Research & reports
Peer-reviewed research and reports on community urban agriculture, food education, composting, welfare and more.
Theme
Critical findings
11 results
Successes and challenges of a university-based agroecological community garden and educational program in Japan
2023Benjamin Schrager, Hiroki Ikeda, Takahashi Yukitsugu · Journal of Agriculture Food Systems and Community Development · Japan
This article explores Utsunomiya University’s Eco-programs, which combine a pesticide-free community garden with an educational series, using ethnographic data. Findings indicate tensions between the Eco-programs' agroecological goals and other institutional goals at the university. Despite these conflicts, the programs provide a space for agroecological gardening and serve as an example of an alternative agricultural initiative in Japan.
Governance failureCommunityFood educationFood sovereignty & justicePolicyAgricultural development and its new trends in Japan.
2020Keshav Chandra · Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research · Japan
In Japanese agriculture, women's participation is progressively increasing, and there is a close relationship between attracting youth to agriculture and achieving food self-sufficiency. Urban agriculture is developing as a new trend in Japan. New trends such as organic farms, robotics agro, urban agriculture, and increasing women's participation are emerging, which can accelerate the pace of agricultural development in Japan.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceDigital agricultureCommunityLa multifunzionalità dell'agricoltura urbana: il caso di Nishi-Tokyo = The multifunctionality of urban agriculture: the case study of Nishi-Tokyo
2019Francesco Letteriello · · Japan (Nishi-Tokyo)
This research focuses on the role of urban agriculture within the UN New Urban Agenda, noting that 54% of the world's population lived in urban areas in 2015, projected to rise to 66% by 2050, leading to urban overcrowding. Nishi-Tokyo's municipality is interested in revising its Master Plan to protect "Productive Green Zones" which will lose their status in 2022. The study aims to analyze the importance of multifunctionality in urban agriculture as a driver for resilient cities, comparing urban agriculture in Italy and Japan, and deepening the context of Nishi-Tokyo through literature, interviews, and field analysis.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyClimate changeFood sovereignty & justiceUrban Agriculture as a Sustainability Transition Strategy for Shrinking Cities? Land Use Change Trajectory as an Obstacle in Kyoto City, Japan
2018Kimisato Oda, Christoph Rupprecht, Kazuaki Tsuchiya, Steven R. McGreevy · Sustainability · Japan (Kyoto)
A study in Kyoto City, Japan, examined agricultural land use from 2007–2017 to assess urban agriculture as a sustainability strategy for shrinking cities. Analysis revealed a 10% decline (209 ha) in agricultural land use over ten years, with main post-agricultural uses being residential (40%) and vacant land (28%). The findings indicate that Kyoto City is not currently positioned to benefit from population decline through localized food production.
Limited or null effectUrban–rural linkagePolicyFood sovereignty & justiceClimate change都市農業の振興と都市農地の保全
2017Masahiro Nakajima · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan
This paper reviews trends in urban agriculture development and conservation in Japan, noting that urban agricultural land has been encroached upon by residential buildings due to population growth, creating mixed-use areas. While measures to promote urban agriculture are being adopted following the 2015 Basic Act, the paper emphasizes the need to highlight its food supply function. It also suggests classifying urban agriculture by different actors: urban farmers, collaborations between farmers and citizens, and citizens using urban agricultural land.
PolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceRestoring Urban Fringe Landscapes through Urban Agriculture: The Japanese Experience
2010Makoto Yokohari, Marco Amati, Jay Bolthouse, Hideharu KURITA · disP - The Planning Review · Japan (Tokyo)
This paper advocates for re-establishing mixed land-use garden zones in and around cities, conceptualized as spaces for urban residents to develop local food cultures. It outlines post-war planning policies that separated urban and agricultural uses, investigates demographic shifts threatening domestic agricultural production, and examines Edo's urban agricultural heritage for a new planning paradigm. The paper demonstrates the need for multifunctional green spaces with examples from the greater Tokyo area and concludes by discussing the need for hybrid garden zones that encourage mixed urban and agricultural uses.
Urban–rural linkagePolicyCommunityFood sovereignty & justice文化としての農業、文化としての食料(2) : 「城壁のない都市」京都の都市農業
2006Tatsurô Suehara · Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) · Japan (Kyoto)
This article discusses the historical role of urban agriculture in Kyoto, an ancient Japanese city. It points out that Kyoto, being a city without ramparts, allowed urban areas to be easily converted into agricultural fields during the medieval period, suggesting it may have been the birthplace of Japanese urban agriculture. Over its 1200-year history, urban agriculture in Kyoto flexibly changed its form according to residents' needs, and agricultural fields played a significant role in the city's history.
CommunityFood sovereignty & justiceUrban–rural linkageSustainable food? Teikei, co-operatives and food citizenship in Japan and the UK
2005Gavin Parker · · Japan
This paper explores how Teikei groups, as a form of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), operate in Japan, focusing on one particular group. The Teikei approach is linked to debates around social capital and consumer-citizenship, arguing that pre-existing consumer/citizen institutions can usefully be engaged in developing food citizenship and CSA operations. CSA involves bringing producers and consumers closer to aid food traceability and quality, and exhibits elements of agricultural governance based on enhanced consumer-citizenship, where consumers have a say in produce growth and land management.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceCulture, agricultural basic complex and food, 2: Urban agriculture in Kyoto [Japan] as a capital city without murailles
2005Tatsurô Suehara · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Japan (Kyoto)
This article examines the history of urban agriculture in Kyoto, Japan, an ancient capital city unique for its lack of surrounding walls (murailles). The absence of these walls allowed residents to flexibly transform residential areas into agricultural fields during the medieval period, adapting to changing needs for crops like barley and vegetables over 1200 years. The author suggests that Miyako-Kyoto was likely the birthplace of Japanese urban agriculture, arguing that agricultural fields played a crucial role in its history, making it an agricultural city as well as a capital.
Urban–rural linkageFood sovereignty & justiceO SEIKATSU CLUB: IMBRICAMENTO ENTRE REDES SOCIAIS, SEGURANÇA DOS ALIMENTOS, SUSTENTABILIDADE E O PROCESSO INSTITUCIONAL NO JAPÃO
2004Eugênio Ávila Pedrozo, Tânia Nunes da Silva, Izabel Cristina Takitane · Americanae (AECID Library) · Japan
This exploratory study examines the Seikatsu Club's experience in Japan, which operates based on Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and Sanchoku systems. These movements foster direct relationships between organic consumers and Japanese organic rural producers, who are part of social networks and aligned with sustainability principles. This approach contributes to more sustainable solutions for society by emphasizing new food consumption patterns and valuing consumer cooperatives.
CSA & TeikeiFood sovereignty & justiceCommunityEconomicsPolicy미국과 일본의 CSA운동의 등장, 유형 및 활동사례
2001정진영, 손상목, 김영호 · 한국유기농업학회지 · United States; Japan
This paper studied the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement in the USA and Europe to provide ideas for establishing and promoting CSA in Korea to support organic agriculture. In a CSA system, farmers grow food for a group of shareholders who pledge to buy a portion of the farm's crop for the season. This arrangement provides growers with upfront cash and higher prices by eliminating middlemen. CSA shareholders expect organic farming to protect the environment, maintain soil fertility, preserve diversity, recycle resources, maintain organic food integrity, and develop new technologies considering long-range social and ecological impacts.
CSA & TeikeiCommunityFood sovereignty & justiceEconomics