Editorial - Transition to Ecological Urban Agriculture: A Challenge

Moniek van Hirtum, Eric Goewie, Yilma Getachew, René van Veenhuizen

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

Ecological agriculture is seen as especially relevant to the urban setting. The introduction in rural settings of ecological practices is still debated, although it seems that the call for the coexistence of both conventional and ecological farming in an adequate mix seems to be the best option. This begs the question of whether similar arguments apply to the urban setting and which lessons can be learned for urban agriculture.

Attachment	Size
Editorial.pdf	218.57 KB

Organic Production, What is it?

Eric Goewie

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

There are several judgements about "Organic Production": it is typically an invention of the rich in Western Europe, projecting their loss in nature and biodiversity onto developing countries." or "organic production as a notion has too many definitions: What is the difference between organic, biological, ecological, biodynamic, integrated or agroecological production?" or yet again "it is too complicated for poor people to quickly understand," Scientists and policy-makers however, encounter evidence that organic production does make sense. Pretty (1999) shows that organic production provides sufficient and healthy food in developing countries. Developments in Cuba show that organic production raised more advantages than was accepted before. Evidence from Western Europe demonstrates that organic production is profitable indeed. However, it is still problematic to understand exactly what falls under the notion "organic production". One thing is clear: organic production has strong potential for drawing consumer response. This article explains the discrepancy between judgement and reality concerning organic production.

Attachment	Size
Organic Production.pdf	248.36 KB

Biodiversity, Poverty and Urban Agriculture, in Latin America

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.

Attachment	Size
Biodiversity, Poverty and UA, in Latin America.pdf	179.24 KB

Selbsternte: a New Concept of Urban Organic Farming in Austria

Christian R. Vogl and Paul Axmann

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

Cities like Vienna (Austria) are known for great monuments and wonderful art. At first glance, urban agriculture seems to be limited to public baroque gardens, some vineyards, Schrebergärten and intensive vegetable growing. But recently, clever consultants, organic farmers and "green-minded" consumers have developed a new concept of urban organic farming that allows new ways of interaction between organic farmers and urban citizens in residential areas.

Attachment	Size
Selbsternte.pdf	193.74 KB

Integrating Ecological Practices into Urban Garden Management in Developing Countries

Giovanni Galanti

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

This paper is based on a project proposal to set up urban organic gardens in Thailand. The author takes the Cuban experience as a starting point and gives his ideas on the "transition process".

Attachment	Size
Integrating Ecological Practices.pdf	174.21 KB

Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Technologies

Adapted from Trevor Young

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

Adapted report of a study to discover the factors which determine the choice of farmers in the UK, Spain and Brazil of agricultural technology and why some adopt sustainable production techniques. Organic farming was chosen as the basis for the empirical analysis used throughout the project.

Attachment	Size
Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Technologies.pdf	127.55 KB

Campesino Experiences in Commercialisation, Organic Certification and Fair Trade

Guillermo Travez with a text-box by Eric Goewie

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

Consumers are increasingly calling for safe and healthy food and have more knowledge about this. Once convinced, they are more likely to accept higher prices for such food. Producers should therefore thriving to prove that the quality and safety of their commodities is to consumers' standard. Labelling is a strong tool to do so. But what is labelling? And how to certify that the label does what it promises? Certification is the answer to this.

Attachment	Size
Campesino Experiences in Commercialisation.pdf	104.16 KB

The Living Garden : a Bio-intensive Approach to Urban Agriculture in Ethiopia

Yilma Getachew

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

The organic approach to food production has long been considered by Ethiopian decision-makers as one which leads to poor yields, is backward and a reason for decaying farming systems. However, the reality is completely different. Recently, urban agriculture is accepted as a new and important frontier to food production and even as a tool to fight poverty and environmental pollution. The bio-intensive approach to urban agriculture is simply to rely more and more on natural processes rather than on external inputs resulting in a simpler, more affordable and local approach, leading to greater equity, replicability and sustainability. This article is aimed at sharing the author's long years of experience in Ethiopia in the effort to promote urban agriculture.

Attachment	Size
The Living Garden.pdf	162.86 KB

Tackling Permaculture in the UK

Graeme Sherriff and Joe Howe

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

The term "permaculture" is derived from Bill Mollison's vision of permanent agriculture. Permaculture is about producing food in an environmentally sound way. It is concerned with people growing their own food on their own land and using it for themselves, their immediate family and possibly the local community. This is the impression gained from examining permaculture food projects in Britain. Since its inception permaculture has developed and diversified. It is essentially an approach to designing productive whole systems, through the maximisation of the interconnectedness of elements, which has an ethical foundation in sustainability and a scientific basis in ecology. The key characteristic is that it sets out to maximise beneficial relationships through the effective placement of elements.

Attachment	Size
Tackling Permaculture in the UK.pdf	139.7 KB

Community Backyard Farming in Cuba

Justo Torres Lazo and Francisco Paz Barada

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

The Community Patio project in Havana, Cuba, described in this article, encourages the practice of urban agriculture, utilising permaculture techniques in small spaces in the home (patios, balconies, rooftops, gardens, terraces, etc.) producing food, medicinal plants, spices and ornamental plants. It further includes environmental education and capacity-building for neighbours and other interested parties through periodic workshops, courses and conferences.

Attachment	Size
Community Backyard Farming in Cuba.pdf	119.9 KB

Perceptions of Organic Agriculture by Urban Vegetable Farmers and Consumers in Ghana

George Danso, Pay Drechsel and Simon C. Fialor

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

A typical phenomenon of urban agriculture is its specialisation in perishable products. In Kumasi, Ghana, as in other cities in sub-Saharan Africa, vegetable market production takes place on inner-city lowland areas, close to stream and drains or in the periurban environment, where high amounts of seeds, manure/fertiliser and pesticides are used. Research is undertaken into biological production methods and to risks reducing options beyond the farm level, i.e. at markets and households, but it shows that the adoption rate of biological farming methods remained very low among vegetable growers. How to convince urban farmers and consumers?

Attachment	Size
Perceptions of Organic Agriculture.pdf	146.96 KB

Cuba's Organic perspectives

Esther Roycroft-Boswell

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

This shortened version of an earlier published version describes the historic background of why organic and urban agriculture were seen as important by the Cuban Government. Large tracts of land were switched from export-oriented cash crops to food crops. Government incentives encouraged unemployed people in large urban centres to move back to work on the land. This created, almost overnight, a new urban gardening culture. Organic agriculture was specifically promoted by the Cuban Organic Agriculture Organisation, which linked government researchers and extension workers.

Attachment	Size
Cuba's Organic perspectives.pdf	122.3 KB

Organic Urban Agriculture in the City of Havana

Mario González Novo and Gunther Merzthal

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

This article takes the previous one further. The economic crisis that struck the country made the revitalisation of old initiatives necessary. For instance, the concept of "Conuco"(plot and garden). The urban agriculture initiatives received widespread support by state institutions, scientific, and non-governmental institutions. The challenge for agriculture in the cities Urban Agriculture without Chemicals is described.

Attachment	Size
Organic UA in the City of Havana.pdf	173.43 KB

Training in Backyard Organic Vegetable Production in Michoacán, Mexico

Mario A. Cepeda Villegas, Eulalio Venegas González and Ma. Eugenia Rangel González

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

Family agricultural activity growth in the Mexican regions of Xochimilco, Milpa Alta, Tlalpan, Texcoco, Azcapotzalco and Tláhuac has improved the diets of many families, who, due to their depressed economic situation, have few opportunities to buy vegetables (Canabal 2000). Urban agriculture further creates employment and may lead to improvement in the environment when utilising organic inputs and recycling water and waste. The Opciones de Autosuficiencia Familiar (Family Subsistence Alternatives) project working to facilitate the contribution of urban agriculture is described here.

Attachment	Size
Backyard Organic Vegetable Production.pdf	130.06 KB

The Creation of Viable Rural-Urban Interfaces

Prof. Dr. E.-A. Nuppenau

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

A major theme in the creation of viable urban-rural interfaces is the creation of natural resource scarcities by urbanisation. Urbanisation is driven by the desire for short-run economic growth and wealth in ever growing cities. Therefore, periurban agriculture should provide a bypass for this ecologically unhealthy development of large urban agglomerations. Sustainable, or at least less ecologically harmful, development of mega-cities can only be reached if it is grounded in a better development of periurban agriculture, biotic resource recycling and waste management.

Attachment	Size
The Creation of Viable Rural-Urban Interfaces.pdf	119.57 KB

Learnings from the Cape Flats Townships, ecological micro-farming among the poor in Cape Town

Rob Small

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

South Africa is being pulled into the global economy. Still there is a great need for locally produced food, as is shown in this story about the Cape Flats bio-zone. The Cape Flats townships, low-income settlements to the northeast of Cape Town, are vast encampments at the city gates. While the majority of government agricultural development funds are being poured into the conventional, often large-scale farm movement, the general organic movement is alive and well. Abalimi Bezekhaya (Planters of the Home) is an NGO focusing consistently on direct poverty alleviation through micro-organic vegetable gardening among the poor.

Attachment	Size
Learnings from the Cape Flats Townships.pdf	153.63 KB

The Struggle for Sustainable Livelihood Gender and Organic Urban Agriculture in Valencia City, Philippines

Leonora C. Angeles

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

The promotion of sustainable local livelihoods through urban agriculture will be unsustainable if urban farmers get trapped in the same cycle of dependency on expensive chemical farm inputs, like fertiliser and pesticides. This realisation has led to the promotion of organic urban farming by local community organisations in the cities of Valencia and Malaybalay in Bukidnon province, and Cagayan de Oro city in Mindanao, Philippines.

Attachment	Size
The Struggle for Sustainable Livelihood.pdf	142.61 KB

A Strategy for Local Development of Lower-Income Urban Sectors Organic Urban Agriculture in Rosario

Antonio Lattuca, Silvana Mariani and Raúl Terrile

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

Argentina, like the rest of Latin America, is confronted with the challenge of combating structural poverty. Urban agriculture - particularly when using organic methods - is seen as a viable and appropriate strategy for easing poor urban sectors. This article presents two cases in which this strategy was developed in two cities contrasting greatly in size: Rosario and Camilo Aldao.

Attachment	Size
A Strategy for Local Development.pdf	147.43 KB

Urban Organic Farming at the University of Costa Rica

Jorge A. Briceño, Federico Fernández and Giselle Alvarado

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

According to a study, organic production has increased constantly in the last years in Costa Rica, involving a high diversity of crops. The Organic Farming Program of the University of Costa Rica works in research, extension, and teaching of soils, animals and plants, post harvest management, and rural development. This Programme coordinates all the activities on organic farming at the University and has cooperative links with other institutions both at national and international levels. This article narrates some of the experiences.

Attachment	Size
Urban Organic Farming at the University of Costa Rica.pdf	154.48 KB

Organic Waste at Low Cost: Dilemmas of a Transition Period

Christine Furedy

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

Farmers generally recognize the benefits of organic matter and seek to acquire it. Demand for compost is high, but studies in Africa and India show that farmers have difficulty acquiring enough organic matter at suitable prices. Composting of municipal solid wastes is now being promoted to reduce the amounts of waste requiring disposal and treatment by cities. The potential for improving low-cost reuse of urban waste is discussed here.

Attachment	Size
Organic Waste at Low Cost.pdf	146.66 KB

Risk Reduction in Sewage Irrigated Farming Systems in Hubli-Dharwad, India

Andrew Bradford, Robert Brook and Chandra Hunshal

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

In the twin city Hubli-Dharwad, untreated sewage is commonly used for irrigation in peri-urban agriculture. Farmers extract sewage for irrigation from sewage nallahs (open sewers) and underground sewer pipes. In this semi-arid climate the waste water is an extremely valuable resource for farmers, as pumping from sewage nallahs or drains is cheaper than a borehole, which makes the practice more accessible to farmers with fewer financial resources. It also provides an irrigation source during the dry season, when farmers can sell their produce for three to five times the kharif (monsoon) season prices. However, Unregulated and continuous irrigation with sewage may lead to environmental problems and poses serious public health risks. The adoption of certain micro technologies can reduce the risks faced by farmers who have irrigated with sewage.

Attachment	Size
Risk Reduction in Sewage Irrigated Farming Systems.pdf	155.21 KB

Colophon

Urban Agriculture Magazine
No 6, March 2002

The UA Magazine is published by the Resource Centre for Urban Agriculture (RUAF), a Programme co-ordinated by ETC Netherlands and financed by DGIS, the Netherlands, and IDRC, Canada. The UA Magazine is published 3 times a year, and is translated into French, Spanish, Arabic and Chinese, and distributed in separate editions through regional networks.

Editorial Board

• Marielle Dubbeling, Urban Management Programme-Latin America and the Caribbean, Quito, Ecuador
• Ndèye Fatou Gueye, Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine (IAGU), Dakar, Senegal
• Shingirayi Mushamba, Management Development Programme - East and Southern Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe
• Cia Jianming, Academy of Sciences, Bejing, China
• Ismael CEDARE, Cairo, Egypt
• Stephanie Buechler, IWMI, Hyderabad, India
• Jac Smit,TUAN, Washington, USA
• Dagmar Kunze, FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF), Ghana
• Luc Mougeot, IDRC, Canada
• Gordon Prain, CIP- Sustainable Initiative on Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (SIUPA), Peru
• Henk de Zeeuw, ETC - Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Forestry (RUAF), the Netherlands

Editors No. 6

This issue has been compiled by René van Veenhuizen (responsible editor), together with Moniek van Hintum
Guesteditors: Eric Goewie, The Netherlands; Yilma Getachew, Ethiopia and The Spanish Edition Editorial Group consists of: Vilda Figueroa, Cuba; Patricio Yañes, Chile; Mario Gonzalez Novo, Cuba; Alain Santandreu, Uruguay.

Web Editing

Lucy Browne and René van Veenhuizen

Administrations

Sonja Slingerland and Lucy Browne

Design and Layout

Jan Hiensch, Leusden

Language Editor

Amunda Salm, Wageningen

Subscriptions

The editor
ruaf@etcnl.nl

Address

Urban Agriculture Magazine
P.O. Box 64
3830 AB Leusden, The Netherlands
Visitors address: Kastanjelaan 5, Leusden.
Tel: +31.33.4943086
Fax: +31.33.4940791