Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
370 results(9 / 15)
Productos agrícolas para implementar huertas caseras en Altos de Cazucá, Soacha
2018German Ricardo Paredes-Guzmán, Pedro Antonio Forero-Palomino · Ciencia y agricultura · Colombia (Bogotá)
This study identified consumption habits to implement home gardens using urban agriculture methods in Altos de Cazucá, Soacha, Colombia, a region affected by forced displacement and malnutrition. Semi-structured interviews with Loma Linda neighborhood residents identified the most consumed agricultural products suitable for home gardens. Peas and carrots were the most accepted and consumed (90% and 86% respectively), while quinoa was the least consumed (8%).
DIYWelfareFood sovereignty & justiceHealthProject vital: Community revitalization industry report
2018Glynis Longhurst · Wintec Research Archive (Waikato Institute of Technology) · Fiji
The ViTAL project in Fiji aims to reduce non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by investing in women's health and well-being. This program supports community-based initiatives such as community gardens, healthy cooking classes, and walking groups, with the goal of increasing participation in physical activity and healthy eating across the community.
CommunityHealthWelfareO grupo operativo: horta comunitária na Atenção Básica
2018Jucilena Zeonara Feldmann Dias, Tatiane Feijó, Luiz Felipe Bastos Duarte · · Global
This paper discusses the community garden as a group technique in primary healthcare, emphasizing its role in health promotion and prevention. It highlights known benefits such as direct work with soil, self-realization from planting, and developing gardening skills, which help relieve stress and foster patience. The community garden also serves as a meeting point for sharing experiences, stimulating knowledge, and promoting global education and community organization.
CommunityHealthWelfareDiagnóstico de las condiciones de seguridad alimentaria de la población vulnerable del barrio Loma Linda (Altos de Cazucá) y sus estrategias de sostenibilidad
2018Palomino Forero, Pedro António · · Colombia (Soacha)
This project, led by students from Universidad Santo Tomas, focused on urban agriculture development in the Loma Linda neighborhood of Soacha, Colombia, to address food insecurity and malnutrition among displaced populations. It aimed to improve food security conditions through a diagnostic approach and by promoting community participation in urban agriculture. The project demonstrated that households could achieve self-sufficiency in vegetables, foster social networks, and reduce daily expenses, providing a first step towards resolving malnutrition and food insecurity in the community.
WelfareFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityUrban Agriculture in Bogotá’s informal settlements
2018Jaime Hernández García, Sandra Caquimbo-Salazar · · Colombia (Bogotá)
In Bogotá, Colombia, over 50% of the city has developed through informal practices, with approximately four million people residing in areas of urban or housing informality. This chapter explores the transformation and appropriation of urban spaces in the barrios through urban agriculture initiatives, using examples of food growing spaces in Bogotá. It discusses agricultural practices in the city's informal settlements, highlighting social characteristics and spatial particulars, and advocates for open spaces as potential productive landscapes where spatial transformations can contribute to social, cultural, and nutritional practices.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareUrban–rural linkageHealthCommunity Garden Programme: The Volunteers’ Satisfaction
2018Leelanayagi Ramalingam, Juwaidah Sharifuddin, Zainal Abidin Mohamed, Fazlin Ali · International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences · Malaysia
This paper aimed to identify volunteer satisfaction with the Community Garden Programme in Malaysia. A survey of 375 volunteers, using items adapted from Omoto and Snyder (1995), indicated that the majority were satisfied. Elderly males were found to be significantly satisfied with the program.
CommunityWelfareElderlyUrban food security and multi-spatial livelihoods in Ghana’s medium sized cities: does food transfer matter?
2018Hayford Mensah Ayerakwa · International Development Planning Review · Ghana
A study using data from two medium-sized cities in Ghana analyzed the importance and determinants of food transfers received from urban or rural households. It examined whether participation in agriculture reduces a household's likelihood of receiving food transfers, showing that households participating in urban agriculture had a lower chance of receiving food transfers from other urban dwellers. Female-headed households and aging household heads had an increased likelihood of receiving food transfers, with grains and tubers being the most commonly received food groups, typically from rural and urban relatives.
Food sovereignty & justiceEconomicsWelfareUrban–rural linkageVegetables and Social Relations in Norway and the Netherlands
2018E.J. Veen, Sebastian Eiter · Nature and Culture · Norway
Results from questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews in two Norwegian and one Dutch garden show that growing vegetables and consuming the harvest is a fundamental part of gardening. The social element of meeting other gardeners and feeling part of a community is also true. While gardeners with different socioeconomic backgrounds experience gardening similarly, access to an allotment appears more important for gardeners with disadvantaged personal backgrounds.
CommunityWelfareHealthPolicyResearch Methodology
2018Kwaku Obosu-Mensah · · Ghana (Accra)
This research was planned to study urban agriculture in Accra, Ghana, due to a lack of published work and personal interest. The study is interested in social inequality influencing farm location choice, how new migrants adjust to urban cultivation, and factors compelling government officials to change their attitude towards urban agriculture.
WelfarePolicyCommunityUrban–rural linkageAppraising the viability of quail (Chikuta) farming. Prospects and challenges. A case of Bindura urban farmers in Zimbabwe
2018Cuthbert Majoni, Deliwe Tembachako, Anyway Katanha · RePEc: Research Papers in Economics · Zimbabwe
This study was conducted in Bindura urban area, Zimbabwe, to evaluate the viability of urban quail farming, interviewing 40 urban quail farmers selected via snowball sampling and 10 key informants using semi-structured guides. Key challenges highlighted included inadequate housing facilities, insufficient space, theft, predation, inadequate knowledge, market price fluctuations, inability to access credit, and misconceptions in urban agriculture policies. Despite these challenges, urban quail farming showed potential to boost family income and reduce poverty to some extent.
Economic viabilityEconomicsWelfarePolicyCULTIVATED EDGE: Mediating rural and urban gaps in informal settlements
2018Camila Hellebuyck · DigitalCommons - Kennesaw State University (Kennesaw State University) · Colombia (Bogotá)
This project addresses urban farming in Ciudad Bolivar, an informal settlement in Bogotá, Colombia, where it emerged due to food scarcity and poverty. It proposes design placemaking strategies to improve the built environment and social cohesion by integrating agriculture from the initial design stages. The concept includes farming gardens, food markets, and a community hub to create a "performative edge" that mediates between rural and urban contexts.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageWelfareReview of the Literature
2018Kwaku Obosu-Mensah · · Global
This chapter reviews literature to identify the types of people likely to engage in urban agriculture. It explains that the labor-surplus, dependency, and cultural lag models are complementary in explaining urban residents' involvement in agriculture. Low salaries compel workers to supplement income through urban agriculture, and the sector is expected to grow with population increases, notably with the increasing entry of highly educated and skilled personnel.
EconomicsWelfareUrban–rural linkageGardening is beneficial for health: A meta-analysis
2017Soga M., Gaston K. J., Yamaura Y. · Preventive Medicine Reports · Global
Meta-analysis demonstrating that gardening yields wide-ranging health benefits, reductions in depression and anxiety and gains in life satisfaction and physical activity, underpinning the health rationale for workplace and community garden programs.
HealthWelfareCommunityUrban Agriculture in the Food-Disabling City: (Re)defining Urban Food Justice, Reimagining a Politics of Empowerment
2017Tornaghi C. · Antipode 49(3):781-801 · Global
Critically theorizes the neoliberal 'food-disabling city' that deprives citizens of food agency, redefining urban food justice and arguing for an urban agriculture politics grounded in empowerment and food sovereignty.
PolicyWelfareCommunityThe Intersection of Planning, Urban Agriculture, and Food Justice: A Review of the Literature
2017Horst M., McClintock N., Hoey L. · Journal of the American Planning Association 83(3):277-295 · Global
Multidisciplinary literature review questioning who benefits and who does not from urban agriculture, suggesting ways urban planners can structure urban agriculture in support of food justice.
PolicyWelfareCommunityUrban Allotment Gardens During Precarious Times: From Motives to Lived Experiences
2017Partalidou M., Anthopoulou T. · Sociologia Ruralis, 57(2), 211–228 · Greece (Thermi, Northern Greece)
Using Maslow's hierarchy of needs and fieldwork in a municipal allotment garden in northern Greece, the study constructs a typology of gardeners and finds that participation evolves from satisfying basic subsistence needs during economic crisis toward self-actualization and placemaking.
CommunityWelfareEconomicsPolicyThe Emergence of Municipal Allotment Gardens in Greece in Times of Crisis: Governance Challenges for New Urban Gardening Practices
2017Anthopoulou T., Nikolaidou S., Partalidou M., Petrou M. · In: Soulard CT., Perrin C., Valette E. (eds) Toward Sustainable Relations Between Agriculture and the City. Springer, Cham, pp. 181–199 · Greece
Drawing on fieldwork at three municipal allotment gardens in Greece, the chapter examines the institutional and political context of their rapid proliferation during the economic crisis and identifies governance challenges facing local authorities and urban gardening communities.
CommunityWelfarePolicyEconomicsImportancia de los productos agrícolas del grupo hortofrutícola en la alimentación de poblaciones vulnerables
2017Blanca Rosa Restrepo de Peña, José Elvis Sierra Borras, Nubia Esperanza Suárez Suárez · CITAS · Colombia
This descriptive and interpretive study, using Participatory Action Research with 62 randomly sampled families in Loma Linda neighborhood, Soacha, Colombia, investigated urban agriculture's role in addressing food needs and improving family income. The study identified an extremely poor population with an average family income of 252,000 pesos, 49.9% aged 60+, 70% with primary education, and 30% illiteracy. Analysis showed that 50% of basic fruit and vegetable needs could be met through rudimentary but efficient community urban agriculture, leading to the production of family consumption products and commercializable surpluses.
WelfareEconomicsFood educationCommunityAdditional file 3: of Farm Fresh Foods for Healthy Kids (F3HK): An innovative community supported agriculture intervention to prevent childhood obesity in low-income families and strengthen local agricultural economies
2017Rebecca Seguin, Emily Morgan, Karla Hanson, Alice Ammerman, Stephanie Jilcott Pitts, Jane Kolodinsky, Marilyn Sitaker, Florence Becot, Leah Connor, Jennifer Garner, Jared McGuirt · Figshare · Global
This document compiles publication, presentation, and dissemination guidelines for an innovative Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) cost-offset intervention aimed at preventing childhood obesity in low-income families and strengthening local agricultural economies.
CSA & TeikeiHealthEconomicsWelfareRelying on urban gardens for survival within the building of a modern city in Colombia.
2017Colleen Hammelman · CABI eBooks · Colombia
In Medellín, Colombia, displaced women utilize urban gardens as a survival strategy amidst food insecurity and tenuous support from local government. Urban planning permits these gardens under the guise of supporting displaced families, but also for preserving open space and halting the growth of informal settlements. This chapter provides a clear example of how urban planning impacts the critical survival strategy of growing food.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareCommunityPolicyThe contribution of smallholder irrigated urban agriculture towards household food security in Harare, Zimbabwe.
2017Never Mujere · CABI eBooks · Zimbabwe (Harare)
This case study in Harare City, Zimbabwe, examined an urban irrigated agriculture project's contribution to household food security and poverty alleviation, including crop types, productivity, and farmer challenges. It found that while urban irrigated smallholder agriculture contributes to livelihoods, numerous socio-economic factors impede greater participation. Furthermore, some participants withdrew due to security threats from perceived political affiliations.
Governance failureFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareEconomicsPolicyPrinciple-Centred Therapy (PCT): The Future for Therapeutic Interventions?
2017Muzammil H. Syed, Umair Majid, Reda Siddiqui · · Global
This paper proposes that community garden ventures could offer a solution for vulnerable populations struggling with mental well-being in isolation. Through gardening and acquiring agricultural techniques, participants would engage in Principle-Centred Therapy, aiming to guide individuals from dependence to independence and interdependence. Agricultural output would be sold in markets, contributing to community resilience by integrating isolated members and enhancing overall economic vitality.
CommunityHealthWelfareEconomicsViele Orte überall: Care-Logik in alternativen Projekten und Potentiale von Gegenmacht
2017Christa Wichterich · Feministische Studien · Global
This essay explores the transformative potential of caring and commoning in alternative projects such as community agriculture and urban gardening. While these self-organized experiments develop caring practices towards nature and humans, their transformative impact on society is limited. This limitation stems from unintended mechanisms of social or racist exclusion, or from appropriation by the municipality or the state.
Equity & displacementCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfarePolicyAgricultura urbana: espacio de encuentro entre procesos de educación no formales y la comunicación para el cambio social (CPCS)
2017Lorena Meneses · DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) · Colombia (Palmira)
In 2015, Pontificia Bolivariana University implemented the 'Environmental Education' project in Palmira, Colombia. This project aimed to offer an alternative means of food acquisition for children at Fundación Hogar Divino Niño and identify plants usable on the land to minimize negative environmental impact and promote food sovereignty. Although conceived from an agricultural perspective, it became a participatory scenario where non-formal education and communication for social change played a role in uniting a community around a common good.
Food educationCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceWelfareCommunity Gardens as Health Promoters: Effects on Mental and Physical Stress Levels in Adults with and without Mental Disabilities
2017Nugrahaning Sani Dewi, Masakazu Komatsuzaki, Yuriko Yamakawa, Hiromi Takahashi, Shibanuma Saori, Takeshi Yasue, Tsuyoshi Okayama, Atsushi Toyoda, Hikari Shimonishi, Sei‐Ichi Sasaki · Sustainability · Global
This study investigated the psychological and physical effects of stress from various intensity community garden activities on adults with and without mental disabilities (n=42 for psychological analysis, n=13 for physical assessment). After activities, the group with mental disabilities showed decreased salivary α-amylase levels while the control group showed increased levels, but both groups exhibited lower stress response scale (SRS-18) results. The group with mental disabilities had a significantly lower increase in heart rate ratio during low-intensity work but a significantly higher increase during high-intensity work, and experienced significantly higher fatigue during high-intensity work.
CommunityHealthWelfare