Urban And Peri-urban Agriculture Research Articles

Fresh bell peppers consumed in cities: Unveiling the environmental impact of urban and rural food supply systems

Agriculture and its supply chain pose significant environmental threats. This study employs Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to explore the environmental impact of fresh bell pepper production and distribution, comparing Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture (UPA) with Rural Long-Distance Food Supply Systems (RLDFS). Four UPA scenarios (hydroponics, soil-based greenhouse, open-field conventional, and organic) and two RLDFS scenarios (soil-based greenhouse and open-field conventional) are evaluated using SimaPro, incorporating inputs from UPA practitioners and rural farmers. Results reveal an energy demand range of 0.011 to 5.5 kWh/kg eq., with urban greenhouses exhibiting the lowest consumption and hydroponics the highest due to lighting, ventilation, and irrigation. Hydroponics exhibits a global warming potential of 7.24 kg of CO2 eq·kg−1, with energy demand contributing over 95 %, surpassing other scenarios by 7–25 times, necessitating reduction for sustainability. RLDFS's environmental impact is dominated by transportation (over 70 %), meanwhile other UPA systems are influenced by irrigation, infrastructure, and fertilizers. Despite challenges, UPA-hydroponics proves to be 1.7 to 4.3 times more land-use-efficient than other scenarios, emphasizing its potential. The study highlights the need to address electricity usage in UPA-hydroponics for carbon footprint reduction. Despite challenges, hydroponics could contribute to sustainable food security, and RLDFS does not significantly lag in environmental performance compared to UPA other than Ozone layer depletion criteria attributed to fossil fuel usage in transportation. These insights offer valuable guidance for urban development and policy formulation, promoting sustainable agricultural practices and supporting policies for agronomic and supply chain sustainability.

Which Households Raise Livestock in Urban and Peri-Urban Areas of Eight Developing Asian Countries?

In many developing countries, ensuring a stable and affordable supply of safe and nutritious food for urban dwellers, especially impoverished households, has become an urgent policy issue due to growing urban populations. Since urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has emerged as a potential solution, research interest in UPA has increased. However, most studies have been conducted in specific African towns, and analyses in Asian countries are scarce. In addition, further research must be performed on urban and peri-urban livestock farming (UPLF), which may provide animal-based protein to the urban population. Therefore, this study aims to clarify who raises livestock in the urban and peri-urban areas of eight developing Asian countries using raw data from the Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). The aggregation results reveal that at least 10% of households keep livestock, with more than 30% of households in four of the eight Asian countries practicing UPLF. Poultry is the most common type of livestock, and the number of animals per household is usually limited. Logistic regression analysis reveals that poorer families are more likely to raise livestock, suggesting UPLF can enhance food and nutritional security for low-income households.

Soil respiration under different N fertilization and irrigation regimes in Bengaluru, S-India

Rapid urbanization in many countries of the Global South has led to intensification of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) whose effects on the soils’ physical, chemical, and microbial properties have been hardly studied. We therefore investigated the effects of different intensity levels, exemplified by three rates of mineral nitrogen (N) addition and irrigation on CO2 emissions in typical crops during the wet (Kharif) and dry (Rabi) season on a Nitisol in Bengaluru, S-India. Respiration data were collected from 2017 to 2021 in two two-factorial split-plot experiments conducted under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Test crops were maize (Zea mays L.), finger millet (Eleusine coracana Gaertn.), and lablab (Lablab purpureus L. Sweet) under rainfed and irrigated conditions, as well as the vegetables cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), eggplant (Solanum melongena L.), and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) or chili (Capsicum annuum L.). Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions were determined using a Los Gatos Research (LGR) multi-gas analyzer whereby under our study conditions CH4, NH3 and N2O were negligible. Measurements were conducted from 7:00 am to 11:30 am and repeated from 12:30 pm to 6:00 pm. Irrespective of irrigation, season, crops and N fertilizer level, CO2 emission rates during afternoon hours were significantly higher (2–128%) than during morning hours. In the irrigated field diurnal emission differences between afternoon and morning hours ranged from 0.04 to 1.61 kg CO2-C ha−1 h−1 while in the rainfed field they averaged 0.20–1.78 kg CO2-C ha−1 h−1. Irrespective of crops, in the rainfed field CO2 emissions in high N plots were 56.4% larger than in low N plots whereas in the irrigated field they were only 12.1% larger. The results of a linear mixed model analysis indicated that N fertilization enhanced CO2 emissions whereby these effects were highest in rainfed crops. Soil moisture enhanced emissions in rainfed crops but decreased them under irrigation where crop-specific CO2 emissions within a season were independent of N application. Soil temperature at 5 cm depth enhanced CO2 emissions in both fields. Overall, higher N and soil temperature enhanced CO2 fluxes whereas effects of soil moisture depended on irrigation.

Facing post-crisis livelihood challenges? Insights from young farmers in Kenema city, Eastern Province, Sierra Leone

Globally, urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) research has focused mainly on capital cities, has avoided conflict-affected locations and rarely considered the challenges faced by young cultivators. The latter are particularly important because of the vulnerability of unemployed young people to being drawn into violent, criminal or antisocial behaviour in conflict or fragile states. This paper examines the post-crisis livelihood challenges of youth farmers in Kenema, Sierra Leone’s third largest city. The research on which this paper is based comprised multiple methods, including GIS mapping, in-depth interviews and group discussions with youth cultivators and key informants in several sites in Kenema city. Research participants gave first-hand accounts of their experiences of the Civil War and the subsequent Ebola epidemic crisis, and the paper explores their transformation from dangerous living to productive agriculturalists within Kenema. The research uses an exploratory approach to critically examine the engagement of youth in urban and peri-urban agriculture, as a strategy for encouraging young people to become responsible citizens who support city and national development. The paper challenges the pessimistic view that contemporary urban youth in developing countries are characterised by disaffection leading to crime. The study reveals how urban youth in post-crisis contexts can play a vital role in national development when a proactive and pro-youth public platform is evident locally. Appropriate resource mobilisation can unlock the latent potentials of youth for both self and community development.

An empirical investigation of barriers to the adoption of smart technologies integrated urban agriculture systems

ABSTRACT Emerging technologies integrated Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA), such as Smart controlled environment agriculture (SCEA), an innovative form of crop cultivation that encourages sustainable, localized food production and security. However, due to perceived barriers by stakeholders, the adoption of SCEA initiatives is constrained in India. This research aims to explore the barriers to the smart transformation of UPA, examine them, and construct a framework to assist decision-making. The framework was developed using Total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) and Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC). The findings revealed that cultural barriers, supply chain uncertainty, policy and regulations, and institutional support were driving barriers; technology and infrastructure, cold chain logistics, and environmentally sustainable practices were dependent barriers. The findings of this study will aid policymakers, government officials, urban farmers, and farming technology suppliers in developing a legal framework for adopting alternative food-growing technologies to achieve Sustainable development goals (SDGs).

O papel da agricultura urbana e periurbana na segurança alimentar global do pós-guerra à crise da covid-19: novas perspectivas em justiça alimentar, saúde global e sustentabilidade,

Abstract The current global syndemic, amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic, highlights the collapse of current food systems. Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) initiatives have been recognised as strategies of opposition to the dominant food system model based on their multiple positive impacts. Thus, the aim of this article is to discuss the evolution of the concept of food and nutrition security (FNS) at the international level from its proposition (in the post-World War II period) to the COVID-19 crisis, understanding the contributions of UPA in this agenda. To this end, the document is based on a critical literature review. The FNS field has evolved, and different dimensions have been included in its characterisation; however, institutional responses are concentrated in times of crises, whose impacts affect it and favour the maintenance of globalised and unsustainable food systems. The UPA practices, on the other hand, appear with peaks of rise and decline, as their contributions gain new contours, evolving along with the FNS agenda. With a view to broadening and adding to the current discussions on FNSand UPA, we finally discuss the need to incorporate the concepts of justice, global health, and a multidimensional view on sustainability.

Investment priorities for research and innovation in urban agri-food systems: Toward more resilient cities in the Global South

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is widely distributed throughout the Global South. Despite urban population growth and diversifying food habits, UPA delivers an important part of urban food supply, as well as other types of services to cities, such as employment and waste reuse. Nevertheless, the extent and importance of UPA varies between different urban areas, while challenges like limited recognition, land conversion, and water pollution and competition threaten the potential of UPA to contribute to urban resilience. Key investment priorities for research and innovation for overcoming current challenges include incentivized peri-urban zoning, urban allocation of productive lands, and increasing capacities for controlled environment agriculture (CEA). Innovative repositioning of food marketing can help to strengthen supply of healthy food from UPA production, increase decent employment, and turn food markets into nutrition hubs. Priority innovations for contributing to the circular bioeconomy of cities include scaling the safe use of wastewater for irrigation through investments in the adoption of multiple risk-barrier approaches and scaling UPA-based ecosystem services for valorising solid waste and environmental management. Innovations in urban governance are required to support these processes by bringing food systems into urban planning through food mapping and the multisectoral platforms for dialogue and policy formulation across city regions and with vertical levels of government.

Cultivating sustainable and healthy cities: A systematic literature review of the outcomes of urban and peri-urban agriculture

• UPA's contribution to urban sustainability is gaining research attention post-2015. • A clear regional bias is visible with current research focusing on the Global North. • While the Global North reported positive environmental outcomes, research in the Global South emphasizes social sustainability. • Issues of land, labour and livelihoods are largely discussed in the context of the Global South. • Urban planning and policy must recognize UPA as a nature-based solution with sustainability and wellbeing co-benefits. Despite considerable interest in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in recent decades, its contributions to urban sustainability and human wellbeing remain contested. This systematic literature review examines the geographical landscape of the peer-reviewed literature on UPA and assesses its reported outcomes on sustainability and wellbeing. Following systematic review protocols, we undertook a two-step literature screening and quality assessment process. From a total of 4029 articles, based inclusion-exclusion criteria, we filtered 320 articles for quantitative and 86 for qualitative assessment. Quantitative analysis confirmed an exponential increase in literature on UPA since 2015 and a regional bias towards the Global North. The qualitative analysis identified six thematic outcomes of UPA under three sustainability pillars - environmental sustainability; material well-being; labour and livelihoods; land tenure and urban planning; and food and nutritional security as part of economic sustainability; and subjective and relational wellbeing as well as gender and social differentiation as elements of social sustainability. Environmental sustainability was most discussed, followed by subjective wellbeing and food and nutritional security. Gender and social differentiation issues were least represented in the papers. There remain knowledge gaps around how urban policy and planning can recognise, leverage, and scale up the sustainability and wellbeing co-benefits of UPA.

Urban and peri-urban agriculture as a strategy for creating more sustainable and resilient urban food systems and facing socio-environmental emergencies

ABSTRACT Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is one of the most interesting phenomena of land management and transformation in recent decades. Thanks to its multiple functions, it can become an effective strategy to create more sustainable and resilient cities and food systems as well as to cope with global emergencies such as climate change, ecological degradation, food insecurity and economic crises. This paper analyzes the various functions of urban and peri-urban agriculture, the ways in which these functions connect and feed each other, the obstacles to its large-scale implementation, and the important role that it may have in the transition to an alternative economic and social paradigm.

‘I lost my job suddenly, but I was prepared’: the significance of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Benin City, Nigeria

ABSTRACT In the rapidly growing cities of the Global South, and Africa in particular, urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is increasingly recognized as a survival strategy both by researchers and international development organizations. While UPA is well researched, direct links to economic crisis and class variations in participation have only received limited attention in the Nigerian context. This study focuses on Benin City, the second largest city in Nigeria’s southern oil producing region, where repeated and unpredictable fluctuations in oil prices have significant implications for livelihoods. The paper discusses the results of field-based data collected using qualitative research methods (observation, in-depth interviews and questionnaire surveys) in Benin City, Southern Nigeria, where there is a dearth of published material on the practice of UPA . The paper reveals that in the context of unpredictable and frequent exposures to economic shocks, households at all socio-economic levels depend significantly on food production activities, not only for their immediate survival, but as a means of reducing household vulnerability and building resilience against future shocks.

Future impacts of Urban and Peri-urban agriculture on carbon stock and land surface temperatures in India

Over the last two decades, cities in India have seen significant urban growth accompanied by green cover loss. Recently however, there has been a growing interest in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in these urban areas. The extent to which UPA mitigates the effects of urbanization is unclear. The present study aims to quantify the impact of UPA in the cities of Chennai and Bengaluru in India. Past trends of urban growth and green cover depletion are used to predict how urbanized Chennai and Bengaluru will be in the future, using CA Markov techniques on GIS data. A survey was then carried out to understand the general perception and growth trends pertaining to UPA. This survey data was then combined with our land use model to predict the growth of UPA in Chennai and Bengaluru in the future. These ‘future maps’ were then used to quantify the impact of UPA on biomass and land surface temperatures. We find that UPA can play a small, but not insignificant role in augmenting carbon stock and bringing down land surface temperatures and propose that urban development policies consciously include the role of UPA.

Multiple evaluation of urban and peri-urban agriculture and its relation to spatial planning: The case of Prato territory (Italy)

• The study analyses contribution of urban and periurban agriculture (UPUA) to selected ecosystem services and food self-reliance. • Comparison between the current an agro-ecological scenario showed the increase of CO 2 storage, ecological connectivity and slight decrease of food provision. • Study revealed the importance of UPUA in reframing and re-embedding urban/rural interface. • Spatial planning policies and tools need to enhance the role of ES provided by UPUAs on an urban and peri-urban scale. • Scenario design methodology turned out as suitable to address and assess, at the proper scale, integration between land use planning, rural development and agroecological policies development. Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPUA) can play a fundamental role in producing Ecosystem Services (ES) ES at the local level improving sustainability of urban / rural relations. Referring to the peri-urban areas surrounding Municipality of Prato (Tuscany - Italy), we assessed the potential of urban and peri-urban agricultural areas in providing some key ES: food supply, CO 2 storage and biodiversity / connectivity. We also analysed the planning tools operating in the area to foster the enhancement of the UPUA area within the planning processes. The study was conducted using the scenario method by comparing the current situation with an agroecological scenario and verifying the change in the delivery of these three ES. The results show an increase of CO 2 storage capacity and ecological connectivity with tolerable repercussions on food provision. Indeed, results highlights the potential of the UPUA in satisfying the food needs of almost 87.9% of the inhabitants of Prato for cereals and 27.9% for legumes whereas, in the agroecological scenario, these produce decrease by about 23% and 11%. Finally, the study suggests the need to integrate governance and territorial planning tools to promote and enhance the role of ES provided by UPUAs on an urban and peri-urban scale.

Small‐scale silvopasture: Addressing urban and peri‐urban livestock challenges in the United States with agroforestry practices

AbstractThe growing urban and peri‐urban populations around the world creates strain on food and environmental security. Alleviation of these stressors may be possible by enhancing regional food production and ecosystem services provided by urban and peri‐urban agriculture (UPA). Despite the growing popularity of UPA in the United States, incorporating livestock in these settings is challenging. A review of the literature identified three key barriers to adoption of urban and peri‐urban livestock keeping that have the potential to be ameliorated using agroforestry practices to facilitate integration: animal feed resources, water quality and nutrient cycling, and use of sites contaminated with heavy metals. A discussion focused on the solutions to those barriers resulted in two theoretical silvopasture systems; we propose one for the urban setting and another for the peri‐urban setting. We have determined small‐scale livestock keeping provides a potential strategy to meet the demands of growing urban and peri‐urban environments, but sustainable and effective integration of livestock under these conditions must be considered to mitigate environmental risks associated with urban livestock keeping. Urban silvopasture has the potential to enhance specialty crop and niche food production in these environments. Future research should seek to better understand small‐scale silvopasture at the whole‐system level in a variety of resource contexts and with local species and practices.

O DESENVOLVIMENTO SÓCIO-ESPACIAL DA AGRICULTURA URBANA E PERIURBANA (AUP) NA CIDADE DE FORTALEZA, CEARÁ


 Este trabalho tem como objetivo principal analisar o desenvolvimento sócio-espacial da Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana (AUP) na cidade de Fortaleza (Ceará), Brasil. Nesta investigação empírica, estudou-se o objeto a partir de duas dimensões: a dimensão espacial e espontânea das atividades agrícolas e a dimensão institucional, através das ações do Poder Público Municipal. Para aprofundar o primeiro aspecto, a pesquisa realizou levantamento de dados secundários e produziu alguns dados primários; já em relação ao segundo aspecto, os principais procedimentos adotados foram a análise documental de Planos e Projetos e a realização de entrevistas com órgãos envolvidos nessas experiências. Os resultados obtidos com a investigação exprimem, de um lado, a grande relevância que essas atividades agrícolas possuem na cidade, principalmente em áreas periféricas e periurbanas; de outro lado, a realização de experiências governamentais de forma bastante pontual e descontínua, sem que haja a construção de uma agenda institucional mais ampla voltada à temática no âmbito local. Assim, embora haja o esforço recente da municipalidade em realizar ações voltadas para o tema, constata-se o ainda fraco amparo da atividade em termos legais e institucionais. Um efeito observado dessa situação é a rápida extinção dos espaços produtivos da cidade nos últimos anos, revelando que as ações institucionais não têm de fato conduzido ao desenvolvimento sócio-espacial das iniciativas espontâneas.
 
 Palavras-chave: Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana. Desenvolvimento sócio-espacial. Planejamento urbano.
 

Continuity under change: Towards a spatiotemporal understanding of market-oriented urban and peri-urban agriculture – Insights from Kenya

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) operates in an ambiguous relation to rapid urban growth. While urban expansion constrains farmers' access to land and resources, resulting in a replacement of UPA, proximity to expanding urban economies creates new market opportunities leading to enduring UPA. While the literature on UPA in the Global South is burgeoning, little attention has been paid to market-oriented forms of UPA under rapid urban growth. In this paper, we analyse the spatiotemporal dynamics of UPA and market-oriented farmer's responses to changing socio-spatial circumstances in two rapidly growing Kenyan cities: Nyeri and Nakuru. By conceptualizing UPA's enduring existence as continuity under change, we develop a spatiotemporal understanding of market-oriented UPA that goes beyond a dominant dichotomous view on replacement versus persistence. Based on a mixed-methods approach combining geospatial analysis with quantitative and qualitative interviews, our findings show that the continued existence of market-oriented agriculture in the city is connected to highly dynamic processes of commercialization, specialization, and intensification. We conclude that market-oriented farmers are not inevitably pushed out of the city, but rather that they are – under certain conditions – able to actively respond to the pressures as well as opportunities that emerge during rapid urban growth.

Alternative Agri-Food Systems under a Market Agencements Approach: The Case of Multifunctional Farming Activity in a Peri-Urban Area

(1) Background: A large body of literature is available on the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of alternative food systems, but not much of it is devoted to the dynamics underlying their design and implementation, more specifically the processes that make an alternative food system successful or not in terms of its sustainability aims. This gap seems to be particularly critical in studies concerning alternative food systems in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). This paper explores how the design and implementation of multifunctional farming activity in a peri-urban area surrounding the city of Reggio Emilia in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy impact the achievement of its sustainability aims. (2) Methods: The environmental, social, and economic components of this project are explored in light of the sociology of market agencements. This method brings up the motivations of the human entities involved in the project, the role played by nonhuman entities, and the technical devices used for the fulfillment of the project’s aims. (3) Results: The alternative food system under study lacked a robust design phase and a shared definition of the project aims among all the stakeholders involved. This ended in a substantial mismatch between project aims and consumer expectations. (4) Conclusions: When a comprehensive design stage is neglected, the threefold aim concerning sustainability might not be achievable. In particular, the design of alternative food systems must take into account the social environment where it is intended to be put in place, especially in UPA, where consumers often live in suburban neighborhoods wherein the sense of community is not strong, thus preventing them from getting involved in a community-based project. In such cases, hybridization can play a role in the sustainability of alternative food networks, provided that some trade-offs occur among the different components of sustainability—some components of sustainability will be fully achieved, while others will not.

Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture as a Tool for Food Security and Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation: The Case of Mestre

Urban and peri-urban areas are subject to major societal challenges, like food security, climate change, biodiversity, resource efficiency, land management, social cohesion, and economic growth. In that context, Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA), thanks to its multifunctionality, could have a high value in providing social, economic, and environmental co-benefits. UPA is an emerging field of research and production that aims to improve food security and climate change impact reduction, improving urban resilience and sustainability. In this paper, a replicable GIS-based approach was used to localize and quantify available areas for agriculture, including both flat rooftop and ground-level areas in the mainland of the city of Venice (Italy). Then, possible horticultural yield production was estimated considering common UPA yield value and average Italian consumption. Climate change mitigation, like CO2 reduction and sequestration, and climate change adaptation, like Urban Flooding and Urban Heat Island reduction, due to the new UPA areas’ development were estimated. Despite the urban density, the identified areas have the potential to produce enough vegetables for the residents and improve climate change mitigation and adaptation, if transformed into agricultural areas. Finally, the paper concludes with a reflection on the co-benefits of UPA multifunctionality, and with some policy suggestions.

The Urban and Peri-Urban Farms (UPFs) Relational Model: The Case of Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland

Different studies demonstrate that urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) operate in so-called alternative food networks (AFNs). However, very little is known about UPA’s relational business models. Therefore, this paper investigates how the urban and peri-urban farms (UPFs) form business relationships in food networks. Their business and social relationships are much more comprehensive than traditional transactional relationships. Therefore, this study aims to delimitate the relational model of UPFs. The managers and owners of nine UPFs in Greater Poland Voivodeship, Poland, in 2019 and 2020 were investigated. To this end, we employed a triple triangulation approach—methodological, theoretical, and investigator. The study refers primarily to the theory of inter-organisational relations (IORs); the empirical analysis adopts a network approach and activities–resources–actors (ARA) model framework. The study identifies UPFs business relationships and the main features of their networks, which led to the development of a conceptual relational UPFs model. This shows the diversification of activities, the competitiveness of resources and formality of organisational structures as a basis of a farm business, the integration of activities, the sharing of resources, and the collaboration of actors as the basis of the relationship. Finally, this shows the joint nature of activities—locality of resources and mutual trust among actors—as the basis of UPFs networking.

EXPLORING THE RECYCLING OF MANURE FROM URBAN LIVESTOCK FARMS: A CASE STUDY IN ETHIOPIA

Urban population growth is driving the expansion of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in developing countries. UPA is providing nutritious food to residents but the manures produced by UPA livestock farms and other wastes are not properly recycled. This paper explores the effects of four scenarios: (1) a reference scenario (business as usual), (2) increased urbanization, (3) UPA intensification, and (4) improved technology, on food-protein self-sufficiency, manure nitrogen (N) recycling and balances for four different zones in a small city (Jimma) in Ethiopia during the period 2015-2050. An N mass flow model with data from farm surveys, field experiments and literature was used. A field experiment was conducted and N use efficiency and N fertilizer replacement values differed among the five types of composts derived from urban livestock manures and kitchen wastes. The N use efficiency and N fertilizer replacement values were used in the N mass flow model. Livestock manures were the main organic wastes in urban areas, although only 20% to 40% of animal-sourced food consumed was produced in UPA, and only 14% to 19% of protein intake by residents was animal-based. Scenarios indicate that manure production in UPA will increase 3 to 10 times between 2015 and 2050, depending on urbanization and UPA intensification. Only 13% to 38% of manure N will be recycled in croplands. Farm-gate N balances of UPA livestock farms will increase to > 1 t-ha-1 in 2050. Doubling livestock productivity and feed protein conversion to animal-sourced food will roughly halve manure N production.Costs of waste recycling were high and indicate the need for government incentives. Results of these senarios are wake-up calls for all stakeholders and indicate alternative pathways.

WASTEWATER REUSE FOR URBAN AND PERI-URBAN AGRICULTURE: WHY IT'S NOT HAPPENING SOON

Urban and peri urban agriculture (UPA) forms a key component of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) special program for food security. UPA is widely upheld as a possible solution to the increased food insecurity which is linked to urban population expansion. In developing economies such as Kenya, increased urban population is highly pronounced unlike in other developed economies. This is attributed to high birth rates, and the increasing rural-urban migration, leading to expansion of urban slums with high levels of urban poverty, unemployment, food insecurity and malnutrition. With UPA seen as an opportunity for improving food supply, local economy, health conditions and environmental sustainability, it's imperative to adopt such measures. However, limited sources of water in the urban cities are seen to limit pervasiveness of UPA despite its well-known benefits. In this study, investigation of the potential for an eco-friendlily UPA (EcoUPA) was carried out in Nairobi Kenya. Using stratified random sampling to identify respondents, carrying out field surveys and administering questionnaires to establish the existing water sources, wastewater treatment systems and the utilization of these systems for reuse of the wastewater. Further, the satisfaction levels of the respondents with their wastewater treatment systems, their openness to change, and the methods preferable to them were also determined. From the study, it was determined out of 300 respondents interviewed only 66 (22%) re-used wastewater and only 54 of them reused it for crops production. Ninety - eight (33%) of respondent were interested in getting information on wastewater treatment systems that allow reuse of water and 124 (41%) respondents were willing to pay for the new system.