IDRC Reports Archives

PREVIOUS ISSUES: October 1993 (Volume 21, Number 3)
FARMING IN THE CITY: THE RISE OF URBAN AGRICULTURE

Millions of people in the growing cities of the South have become urban farmers in recent decades. They grow vegetables, raise livestock, poultry and fish, and practise many other types of agriculture. Researchers are paying increasing attention to a sector often neglected by governments, one which can contribute greatly to the sustainability of cities. The practitioners of urban agriculture need no convincing about its merits. They enjoy better diets, higher income, employment or combinations of all these benefits.

Recent research into urban farming -- highlighted in the following pages -- shows that it also brings major benefits to the urban environment. Apart from improving local food supplies, urban agriculture puts marginal lands to good use and absorbs wastes in the form of compost and fertilizer. It can also have a positive impact in matters of water and energy management.

Encouraging urban agriculture reflects a new vision of the city. It is seen as part of the natural resource base and as a producer of agricultural goods rather than only as a consumer. Planners and policy makers are presented with the opportunity to maximize the potential for food security, better nutrition, income generation, employment and more sustainable cities.

Eileen Conway
Editor-in-Chief
IDRC Reports

Contents:

• Overview -- Urban Food Self-Reliance: Significance and Prospects - City farmers throughout the developing world provide home-grown answers to the problems of food supply and urban sustainability. Luc Mougeot
• New Challenges for China's Urban Farmers - The long-established practice of farming in Chinese cities must become still more productive to cope with land development pressures and a changing economy. Jennifer Pepall
• A Plot of One's Own in West African Cities - Faced with food insecurity and low incomes, West Africa's urban farmers produce an astonishing variety of food crops and vegetables as well as raising livestock. Andre Lachance
• Farming Logic in Kampala - An improved standard of living is within reach for those with access to arable land in the Ugandan capital. Marilyn Lee
• Recognizing Ethiopia's Urban Farmers - Urban agriculture creates more benefits than food alone for the families and producer cooperatives who work the soil of Addis Ababa. Marilyn Lee
• Breaking New Ground in Dar es Salaam - Detailed research in three wards in Tanzania's capital reveals who the urban farmers are and how their initiative can be encouraged. Marilyn Lee
• The Neglected Industry of Kenyan Cities - Extensive interviews in Kenyan cities reveal that vegetable cultivation and animal husbandry is a veritable industry. But municipal policies miss opportunities to stimulate this vital sector. John Eberlee
• Chasing Away Hunger in Bolivia - Urban agriculture could help the people of La Paz to achieve better nutrition and reduce their dependence on food aid. Andre Lachance
• Space for Bicycles in the Chinese City - Chinese and Canadian researchers team up to keep bicycles on the street as a clean alternative to growing motorized transportation. Peter Newton
• Local Colour in a Traditional Plant - An improved technique for extracting pigment from red sorghum is welcomed by Burkinabe artisans and industries around the world keen on natural plant dyes. Michel Bellemare

Available from IDRC:

Cities Feeding People - An examination of urban agriculture in East Africa
by Axumite G. Egziabher, Diana Lee-Smith, Daniel G. Maxwell,
Pyar Ali Memon, Luc Mougeot, and Camillus J. Sawio
IDRC 1994, 120 pp., 0-88936-706-X,
CA $14.95

ISSN 0315-9981 This magazine is listed in the Canadian Magazine Index.

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