Institutional and legal aspects of urban agriculture in French-speaking West Africa: from marginalization to legitimization

Abstract

Although urban agriculture has long been marginalized or ignored on the assumption that it is not an appropriate urban activity, it is attracting increasing interest among public authorities, civil society and researchers. This paper reports on research and city consultations in seven West African cities, which examined the institutional aspects of urban agriculture, including the constraints it faces. The paper discusses the growing interest by public authorities in urban agriculture, and the fact that this has failed to lead to its effective consideration in the institutional and legal provisions of most West African countries. Moreover, decentralization processes in the region have not led to a commitment by city governments to support urban agriculture. The uncertain legal status of urban agriculture contrasts with the multiplicity of actors who intervene directly or indirectly in its promotion and development. Despite problems of coordination between various sectors and levels of government, and a failure to achieve the necessary functional complementarity (for instance, between land management, agriculture and water, and waste management) the multiplicity and diversity of actors involved in urban agriculture are the expressions of its added value in both social and economic terms.