Abstract
Poor soil fertility and increased frequency of mid-season droughts have made it difficult for urban farmers to get sustainable crop yields against a background of unemployment and reliance on urban agriculture for livelihoods in Harare and Chitungwiza. It is important to know soil fertility and water management practices used by urban farmers so that their performance can be evaluated and gender influence on their use assessed. The objectives of this study were (i) to identify soil fertility and water management practices used by urban farmers and their effect on maize yields and (ii) to determine the influence of gender on their use. Results showed a dominance of women (62.4%) over men (37.6%) in carrying out farming activities. Farmers used a combination of either poultry manure, sewage sludge or cattle manure with mineral fertilizers and attained an average maize grain yield of 1.5 t/ha. More women used organic fertilizers than men, but they applied lower rates leading to lower yields. Quantity of mineral fertilizer and sewage sludge used was significantly correlated with gender. More women than men used ridges and furrows, raised beds and mulching as water management practices. Development programs targeted for these farmers should consider gender in their design to ensure sustainability. Key words: Gender, manure, soil fertility, urban agriculture, water management.
Highlights
In most developing countries, poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition have become critical urban problems as more people move to urban areas (WOGAN, 2009)
A participatory workshop was held with local authorities, extension workers and farmer representatives. The aim of both the key informant interviews and workshop was to obtain general information on issues that affected urban agriculture such as availability and access to land, soil fertility management practices, water management technologies, number of households engaged in cropping, crop management and land degradation challenges
Initial composition of domestic sewage sludge, poultry and cattle manure showed that sewage sludge had the highest total N content followed by poultry manure cattle manure
Summary
Poverty, food insecurity and malnutrition have become critical urban problems as more people move to urban areas (WOGAN, 2009). To solve this problem, food production in and around cities is an important strategy to meet household food self sufficiency in major cities in sub-Saharan. License 4.0 International License low-income groups in Harare was self produced through urban agriculture. By the year 2000, the land under cultivation in Harare was 36% of open space (10,000 ha) (Mbiba, 2000) on which crop production was practiced with maize grown during the rainy season (November-April) and vegetables grown during the dry season (MaySeptember). UA can contribute significantly to socio-economic development by providing income and improved food and nutrition security
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