Research & reports

Asadu 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.

Elizabeth Vibert · Journal of Contemporary African Studies · South Africa

This article examines the Hleketani Community Garden in Limpopo Province, South Africa, highlighting the successes of women farmers in reducing poverty and improving health outcomes. Despite these benefits, the research identifies significant structural barriers, including lack of access to resources, unfavorable policy frameworks for small-scale agriculture, and worsening climate change, that hinder small-scale farmers, particularly women.

Sarah Oloo Masawa, George G. Wagah, Reuben Oyoo Mosi · International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences · Kenya

This 2011 study in Bondo Sub County, Kenya, assessed the integration of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPUagr) into urban planning, using a descriptive survey design with 368 households and 248 traders. A major challenge identified was the lack of supportive local policy and legal frameworks for UPUagr, and problems with its integration into broader urban development plans. The study found that UPUagr complemented rural agriculture and increased food system efficiency.

Achamyeleh Gashu Adam · · Ethiopia

A study assessed the process of built-up property formation in Ethiopia's peri-urban areas. Through analysis of survey results and a review of relevant literature, the study elucidated the processes of peri-urbanization and new property development. It demonstrated that both formal (legal) and informal methods are equally important in converting peri-urban agricultural lands into urban built-up non-agricultural properties. This process creates intense competition for land between agriculture and non-agriculture, leading to the emergence of new property rights and the dissolution of existing traditional rights.

Nyasha Chaminuka, Peter Makaye · Global Journal of Human-Social Science · Africa

This paper analyzes urban agriculture in Mkoba, Gweru, as a survival strategy for residents facing food insecurity and poverty, despite opposition from city authorities. It argues that urban agriculture is a resilient practice that has become a significant feature of urban livelihoods, often increasing the burden on women. The paper suggests that city authorities are losing the contest over urban spaces and should reform legislation to accommodate urban agriculture.

West Africa, Olufunke Cofie · · West Africa

An examination of urban agriculture (UA) development in West Africa reveals that despite its known benefits for food supply and livelihoods, UA is not fully recognized as an important component of urban development. This is due to high land demand from other sectors and perceived health risks by authorities. Policy makers need to address issues to institutionalize UA and integrate it into urban development plans.

Molly R Loftus · Scholarship @ Claremont (The Claremont Colleges) · Africa

This thesis comparatively analyzes environmental values in Ghana's and Senegal's coastal regions and their implications for the environment. It assesses the countries' approaches to urban farming, mining, fishing, and waste management to understand environmental issues. By comparing environmental degradation and efforts towards sustainable development, the thesis draws examples from Senegal's coastal management successes to recommend environmental policy for Ghana's Greater Accra Region.

Naudé Malan · Agrekon · South Africa (Johannesburg)

This article examines urban farmers' perspectives on Johannesburg's urban agriculture policy, part of its "food resilience" strategy, using participatory and social science research methods. Through facilitated workshops, farmers identified key themes for organizational development and urban agriculture, including Land and Water, External Stakeholders, Training, Tools and Technology, Marketing, Organizational Development, Permaculture, and Security. The findings provide crucial insights for policy implementation in Johannesburg.

Brittany Kesselman · ScholarWorks -A service of University of Vermont Libraries (University of Vermont) · South Africa (Johannesburg)

This proposal outlines ongoing PhD research aimed at understanding if and how urban community gardens contribute to food sovereignty in Johannesburg, South Africa, and determining actions to enhance their contribution. The research examines the way urban community gardens contribute to six key elements of food sovereignty: access to adequate food, sustainable income/livelihoods, localization and democratization of the food system, environmental sustainability, empowerment of marginalized groups, and promotion of gender equity.

Dominique Juhé-Beaulaton · · Benin

This study explores the history of urban agriculture in the ancient kingdom of Dahomey (present-day Benin) since the 17th century, using European traveler narratives and oral information. It reveals that cities like Abomey, Cana, and Ouidah were centers of agricultural innovation and plant preservation, with farming present in interstitial spaces. Early European contact fostered truck-farming, and colonial administration introduced agricultural stations and new town planning, yet local and European agricultural models coexisted without competition.

Adetola I. Adeoti, Olusola Anthony Ibitoye · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Nigeria

In Ibadan North-West Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria, stratified random sampling was used to survey 115 respondents (89 farmers and 29 non-farmers) in 2015, analyzed with descriptive statistics and a logit model. The mean age of respondents was 45.8, still economically active; farming was the primary occupation for 10.2% of respondents and a secondary occupation for 65.3%. Arable crop production was the most common practice, followed by horticulture, with a preference for arable farming driven by lack of land title. Factors affecting participation in urban agriculture included age, years of schooling, number of dependents, food expenditure and non-food expenditure. Lack of land title and theft were identified as the most pressing problems, and the study recommends that government establish farm settlements in peri-urban centers, leasing land to farmers, particularly young unemployed youths.

Baltazar M.L. Namwata, Idris S. Kikula, Peter A. Kopoka · Journal of African studies · Africa

A study examined urban farmers' access to land, water and inputs for urban agriculture toward household food security, employment creation and income generation in Dodoma municipality, Tanzania. A cross-sectional survey of 300 urban farmers from both squatter and non-squatter settlements used structured questionnaires, focus group discussions, key informant interviews, observations and documentary review. The analysis found urban farmers constrained by land tenure insecurity, erratic water access, inadequate inputs for optimizing plot productivity, and ambivalent application of urban legislative frameworks, with no support given to enable urban farmers to access land, water and inputs. The apparent lack of political will necessary to promote such access is reflected in weak or absent policy frameworks, resulting in an enormous capacity deficit.

Georges Courade · Recherches Internationales · Africa

This essay examines the food challenge facing an increasingly populous and urbanized Africa, worsened by land grabs for biofuels and food production destined elsewhere, climate change and speculative management of food security; it states a quarter of Africans, and more than a third of young children, remain malnourished. It argues that responses from peasant agriculture untouched by the green revolution are insufficient, but points to paths toward food sovereignty: agricultural policy favoring family farms, urban agriculture, diversified agroecological models, stock-based food policy, and peasant organizations.

Imogen Bellwood‐Howard, Volker Häring, Hanna Karg, Regina Roessler, Johannes Schlesinger, Martina Shakya · · Africa

A working paper in the IWMI (International Water Management Institute) series reporting an exploratory survey of urban and peri-urban agriculture characteristics conducted in Tamale, Ghana, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The available abstract text describes only the series' purpose — recording IWMI researchers' work and findings, including project reports, case studies, conference proceedings and discussion papers — and does not state the survey's specific results.

Steven Masvaure · Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems · Africa

A mixed-methods study of 103 households in Glen Norah Township, Harare, Zimbabwe used semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and observations to examine urban agriculture as a poverty coping mechanism. Poor households were found to spend more than 60% of their income on food alone. The research proposed an Urban Livelihoods Coping Model (ULCM), which attributes the emergence of urban agriculture to necessity, ability and opportunity shaped by the socio-historical context of Western-leaning development policies, modernization and Structural Adjustment Policies in Zimbabwe and other African countries, framing urban agriculture as a critical coping mechanism for the urban poor against food poverty.

Blessing Nyamasoka‐Magonziwa, P. Nyamugafata, Simon Madyiwa, J. Nyamangara · African Journal of Agricultural Research · South Africa

This study examined soil fertility and water management practices used by urban farmers in Harare and Chitungwiza, Zimbabwe, and their effect on maize yields, along with the influence of gender on their use. Women dominated farming activities (62.4%) over men (37.6%); farmers combining poultry manure, sewage sludge, or cattle manure with mineral fertilizers achieved an average maize yield of 1.5 t/ha, with more women than men using organic fertilizers but at lower application rates, resulting in lower yields, and the quantity of mineral fertilizer and sewage sludge applied was significantly correlated with gender, as was the use of ridges and furrows, raised beds, and mulching for water management, which more women than men employed.

Frayne B., McCordic C., Shilomboleni H. · Urban Forum 25(2):177-189 · Southern Africa

Using data from 11 Southern African cities, this study questions whether urban agriculture meaningfully contributes to household food security, finding its impact limited and often a last resort rather than a choice for poor households.

H.W. Kamwele, George Mark Onyango, George G. Wagah, Maria Nyström · Chalmers Publication Library (Chalmers University of Technology) · Kenya

This paper examines the legal and policy framework affecting urban agriculture development in Eldoret Municipality, Kenya, through a case study involving interviews with government officials and review of various acts and bylaws. It found that while national legislation allows for urban agriculture, there is no specific policy for it, and Eldoret Municipality tolerates the practice despite its illegality. The study concludes that the awareness of urban farming's importance has not translated into formal recognition in bylaws and ordinances.

P. S. Van Staden, Maléne Campbell · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · South Africa (Cape Town)

This study proposes a framework for utilizing vacant City of Cape Town-owned land for urban agriculture to improve low-income families' livelihoods. The new City of Cape Town zoning scheme now includes urban agriculture zoning, which town planners view optimistically as it offers income-generating opportunities. Empirical data from questionnaires with a farming community in Philippi demonstrated that urban agriculture is viable in Cape Town, even for household-only production. A usufruct agreement is proposed as the lease method for urban agriculture.

Ekaete Francis Asuquo · · Nigeria (Calabar)

The impact of urban expansion on agricultural land in Calabar and its environs, Nigeria, was investigated. A survey of 150 questionnaires and comparative assessment revealed a decrease in agricultural land in the fringes as urban expansion persists and increases. Before 2013, more farmers owned larger plots, but much of this agricultural land has been converted to housing estates, roads, leisure resorts, and schools, indicating that urban expansion has negatively impacted agricultural land, reducing food productivity and leading to farmer unemployment.

Never Assan, Edmore Nhamo · · Sub-Saharan Africa

This discussion highlights the opportunities and needs for developing and adopting urban agriculture to enhance food security in Sub-Saharan Africa. It notes that rapid urbanization is increasing demand for crop and livestock products, leading to a growing food deficit and affecting urban food insecurity. Strategies to promote food productivity gains should focus on infrastructure, appropriate agricultural policies, new technology, and incentives for urban farmers within a fair policy environment.

H. C. Agada, E. A. Obienusi, Emma E. Ezenwaji · Journal of environment and earth science · Nigeria

This study evaluated urban forestry and housing patterns in Awka metropolis, Anambra State, Nigeria, over a ten-year period (2001-2010). Analysis of land use data using linear regression and correlation coefficients confirmed a significant correlation between housing patterns (urbanization) and the distribution of trees (forestry). The least square regression results indicated that the rate of forest displacement is a direct consequence of increasing structural development in the study area.

Achamyeleh Gashu Adam · African review of economics and finance · Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, all land is state-owned and granted to residents only as a holding right, with separate systems for rural and urban areas. Focusing on peri-urban agricultural land under growing pressure from urbanisation, this desk-review study analyzed existing survey research together with property-rights literature, theory, and current land-rights laws and policies. It found that new recipients of peri-urban land under the urban land-lease system obtain better and more extensive bundles of land rights than the indigenous, local peri-urban landholders who previously held that land.

Y. Saleh, Amul M. Badr, F. El Banna, A. Shahata · Science World Journal · Nigeria

Using a combination of remote sensing and GIS, this study assessed the rate of agricultural land-use change in the Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria, between 1980 and 2012, classifying and comparing four satellite images (Landsat MSS 1980, Landsat TM 1990, Landsat ETM+ 2005, and Nigeria Sat X 2012). The study found a significant reduction in agricultural land and continued disappearance of farmland over the period, which it links to loss of livelihoods, reduced food supply, and increased poverty. It states that this has raised concerns about the sustainability of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) production in the study area, with small-scale farmers the most affected.

Vide Adedayo, Mayowa Fasona, Taiwo Kuti · Journal of Geography and Geology · Nigeria

Using rainfall and temperature data from 1971 to 2006 alongside pesticide sales data from selected vendors and farmers, this study analyzed the relationship between climate elements, pest activity and pesticide usage in urban farming communities in Lagos, Nigeria. Rainfall was found to have increased by about 42 mm per year per decade and temperature by about 0.27°C per year per decade over the period. Maximum recorded temperatures were 32.6°C in February and 28.2°C in August. Pest activity was widespread during the dry season when temperatures were high, stimulating increased pest attacks on crops and increased pesticide use. Pesticide usage was estimated at roughly 30,000 liters in February and 15,000 liters in August.