Role of Urban Agriculture in Achieving Food Security and other Social Missions – A Global Study
Abstract
There is an increasing importance of addressing food scarcity and food safety issues as the population is increasing at avery fast rate. With the urban population increasing even more rapidly, there is a need for a radical change in the perception of food production and agriculture. Urban Agriculture has become significant in recent times as it provides a way for urban people to practice farming and easing the pressure on food production, in a way that can satisfy other important goals in a society. This paper analyses the different ways in which urban agriculture can benefit society through qualitative research. The paper finds that urban agriculture is practiced with the primary intent of food security and with other socio-economic goals in mind, through a review of various forms of qualitative data. The paper concludes by advocating for policy implications that will focus on bringing urban agriculture from the purview of the informal and unorganized sector and promoting it to urban dwellers as a viable economic and social activity.
Keywords
Download Options
Introduction
Urban Agriculture has been defined as “the growing of plants and the raising of animals for food and other uses within and around cities and towns, and related activities such as the production and delivery of inputs, processing, and marketing of products”(FAO, 2007). In simple words, urban agriculture encompasses the agricultural activities conducted in urban areas. Urban agriculture and peri-urban agriculture almost go hand in hand, peri-urban agriculture being practiced in peri-urban areas. This form of agriculture comprises a variety of tasks such as horticulture, animal husbandry, and aquaculture. Urban agriculture can take up many forms depending on the economic and social status of the person(s) practicing it; it can be a person having a garden, a community coming together to cultivate plants in a vacant area of the city, or a company taking up an urban farming project. The goal behind practicing urban agriculture may also vary, such as for income, food security, recreation, better climate, community building, etc.
As urbanization is taking place rapidly, estimates show that the urban population would increase by more than 10% by 2050 (United Nations, 2018). With such rapid growth, there is immense pressure on rural farmers for the production of food, and given the increasing conversion of vacant lands into commercial buildings and other constructions, the issue of food production and food security is indeed quite alarming. Urban poor spend around 60 to 85 % of their income just on food (Mougeot, 2005) (Redwood 2008). This makes them extremely susceptible to an increase in food prices. As the urban population increases, the number of urban poor increases, leading to issues of food security and food safety. The issues of food insufficiency and food insecurity must be addressed at the earliest, sustainably. One way in which this problem can be dealt with is with urban agriculture complementing rural agriculture. Through urban farming, food security can be reached as locally produced food is more accessible to urban dwellers. In fact, people growing food in their houses can have immediate access to nutritious food. Apart from food security, urban farming can also help achieve several socio-economic goals (income, employment, community, social inclusion) of a society.
With increasing concerns of food shortages and lack of accessibility to nutritious food, especially in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is time that urban dwellers too start contributing to the production of food and not just rely on rural farmers and put them under an excessive burden. Urban agriculture is gaining more importance and attention by the day as it provides a flexible mechanism for even regular urban dwellers with no prior knowledge of agriculture to cultivate food and contribute to food supply and food security, along with contributing to abetter climate, biodiversity, a close-knit community, and abetter local economy. Urban farmers throughout the world and urban farming projects are testimony to the fact that urban agriculture can really benefit people in a society in numerous ways.
While this form of agriculture can be crucial for dealing with a society‟sfood security issues, it must be noted that effective quantitative data and quantitative analysis of urban agricultural activities is extremely low. It may be due to the fact that various benefits of urban farming can‟t be quantified, but even for the quantitative aspects of urban agriculture such as the yield from urban farming, income derived from urban farming, etc., there is no record for urban agriculture data. Hence many papers about urban agriculture usually carryout a qualitative analysis rather thana quantitative one. This paper too, through qualitative analysis, seeks to analyze and find out the urban farming activities throughout the world, major interventions made through this practice, and the impact it has on the urban communities. The paper seeks to emphasize the increasing relevance of urban farming and why urban dwellers should definitely involve themselves in urban farming. 1.1 Objectives To analyze the role of urban agriculture in ensuring food security for the urban poor in the wake of rapid urbanization To find out the different social missions undertaken by various urban farming projects worldwide and study the ways in which urban agriculture has helped achieve these missions. 1.2 Importance Urban dwellers, especially youngsters lead avery busy life with little connection with nature and farming. However, one can never isolate themselves from the matters concerning food as one needs food to survive. It is extremely crucial that an individual participates in the process of making one‟sfood as the quality and even the mere existence of food is a matter of deep concern. This study is significant in the sense that it provides an enhanced insight into the capabilities of urban dwellers inbeing involved in the process of food production and ensuring food security without having to live in rural areas, and emphasizes the goals that urban dwellers can achieve through their participation in urban farming, regardless of its scale. 1.3 Methodology The methodology adopted is of a qualitative nature. Qualitative data in both textual and visual forms such as case studies, documentaries, interviews, theses, articles, reports, etc. have been studied and analyzed. Literature about urban and peri-urban across various countries has been reviewed for abroad understanding. The first objective, food security has been analyzed concerning two parameters: i) food production with minimal use of pesticides and chemicals (to retain nutrients in food) and ii) accessibility to nutritious food. The second objective of achievement of social missions is studied through social, economic and environmental factors. 1.4 Limitations The scope of this paper is limited to urban agriculture and its implications for urban dwellers, mostly the urban poor. Thus, this paper does not shed light on the rural farmers and rural poor who form an equally important segment. As pointed by many studies about urban agriculture, there is an absence of a reliable database for urban agriculture. Thus, the impact of urban agriculture has not been statistically proven in this paper.
Conclusion
This paper looks into the impact of urban agriculture on food security and the extent of achievement of various social missions through the practice of urban farming. FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN) defines Urban Agriculture as “the growing of plants and the raising of animals for food and other uses within and around cities and towns, and related activities such as the production and delivery of inputs, processing, and marketing of products”. The relevance of urban agriculture has increased as estimates show that there will be a huge increase in the urban population which would achieve adequate food supply and food security of the urban poor difficult (United Nations, 2018). This is coupled with the decrease in the amount of land available for agriculture as land is increasingly used for commercial and industrial purposes. Such issues call the need for a slightly different way of practicing agriculture, with minimum inputs and maximum output whilst promoting social missions; and urban agriculture is a way of farming that can handle several of these issues. The paper analyses qualitative data regarding urban agriculture based on two aspects: urban agriculture‟sinfluence on food security and its role in achieving social missions. Food security has been analyzed based on the parameters of food production and food accessibility. Achievement of social missions is analyzed through the positive contribution of urban farming to various social, economic, and environmental factors in urban areas.
There is an increasing need for agriculture to be food and nutrition-sensitive. The focus of agriculture should be on the production of nutritious food rather than commodity crops or cash crops. Moreover, what is as important as the scale of food production is the production of food without excessive use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Excessive use of chemicals in the production of food can negatively impact the nutrient content in food. Urban agriculture offers scope for various interventions that can be made in order to reduce the amount of inputs and harmful chemicals used in food. One of the interventions is hydroponics which refers to growing plants with only water and no soil at all. Plants grown in this method use 10 times less water than plants grown in the conventional way. In this way, food production can be greatly improved in urban areas due to lesser requirement of water and no requirement of soil or pesticides. For countries with scarce amount of land, vertical farming and rooftop farming can be a great alternative because these techniques take up extremely less space. Moreover, analysis of literature and projects undertaken with respect to urban agriculture show that food security is a primary goal of all urban farmers. Urban farming projects are carried out in localities where there is limited accessibility to a supermarket or a grocery store. Urban gardens provide immediate access to nutritious food for communities. With respect to the contribution of urban farming to the fulfillment of social missions, case studies of urban farming projects have been analyzed to find out the goals behind them and their importance in the project. Urban farming has been conducted to achieve various goals. Urban agriculture is conducted in urban and peri-urban areas; hence it encourages the growth of a variety of crops, plants, and trees in these urban areas, and thus reduces the amount of toxic gases and pollution in the atmosphere and helps deal with climate change. It also promotes biodiversity as urban gardens are home to a variety of species of plants and insects. Urban agriculture also offers economic benefits as urban farming employs the local communities and helps them generate an income. Individuals with urban farms can either use the produce of their urban farms or gardens for self-consumption which may reduce the income spent on its purchase, or sell the produce and obtain income from it. Apart from economic and environmental benefits, urban farming provides an opportunity for various purposes like social inclusion and community development where people can address various issues together and deal with them in the best way possible.
Studies regarding urban agriculture usually highlight the fact that support must be provided from authorities for urban agriculture to tackle various issues (Anderson, M., 2014) (Thornton, 2008) and policies should establish urban farming as a legitimate and viable economic activity in many cities (Nugent, R., 2000). Indeed promotion and implementation of urban agriculture should be encouraged by governments throughout the world so that more people involve themselves in urban agriculture and reap the benefits. Today, there are several issues in the context of agriculture. Need for modification of agricultural policies, farming seen as one of the least viable and desirable professions especially among young people, less access to land, credit, water, inputs, etc., impact of climate change on agriculture and agricultural produce and so on are just a few of the many issues surrounding agriculture. These issues face each and everyone in the world and it is not directed only at a few communities, because at the end of the day everyone needs food to survive. These issues should be fought radically, and urban agriculture gives the opportunity to do so. It helps bring people together, regardless of several differences and paves the way to address these problems whilst addressing several other non-agricultural issues as well. Whether practiced at an individual level, a community level or a company level, urban farmers at all levels confirm that urban farming is extremely capable of solving many problems and giving way to abetter future.
