Research & reports

Mary Lydecker, Pay Drechsel · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Ghana (Accra)

This study examines the contributions of urban agriculture to municipal sanitation and health services in Accra, Ghana. It estimates that Accra generates 80,000,000L of wastewater daily, with urban vegetable farms using up to 11,250,000L. By mitigating health risks from wastewater irrigation, urban farms can significantly contribute to the city's sanitation needs and support buffer zone management, reducing solid waste dumping and improving flood control.

Thomas W. Blaine, Parwinder S. Grewal, Ashley Dawes, Darrin Snider · Journal of Extension · United States

A profile of participants in an Extension urban community gardening program in the United States showed success in attracting diverse income and age groups. Community gardening contributed to dietary changes for three-quarters of both new and continuing gardeners. The time spent in the garden weekly was influenced by factors such as years in the program, income, diet, and charitable produce donations.

David Baker Architects · · United States (San Francisco)

Armstrong Place Senior Housing is located in San Francisco's Bayview District, providing 116 affordable apartments for seniors. The complex includes a community garden space in the central courtyard, 9,000 square feet of commercial space, community services, and retail shops. Additionally, twenty-three apartments are reserved for formerly homeless seniors participating in San Francisco's Direct Access to Housing Program.

Scott Bernhard · Innovations Technology Governance Globalization · United States (New Orleans)

The Tulane City Center (TCC) in New Orleans supports architecture faculty and students who collaborate with local nonprofits to provide design and "visioning" assistance to underserved neighborhoods. Since its establishment after Hurricane Katrina, TCC has worked on dozens of projects, including six ecologically sound single-family houses, several green markets with urban agriculture facilities, and over 50 other initiatives. These projects incorporate extensive community input and are often constructed by students, providing them with hands-on experience in progressive design and new construction technologies.

Michelle P. Corrigan · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · United States (Baltimore, Athens)

Food insecurity and food-related health concerns are growing in the United States, leading to increased engagement with food systems through community food security approaches like community gardening. In-depth interviews and field observations in Baltimore, Maryland, and Athens, Ohio, examined the challenges of community gardening and the extent of people's involvement in the food system. While community gardens contribute to engagement, additional assistance such as education, policy, and funding is needed to enhance food security.

Lyn Dart · Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition · Global

Dietetics students participated in a 6-week community-based gardening initiative to develop public health practice skills. Students received training in basic gardening and applied skills with Master Gardeners while working in a community garden. Post-training, students engaged in outreach as educators to local community agencies, learning to integrate nutrition and dietetics applications with gardening for food security and community sustainability.

Mamadou Ndiaye, H.‐R. Pfeifer, S. Niang, Y Dieng, Mauro Tonolla, Raffaele Peduzzi · VertigO · Senegal (Dakar)

In Dakar's urban agriculture, untreated wastewater is used for irrigation due to shallow groundwater salinization. A study conducted at Pikine and Patte d'Oie sites evaluated the chemical and microbiological quality of irrigation water. Findings showed that total nitrogen in irrigation water exceeded WHO guideline values, Salmonella spp. was isolated from 35% of irrigation water, and a wastewater sample tested positive for Vibrio cholerae. This research indicates that irrigation with polluted water and the use of organic fertilizers can degrade groundwater quality and pose health risks.

Marion Harroff-Tavel · International Review of the Red Cross · Global

This article describes the vulnerability of the poorest and migrants in rapidly expanding urban areas, and the challenges faced by humanitarian organizations. Cities confront violence, such as hunger riots and gang clashes, making public service provision difficult. Innovative responses discussed include income-generating micro-projects, cash or voucher aid, urban agriculture, and violence-prevention or health-promotion programs.

Elisa Mascherini · · Global

This paper discusses the Guerrilla Gardening movement, a non-violent direct action practiced by environmentalists to reclaim degraded and abandoned urban areas. The increasing demand from citizens for improved living environments in cities is cited as a sign of change, evidenced by the growing number of guerrilla gardening groups, demand for urban gardens, and the emergence of shared gardens. Guerrilla gardeners advocate for new forms of ownership that rescue public lands from abandonment and degradation.

Shante Morgan · · United States (California)

This record is an archive of blog articles from August 2010 for @CSUN, Volume XV, No. 1. Topics include a dedication ceremony, the online debut of a newspaper, campus events, faculty and staff features, and an article on Community Supported Agriculture providing a healthy alternative for CSUN.

Kohei Makita, Eric M. Fèvre, Charles Waiswa, Mark Bronsvoort, Mark C. Eisler, Susan C. Welburn · Land Use Policy · Uganda

This paper describes a spatial representation of the peri-urban interface (PUI) of Kampala, Uganda, and identifies socio-economic factors related to peri-urbanicity using rapid rural mapping. It notes that urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in rapidly expanding cities carries public health risks, such as zoonotic disease transmission. The study provides a methodology for describing the PUI in developing countries.

서향숙 · 의철학연구 · Global

This paper discusses the environmental and health issues arising from modern food culture, focusing on industrial and pastoral food chains as explored by Michael Pollan. It examines environmental pollution and GMO food issues within industrial food chains, and problems with semi-organic corporate food systems in pastoral chains. The study proposes urban agriculture, including school gardens, as a solution for a healthy food chain for future generations, integrating the concept of "food justice."

Denise · TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology · Global

This course explores the sociological aspects of food, examining the cultural and social values that organize the biological need to eat. It investigates the social relations involved in food production, distribution, preparation, and consumption, including topics like food and identity, the agri-food system, food-related social movements, and the unequal distribution of food. The course considers the consequences of food on social relationships and population health.

Andrew Flachs · Electronic Green Journal · United States

This paper explores the social and cultural effects of urban gardening in the greater Cleveland area, noting that the social impact of community gardens is less studied than other benefits. The author's fieldwork found that many gardeners combine utilitarian functions with environmentalist ideology, contrary to some authors who claim that gardeners are preoccupied with economic impact, leading to a biased conclusion about motivations. The paper aims to convey the complexity of use, function, and intent in these communal spaces.

Nancy Karanja, Fiona Yeudall, S Mbugua, Mary Njenga, Gordon Prain, Donald C. Cole, Alexandra L. Webb, Daniel Sellen, Christopher Gore, Jennifer Levy · International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability · Kenya (Nakuru)

This paper outlined the conception, design, and implementation of a project aimed at strengthening technical, environmental, financial, and social capacity for urban agriculture (UA) among HIV-affected households in Nakuru, Kenya. Key lessons learned included the value of multi-stakeholder partnerships, the crucial role of self-help group organizations, and the importance of institutional commitments to support farming by vulnerable persons. The usefulness of mixed-methods evaluative tools for monitoring progress was also highlighted.

Michelle M Althaus Ottman, Juliana Maantay, Kristen Grady, Nério Cardoso, Nilce Nazareno da Fonte · PubMed · United States (New York City)

This project explores urban agriculture and productive landscaping in the Bronx, New York City, focusing on community gardens as an alternative to address urban problems. The study aims to describe the multiple roles of these gardens, including health-promoting, economic, environmental, and cultural benefits, and to reveal gardeners' perceptions of quality-of-life improvements. The Bronx currently hosts approximately 175 community gardens administered by Operation Green Thumb, alongside others managed by non-profits and on private property.

허북구, 박윤점, 오대민, 박종수, 윤숙영, 조자용 · · South Korea

This study developed marketing techniques for mugwort seedlings for urban agriculture and horticultural therapy in South Korea. Researchers examined mugwort amounts needed for various uses, harvest times and yields by seedling type and container size, and seedling quality under marketing conditions. Findings showed that one-year-old rhizomes had the shortest harvest time (25 days) and highest yield (13.2g per plant) at first harvest, and seedling quality did not decrease after 3 days of cold marketing.

Hygin Faust Kakai, Alban Gilles Kakai, Armelle Grey Tohouegnon · VertigO · Benin (Cotonou)

This study in Benin examined urban agriculture and waste valorization in Cotonou, Abomey, and Abomey-Calavi. In Cotonou, overexploitation of sandy, organic-poor soil in market gardening led to soil impoverishment, forcing gardeners to use chemical fertilizers with negative environmental impacts. However, some market gardeners adopted compost use, transitioning to organized organic urban agriculture after a waste management project supported waste valorization. This dynamic was not observed in Abomey, where urban agriculture is practiced in family spaces and public areas, unlike Cotonou's developed sites. Abomey-Calavi, despite rapid demographic growth, was almost devoid of urban agriculture practices.

윤혜경, 이연숙, 이홍성 · 한국생태환경건축학회 학술발표대회 논문집 · Global

This study investigates the utility of "Health Community Farming Gardens" within apartment buildings in Korea, aiming to present a realistic and effective apartment floor plan that enhances residents' health. Through a literature review of green infrastructure and urban farming, the research confirms that green infrastructure and urban farming revitalize apartment culture, effectively address ecosystem deterioration, and foster a green cultural spread within resident communities. The study emphasizes the innovation of integrating farming gardens into apartment buildings to maintain residents' holistic health.

Louiza M. Boukharaeva, Marcel Marloie · VertigO · Russia

This article examines collective urban gardening in Russia, practiced by city dwellers on various land types, as a significant reference for urban agriculture theory. This non-commercial family urban agriculture, supported by the state, businesses, and the population, acts as a crisis buffer by combining food production, health, recreation, leisure, child education, and artistic creation functions. The right to build housing on garden plots democratized urban access to land and nature, addressing poverty by extending a middle-class lifestyle element to the entire urban society.

Laura Whitzling, Michelle M. Wander, Ellen Phillips · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · United States (Chicago)

This study profiled soil quality, including lead levels, in 10 Chicago community gardens, comparing raised beds to non-raised beds and adjacent bare soil. The overall mean soil lead level was 135 ppm (n=86) by EPA method, with a range of 10-889 ppm. While most gardens' lead levels were not a concern, higher lead in adjacent bare soil suggested contamination risk. Use of raised beds reduced lead levels, but further study is needed.

Carlie Speedlin · Lincoln (University of Nebraska) · United States

A case study at Saratoga Elementary, a K-5 Title I school in Lincoln, Nebraska, with 266 students, 47% minority, 28% receiving special education, and 80% eligible for free or reduced-price meals, where a garden space had been built and an after-school garden club had been running since the previous spring semester. Educators were surveyed on their attitudes toward outdoor classrooms and the cognitive (emotional) benefits of outdoor education, while students self-assessed their emotional state using emotion stickers before and after garden club. The study found no significant difference in students' cognitive (emotional) response before versus after garden club participation, with only a 0.02 increase on a 1-5 emotional scale. Teacher surveys found that 50% of respondents did not include outdoor activities in their curriculum planning and 50% did not use outdoor activities or recess to alter student behaviour; all teacher respondents were aware of the outdoor space (school garden), but only 60% had used it for an activity, and only 53% were assessed as "aware" of the cognitive or emotional benefits of nature for children.

Xiaona Li · Nongye huanjing kexue xuebao · China

A study measuring dioxin-like compound (PCDD/Fs) concentrations in 23 surface soil samples collected from different areas of Baiyin City, China, using HRGC/HRMS (high-resolution gas chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry). The concentration range of 2,3,7,8-PCDD/Fs was 0.42-8.56 pg I-TEQ/g, averaging 2.28 pg I-TEQ/g. By land-use type, concentrations averaged 3.37 pg I-TEQ/g in industrial areas, 1.31 in urban areas, 1.01 in agricultural areas, and 0.85 in background areas, following the order industrial > urban > agricultural > background. Higher-chlorinated isomers were the dominant contributors to total toxic equivalency (TEQ) in most samples.

Mamadou Ndiaye, S. Niang, H.‐R. Pfeifer, Raffaele Peduzzi, Mauro Tonolla, Y Dieng · Irrigation and Drainage · Senegal

Lettuces grown at two urban agricultural sites (Pikine and Patte d'Oie) near Dakar, Senegal, and sold in local markets were tested for microbial contamination linked to irrigation water. Salmonella spp. positivity was 6% at Pikine and 7% at Patte d'Oie farm sites, with lettuces irrigated by shallow 'Ceanes' groundwater most contaminated at both sites (8%), compared to wastewater irrigation (4% at Pikine) and well water (5% at Patte d'Oie); at market, Salmonella was isolated at every marketplace surveyed, with higher rates around Patte d'Oie (9% at Grand Yoff, 11% at Dalifort) than around Pikine (4% at Zinc, 2% at Sham) or the control site Rufisque (2%), and lettuces washed with Ceanes water before sale were more contaminated than those rinsed with tap water. Reusing wastewater for irrigation is presented as an alternative to animal manure, with the microbial contamination risk significantly reducible by washing vegetables with tap water before sale.

G. M. Hettiarachchi, Sabine Martin, A. David Rae, Phillip P. Defoe, Dennis Presely, G. M. Pierzysnki · · United States

Using a newly established urban community garden in Kansas City as a case example, this study examines the challenges of converting brownfield sites — abandoned or underutilized properties where environmental concerns impede redevelopment — into community gardens. Soil at the site was found to contain mildly elevated levels of lead (Pb) and detectable levels of DDT/DDE (an organochlorine pesticide). Based on an evaluation of soil properties, safety and corrective measures were proposed and implemented to reduce both direct (soil-to-human) and indirect (soil-to-plant-to-human) exposure for gardeners and their children, and field test plots with three crop types showing different contaminant-uptake patterns were established to evaluate site-specific soil amendments for reducing lead bioavailability.