Urban agriculture in low-income and middle-income countries

Abstract

This chapter provides a snapshot of what national household survey data say about the prevalence of urban agriculture in low- and middle-income countries, its importance for livelihoods, and some key features and characteristics of the households that engage in it. The chapter utilizes a sample of national household surveys that collectively represent 2.3 billion people, or 30 per cent of the world’s 7.6 billion population. The incidence of urban households involved in agriculture in urban areas is far from negligible, but not as extensive as it is sometimes claimed in the literature. In the countries covered by the study, some 25 million urban households practice crop or livestock activities. For almost half of the countries, more than 20 per cent of households in urban areas are involved in agriculture. On average, agricultural households in urban areas are poorer and more deprived along both monetary and non-monetary dimensions of welfare.