Effect of changing urban farming landscape on financing livelihoods and food security of urban farmers’ households in Ghana

Abstract

High rate of concretization of urban areas presents a challenge to the sustainability of urban farms in Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), as farms are outcompeted to built-up areas for residential and commercial purposes. A major result of this concretization is a growing loss of farmlands in the metropolis. Our study explores the effect of urban growth on livelihood financing and food security of urban farming households. This is an exploratory study based on purposive sampling and snowballing techniques to inquiry. This qualitative study uses interview guides (semi-structured and structured) to collect primary data from farmers in the Accra metropolis. We bolstered this approach with spatial imagery tool to map out changing farm sizes in the metropolis. We find participants displaying greater wakefulness of the community as a key factor of urban farming in relation to food security, income and employment. This was because of inadequate land use planning and support to urban farmers. Some of the significant challenges identified were limited space for farming, limited resources, continuous increase in buildings and inadequate education. Conscious efforts should be made by the assemblies at all levels to develop comprehensive land-use plans to guide urban land management. As part of housing policy, vertical development (storey building) of housing and office accommodation is encouraged rather than horizontal expansion of offices and residential accommodation, which could encourage further growth in buildings. Moreover, the organization of urban farmer associations is a prerequisite to the improvement of urban agriculture.