The purpose of this book is to set out the key lessons learned and to provide recommendations and guidance based on existing cases and examples for a wide range of actors involved in urban food systems. In particular, the aim is for this publication to serve as a sourcebook for local decision-makers, policy advisors, urban planners, specialists, practitioners and others involved in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). The sourcebook is also for those involved in the design and implementation of production schemes, planning of urban food strategies, and policies concerning agriculture in urban and peri-urban areas.

Urban agriculture (UA) is a dynamic concept that comprises a variety of livelihood systems ranging from subsistence production and processing at the household level to more commercialized agriculture. It takes place in different locations and under varying socio-economic conditions and political regimes. The diversity of UA is one of its main attributes, as it can be adapted to a wide range of urban situations and to the needs of diverse stakeholders. This paper aims to provide pertinent information on profitability and sustainability of UA to a wide audience of managers and policymakers from municipalities, ministries of agriculture, local government, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), donor organizations and university research institutions. It aims to highlight the benefits of linkages between agriculture and the urban environment, leading to a more balanced understanding of the conflicts and synergies. It examines how UA can contribute substantially to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly in reducing urban poverty and hunger (MDG 1) and ensuring environmental sustainability (MDG 7).

The population of the world is steadily growing. Most of this population growth is concentrated in cities and urban areas, which means, 68 percent of the world’s 9.7 billion inhabitants will be urban dwellers by 2050. However, many of those currently living in cities especially, though not exclusively, in the Global South, are malnourished, impoverished and food insecure. Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is a vital strategy for building the resilience of cities’ food supply, reducing poverty and increasing employment, improving nutritional outcomes, and mitigating environmental degradation of urban spaces. While UPA is no silver bullet, when combined with effective city-region planning, the food system can more effciently meet the needs of diverse actors in urban areas. To provide additional insights into how UPA is managed as input for the “Urban and peri-urban agriculture: from production to food systems”, Rikolto conducted a series of case studies in six cities around the world, which are Quito (the Republic of Ecuador), Leuven (the Kingdom of Belgium), Dakar (the Republic of Senegal), Arusha (the United Republic of Tanzania), Surakarta (the Republic of Indonesia) and Tegucigalpa(the Republic of Honduras). This report first gives detailed accounts of each city and its UPA policies, challenges and practices. These are grouped according to the themes of land (availability, tenure); water(irrigation, access); labour(seasonal versus full-time, worker profile); finance (expenses, revenues, access to credit); agronomy(UPA practices, technical assistance) andvalue chain (commercialization, availability of inputs, consumer profiles). While policy mechanisms and support interventions are included among these themes, a policy overview presents the final theme of governance. These city accounts are followed by a comparative overview of all six cities and culminate in generalizable lessons-learned, interesting findings, and actionable recommendations for planners and policy-makers.

As people increasingly migrate to urban settings and more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, it is vital to plan and provide for sustainable and resilient food systems which reflect this challenge. This volume presents experience and evidence-based "state of the art" chapters on the key dimensions of urban food challenges and types of intra- and peri-urban agriculture. The book provides urban planners, local policy makers and urban development practitioners with an overview of crucial aspects of urban food systems based on an up to date review of research results and practical experiences in both developed and developing countries. By doing so, the international team of authors provides a balanced textbook for students of the growing number of courses on sustainable agriculture, food and urban studies, as well as a solid basis for well-informed policy making, planning and implementation regarding the development of sustainable, resilient and just urban food systems.

For a long time, urban agriculture initiatives have been explored and novel policy and planning practices have been investigated. With the global food crisis the role urban agriculture has to play becomes more and more urgent. The potentials are large: it brings social justice, it limits climate change, it provides a healthy urban condition, it stimulates biodiversity and gives disadvantaged people an economic opportunity. After 15 years in the making, the time is ripe to see whether the growing of food has established a prominent position in urban planning and policies, food productivity, safety and security, social well-being, the arts, and human health. In this volume several aspects of growing food in the city are explored. Urban Agriculture plays a significant role in society. Nevertheless, it did not become a mainstream topic in day-to-day practice. This book provides concrete solutions and clues how to give urban food production a crucial role in the future planning of urban environments.

This volume reviews research on building urban and peri-urban agricultural networks, the use of technologies such as rooftop and vertical farming systems, as well as providing case studies of particular products from urban farming.

The objective of this legislative study is to provide an analysis of the texts and the issues that need to be considered to primarily understand the legal and institutional frameworks that facilitate the agricultural practices of poor urban farmers. Special emphasis is also given to the instruments and frameworks that increase access to food for those living in urban poverty and who do not have access to nutritious food.

Eating locally and developing an urban-rural food continuum is a rapidly evolving movement. Integration of multi-functional forms of agriculture — termed New Forms of Urban Agriculture (NFUA) — could be a critical adaptation to strengthen this movement and for the sustainability of cities. While NFUA have the potential to provide diverse benefits to humans, there is an absence of reliable empirical data on the scale and impact of urban resources on NFUA which has a profound impact on its viability and sustainability. In this book, we shift the focus from how NFUA have potential to impact the urban system to investigate the potential impacts of urban resources on NFUA. Access to resources such as land, labour, clean water, etc. are major barriers to enter the agriculture sector in the cities; the chapters in this book present projects or reviews recent research on the subject from different cities in the world. This edited volume offers critical perspectives from diverse disciplines, expertise, and geographic contexts related to the actual and potential role of urban and peri-urban agriculture in the developing and the developed world where forms, adaptations, and debates around NFUA vary distinctively. Using and urban ecology lens, the book provides empirical evidence of how urban resources of land, water/waste, labour, and biodiversity impact NFUA.