Research & reports

Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.

5 results

• Vertical gardening undergirds household food security: evidence from Nairobi's Kibera informal settlements

  2025

  Otieno J.A., Omia D.O., Amwata D.A. · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems · East Africa (Kenya)

  Evidence-based study demonstrating how vertical gardening (particularly sack farming) in Kibera's informal settlements underpins household food security. Shows how stacking soil-filled sacks vertically enables vegetable production in space-constrained environments, serving as a solution to chronic hunger.

  CommunityFood educationFood lossOrganic cycle
  Read source →DOI: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1654777

• Effect of Different Predrying Treatments on Physicochemical Quality and Drying Kinetics of Twin Layer Solar Tunnel Dried Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum L.) Slices

  2022

  Dufera L.T. · Journal of Food Quality · Jimma, Ethiopia

  Dries tomato slices in a twin-layer solar tunnel dryer under Ethiopian conditions, testing how different pre-drying treatments affect physicochemical quality and drying kinetics. Addresses low-cost tunnel-type solar drying for vegetable preservation.

  DIYFood loss
  Read source →DOI: 10.1155/2022/9095922

• Post-harvest losses in rural-urban value chains: Evidence from Ethiopia

  2021

  Minten B., Tamru S., Reardon T. · Food Policy · Ethiopia

  Analyses self-reported post-harvest losses across farmers, wholesalers, processors, and retailers along rural-urban value chains for teff and liquid milk in Ethiopia.

  Food lossEconomics
  Read source →DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2020.101860

• A Comprehensive Review of Biomethanation of Urban Food Waste in Nairobi City County, Kenya

  2021

  Hope Baxter Chamdimba, Isaiah Omosa, Simon M. Wandera · Journal of Energy Environmental & Chemical Engineering · Kenya (Nairobi)

  This review analyzed urban food waste in Nairobi City County, Kenya, which accounts for 64% of recoverable municipal solid waste, totaling 29.4 thousand tons annually. The study found that food waste has a biomethane potential of 508.45 ml CH4 /g VS, suggesting that the city's food waste could yield 10.5 million m3 of methane and 1.38 MW of electricity. While food waste is increasingly used for animal feed and composting, its application for energy recovery via anaerobic digestion is limited by a lack of source separation. Biogas is shown to be more economical than liquefied petroleum gas, but long-term methane generation requires supportive policies.

  Food lossOrganic cycleEconomics
  Read source →DOI: 10.11648/j.jeece.20210604.15

• Recognizing Ethiopia's urban farmers.

  1993

  Lee M · PubMed · Ethiopia

  In Ethiopia, urban agriculture faces significant challenges due to government disapproval of public land use for farming and difficulty in obtaining credit. A 1983 survey in Addis Ababa found that 17% of 1352 households produced their own food on less than 25 sq. meters, with 90% of non-farmers citing lack of land. Despite urban agricultural cooperatives demonstrating 70% higher member income, their lack of government legalization prevents access to loans for productivity improvement.

  Governance failureCommunityEconomicsPolicyFood sovereignty & justiceHealthWelfareClimate changeUrban–rural linkagePeri-urban agricultureFood educationBiodiversityCompostDIYElderlyFood lossHeirloom & landraceOrganic cyclePollinatorsFood miles & supply chainCSA & TeikeiDigital agriculture
  Read source →