UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development - A role for urban agriculture?
Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?
Natural hazards, civil conflicts, wars and economic crises continue to generate unstable and unsafe conditions, placing immense pressures on communities and local livelihoods. These emergency scenarios often result in people fleeing their homes to other areas or crossing borders to other countries, thereby creating mass refugee situations. Many of these refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) have to remain in refugee camps for extended periods or reside (often illegally) in and around urban areas.
Consequently, many people living under the harsh conditions of refugee life will try to improve their food security by establishing some form of agriculture, such as small-scale gardening in refugee camps, in backyards, or on open spaces outside settlements. And where land is limited they may resort to micro-technologies, such as container gardening, pots on shelves or hanging baskets.
In the previous issues of Urban Agriculture Magazine we highlighted the multiple functions of urban agriculture, including its role in building communities and sustainable environments. We also discussed the processes of technological, organisational and institutional innovation in urban agriculture. In this issue we focus on the role urban agriculture plays in linking relief, rehabilitation and development following a disaster or in emergency situations. Different types of disasters and resulting impacts are discussed and illustrated by articles in this magazine.
Disaster situations can be viewed as a series of phases on a time continuum. Identifying and understanding these phases may help aid workers and urban planners identify disaster-related needs and then implement the appropriate disaster management activities. For example, the rehabilitation phase after a disaster provides significant opportunities to initiate development programmes, and act as a catalyst for the implementation of mitigation and preparedness strategies, thus building longer-term resilience. Rehabilitation programmes can be specifically aimed at teaching new skills, and strengthening the sense of community and leadership. This is particularly important in the case of protracted refugee situations and in urban areas. In the longer term this capacity building process can also contribute to restoring local municipal government, which in turn legitimises and builds good governance at the state level.
Urban agriculture has always been used as a food security strategy during economic and emergency situations. Examples include the extensive “Dig for Victory” campaign in Britain during the Second World War, and more recently “Operation Feed Yourself” in Ghana during the 1970s. Similarly in many other countries, backyard farming, and institutional and school gardening have all been encouraged during times of food instability, with many examples featured in this issue.
Similarities exist between agriculture in camp settings and in urban and slum areas. Urban agriculture, with its emphasis on space-confined technologies, use of composted organic waste and recycling of grey wastewater, may offer good options for the provision of fresh vegetables, eggs, dairy products and other perishables to the population of the “new town” in addition to generating some income. Often stimulated by relief organisations, refugees start growing highly nutritious crops for their own consumption and to fill immediate needs. These crops require only a limited growing period and a low investment, using (often available) traditional knowledge and skills.
Experiences show that refugee agriculture is not only a survival strategy for displaced people to obtain food on a temporary basis, but it is also a valuable livelihood strategy for those that settle permanently, and for those who eventually return to their home cities or countries. Many displaced people, both in camps and in and around cities, engage in agriculture for subsistence and market production. And more and more local and national authorities, as well as relief agencies, are not only allowing but intentionally supporting agricultural production activities as part of their development strategies (see box on UNHCR). Urban agriculture can play an important role in all aspects of the disaster management cycle and is a multifunctional policy instrument and tool for practical application.
Growing food in camps and cities, when appropriate to the local conditions, reduces dependency on (rural) food supplies, which can easily be affected by disrupted transport, armed conflicts, droughts or flooding. It improves the availability and access to more nutritious food, and in the longer term may increase a city’s resilience.
Editorial
A. Adam-Bradford, Femke Hoekstra, René van Veenhuizen
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 3-10
Natural hazards, civil conflicts, wars and economic crises continue to generate unstable and unsafe conditions, placing immense pressures on communities and local livelihoods. These emergency scenarios often result in people fleeing their homes to other areas or crossing borders to other countries, thereby creating mass refugee situations. Many of these refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) have to remain in refugee camps for extended periods or reside (often illegally) in and around urban areas.
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The Accidental City: Urbanisation in an East-African refugee camp
Bram J. Jansen
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 11-12
Refugee camps are regarded as temporary settlements,organised according to the functionality of humanitarian operations. According to this political view, refugees are passive recipients of aid and the dynamics of life in the camps remain hidden. Instead, refugee camps can be seen as emerging urban environments.
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From Dependence to Self-reliance: Experiences from northern Uganda
Astrid van Rooij and Loan Liem
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 13-15
For over twenty years, the people of Acholiland in northern Uganda have been struggling to survive in the midst of violent conflicts. Many people have been killed. The long conflict has created high levels of dependency. A food security and livelihoods programme was started to enhance self-reliance of displaced people.
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Enhancing Household Food Security in Refugee Camps in Ethiopia
Mulugeta WTsadik
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 16-17
The Somali region is located in the eastern part of Ethiopia. Its capital, Jijiga, is located 635 km from the capital Addis Ababa. Currently there are three refugee camps in this region, namely Kebribeyah, Awberie and Sheder, which together host about 28,500 individuals. To allow refugees to complement the basic food ration, UNHCR and its partners started a number of homegardening projects. The results will help UNHCR decide on a more formal approach to gardening in refugee camps.
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Towards a more formal approach on refugee gardening with UNHCR
Femke Hoekstra
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, p. 18
Comments by Ahmed Baba Fall (December 19, 2008) Senior WFP liaison and Food Security Officer
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Promoting Urban Agriculture in Post-conflict Greater Freetown Area, Sierra Leone
Saidu Kanu, Paul Tengbe, Thomas R.A. Winnebah and Pamela Konneh
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 19-21
Sierra Leone experienced a civil conflict between 1991 and 2002 as a result of which many people fled to the Greater Freetown Area (GFA). During and after this unfortunate period, urban agriculture became an important livelihood strategy. It is increasingly being recognised as a reliable coping mechanism for redressing food shortages and gaining employment.
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Urban Agriculture in and around Monrovia, Liberia
Timothy Korty
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 22-23
Since the end of the war that raged from 1989 to 2003, Liberia has suffered from chronic food insecurity, due to the destruction of its agricultural sector and basic socio-economic infrastructure. Urban agriculture provides a strategy to help reduce urban poverty, improve food security and enhance urban waste management in Monrovia and other Liberian cities. Recently the government acknowledged the importance of urban agriculture in enhancing food security in the country.
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The Role of Urban Agriculture in Kirkuk, Iraq
Galawezh B. Ormizyari
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 24-25
Kirkuk is located in the northeast of Iraq, along the Khasa River, about 250 kilometres northeast of the capital Baghdad. After the toppling of Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003, tension rose among ethnic groups as thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) returned to Kirkuk. Most of the Kurdish returnees have started using land in Kirkuk illegally for housing and agriculture.
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The Impact of the Economic Meltdown on Urban Agriculture in Harare
Percy Toriro
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 26-27
Harare is the capital city of Zimbabwe. With approximately 2.5 million inhabitants (1.8 million as of the 2002 census), here almost 50 percent of Zimbabwe’s urban population lives. Recent economic difficulties have led to a phenomenal growth in urban agriculture in Harare as well as in other cities in Zimbabwe.
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A Report from New Orleans: Growing food in a recovering city
Martin Bailkey
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, p. 28
Over three years have passed since Hurricane Katrina flooded 80 percent of New Orleans in August 2005. While the population of the metropolitan region is close to the pre-Katrina total, that of the city itself is approximately 70 percent of its former level. Flooded neighbourhoods, such as Hollygrove, Gentilly, and particularly the Lower Ninth Ward, are far from their former vibrancy.
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Tsunami Aftermath: Development of an indigenous homegarden in Banda Aceh
A. Adam-Bradford and Moustafa Osman
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 29-30
On 26 December 2004, a major underwater earthquake to the west of the island of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggered an extensive and devastating tsunami that impacted the entire South East Asia region and reached as far as the East African coastline. The Banda Aceh region located in the north of Sumatra bore the brunt of the tsunami, which resulted in catastrophic damage along the coastline, killing thousands of people and leaving an estimated 400,000 people homeless.
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The Sphere Project Guidelines
A. Adam-Bradford
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, p. 31
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Urban Agriculture in El Alto: An experience of revitalisation
Oscar Rea Campos
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 32-33
The structural food crisis in the city of El Alto has had an especially negative impact on the lives of the poorest families. Urban agriculture is one of the alternative strategies initiated to improve their food security, but also to enhance the social inclusion of the women involved, who have more time available than the men and who can develop additional skills through this activity.
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Multi-storey Gardens to Support Food Security
Mary Corbett
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 34-35
Addressing food insecurity in resource-poor settings is difficult in any context. However, in protracted refugee camp situations, where people are almost entirely dependant on humanitarian assistance, the challenges are even greater. The development and adaptation of multi-storey gardens has been tried in refugee camps in Kenya with impressive success.
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Farming in Bags: Microgardening in northern Uganda
Holly Welcome Radice and Devrig Velly
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 36-37
The Acholi region of northern Uganda (Kitgum, Pader and Gulu districts) has been affected by rebel activities since 1986. Due to the constant crisis and erratic security situation, access to food, income, and productive assets for the population has become increasingly difficult over the years.
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A Garden in a Sack: Experiences in Kibera, Nairobi
Peggy Pascal and Eunice Mwende
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 38-40
More than 60 percent of the population of Nairobi lives in the numerous slums located around the city. Kibera slum is one of the 146 slums of the Kenyan capital and the second biggest slum in Africa (after Soweto in South Africa). Around one million people are currently living in Kibera and the population is increasing daily. In the slum, landslides are frequent and the unemployment rate is very high. Most of the land is dedicated to housing, and agricultural land remains scarce.
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Health Risk Assessment of Children Exposed to Greywater in Jerash Refugee Camp in Jordan
Sahar Dalahmeh and Almoayed Assayed
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 41-42
Jerash refugee camp is one of the ten official Palestinian refugee camps located in Jordan. It is inhabited by about 28,000 people who originally fled from Gaza, Palestine, in 1968, as a result of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. Although more than 30 years have passed, the responsible authorities still consider the camp to be a temporary shelter, and investments in services and infrastructure in the camp, except for basic services, have not taken place.
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Books
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 43-44
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| UAM21 p.43-44.pdf | 132.51 KB |
Weblinks / On DVD
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, p. 45
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| UAM21 p.45.pdf | 63.25 KB |
Events
In: UA Magazine no. 21 - Linking Relief, Rehabilitation and Development: A role for urban agriculture?, pp. 46-47
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Colofon
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| UAM21 p.48.pdf | 197.42 KB |
Complete issue
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| UAM21 Complete.pdf | 2.73 MB |