Urban And Peri-urban Agriculture Research Articles

Between Replacement and Intensification: Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Different Land Use Types of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture under Rapid Urban Growth in Nakuru, Kenya

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) contributes to urban food security and provides important livelihood opportunities. Due to rapid urbanization, though, UPA is subject to increasing land use pressure. Existing studies indicate gradual replacement of UPA in favor of other land uses. This study controverts this unidirectional narrative to show that UPA simultaneously persists and intensifies. Using remote sensing and qualitative data in the case of the rapidly growing, medium-sized Kenyan city Nakuru, we analyze spatiotemporal dynamics of four agricultural land use types (large-scale open-field production, smallholder production, intensive small-scale open-field production, and large-scale greenhouse production) to better understand different sociospatial trajectories. The findings show the coexistence of complex patterns of replacement, fragmentation, and intensification. We thus examine the extent to which detected dynamics can be explained by the socioeconomic characteristics of the four UPA land use types. Whereas large-scale production is increasingly fragmented and replaced by both small-scale agricultural production as well as residentially or industrially built-up areas, more intensive land use types focusing on high-value cash crops proliferate and intensify production in the research area. The study clarifies the dynamics of ongoing UPA transformations and is relevant for urban planning policies in rapidly changing urban and peri-urban environments.

Urban and peri-urban agriculture in Goiânia: The search for solutions to adapt cities in the context of global climate change

Goiânia is a city in the late 1930s, and one of the two cities constructedin the Brazilian savannah. In 2018, it had 1.4 million inhabitants and 2,05217 inhabitantsper km2. With less than 100 years of age, the urbanization model associated with the effects of global climate change has led the city to live, in recent periods, with moments of water scarcity and flooding. In view of this, the urban municipal policy seeks to point out actions that aim to control land use and occupation from an environmental sustainability perspective. Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is one strategy and will be the main objective of this article. The urban municipal policy will indicate areas for the practice of UPA as a strategy for adapting cities in the context of climate change. As a secondary objective, the potential for carbon sequestration by this activity was analyzed. The methodology was based on the analysis of urban land use in a Geographic information system (GIS) environment. The database of the Municipality of Goiânia was used. The results indicated three levels of priorities, with a total of 10,650 hectares. In terms of carbon sequestration , this area would result in the capture of 5.536.764,60 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere in 20 years.

Carbon dioxide and gaseous nitrogen emissions from biochar‐amended soils under wastewater irrigated urban vegetable production of Burkina Faso and Ghana

AbstractTo quantify carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses in soils of West African urban and peri‐urban agriculture (UPA) we measured fluxes of CO2‐C, N2O‐N, and NH3‐N from irrigated fields in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, and Tamale, Ghana, under different fertilization and (waste‐)water regimes. Compared with the unamended control, application of fertilizers increased average cumulative CO2‐C emissions during eight cropping cycles in Ouagadougou by 103% and during seven cropping cycles in Tamale by 42%. Calculated total emissions measured across all cropping cycles reached 14 t C ha−1 in Ouagadougou, accounting for 73% of the C applied as organic fertilizer over a period of two years at this site, and 9 t C ha−1 in Tamale. Compared with unamended control plots, fertilizer application increased N2O‐N emissions in Ouagadougou during different cropping cycles, ranging from 37 to 360%, while average NH3‐N losses increased by 670%. Fertilizer application had no significant effects on N2O‐N losses in Tamale. While wastewater irrigation did not significantly enhance CO2‐C emissions in Ouagadougou, average CO2‐C emissions in Tamale were 71% (1.6 t C ha−1) higher on wastewater plots compared with those of the control (0.9 t C ha−1). However, no significant effects of wastewater on N2O‐N and NH3‐N emissions were observed at either location. Although biochar did not affect N2O‐N and NH3‐N losses, the addition of biochar could contribute to reducing CO2‐C emissions from urban garden soils. When related to crop production, CO2‐C emissions were higher on control than on fertilized plots, but this was not the case for absolute CO2‐C emissions.

Uma revisão bibliográfica do tipo scopping/mapping sobre a Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana

The world is undergoing an accelerated urbanization process marked by social and environmental imbalances. In this context, urban and periurban agriculture (UPA) emerges as an alternative to sustainable urbanization mainly due to its contribution to food security, reduction of environmental impact, revitalization of urban areas, integration of households and physical and psychological well-being increasing. The purpose of this paper is to understand how academic literature deals with urban and periurban agriculture. For that, a scoping / mapping literature review was carried out and its results were presented after identification of relevant scientific studies on UPA, its main aspects, ways in which the term has been defined; and discussion about themes from the selected articles. After this review, the conclusions are: the scientific production on the subject is undergoing high growth rates in recent years; the relationship between UPA and urban dynamics is more important for the definition of UPA than the location of agriculture; and that the aspects that authors found most interesting are: concept and panorama, urban planning and governance, quantitative potential, environment, risk of contamination and techniques and productivity.

Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana

A Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana (AUP) tem se destacado na essência da autossuficiência alimentar das cidades de forma estratégica a ponto de garantir Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional (SAN), promover hábitos alimentares saudáveis e vem apresentando diferentes transformações sociais em espaços coletivos. A presente pesquisa tem por objetivo avaliar o impacto da AUP sobre a SAN e o comportamento alimentar de famílias participantes de uma horta comunitária situada no bairro Campeche, do município de Florianópolis (Santa Catarina). Trata-se de pesquisa qualitativa realizada com 11 participantes da horta. Foi aplicada entrevista por meio de questionário semiestruturado, com gravação em áudio. Por meio dos depoimentos foi possível entender a horta comunitária como espaço para promoção de saúde de fortalecimento das práticas alimentares saudáveis e preservação da cultura alimentar do município. É priorizada a produção agroecológica dos alimentos com vistas à sustentabilidade social, econômica e ambiental. O trabalho comunitário facilitou e intensificou as relações interpessoais entre vizinhos e impulsionou o protagonismo popular. Conclui-se que a horta comunitária demonstrou-se eficaz na promoção e garantia dos princípios da SAN, no fortalecimento de práticas alimentares saudáveis e no desempenho da cidadania.

Trends and gaps in scholarly literature on urban and peri-urban agriculture

In recent years urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has gained increasing attention, while a comprehensive synthesis and identification of research gaps is lacking. The present review indicates that with a share of 27% of scholarly publications sub-Saharan Africa is the geographical region most often reported in scientific literature. Middle East and North Africa (MENA, 1.9%) and Oceania (2.8%) in contrast appeared underrepresented. Megacities (> 5 million inhabitants) received less scientific attention than smaller agglomerations. 3.6% of UPA publications addressed heavy metals, of which 82% detected a contamination in plants, soil or irrigation water above recommended thresholds, but the thereby bioavailability of heavy metals remains unclear. Organic pollutants in contrast seem to be understudied. 1.7% of the studies focused on microbial contamination in UPA and 9.7% addressed socio-economic aspects of urban agriculture. The latter are very context specific and span from supplementation of food in poor households to market-oriented production. Only 2% of studies explicitly dealt with animal husbandry in UPA. This topic should receive more scientific attention, since the integration of urban animal husbandry with cropping systems has large potential for recycling of nutrients. Similarly, only 2.4% of studies examined urban foodsheds and food supply, despite the challenge of ongoing urbanization, which requires increasing source areas for feeding cities. Maintaining ecosystems services in an urban environment that is highly competitive for scarce resources such as space, water, labour and capital requires an efficient resource management at different spatial scales. This calls for interdisciplinary research approaches in a social-ecological systems framework.

City adjustments as the main factor of success of urban and peri-urban farms–empirical evidence from the Ruhr metropolis

Economic viability of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is the key requirement for additional social, environmental, and landscape functions within urban and peri-urban areas. However the rapid progress of urbanization drives the loss of farmlands to industrial, residential and other urban uses, and the decline of farms and population working in agriculture. Hence, the literature highlights the need to popularize new ideas and strategies of preserving and developing farms in urbanized areas.The main aim of this research is both to identify and assess determinants of success of farms located in urban and peri-urban areas. The key question that has arisen is: how do different adjustment strategies, locations and farm resources affect the success of farms? For this purpose a web survey was conducted among 199 professional urban and peri-urban farms in the Ruhr Metropolis (Germany). It is an old-industrialized polycentric urban agglomeration where agriculture has a comparably high level of significance in current land use. Analyses were conducted taking a resource-based view and using the classification tree method. The data indicate that farms which use various adjustment strategies are more successful. Elements of successful strategies, are include tourism services (mainly horse-riding) and direct marketing. Results further indicate that the effectiveness of those strategies (farm success) is mainly dependent upon a farms locations. Distance from the customer seem to be of utmost importance, because by minimizing transport costs, customers choose entities that have the most convenient location for them. By assessing farm success from a long-term perspective, it was noted that positive prospects of development apply mainly to full-time farmers who use appropriate adjustment strategies. In contrast, farms, which do not use any elements of strategies relating to customers from urban areas, seem to achieve success chiefly from having a relatively large surface area of farmland.

Global urbanization and food production in direct competition for land: Leverage places to mitigate impacts on SDG2 and on the Earth System

Global urbanization and food production are in direct competition for land. This paper carries out a critical review of how displacing crop production from urban and peri-urban land to other areas – because of issues related to soil quality – will demand a substantially larger proportion of the Earth’s terrestrial land surface than the surface area lost to urban encroachment. Such relationships may trigger further distancing effects and unfair social-ecological teleconnections. It risks also setting in motion amplifying effects within the Earth System. In combination, such multiple stressors set the scene for food riots in cities of the Global South. Our review identifies viable leverage points on which to act in order to navigate urban expansion away from fertile croplands. We first elaborate on the political complexities in declaring urban and peri-urban lands with fertile soils as one global commons. We find that the combination of an advisory global policy aligned with regional policies enabling robust common properties rights for bottom-up actors and movements in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) as multi-level leverage places to intervene. To substantiate the ability of aligning global advisory policy with regional planning, we review both past and contemporary examples where empowering local social-ecological UPA practices and circular economies have had a stimulating effect on urban resilience and helped preserve, restore, and maintain urban lands with healthy soils.

The potential for heavy metal pollution in crops from urban and peri urban horticultural farms in the Gaborone environs: a review

The introduction of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is usually characterized by high input intensity. This intensive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, wastewater, sludges and industrial effluents may lead to accumulation of potentially toxic metals in the soil, increasing the geological background levels and exceeding the capacity to immobilize them. Besides being environmental pollutants of which the toxicity is a problem of increasing significance for ecological reasons, heavy metal accumulation in the food chain is highly dangerous for human health. The objective of this review was to highlight the potential problems that may arise as a consequence of irrigating crops with sewage water as well as using fertilizers and pesticides. A review of literature has shown that different types of fertilizers contain some quantities of heavy metals that may buildup in the soil as well as be taken up by crops. In addition to using fertilizers, the use of treated and sometimes partially treated and untreated water by UPA farmers around Gaborone may lead to heavy metal accumulation in soil as well as in crops, posing a danger to human beings. In Botswana there is limited information concerning heavy metal accumulation in soils even though there is a high use of agrochemicals in vegetable production in UPA land use systems. Lack of such information necessitates research on the impact of the application of fertilizer, sewage water (treated and untreated) and metal-based pesticides on the quality of the vegetable produce coming from UPA.

Does Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Contribute to Household Food Security? An Assessment of the Food Security Status of Households in Tongaat, eThekwini Municipality

Regardless of the steady increase in the economic growth of South Africa, poverty levels and food insecurity have not declined as one would have anticipated. Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) presents an opportunity as a livelihood strategy to alleviate poverty and ensure household food security within the urban and peri-urban spheres. However, less research has been done in this area to discover the contribution of UPA on households’ food security. This paper assesses the food security status of households that practised any form of UPA activities (later on referred to the rest of this paper as UPA practising households) and those that did not (later on referred to the rest of this paper as non-UPA practising households) within the Tongaat peri-urban area of eThekwini Municipality. The specific objectives of the paper are to estimate the household food security status of the UPA practising households vis-à-vis the non-UPA practising households and to elicit the reasons associated with the practice of UPA activities. Two hundred and eight (208) households (that is 109 and 99 UPA and non-UPA practising households respectively) were selected using a stratified random sampling procedure. The Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Household Food Insecurity Access Score (HFIAS) measures were employed to estimate a household’s food security status. A probit regression analysis was used to elicit the reasons associated with the practice of UPA activities by households. A non-parametric independent samples test (Mann-Whitney U) was used to compare whether there were significant differences between the two groups. A Pearson Chi-Square test reveals that the employment status, access to arable land, land tenure (ownership rights or arable land) and household monthly income variables were statistically significantly associated with the food security status (in terms of HDDS) of households. The results from the HDDS tool, show that a greater proportion (54%) of the UPA practising households consumed >6 food groups (deemed to be food secure in terms of dietary access) as compared to their counterparts, the non-UPA practising households (40%) in the same food group. However, the Mann-Whitney U test (U = 5292, p = 0.808) show that there was no significant difference from this data in terms of the dietary diversity (HDDS) of the two groups. The HFIAS measure reveal that a greater proportion (about 72%) of the UPA practising households indicated that they never or rarely worried about food shortages (deemed to be food secure in terms of food access) as compared to their counterparts—the non-UPA practising households (about 61%) that never or rarely worried about food shortages. The Mann-Whitney U test (U = 4118.5, p = 0.001) show that there was a significant difference in terms of food access (HFIAS) of the two groups. Overall, the results show that although UPA practising households seemed to be better off in terms of food access as compared to the non-UPA households, the results are inconclusive or show no evidence that a significant difference existed concerning dietary diversity of the two groups. The probit regression analysis shows that the variable arable land size (p = 0.000) has a positive correlation with the practice of any UPA activity. In order for UPA to enhance the household food security status (particularly in terms of dietary diversity) within the peri-urban spheres, an integrated approach (with agricultural land support from government and city planners) together with the diversification of high-value UPA activities by households is paramount.

Rule-based, hierarchical land use and land cover classification of urban and peri-urban agriculture in data-poor regions with RapidEye satellite imagery: a case study of Nakuru, Kenya

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is of high importance for city dwellers especially in medium-sized cities in sub-Saharan Africa as it fulfills a wide range of multifunctional urban needs. However, the extent of recent agricultural land use dynamics in sub-Saharan African cities under rapid urbanization so far remains unclear. This study assessed the operationality of a rule-based, hierarchical classification of RapidEye satellite imagery to monitor land use and land cover (LULC) dynamics from 2010 to 2017 with a focus on UPA and its patch sizes on the example of the rapidly growing medium-sized city Nakuru, Kenya. The hierarchical system was able to provide a high-resolution, multitemporal, area-wide data set, and proved beneficial through a high flexibility in considering each class separately. Though the approach offered limitations in distinguishing between agricultural crops, the produced data set gave insights about intense LULC dynamics and high land use pressure indicated, in particular, by an increase of sealed areas by 83%, an ongoing expansion of agricultural land and high variations in the detected classes between the years. In the context of data shortage, the findings contribute to the understanding of urbanization patterns in sub-Saharan Africa.

Cropland Mapping Using Fusion of Multi-Sensor Data in a Complex Urban/Peri-Urban Area

Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) has recently come into sharp focus as a valuable source of food for urban populations. High population density and competing land use demands lend a spatiotemporally dynamic and heterogeneous nature to urban and peri-urban croplands. For the provision of information to stakeholders in agriculture and urban planning and management, it is necessary to characterize UPA by means of regular mapping. In this study, partially cloudy, intermittent moderate resolution Landsat images were acquired for an area adjacent to the Tokyo Metropolis, and their Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was computed. Daily MODIS 250 m NDVI and intermittent Landsat NDVI images were then fused, to generate a high temporal frequency synthetic NDVI data set. The identification and distinction of upland croplands from other classes (including paddy rice fields), within the year, was evaluated on the temporally dense synthetic NDVI image time-series, using Random Forest classification. An overall classification accuracy of 91.7% was achieved, with user’s and producer’s accuracies of 86.4% and 79.8%, respectively, for the cropland class. Cropping patterns were also estimated, and classification of peanut cultivation based on post-harvest practices was assessed. Image spatiotemporal fusion provides a means for frequent mapping and continuous monitoring of complex UPA in a dynamic landscape.

Heavy metal signatures in urban and peri-urban agricultural soils across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, India

Millennium Development Goals recognized the contribution of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) towards food security, income generation, and livelihood strategies. Given the scarcity of relevant data, the present study was conducted to assess heavy metal load of UPA soils (at 0.00–0.20, 0.20–0.60 and 0.60–1.00 m depth) in Mumbai Metropolitan Region, India by comparing the signatures from soil profiles of three railway gardens (RG1–3) and three farms (F1–3) over 2 years. Potential human health risks of consuming produce from these soils were assessed using the contamination factor, degree of contamination, pollution load index (PLI), enrichment factor, geoaccumulation index (Igeo), and total metal and element content in comparison with different safety standards. Semi-sequential extractions were performed to determine the concentration of available elements and heavy metals for plants. The total concentration of heavy metals (Cr, Ni, and Sr) exceeded the critical thresholds in all surface soils, while the contribution of water-soluble and exchangeable fractions of Cu, Fe, Co, and Cr was negligible across the selected gardens. At the same soil depth, the PLI was highest for RG3 (3.6) at 0.00–0.20 m depth and lowest in RG2 (1.2). The Igeo value for individual elements ranged from 0.08 to 0.12 (Ni), 0.06 to 0.12 (Cr), 0.07 to 0.10 (Zn), 0.10 to 0.18 (Cu), and 0.24 to 0.34 (Co), whereas the value for Mn was 0.01 similar in all gardens. The soil pollution assessments by these indices revealed moderate to considerable (chromium and strontium) heavy metal contamination and accumulation, however, the origin of these metals remain unclear.

Income Vulnerability of West African Farming Households to Losses in Pollination Services: A Case Study from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in West African countries is developing rapidly in response to population growth and changing consumer preferences. Furthermore, UPA offers opportunities to secure income and social integration for the urban poor. However, little is known about household (HH) income security effects of the ongoing shift in UPA land use from crops that do not rely on insect pollinators for fruit development (e.g., sorghum and millet) to pollinator-dependent crops. In our study we developed a Household Vulnerability Index (HVI) for 224 HHs along a rural–urban gradient of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The HVI indicates to which degree total HH revenue could be affected by a decline in insect pollinators. HH specific relative reduction of agricultural revenue ranged from 0 to −0.83, a reduction in HHs’ revenue of up to 83%, depending on the crops’ level of pollinator dependency. Half of the studied HHs (n = 108) showed an HVI of 0 and remained unaffected by a decline in pollinators. Nevertheless, mean HVI was highest for urban HHs; making these HHs most vulnerable for loss of pollination services. As in urban areas changes in insect-mediated pollination services are expected, the development of resilient UPA systems must consider “pollinator-friendly” landscape management.

Income Vulnerability of West African Farming Households to Losses in Pollination Services: A Case Study from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in West African countries is developing rapidly in response to population growth and changing consumer preferences. Furthermore, UPA offers opportunities to secure income and social integration for the urban poor. However, little is known about household (HH) income security effects of the ongoing shift in UPA land use from crops that do not rely on insect pollinators for fruit development (e.g., sorghum and millet) to pollinator-dependent crops. In our study we developed a Household Vulnerability Index (HVI) for 224 HHs along a rural–urban gradient of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The HVI indicates to which degree total HH revenue could be affected by a decline in insect pollinators. HH specific relative reduction of agricultural revenue ranged from 0 to −0.83, a reduction in HHs’ revenue of up to 83%, depending on the crops’ level of pollinator dependency. Half of the studied HHs (n = 108) showed an HVI of 0 and remained unaffected by a decline in pollinators. Nevertheless, mean HVI was highest for urban HHs; making these HHs most vulnerable for loss of pollination services. As in urban areas changes in insect-mediated pollination services are expected, the development of resilient UPA systems must consider “pollinator-friendly” landscape management.

Diversity and nutrient balances of urban and peri-urban farms in Ethiopia

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is important for food security in fast growing cities of developing countries. UPA also may have an important role in nutrient re-cycling at the interface of rural and urban areas. However, little is known about this role and whether it is different for different UPA systems. Here, we report on diversity and nutrient balances of UPA systems in three main cities of Ethiopia. Data collected from 425 households (Addis Ababa: 175, Adama: 126 Jimma: 124) were subjected to categorical principal component analysis and cluster analysis to classify the households. Four farm types per city and overall six: commercial livestock (cLS), commercial vegetable crop (cVC), subsistence field crop (sFC), cLScVC, cLScVCsFC and sVCsFC were identified across the three cities. Two types, cLS and cLScVC were common to the three cities. The farm types differed in resource endowment, income, soil fertility management and nutrient balances. cLS systems accumulated 450, 85 and 260 kg N, P and K ha−1 year−1 and had 26% N and P and 15% K use efficiency, respectively while sFC systems depleted − 30 kg N and − 17 kg K ha−1 year−1 and had 155% N and > 100% K use efficiency. There was little exchange of manure and crop residue between LS, FC and VC systems. To use the potential role of UPA in nutrient re-cycling, a directive that imposes LS systems to distribute their surplus manure resources to proximate FC and VC systems and improve their nutrient use efficiency should be put in place.

English

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) have been considered solutions for improving poor living conditions in undeveloped urban and peri-urban areas of developing countries. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the factors affecting UPA decision-making, with special attention to land constraints among poor urban slum dwellers in Bangladesh. A logit regression model was applied using secondary individual household data obtained from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), and the predicted probabilities of engaging in UPA for each significant independent variable were estimated. In moderately populated Jessore, households that had more family members without children under five, had some savings, lived in their own house or lived there without paying rent, and had any water logging around the house 1 to 60 days per year were more likely to engage in UPA than other households. On the other hand, in densely populated Tongi, households that lived in their own house or lived there without paying rent, lived there for longer periods, had any water logging around the house less than four months per year, or could rely on neighbors through a difficult period were more likely to engage in UPA than other households. This finding suggests that constraint factors associated with engaging in UPA differ in various urban settings. Therefore, nonprofit/community organizations or local governments are required to plan carefully when promoting UPA, which is one of the coping strategies of poor urban dwellers wishing to enhance their resilience against food insecurity. Key words: Urban and peri-urban agriculture, urban slum, Bangladesh.

The role of backyard farms in two West African urban landscapes

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is a well-researched landscape component, but there is a need to extend the quantitative database on West Africa as well as to explain how UPA contributes to food systems differently across locations. We therefore performed a quantitative survey of Tamale, Ghana, and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, using a spatially randomised sampling frame to identify farms in peri-urban villages, open-space farming zones and isolated spaces. This was complemented with focus group discussion data. After preliminary analysis, further interviews were performed to explain trends observed. Rainy season production dominated in both cities. In Ouagadougou, commercial production was concentrated in open-space farming sites, whereas in Tamale it was more dispersed, with isolated space farms playing an unexpectedly important market role. This was attributed to Tamale's recent rapid expansion, combined with more relaxed planning implementation and a permissive legislative context. In both cities, leafy vegetables were important commercial crops. Irrigation and soil fertility management were areas where resource use efficiency could be improved. Untreated well water was a major irrigation source in Ouagadougou, as was potable water in Tamale, raising queries over sustainability. Inorganic fertiliser use was more common in Tamale than Ouagadougou, and the opposite was the case for compost and manure, ascribed to the existence of manure markets in Ouagadougou. Urban agriculture's contribution to urban food systems is thus shaped by its historical and geographical context. Attention to planning trajectories, irrigation and soil fertility management issues could help it contribute further.

CARACTERIZAÇÃO DO CULTIVO E CONSERVAÇÃO DA AGROBIODIVERSIDADE EM LOTES URBANOS VAGOS EM DUAS PEQUENAS CIDADES NO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO

<p>A agricultura urbana e periurbana (AUP) é um fenômeno mundial crescente e traz uma gama de benefícios, como a busca da segurança alimentar e nutricional, geração de renda e a possibilidade de conservação de agrobiodiversidade <em>on farm</em>. No Brasil, cidades de pequeno porte e zonas periféricas de metrópoles ainda apresentam características rurais, como espaços intersticiais desocupados, possibilitando a ex-moradores das zonas rurais a manutenção do hábito de plantar. O objetivo deste estudo foi descrever a agricultura urbana praticada nos lotes vagos em duas cidades do interior do estado de São Paulo, Charqueada (CH) e Santa Gertrudes (SG), abordando os seguintes aspectos: caracterização socioeconômica dos entrevistados; caracterização dos lotes quanto a posse, tempo de cultivo e manejo agrícola; e registro das plantas e variedades cultivadas, com ênfase nas raízes e tubérculos, com vistas a avaliar o potencial para a conservação de agrobiodiversidade <em>on farm</em> nesses espaços. Todos os lotes cultivados na malha urbana foram georreferenciados, para o estabelecimento de uma amostra geral (77 em CH e 43 em SG) para a caracterização da população quanto a aspectos socioeconômicos e relativos à agricultura praticada. Posteriormente, selecionou-se uma subamostra (30 em CH e 20 em SG), para inventário das plantas cultivadas. Os levantamentos foram realizados por meio de entrevistas estruturadas e semi-estruturadas, utilizando-se a turnê guiada nos lotes para o levantamento das plantas. Os agricultores são na grande maioria homens acima de 50 anos de idade, de baixa renda e baixa escolaridade; não há participação efetiva dos jovens. Há uma presença importante de migrantes de outros estados, nordestinos em CH e mineiros em SG. Levantaram-se 102 etnoespécies de plantas cultivadas, principalmente alimentares, sendo as mais frequentes (>40% dos lotes em ambas as cidades) mandioca, mamão e quiabo. Vários cultivos apresentaram etnovariedades, mas o conhecimento dos agricultores sobre as mesmas não é muito aprofundado. A agrobiodiversidade levantada atesta o potencial da agricultura urbana para conservação <em>on farm</em>, porém o desinteresse dos mais jovens e as pressões de ocupação imobiliária do solo urbano podem dificultar sua continuidade. Há necessidade de políticas públicas que ordenem a atividade e garantam um mínimo de estabilidade, bem como da conscientização da população em geral sobre o papel e a importância da conservação da diversidade agrícola. </p>

Integrating urban agriculture and urban planning in Mashhad, Iran; a short survey of current status and constraints

ABSTRACTThis article addresses the role of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Mashhad in a perspective of sustainable development. To this end the article seeks to point out the conditions that hinder this development and the factors that could favor it. The article is structured as follows: in the first section the UPA phenomenon is framed with reference to some significant planning experiences in progress in Western and Islamic countries. In the second section, an outline of Mashhad as a “city in transition” is provided highlighting its main factors of change. In the third section, the institutional framework of present urban planning in Mashhad is described, also showing the weak enforcement mechanisms of planning policy for UPA. Section four presents both a conceptual and material network of un-built areas potentially suitable for agricultural uses, articulated in three different classes. By referring to city maps and recent urban schemes, the study summarizes the physical characteristics, the ownership, and the resources of each class, from inside the compact city to its peripheral belt. The article concludes by indicating the three domains of policy, education, and social commitment as the main factors that can favor effective policies and practices for a multifunctional urban agriculture.