Urban Agriculture as a source of economic sustainance (original) (raw)
Related papers
2014
Poverty and food insecurity are some of the problems facing the urban population in Zimbabwe today. Urban agriculture holds promise at solving these intractable problems. Urban agriculture is a sustainable form of agricultural activity that has significant potential for alleviating malnutrition and food insecurity in Zimbabwe. The demand for food due to increased urbanization is predicted to grow faster than production resulting in a growing food deficit and insecurity in urban areas. Due to recent trends where urbanization is becoming a major socioeconomic factor driving the increasing demand for both crop and livestock products due to concentrated rapidly increasing population, rising income and change in life style, food production need to be improved. To satisfy the food needs of the growing urban population new approaches to food production need to be employed. The discussion attempt to explore the role of urban agriculture in meeting the food demands of rapidly increasing urban population. It is against this background of increasing urban poverty that this discussion puts forward some suggestions for promoting urban agriculture. Urban agriculture should be considered as a normal component of agriculture system and urban development, which has the capacity to improve nutrition and food security. It is very much associated with increased food security as it lends itself to the majority of urban poor. Urban agriculture has diverse economic, social and ecological functions and can be valued as one of the agricultural sectors having enormous untapped potential to contribute to food security. The rapidly growing urban population will drive major social and economic changes which will lead to evolution of transformed urban food production systems as the most efficient and sustainable means of food production. Urban agriculture will be the new approach to food production, however best provided incentives to urban farmers are credited by formulating urban policy fair to urban food producers. Strategies which foster gender equality in urban food production will impact positively on food production, which may translate into expanded food production to meet the needs of the growing urban population for the majority of residents are failing to make ends meet. On the other hand urbanization has created a growing affluent population which demands more food and a greater variety. Hence, it is envisaged the promotion of urban agriculture will address the nutritional needs and food security of the urban poor. Given the economic, social and ecological advantages of urban farming it is arguably deserves even greater attention than the present scenario. This discussion explores the opportunities of urban agriculture as an alternative food production source in solving the perpetual food insecurity challenges in Zimbabwe.
Urban agriculture is a common strategy used by urban dwellers in their endeavor to pursue sustainable food security. This article analyzed the practice of urban agriculture by urban dwellers in the city of Gweru in Zimbabwe, with a specific focus on Mkoba suburb. This qualitative study sought as its objectives, to discuss factors that have contributed to the growth of urban agriculture; to analyze how urban agriculture contributes to the well-being of urban dwellers; to examine the legal framework governing urban agriculture in Zimbabwe; and, to ascertain challenges faced by urban farmers in pursuit of urban agriculture. Purposive sampling was used and data were gathered from 26 participants through interviews and focus group discussions. 27 The findings were that the growth of urban agriculture is influenced by rapid population growth, high levels of poverty, high food prices, and high rate of unemployment. The study further found that urban agriculture promotes food security, provides employment and encourages savings. These Acts do not support, but impede the practice of urban agriculture. There are also challenges that impede the practice of urban agriculture, including the absence of supportive legislation, lack of support from central and local governments, and lack of funding. The study concluded that urban agriculture is an important practice that cannot be dispensed with, as strengthens food security of urban dwellers. The study recommends enactment of supportive legislation, provision of small grants to urban farmers, and creation of farmers associations. Future research should focus on ways of improving the livelihoods of urban farmers. Urban farmers and key stakeholders are largely expected to benefit from the study.
Enhancing Food Security and Economic Welfare Through Urban Agriculture in Zimbabwe
Despite the perceived white-collar and industry-based formal employment gravity of urban areas of developing countries, poverty and food insecurity persists. Therefore, urban agriculture, a predominantly rural economic activity, emerges as a lucrative livelihood strategy used to curb urban food insecurity. We assessed the contributions of urban agriculture to household food security and income in Cold Stream, a low income residential area in Chinhoyi town in Zimbabwe. We administered 20 questionnaires to a convenient sample of urban farmers, interviewed five purposively sampled informants from key institutions and carried out three temporally spaced fieldworks. The results clearly show that urban agriculture is a prominent livelihood of the poor unemployed majority (53%) who dominate the economic category. Key informants interviews indicated that although local non-governmental organisations boost urban agriculture by providing farm inputs and technical advice free of charge, there ...
Urban Agriculture and Poverty Mitigation in Zimbabwe: Prospects and Obstacles in Bulawayo Townships
Journal of Human Ecology, 2013
This paper examines the role and contribution of urban agriculture towards household food security, employment creation and income generation among low-income working class and urban poor households i n Bulawayo townships.This is done within the context of a stabilizing Zimbabwean socioeconomic polity after a decade of stagflation and political crisis. It also examines factors that inhibit the growth and increased contribution of urban agriculture to the urban poor's livelihoods and proffers evidence-based policy recommendations on how urban agriculture can be transformed and integrated into wider urban planning and development.This would help to optimise the productive capacity of urban agriculture for the benefit of the urban poor and urban food system. Using a qualitative approach, non-probability sampling was employed which involved the use of purposive sampling and the snowball technique to identify respondents. In-depth semi-structured interviews were the primary data collection instrument aptly aided by non-participant observations. The study establishes that urban food production significantly contributes to household food access and security. This production entitlement is improving dietary diversity and nutritional intake. It also finds that a few farmers produce surplus which is traded i n informal township markets. Income raised-which gives these farmers exchange entitlement-is used for other household necessities such as basic medication, transport fares and other food commodities. Despite the evident benefits of urban agriculture to the farmers, its potential is constrained by a complex of factors that include land tenure insecurity, erratic water access, small plot sizes, inadequate capital for optimising plot productivity and ambivalent application of urban land-use laws.
As cities expand and develop there is an increasing concern for a sustainable growth which is marked by real income growth, equitable income distribution among citizens and minimal environmental degradation—the so called sustainable urban development. Zimbabwe and many other developing countries have been characterized with rapid urban growth, unemployment, poor service deliveries, inequitable income distribution, escalating urban poverty, pollution and other forms of land degradation—a development that is clearly unsustainable. Urban agriculture is one of the strategies that potentially can contribute towards sustainable urban development, albeit it is little recognized. This study, based on 150 urban households in Epworth, Harare, gives a qualitative and quantitative assessment of the contribution of urban agriculture to sustainable urban development in the context of social inclusion, increasing household income and food access and availability. The major findings were that urban agriculture positively contributes to social inclusion, household income and also food access and availability. Urban agriculture had the largest proportions of the old-aged, female headed, singles or divorced, widowed, lowly educated and informally employed households with higher dependency ratios and household sizes. The practice contributed 74 percent of household income (US$820) and saved US$12.69 on weekly consumption from subsistence in season. Maize grain harvests averagely lasted 4.14 months. The study also shows that urban agriculture increases seasonal consumption of beans, peas, sweet potatoes, pumpkin fruit and leaves. The study concludes by appreciating the role of UA in ensuring food security and social inclusion as a step towards sustainable urban development and recommends the need for increasing access to land by the poor households to improve their livelihoods, market and enterprise development and real gross domestic product at large.
Urban Horticulture for Food Security and Livelihood Restoration in Mutare City, Eastern Zimbabwe
Greener Journal of Social Sciences, 2016
Caritas International Zimbabwe implemented a food security restoration project targeting 1,000 vulnerable households in Mutare urban, eastern Zimbabwe. The objectives of the study were to determine whether targeted households were able to improve household income from sale of horticultural produce and to assess if these households were improving their household dietary diversity. Data were collected from a random sample of 100 household heads through interviews in December 2014. Desk reviews of Mutare urban food security project reports (baseline and end line surveys) were done. Results show that the urban horticulture project improved household income of about 70% (n = 70) of the targeted households by then. By December 2014 household food consumption score (FCS) among the project targeted households had improved beyond FCS > 35 as compared to baseline status. Mutare urban farmers were coached to practice market oriented horticulture production to enjoy both a diversified diet themselves and to sell to the market, through which they were getting a net profit of at least US$80/month per household. We conclude that the Mutare urban horticulture project improved food and nutrition security and restore livelihoods for the targeted poor urban dwellers as at December 2014. Such market-led horticulture project formulation is a worthy feasibility studies for options for replication in related project area context which could be proposed.
Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, 1996
The growing of crops on open and undeveloped spaces within urban zones in eastern and southern African cities has become an important source of food security. Urban populations have expanded without a corresponding increase in economic opportunities for employment. Economic reforms have led to the removal of subsidies on food commodities and retrenchments in the formal employment sectors. It is reported that a result of this is that vulnerable households have resorted to urban agriculture to sustain their livelihoods. Though a widespread practice, urban agriculture is not planned for or supported by urban planners and managers as a legitimate form of urban land use in Harare, Zimbabwe. As women are the main participants in urban agriculture, their activities come into direct conflict with planning provisions for urban space. This study examines the role of women in urban agriculture and views and perceptions of the use of urban space for agricultural activities in Harare. It shows that urban agriculture is useful in meeting household food needs by those who undertake it. The study offers empirical insight on the perceptions of the use of space in an urban tropical environment for agriculture, where conflicts can arise as a result of different perceptions and alternative uses.
Urban Poverty and Urban Agriculture: An Overview of the Linkages in Harare
The urban poor throughout most of Africa have experienced increasing difficulties over recent years as a result of the imposition of structural adjustment programmes. One of the main coping mechanisms has been increased self-help in satisfying basic household needs. Food is one of these basic needs and urban agriculture, both legal and illegal, has grown as a consequence of the difficult economic climate. As yet relatively few studies have attempted to assess the role that urban agriculture plays or might play in social and environmental terms. This paper reviews the situation in Harare, Zimbabwe as the contextual setting for an on-going investigation of these two important considerations, placing the present policy responses in their appropriate historical and economic framework, and assessing the research issues which need to be addressed.
Urban Agriculture and the attainment of Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) in Zimbabwe
nternatiInternational Journal of Development and Sustainability, 2023
This paper explored the efficacy of urban farming in alleviating hunger in Chitungwiza Municipality, Zimbabwe. This study adopted the Sustainable livelihood approach because heads of households use available resources and assets in their community to embark on urban farming. This study is important because limited studies have researched the effectiveness of urban farming in ending hunger in food-insecure households in Zimbabwe. A qualitative approach was employed, with focus group discussions and interviews as data collection methods. The same consisted of 36 participants (heads of households, social welfare officials, and municipal officials) who were purposively selected for this study. The key findings are that urban farmers are growing crops such as maize, sweet potatoes and vegetables produced and others are engaged in animal husbandry such as keeping chickens, goats, and birds. The above farming outputs are for household consumption, and the surplus is sold to increase household income. Furthermore, the sampled participants revealed that they face economic and social challenges that hinder their sustainable livelihoods. The recommendations drawn from the findings were provided to the Chitungwiza Municipality and Department of Social Development.