Research & reports

Károly Kacz · Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists · Europe

A study analyzed the distribution of local products through short food supply chains (SFSCs) in Hungary, focusing on farmer markets and Community Supported Agriculture systems, using data from multiple databases. Both traditional and neo-traditional SFSC forms were found to be viable in Hungary, but as in other Central and Eastern European countries, traditional SFSC types—particularly local farmer markets—remain dominant in numbers; the study concludes that forming and supporting neo-traditional organizations is useful for exploiting the potential of short supply chains.

Jill L. Edmondson, Dylan Z. Childs, Miriam C. Dobson, Kevin J. Gaston, Philip H. Warren, Jonathan R. Leake · The Science of The Total Environment · United Kingdom

Combining citizen science data on self-provisioning crop yields with field-mapping and GIS analysis of allotments, this study estimated city-scale fruit and vegetable production from urban allotments in Leicester, UK. The average area of individual allotment plots under cultivation was 52%, and citywide allotment production was estimated at more than 1,200 t of fruit and vegetables plus 200 t of potatoes per year, equivalent to feeding over 8,500 people; using the 13% of plots that are completely uncultivated could raise this to over 1,400 t, feeding around 10,000 people, though this production may not be located where the need for fresh produce access is greatest. Allotment land peaked at 475 ha in the 1950s compared with 97 ha currently, a decline estimated to correspond to a fall from more than 45,000 to under 10,000 people fed per year.

V. Yarovyi, О. В. Фраєр · Ukrainian society · Europe

This paper examines how Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has formed, and what models and forms it has taken, in various countries, synthesizing this foreign experience from the perspective of implementing CSA in Ukraine. It discusses the preconditions for CSA's development, the incentives that lead producers and consumers to join CSA, and the conditions needed for its social and economic efficiency.

BBC News · BBC News · United Kingdom

BBC News reported that Gorgie City Farm in Edinburgh closed after going into liquidation on November 1, 2019, with the loss of 18 jobs. The charity had provided volunteering opportunities and support to disadvantaged young people and adults and drew about 200,000 visitors a year. It had survived a 2016 closure threat via a crowdfunding appeal that raised more than £100,000, but trustees decided it could not find a sustainable future amid declining external funding and rising costs. Its roughly 100 livestock and pets were to be sold or re-homed.

Paul de Graaf · Eetbaar Rotterdam · Netherlands

This Eetbaar Rotterdam retrospective (author Paul de Graaf, published 30 April 2019) on Rotterdam urban farming project Uit Je Eigen Stad (UJES) states that UJES was declared bankrupt on 13 November 2018, bringing a definitive end after 6 years to one of the most notable urban agriculture experiments in Rotterdam. It opened with a festive celebration in September 2012, but the idea's seed dates to 2006, when Bas de Groot's graduation plan at the Warmonderhof school (for a care garden) went unrealized and later grew within the urban-agriculture expertise group Eetbaar Rotterdam. The site was the Marconistrip, designated a 'freezone' by the municipality; financing came from housing corporation Havensteder (investing in buildings, expecting return via rent), high-interest loans from Stichting DOEN and Rabobank, small crowdfunded contributions, and municipal officials' time (under alderwoman Van Huffelen) securing permits. The plan was to build a farm and recoup investments over 10 years, but the article describes this as a difficult effort in which urban-farming ideals clashed with profit-driven activity.

VIPARIS · VIPARIS · France

Official news article from venue operator VIPARIS describing Nature Urbaine, a 14,000 m² urban rooftop farm atop Paris Expo Porte de Versailles. It produces about 200 kg of fruit and vegetables per day, promotes short-circuit local distribution, and reuses urban resources such as unused space, organic waste, and waste heat. Open to visitors on Monday and Saturday mornings.

Will Thompson · Plinth · United Kingdom

Published 12 June 2019, this piece estimates that UK charities spend around 15.8 million hours a year on grant monitoring reports, roughly £204 million in staff time. It assumes an average of 40 hours per grant, about 391,280 grants distributed per year and an average grant of around £50,000. Charities with at least one full-time-equivalent member of staff typically juggle five to ten different funders, each asking for similar information in different formats at different times, so the administrative load accumulates without producing learning. The estimate draws on interviews with ten people at small and medium charities reporting to six local authorities and more than fifty funders.

Rory James Ridley-Duff, Michael Frederick Bull · Social Enterprise Journal, Vol.15 No.2, pp.243-263 (Emerald) · United Kingdom

A paper using the FairShares Association's model rules to recover the communitarian philosophical roots of 1970s social enterprise. The authors trace links between developments in UK social enterprise and solidarity cooperatives across continental Europe, Asia and the Americas, arguing that the communitarian origins of social enterprise are 'disturbingly obscured and hidden'. They propose the FairShares Model as a way to distribute wealth and power among social entrepreneurs, workers, service users and community investors, and contend that this pluralist turn — 'new cooperativism' — could transform labour and consumer rights. Abstract only was consulted.

Glavan M., Schmutz U., Williams S., Corsi S., Monaco F., Kneafsey M., Guzman Rodriguez P.A., Čenič-Istenič M., Pintar M. · Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 36:100-122 · Europe

A study collecting rare economic data (yields, inputs, outputs, gross margins, contribution to household economy) from 180 urban gardeners across Ljubljana, Milan and London. It is one of the few quantitative assessments of the economic performance of urban gardening in Europe.

Casals J., Rivera A., Figàs M. R., Casañas C., Camí B., Soler S., Simó J. · Frontiers in Plant Science 9:1491 · Mediterranean

Compares lettuce landraces and modern varieties under Mediterranean winter organic farming, evaluating their agronomic and use value from the combined viewpoints of breeders, consumers and farmers.

Arredondo-Garrido D. · VLC arquitectura. Research Journal, 5(2), 29-58 · Germany

Contextualizes Migge's collaborations with architects such as Taut, Wagner and May, arguing for his key role in the success of 'productive Siedlungen' in which agriculture was fully integrated into modern housing estates.

Cumbers A., Shaw D., Crossan J., McMaster R. · Work, Employment and Society · United Kingdom

Using Glasgow community gardens as a case study, argues that gardening provides space for important forms of work that address social needs and advance community empowerment in deprived urban areas.

Collé M., Daniel A.C., Aubry C. · Acta Horticulturae (International Symposium on Greener Cities for More Efficient Ecosystem Services in a Climate Changing World) · France (Paris)

Analysis of Paris's 'Parisculteurs' call-for-projects program based on 11-month participatory research, showing how the initiative catalyzed rooftop urban agriculture with over 48 projects on public and private buildings by 2018.

· Journal of Land Use Science · Germany (Ruhr)

A case study of diversification strategies among peri-urban farms in Germany's Ruhr metropolitan region, documenting how urban proximity shapes multifunctional adaptation.

· Agronomy for Sustainable Development · London, UK

Modeling 10 London urban microfarms, the study finds economic viability is achievable only by focusing on high-value leaf crops sold at high prices to restaurants while relying on volunteer labor and cheap council land, forcing trade-offs against their social-ecological aims.

Villarino Hernandez, Diana Carolina · · United Kingdom (Glasgow)

This thesis proposes a redevelopment project for the Govan Graving Docks in Glasgow, Scotland. The project aims to make the port complex, abandoned since 1988, safer, more sustainable, and integrated with the existing urban environment by incorporating vertical farming and sustainable organic agriculture technologies. Vertical farming is positioned as a key element for developing new markets, shops, galleries, and a residential building.

Tomasz Wojewodzic, Wojciech Sroka · Wieś i Rolnictwo · Poland

This study analyzed changes in production factors of 189 commercial farms in six Polish metropolitan areas from 2004 to 2016, using FADN data. Farms in inner metropolitan zones had larger average resources of land, labor, and capital in 2004, which largely equalized with outer zones by 2016, but remained larger than farms outside metropolitan areas. The largest percentage of farms reducing land, labor, and capital resources was in the inner zone, indicating barriers to development such as limited land supply and high labor opportunity cost.

Károly Kacz, Ádám Varga · Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural and Agribusiness Economists · Europe

A survey in the Western Transdanubia region investigated major problems in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) within short food supply chains, involving farmer organizations and consumers. The analysis identified the insufficient market power of CSA organizations as the most influential factor. This finding suggests a significant constraint on the effectiveness of CSA models in the region.

J. L. Miralles i Garcia · International Journal of Design & Nature and Ecodynamics · Spain (Valencia)

The Law of L'Horta de València, approved on March 12, 2018, establishes new policies for managing the 23,000-hectare peri-urban agricultural area in Valencia, Spain. This law, developed over 20 years, aims to actively protect and revitalize the area's agricultural activity, which holds significant historical, environmental, economic, and social value. It introduces instruments such as a land bank, zoning, and a management council, moving beyond previous passive land-use controls to ensure the maintenance of agricultural activity compatible with its landscape and heritage.

Laura Carlsona, Vera Bitsch, Carlsona, Laura, Bitsch, Vera · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · Germany

This study used a grounded theory approach to examine the importance of solidarity in four alternative food network (AFN) projects in former East Germany, including two community supported agriculture projects, one cooperative grocery, and one urban agriculture project. Data were collected through document analysis and participant observation. Results indicate that although solidarity is explicitly mentioned by actors and in official documents, its conception and implementation vary across initiatives, influenced by individuals, local conditions, and external institutions.

Nicole Darmon, Pauline Martin, Pascale Scheromm, Florence Ghestem, Paul Marchand, Jean-Noël Consalès, Darmon, Nicole, Martin, Pauline, Scheromm, Pascale, Ghestem, Florence, Marchand, Paul, Consalès, Jean-Noël · AgEcon Search (University of Minnesota, USA) · France

This multidisciplinary study in poor neighborhoods of Marseille, France, investigated whether community gardeners had a larger supply of healthy food, particularly fruits and vegetables, than non-gardeners. Among 21 women gardeners, only eleven harvested during the study month, with an average of 53 g of produce per household member per day. The study found that gardener households purchased significantly more fruit and vegetables (369 g/d per person) than non-gardener households (211 g/d per person), but this difference was due to purchases, not higher quantities produced.

D. Cvijanović, Otilija Sedlak, Želјko Vojinović · Instytut Ekonomiki Rolnictwa i Gospodarki Zywnosciowej Panstwowy Instytut Badawczy eBooks · Poland

This monograph was prepared under the Multi-Annual Programme 2015-2019 "The Polish and the EU agricultures 2020+". It is a collection of selected papers delivered at the 22nd International Scientific Conference organized by the Institute of Agricultural and Food Economics - National Research Institute.

St Clair, Rebecca, Hardman, Michael, Adams, David, Armitage, Richard, Barry, Veronica, Larkham, Peter, Sherriff, Graeme · Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) · United Kingdom

This paper reviews the diversity of urban agriculture (UA) activities in England, from small-scale guerrilla gardening to large community projects. It suggests that UA is under-theorized, with previous research focusing on practicalities and activism. The paper highlights UA's problematic contribution to food production and warns of the 'local trap'.

Lena Partzsch · · Germany (Freiburg)

This chapter examines agency and accountability in food localization projects in Freiburg, Germany, using two case studies: Regionalwert AG and Luzernenhof. Regionalwert AG defines agency through the market, while Luzernenhof, a CSA, relies on trust and charity. It was shown that while food localization is often portrayed as "best practice," it also implies decisions about alternatives, raising questions of agency and accountability.

Piotr Krzyk, Bogusława Kwoczyńska · Problemy Drobnych Gospodarstw Rolnych / Problems of Small Agricultural Holdings · Poland (Cracow)

This study quantitatively assessed the conversion of agricultural land to investment purposes in Cracow's Mogiła and Wyciąże neighborhoods from 2010-2013, based on local plans. It also addressed soil quality, heavy metal content, and pH. Analysis of spatial management plans for these areas indicated a systematic decline in the share of biologically active areas.