Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban

Iwona Bisaga,Claudia Loggia,Priti Parikh

doi:10.3390/su11205660

Iwona Bisaga, Claudia Loggia + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205660

Copy DOI

Abstract

Growing urban centres have been attracting ever higher numbers of rural migrants, including small-scale farmers, looking for better opportunities due to the rise of large-scale farming, loss of land and climate change. Consequently, there has been an increase in the number of spontaneous and informal settlements being constructed as cities do not keep up with the planning and infrastructure development for new arrivals. Urban dwellers in informal, unplanned settlements where issues of land tenure and access to services are prevalent have, consequently, been exposed to precarious living conditions with limited access to food and water scarcity. Urban agriculture (UA) strategies have been adopted by those residents to alleviate poverty and food insecurity, and have been seen to perform other functions, such as environmental, social, cultural and developmental. This study explores challenges and opportunities for sustainable urban farming as an integrated environmental management strategy for the upgrading of informal settlements in three case studies in Durban. This paper demonstrates the need for municipalities to support community driven processes to ensure sustainability of UA initiatives and sustained investment for maintenance. Policy makers need to create an enabling environment for academics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the private sector to co-develop water efficient solutions to manage the food-water nexus and capitalise on localised community structures and groups, such as co-operatives and women groups.

Highlights

Urbanisation has been one of the main defining forces of the past century
Even though the eThekwini municipality has previously had initiatives to promote urban farming in low-income areas for self-reliance, there has been a lack of developed guidelines and plans for execution, which has translated into a limited capacity of the informal settlement dwellers to successfully carry out urban farming projects locally, including within their own compounds, hindering opportunities for yielding benefits
This paper explored challenges and opportunities for sustainable urban farming as an integrated environmental management strategy for the upgrading of informal settlements in South Africa (SA)

Summary

Introduction

Urbanisation has been one of the main defining forces of the past century. Currently, over 50% of the population live in cities and towns with a prediction of that number increasing to 60% by 2030 [1]. Most of the urban growth is concentrated in Africa and Asia, the former experiencing rapid urban transitions across the continent and the projected number of the global share of African urban dwellers by 2050 is set to reach 20.2% [2]. There has been an increase in the number of spontaneous and informal settlements being constructed as cities do not keep up with the rapid pace of urbanisation. According to UN-Habitat [3], informal settlements are home to over half of the urban poor in developing nations, with a figure of over 60% in African cities. In South Africa (SA), informal settlements are home to a growing number of people, outpacing that of the growth of formal housing [4].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion