Abstract
Homegrown fruits and vegetables are gaining popularity in many metropolitan areas with several facets connected to the wider urban agriculture phenomenon. At the same time, the relationship between urban food production and irrigation water is pivotal in terms of resource management. In this paper, we investigated water savings through the collection and use of harvestable rainwater from buildings’ rooftops to irrigate 2631 fruits and vegetables gardens in the urban area of Rome (Italy). The methodology makes use of existing geospatial data and data derived from satellite image classification to estimate food gardens’ irrigation requirements and harvestable rainwater from nearby buildings’ rooftops. The comparison of the annual harvestable rainwater with irrigation needs allowed for computing the proportion of water self-sufficient gardens as well as the amount of gardens whose water needs might be partially fulfilled with rainwater. Statistics were produced by land use type (horticulture, mixed crops, olive groves, orchards, and vineyards) and under the hypothesis that irrigation systems with low and high field application efficiency might be employed. We found that 19% and 33% of the gardens could be water self-sufficient for the low and high irrigation efficiency scenario, respectively. The remaining gardens, by using the available rainwater, could satisfy 22% (low efficiency) and 44% (high efficiency) of the water needs resulting in a reduction in the use of conventional water sources.
Highlights
Local food production, food sustainability, environmental stewardship, and community resilience provided by urban agriculture (UA) in the Global North are increasingly gaining relevance [1,2,3].The literature recognises that edible vegetable production is intertwined with other concepts such as food security and nutrition [4,5,6], ideas of beautification [7], social interactions and education [8], and leisure and exercise [9]
The whole set of residential gardens (RGs) requires a total amount of water of more than 800,000 m3 for GIWR45, while the volume clearly drops by half when GIWR90 is considered
Urban water management and sustainable water use needs further attention, as potential conflicts may arise in countries (e.g., Southern Europe, California) where water shortages are frequent and expected to increase as a consequence of climate change
Summary
Food sustainability, environmental stewardship, and community resilience provided by urban agriculture (UA) in the Global North are increasingly gaining relevance [1,2,3].The literature recognises that edible vegetable production is intertwined with other concepts such as food security and nutrition [4,5,6], ideas of beautification [7], social interactions and education [8], and leisure and exercise [9]. There is a growing body of cross-sectional studies emphasizing the importance of farming practices across urban areas, strongly linked to the development of circular economy actions and flow synergies of products and services towards a more sustainable quality of life [1,13]. In this sense, recent projects such as Fertilecity [14], Roof Water-Farm [15] and FOODMETRES [16] recognise the key role played by UA on these topics. In cities, as a key component of the urban
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