Urban agriculture under threat

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the issue of providing food to the rapidly growing urban populations in poor countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Much emphasis has been given in recent years to the growing of basic foodstuffs in urban and peri-urban areas. While there is a considerable body of literature which views urban agriculture in a relatively positive light, other less extensive literature raises concern about its impact on environment and people. The literature shows that urban agriculture provides farmers with important employment and food provisioning opportunities that would not otherwise be available. However, empirical evidence presented here from the city of Kano in northern Nigeria suggests that such activities and livelihoods are being threatened by acute problems of tenure insecurity and encroaching land development. It is suggested that local authorities have a key role to play in enabling and supporting urban cultivation, since there are city-wide benefits to be gained from such activities, including food supply and employment creation among low-income residents, and flood control. More research is needed to clarify certain issues, not in the least to answer the expressed concerns about the impact of urban agriculture on environment and health.