Research & reports

Mastura Safayet, Md. Faqrul Arefin, Md. Musleh Uddin Hasan · Journal of Urban Management · Bangladesh (Dhaka)

This study explored the current practices and challenges of rooftop farming in Mirpur and Mohammadpur areas of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Researchers interviewed two practitioners and surveyed 60 non-practitioners. Findings indicate that rooftop farming can improve air quality, reduce atmospheric carbon, and lower stormwater management costs, with most non-practitioners willing to dedicate at least 50% of their roof space to it.

Kees Krul, Peter Ho · Sustainability · China

A study in urban China examined the role of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in addressing food safety and sustainability issues through surveys and interviews with key stakeholders. The CSA model demonstrated an innovative approach to dealing with these issues and future food demands. However, the movement's structural embeddedness is bound by several limitations and contradictions.

Brenda B. Lin, Monika Egerer · · Global

Urban agriculture, the production of food and livestock in urban areas, is a key component of urban green infrastructure, supported for food security and biodiversity enhancement. While habitat management in urban agriculture aids local biodiversity and food production, the effect of native plants on beneficial insects and ecosystem function is debatable. Declines in urban bees are likely linked to increased impervious cover, which reduces habitat and restricts bee movement.

Birgit Blättel‐Mink, Moritz Boddenberg, Lenard Gunkel, Sarah Schmitz, Franziska Vaessen · International Journal of Consumer Studies · Germany

This study analyzed Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Germany, applying the concept of social innovation. It conducted a standardized survey, semi-structured interviews, and discourse analysis, identifying the crisis discourses to which CSA reacts and the motivations of its members. While CSA exhibits innovative facets such as solidarity, de-commodification, and prosuming, it is not a homogeneous phenomenon, differentiating into sociopolitical, spiritual-communal, and pragmatic-economic types that vary in their expression of social innovation and attitudes towards crises.

James C Padgett · Murray State's Digital Commons (Murray State University) · Global

This paper aimed to highlight the increasing number of communities positively impacted by urban agriculture across the United States, drawing data from case studies in the US and other countries. It argues that urban agriculture is becoming a necessity for cities, offering an opportunity to grow fresh produce locally and address the burdens of current food systems on the environment and economy. While challenges like limited space exist, the paper suggests that underutilized urban spaces can be transformed through urban agriculture.

Ana María Rivero Santos · Urban Agriculture & Regional Food Systems · Spain (Asturias)

This research aims to identify the contributions of social currencies to creating short food supply chains. A case study of RASTRU's consumption groups and community supported agriculture (CSA) in Asturias, northwest Spain, and its social currency "Copin," was presented. Through surveys and participant observation, it was evidenced how social currencies generate proximity and trust-based relations between consumers and producers, based on inclusion and fair access to food for people.

Muhammad Solihin · MINDA BAHARU · Indonesia (Batam)

This community service program in Sei Pelungut, Sagulung District, Batam City, Indonesia, aimed to promote urban farming and educate residents on hydroponic cultivation methods due to high vegetable prices. Using a descriptive qualitative method with observation and interviews, the program involved introducing hydroponic growing media, seedlings, planting techniques, and harvesting times. The community, particularly women from Kavling Flamboyan, showed high enthusiasm and participation in the activities.

Courtney M. Gallaher · CABI eBooks · Kenya

This chapter considers the effects of landscape greening, including small urban farms and sack gardening, on residents' perceptions of the environment in Kenya's Kibera slum over the last 10 years. It examines what environmental issues residents perceive as most serious, who they believe is responsible for addressing these problems, and to what extent they believe sack gardening is changing Kibera's physical and social environment.

Annalisa Lodigiani · · Europe

This research addresses the ineffective governance of peri-urban agricultural territory in Europe, noting that spatial planning lacks the tools to guide agricultural sector forces influencing landscape transformation. Public action, through agricultural and rural development policies, significantly transforms the environment and territory but does not directly target space. The study finds that the separation between spatial planning and rural development policy creates ineffectiveness and stalemates in governing peri-urban agricultural land, concluding that integration of these two fields is required.

Grant J. Bosworth, John Hegarty · Ecopsychology · United Kingdom

This study reviewed the opinions of 419 supporters of a crowd-funded Community-Owned Farm (COF) in the English Midlands, 10 years after its inception. Findings indicated many long-term benefits for supporters, including feelings of empowerment and a sense of belonging to a wider community. The study also offered reasons for optimism regarding wider societal benefits, such as supporters initiating or increasing their involvement with other similar organizations and becoming more locally involved in their own community due to their COF involvement.

Celile Özçiçek Dölekoğlu, Sema Gün · Turkish Journal of Agriculture - Food Science and Technology · Global

Urban agriculture, practiced by 800 million people globally, offers economic, social, and environmental benefits but also carries risks and adverse effects. This study presents developments in urban agriculture in Turkey and worldwide, discussing all aspects of its effects and outcomes.

Muhammad Mohsin, Muhammad Mushahid Anwar, Farrukh Jamal, Fahad Ajmal, Juergen Breuste · International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development · Pakistan

This investigation in Bahawalpur district, Punjab, Pakistan, explored the benefits and perceptions of a government-initiated kitchen gardening project. A mobile phone survey found that most growers used seed kits for home consumption, were satisfied with the quality and price, and certified the project's efficiency in providing fresh vegetables. The project was deemed successful and continues to benefit residents and encourage urban agriculture.

Elsa Perroit · · France

This article reflects on the French agricultural model and the absence of urban agriculture from the "Etats généraux de l’Alimentation" (General Assembly on Food). Despite its multifaceted nature and role in urban food security, urban agriculture was relegated to a non-productive status, with its food functions disregarded. The article concludes that while urban agriculture possesses many qualities, it is not and will not be sufficient to feed urban areas.

Michelle Glowa · · United States (San Francisco)

In the San Francisco region, highly competitive land markets increasingly force landowners to use properties for purposes other than gardening, despite the popularity of urban agriculture. This situation compels gardeners to develop strategies to gain and maintain land access, linking gardening to broader land politics and urban design. The chapter explores how gardeners influence space production and property institutions.

Rolando Peguero Pérez, Gisela María Riquenes Despaigne, Adriana de Santiago Aguilar · Revista Plus Economía · Cuba

This research, conducted with agronomy students in El Caney, Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, proposes a model for urban agriculture. The model, based on principles of equality, solidarity, and cooperation, is presented as a viable alternative for a solidarity work economy.

Muhammad Asif Khan Rai Muhammad Amir · International Journal of Biosciences (IJB) · Pakistan (Faisalabad)

To investigate heavy metal residue levels in cauliflower grown in the peri-urban area of Faisalabad district, Pakistan, 30 cauliflower samples were collected from 10 selected farmers. Analysis revealed variable heavy metal residue levels (nickel, lead, zinc, copper, arsenic, and mercury) in the samples, indicating that the cauliflower was contaminated with multiple heavy metals. This contamination is attributed to the use of untreated sewage water for cultivation, which is the single largest contributor to heavy metal accumulation in cauliflower.

Nyasha Chaminuka, Ernest Dube · PEOPLE International Journal of Social Sciences · Zimbabwe

This qualitative study, involving 26 participants in Mkoba suburb, Gweru, Zimbabwe, analyzed urban agriculture as a food security strategy. It found that urban agriculture's growth is driven by population growth, poverty, high food prices, and unemployment, and it promotes food security, employment, and savings. However, existing legal frameworks, including the Urban Councils Act and Regional Town Planning Act, do not support but rather impede urban agriculture, alongside challenges like lack of supportive legislation, government support, and funding.

Mariana Barbosa de Souza, Ana Claudia Guske · COLÓQUIO - Revista do Desenvolvimento Regional · Global

This study aimed to discuss the concept of urban agriculture from the perspectives of agroecology and organic agriculture. A theoretical review of key concepts such as urban and peri-urban agriculture, agroecology, and organic agriculture, along with an exploratory study, were conducted. Through a bibliographic and documentary survey, the research explored the possibility of urban agriculture, when associated with agroecology and organic agriculture, contributing to regional development.

Gretel Van Wieren · Worldviews Global Religions Culture and Ecology · United States

This paper explored religious approaches within the food and faith movement in the U.S. by examining the work of three religious, community-based farming projects. These projects are characterized by ritual practices and narrative tropes as they address social, ecological, political, and ethical challenges posed by current food systems. The study concluded that these religious farms should be considered sacred spaces for how they ritualize and symbolically interpret agricultural and food practices.

J. Chan, Bryce DuBois, Kristine T. Nemec, Charles Francis, Kyle D. Hoagland · CABI eBooks · Global

This chapter examines community gardens in three distinct urban locations in the Global North through the lens of social-ecological resilience. Case studies focus on Vienna, Austria; Lincoln, Nebraska, USA; and New York City post-Hurricane Sandy. These community gardens support vital social-ecological functions, ranging from generating local ecosystem services to cultivating community empowerment and bolstering food sovereignty, reflecting their local contexts.

Judith Schicklinski · · Europe

This chapter discusses the reasons behind the re-appropriation of public space and its relation to urban food production. The commodification and privatization of public spaces are considered a spatial structure that transforms spaces into strategic resources. The urban gardening movement in European cities has drawn attention to using common green spaces for urban food production.

Esther Sanyé‐Mengual, Jordi Oliver‐Solà, J.I. Montero, Joan Rieradevall · Kobra (Universitätsbibliothek Kassel) · Europe

This paper presents an interdisciplinary scheme to evaluate the sustainability of urban rooftop agriculture (URA), investigating its quantitative and qualitative potential, and environmental and economic impacts. Using Barcelona, Spain, and Bologna, Italy, as case studies, four interdisciplinary methods were combined: qualitative research, geographic information systems (GIS), life cycle assessment (LCA), and life cycle costing (LCC). Results indicate that a combined GIS-LCA tool is useful for evaluating URA implementation and its environmental benefits at the city scale, with soil cultivation using compost in open-air rooftop gardens being the most eco-efficient option.

Bruce Frayne, Jonathan Crush, Cameron McCordic · · Global

Building on research from Harare's urban food system, David W. Smith proposed a global agenda for urban food security research in 1998. He noted that many national food security plans inadequately address urban food systems by focusing almost exclusively on smallholder agriculture, and that coordinated policy reviews are overdue. Smith emphasized the need to examine individual and household food insecurity in cities and questioned the role of urban agriculture in mitigating it.

Alec Thornton · Local Environment · Australia

This study, based on Australian city case studies, explored community gardeners' views and engagement in community gardens. Findings revealed that community gardeners identified local councils as barriers to the emergence of community gardens and other forms of urban agriculture. Unlike other Western cities, effective city–community relations for community garden growth have not yet emerged in Australian cities.

Emily Holmes · · Global

This chapter explores the potential of community-based agriculture as a practice of peace and active non-violence. Community-based agriculture encompasses various methods of growing food for local communities, including urban community gardens, urban farms, and small, biodiverse rural farms. These forms of agriculture are distinguished from conventional, industrial, or monocultural practices by their commitment to sustainable and organic growing methods, and their dedication to local communities.