to marginalization and as a means of household-community empowerment; the authors argue these diversified spaces support food sovereignty and call on landscape architects to draw on this knowledge, which they say is typically disregarded by professional practice.

Nanna Jordt Jørgensen · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · South Africa

Drawing on a case from the Amanzi for Food project in South Africa's Eastern Cape and earlier material on community gardens in Port Elizabeth, this think piece reflects on how people whose livelihoods depend on land and animals experience and cope with the uncertainty generated by climate change. It focuses on intergenerational interaction and learning in food gardening, arguing that these processes shape responses to uncertainty oriented toward creative solutions rather than debilitation.

Thandiwe Blauw · · South Africa

Against the backdrop of South Africa, where the majority of the population still lives below the poverty line twenty-three years after democratization and women and children are the most affected, this study investigated the impact of women's participation in an urban agriculture project — a vegetable garden — on poverty alleviation at the Kwasa Project in Walmer Township, Port Elizabeth. Using a qualitative approach with individual interviews conducted via an interview schedule and supplemented by secondary scholarly sources, the study investigated the challenges facing the Kwasa Project and, in its final analysis, provided recommendations aimed at resolving some of the problems identified through the interviews.

Sahar Babiker Ahmed Abdalla · · Africa

With rapid urbanization in Khartoum increasing the need to produce more food for the growing urban population, while food production in and around the city has received limited attention from scientists and policymakers, this study analyzed the socio-economic conditions and production practices of urban gardeners through a baseline survey conducted from March to June 2007. Forty households with gardens were purposively selected, and heads of household were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire, with descriptive statistics and a two-step cluster analysis used to classify households into homogeneous groups. Urban agriculture was found to be the exclusive domain of men. All 40 surveyed households engaged in commercial vegetable gardening, 33% also cultivated fodder crops, and 5% kept goats and sheep. Seventy-eight percent of gardeners were under 55 years old, and 80% were not native to Khartoum. Few were landowners; 90% operated under a tenant-sharecropping system. Vegetable growing was the main source of income for 83% of gardeners, and short-cycle leafy vegetables such as Jew's mallow, purslane and rocket were the dominant crops. Irrigation came mainly from the River Nile (60%) and wells (37.5%), and almost all gardeners applied pesticides and mineral fertilizers. Ninety-five percent of gardens were cultivated continuously year-round without a fallow period. Households were classified into three groups: mixed vegetable-fodder gardens (10%), mixed vegetable-subsistence livestock gardens (42.5%), and pure vegetable gardens (30%).