Urban agriculture and related water supply: Explorations and discussion

Abstract

This article provides a review of the opportunities and challenges of urban agriculture. Secondly, it is explored whether it may be feasible for the urban water sector to facilitate greater uptake of urban agriculture and this is done by exploring a hypothetical case. Urban agriculture is an opportunity for many cities, with some cities sourcing more than half of the fresh produce from within the city boundaries. The literature describes numerous benefits of urban agriculture; some which are difficult to measure such as women's empowerment, increasing social cohesion, and others that can be more easily measured such as job creation, or reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. However, the potential for this depends on the local context, and local restrictions. It may be possible that the urban water sector can help facilitate greater uptake of urban agriculture in synergistic relationships. The case for this statement however hinges on a number of assumptions, and estimates that are laid out in this article. Further research is suggested to explore the validity of such assumptions and estimates in various contexts.