Leo van den Berg, Nguyen Vinh Quang and Guo Zhongxing

In: UA Magazine No. 15 - Multiple Functions of Urban Agriculture

“Seeking Synergy

Sangeetha Purushothaman, M.S. Subhas and Mitali Nagrecha

In: UA Magazine No. 12 - Gender and Urban Agriculture

In the periurban interface immense changes in livelihoods and land use occur. Expansion of cities stimulated by globalisation and privatisation poses risks for existing livelihoods as well as opportunities for new livelihoods by making use of urban employment and markets. Decision makers in urban and rural government agencies and in development agencies alike need to recognise these changes that are already underway, and respond in ways that turn these changes into opportunities for new livelihoods for the periurban and rural poor. This paper discusses some of the practices currently in place, which open up marketing avenues for the poor and for women.

Roshan Shrestha

In: UA Magazine 9 - Financing Urban Agriculture

In Nepal there are 58 municipalities and about 80% of the Nepalese population depends on agriculture, which is mainly based in the rural areas. Due to the high urbanisation rate, most of the arable land of Kathmandu inner city is occupied by housing and agricultural production has thus been reduced. More arable land is in the city's outer ring area, where people are involved in agriculture (rice and wheat) and horticulture and processing on a larger scale, the products of which are sold at the local market. The impact of two cooperatives are described here: MPSACCO, a women-only cooperative which has adopted two types of lending methodologies: Individual lending and Peer lending, and SSACCO, which is a mixed membership cooperative, adopted Individual lending only.

Gabriel Ramírez García

In: UA Magazine 9 - Financing Urban Agriculture

In Mexico, large portions of farmland have been incorporated into the hierarchy and dynamics of big cities. One of the territories that share the megalopolitan dynamics of Mexico City is Texcoco, located in the state of Mexico, 20 kilometres from the capital city of Mexico. In Texcoco, 42 out of 54 communities are considered rural, and the mission of the present government is to preserve their production space from the urban influence. In 1997, the Rural Development Unit started the Productive Micro-credit Programme as a pilot. The goal of the programme was to strengthen farming activities in the region especially for small- and medium-sized producers, through the provision of economic aid. This programme is evaluated here.

Alain Santandreu, Alberto Gómez Perazzoli and Marielle Dubbeling

In: UA Magazine 6 - Transition to Ecological Urban Agriculture: A Challenge

Over the years the poor have migrated to the cities in Latin America and the Caribbean in their search for higher incomes and a better life. Cities in the region have grown rapidly, and for the first time in history there are more poor people living in urban than in rural areas. Among the strategies employed by both the poorer urban population, and the local governments are agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Recent research conducted in Havana (Cuba); Montevideo (Uruguay) and Porto Alegre (Brazil) provide ample examples thereof.

Gordon Prain

In: UA Magazine 5 - Methodologies for UA research, policy development, planning and implementation

Farmers in urban settings sometimes have limited pools of local technical knowledge on which to draw compared to their rural counterparts, sometimes because they are new to farming, sometimes because the environment in which they farm is new and unfamiliar. The Farmer Field Schools (FFS) provides the means for farmers and facilitators to explore available local knowledge and very importantly in this context, to identify the knowledge gaps that need to be addressed. Some pros and cons are discussed below.

Marielle Dubbeling

In: UA Magazine 5 - Methodologies for UA research, policy development, planning and implementation

Urban agriculture is not a new phenomenon in the present-day cities of the world, and is more and more considered as an integrated part of urban management (as a strategy for poverty alleviation, income and employment generation and environmental management). However, only in few cases has urban agriculture been integrated into policy-making and planning.

Emil Arias

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

A model for integrated higher education for training veterinary medical-animal husbandry students is discussed. In this model, students analyse local seasonal foodstuffs and immunisation and parasitism, while learning about marginal livestock producer needs. Both the University and the livestock producing families benefit. The former because it uses local resources, and the latter because they increase their knowledge, and use of foodstuffs, and reduce parasitism and, presumably, public health problems too.