Research & reports

Julija Bakunowitsch, Jost Buscher · RaumPlanung · Global

Global crises increasingly threaten the seemingly secure food supply of cities. Urban agriculture is therefore gaining focus as a potential contribution to resilient food systems.

Carmen Blasco Sánchez, Francisco Juan Martínez Pérez · Ciudad y territorio: Estudios territoriales · Global

This paper explores the historical relationship between urban gardens, green infrastructure, and urban planning. Urban gardens, with a long tradition, are recognized as a valuable resource for sustainable urban development, addressing not only environmental needs but also social cohesion, food security, health, and economic incentives. The evolution of rural-urban relationships in urban planning culture presents a new challenge with urban gardens, necessitating a re-examination of the disciplinary path to clarify their potential in new forms of urban planning.

Yujun Wei, Xiaokun Wei, Zhonghua Ye, Jie Fan · Frontiers in Sustainable Cities · Global

This study conducted a comprehensive bibliometric analysis of the intersection between Food Security and Urbanization (FSU) research. Using statistical, co-word, and social network analysis, it mapped the intellectual landscape and global collaboration networks. Findings revealed dominant contributions from the United States and China, and a key observation was the disconnect between urbanization and food security studies, underscoring the need for a more integrated approach. The study also showed that urbanization's impact on food security differs across developed and developing countries.

Muhammad Hasan, Tuti Supatminingsih, Thamrin Tahir, Feliks Arfid Guampe, Andrian Dolfriandra Huruta, Carol Yirong Lu · Journal of Open Innovation Technology Market and Complexity · Global

This qualitative case study, using in-depth interviews with urban agricultural SMEs, explored entrepreneurial literacy based on sustainable agricultural knowledge. It investigated the application of this knowledge in entrepreneurial activities within the agricultural sector, using a Triple Bottom Line (TBL) investigation.

Lídia Cabral, Ronald Ranta, Suleyman M. Demi, Ísis Domingues, Julian May, Claire Néel, Grace Nkomo, Luciana Marques Vieira, Marie Walser · · Global

An international research collaboration examined grass-roots food provisioning innovations in five urban locations across the UK, Canada, France, Brazil, and South Africa. These initiatives, which include social supermarkets and school gardens, faced challenges such as dependence on surplus food, logistical problems, funding limitations, and the need for ongoing volunteer support. The study found that these innovations struggle with economic viability due to funding and volunteer reliance.

Maria Teresa Braga Bizarria · Gender Place & Culture · New Zealand (Wellington)

This qualitative study explored the embodied experiences of six women in three community gardens in Wellington, New Zealand, focusing on gender roles and care responsibilities. The findings indicate that participants' experiences were permeated by complicity with oppressive structures, and their actions had limitations in fostering transformative justice.

Diego Alejandro Riaño-Herrera, Felipe A. Perdomo, Juanita Quintero-Castro, Alejandra García-Sánchez, Leonardo Rodríguez-Urrego · Sustainable Futures · Global

A content analysis and qualitative assessment of 34 urban agroecosystem living labs (UALLs) from academic and grey literature explored their design and contributions to sustainable city development. UALLs were found to boost agricultural productivity, food security, and community cohesion, while also supporting climate mitigation and waste reduction. However, the study noted that UALLs need to better align their strategies with SDGs and improve the measurement of their contributions.

K I Safitri, Oekan S. Abdoellah, Budhi Gunawan, P Parikesit · Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics · Global

This qualitative study investigated the commercialization of urban agriculture and its influence on agricultural practices and environmental ethics, engaging 43 participants through observation, interviews, and documentation. Findings showed that global commercialization promotes policies for environmental sustainability, leading to aligned production methods. However, in local contexts, farmers cultivating sloped land without perennial crops often use artificial inputs and contaminated irrigation water, facing constraints from intermediaries.

Nina Madrigal Zuluaga, Sebastián Ardila Osorio, Diana Carolina Perez Torres · Revista de la Facultad de Trabajo Social · Colombia (Santander de Quilichao)

This article describes a 2020 research project in Santander de Quilichao, Colombia, focused on food security and community strengthening for families with children with disabilities. The project implemented community gardens and provided training to parents, benefiting 45 families and 150 individuals with 30 urban gardens and 2 home gardens. The research demonstrated positive results, showing how community development can be approached integrally by incorporating community elements to facilitate access and participation for people with disabilities.

Odeimy Sarría-Crespo, Mayelin López-Roque, Wilfredo Sis-Sánchez · Revista Metropolitana de Ciencias Aplicadas · Cuba (Cienfuegos)

A ten-month non-experimental study at the "Pueblo Griffo Viejo" organic farm in Cienfuegos, Cuba, identified limiting factors in vegetable production through surveys, field observations, and documentary review. The research found low yields due to poor substrate quality, inadequate water management, limited organic matter, and insufficient training participation. Additionally, the workforce's low educational level hindered efficient agricultural practices.

Pratham Kawade -, Mrunal Karkar -, Ritisha Mittal -, Neha Sathe · International Journal on Science and Technology · Global

This system utilizes an ESP32 microcontroller connected to DHT11 and soil moisture sensors to capture real-time data on temperature, humidity, and soil wetness. Data transmitted via MQTT protocol to a Flask-based web server is processed by a RandomForestClassifier model, trained on twelve sequential readings per sensor, to suggest the top five crops and monitor plant health against predefined optimal thresholds. Alerts are generated when deviations are detected, and the system is deployed on cloud platforms like Render.

Paul Β. Thompson · · Global

This chapter explores the potential for alliance around issues such as sustainability and the political interests of rural areas within food systems. While archetypes set different priorities, they generally do not involve irresolvable incompatibility, allowing for opportunities for alignment in support or opposition to policy initiatives or technological innovations. Sustainable intensification, rural resilience, and urban agriculture challenge the presumption that there is nothing morally unique in the production and distribution of food and fiber goods.

Virgínia Gomes de Caldas Nogueira, Laércia Abreu Vasconcelos · Revista de Gestão e Secretariado (Management and Administrative Professional Review) · Global

This systematic literature review aimed to identify studies on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) members' pro-environmental, prosocial, or health-related behaviors, particularly those using a psychological approach or from other behavioral science fields. The review found that psychology studies on CSA members' behavior patterns are rare, despite the multidisciplinary scientific community's interest in these behaviors for food and planetary preservation.

Kate Wingrove, Penelope Love, Kristy A. Bolton, Patrícia Batista Melo, Erica Reeve, Colin Bell, Gavin L. Sacks, Steven Allender, Vivien Yii, A. Parsot, Dheepa Jeyapalan, Rebecca Lindberg · Proceedings of The Nutrition Society · Global

This rapid review aimed to identify short- and medium-term outcomes and long-term impacts associated with community food hubs in Australia and other high-income countries. In January 2024, relevant studies and reports published in English between 2013 and 2023 were searched across four databases and grey literature, including 16 studies/reports on 24 community food hubs (USA n=16; Australia n=7; Canada n=1). Of the 83 short- and medium-term outcomes assessed, 86% were positive, but no long-term impacts were evaluated.

Hal Crimmel · ISLE Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment · Global

Daniel Philippon's latest book examines the production, processing, and consumption of sustainable food, focusing on the prolific work of agricultural writer Wendell Berry, Italian Slow Food advocate Carlo Petrini, and chef and writer Alice Waters. The book explores the central question: "How did nonfiction writing, as exemplified by the work of these three authors, shape the sustainable food movement?" Philippon's experience volunteering on a Wisconsin CSA farm provides context for probing Berry's ideas about agricultural practices.

Matthias Middendorf, Christian Herzig · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · Global

This study conceptualizes the diversity of Economic Actors striving for Food Sovereignty (EAFS) at the organizational level through an integrative literature review of 108 publications. It proposes a framework with three themes: conditions shaping EAFS, their economic-related characteristics along the agri-food supply chain, and their organizational-related characteristics. The framework reveals that EAFS combine alternative and conventional elements in varying configurations, highlighting food sovereignty as a multifaceted organizational phenomenon.

Michaela Pixová, Christina Plank · Environmental Sociology · Czechia (Prague, Brno)

This paper compared the roles of allotment and community gardens in urban sustainability, using Prague and Brno, Czechia, as case studies. It analyzed perceptions of both by municipal actors, gardeners, and activists across four dimensions: public access to urban greenery, community building, food cultivation, and environment/climate protection. The paper argues that governments' preference for gardens aligned with the status quo undermines citizens' right to the city, urban sustainability, and resilience against future threats.

PhD HSG Eunice Mareth Querol Areola, Dacones Galit Dacones · Journal of Sustainable Community Development (JSCD) · Philippines

This study used comparative data to examine small and medium-scale urban farming, including community gardens, rooftop farms, and backyard gardens, in highly urbanized cities in the Philippines. It focused on the effects on food insecurity, daily spending, and environmental sustainability at the household level, without performing life-cycle analysis of agricultural systems. The study highlighted the short-term and local effects of urban farming on the selected cities' social and economic difficulties and the area's sustainability.

Hernán José Hernández Durán · Asian Journal of Science Technology Engineering and Art · Global

This study points out that small-scale food production within urban and peri-urban environments can decrease dependence on external food sources, support environmental sustainability, bolster local economies, and improve urban residents’ quality of life. However, the implementation of urban agriculture faces considerable challenges, including limited access to cultivable land, inadequate infrastructure, and regulatory constraints. Focusing on San Miguel, El Salvador, this article explores the role and impact of urban agriculture in addressing food insecurity and provides strategic recommendations to enhance urban resilience and sustainability.

Gabriela Civeira, Florencia Rositano · Conicet · Argentina (Buenos Aires)

This study analyzed the environmental, social, and economic factors of agricultural production in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Region (RMBA) across 28 municipalities, using National Agricultural Census data and an adapted ecosystem services (SE) estimation model. Findings indicated that 97.4% of small and medium-sized horticultural producers use conventional management, with only 2.6% employing non-conventional practices. Structural problems identified include informal labor, limited technical access, and urban pressure, highlighting the need for public policies to strengthen more sustainable production systems.

Sheila Uside Alumasa, Dina Cartagena Magnaye · International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science · Philippines (Metro Manila)

A case study evaluated a nearly decade-old urban farming program in a highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. The study revealed that vulnerable families depend on urban farming for daily food and alternative employment opportunities. However, a lack of land ownership or tenure rights for urban farming exacerbates food insecurity, hinders access to affordable food, and impedes innovation within the urban farming system.

Christine McCullum-Gómez, Yuri Milena Castillo Quiroga, Monica Diaz-Beltran · Academia Nutrition and Dietetics · Colombia

This article describes multiple efforts to facilitate the transition to a more sustainable food system in Colombia. Public health nutrition professionals can increase food security, build food sovereignty, and facilitate this transition through community food gardening and peri-urban and urban agriculture projects, food waste reduction programs, and sustainable menu projects incorporating indigenous, native, and local foods. Such projects should be participatory and tailored to meet the needs of stakeholders in the different regions of Colombia.

Corrie Hannah, Jordan Blekking, Julia Davies, Jane Battersby, Allan Chilenga, Dorcas Kabuya, Percy Toriro · Ecology and Society · Zambia

This empirical case study examined how the COVID-19 pandemic affected urban food systems (UFS) in 14 Zambian cities, using household survey data from 2019, 2020, and 2021. Descriptive and regression analyses assessed household food sourcing, including urban agriculture. Households from diverse socioeconomic quartiles faced similar food security challenges but coped differently based on capacities and resources, indicating a lack of equitable outcomes. Smaller and remote cities sourced food from open-air markets, vendors, and urban agriculture, while more connected cities used local shops.

Carlos Eduardo Torres Acosta, Enrique Manuel Acuña Hernández, Elizabeth Ramírez-Llerena · BUIYYA TIERRA · Colombia (Cartagena)

In Cartagena, Colombia, the Granitos de Paz Foundation implements an urban agriculture program called "productive patios." This initiative allows vulnerable communities, such as those in the Olaya Herrera neighborhood, to access production systems and improve their quality of life by producing organic products. These organic products are in demand by hotels and restaurants in the city, potentially generating additional income for families in extremely poor areas. The program introduces an economic model to combat extreme poverty in vulnerable communities and contributes to environmental conservation.

H.J. Thwaites, Jungho Suh, G.M. Coote, Melissa Nursey‐Bray, Timothy R. Cavagnaro, M.J. Salomon · Journal of Cleaner Production · Global

This systematic quantitative literature review explores urban food forests, defined as woody food-producing species in urban landscapes, identifying their realized and potential impacts across ecosystem services, food security, health, society, and culture. The research found that urban food forests are highly valued for providing local foods and medicine, as well as regulating services, and contribute to biodiversity, economic and social inclusivity, and human well-being. The review highlights urban planning and design as a central research theme and identifies a need for more quantitative research and integration into local legislation.