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About this magazine...

The Urban Agriculture Magazine is an initiative under the RUAF Programme. It functions as a platform for exchange and discussion of grounded information on urban agriculture: research results, project experiences, and critical analyses of conventional and innovative policies on urban agriculture. The Urban Agriculture Magazine is published on this website twice a year. Articles are presented in PDF (including illustrations and graphics). The Magazine is available in several languages.

How to contribute...

We invite you to contribute to the Urban Agriculture Magazine with an article, a description of best (or bad) practices, photos and information on interesting publications, web sites, and forthcoming events. An article contribution should give a clear description of the urban aspects and policy implications of your experiences and include recommendations for local policy makers and planners.

Articles should be written in such a way that those working with farmers could readily understand them. We would like to receive articles of up to 2,500 words long (This is about 5-6 pages A4). Articles should preferably be accompanied by illustrations, good quality photos and references. We appreciate the availability of a good abstract. Articles are examined for selection by the editorial team consisting of the RUAF editor and the external scientific advisor/co-editor. Click here for more information on the following magazine. Contributions can be sent to: ruaf@etcnl.nl

UA Magazine no. 1 - Maiden issue

Urban Agriculture Magazine
July 2000, Volume 1, no. 1

UA Magazine no. 1 - cover

Background

References to agriculture in the city go back a long time in history. Literature references on agriculture in the city and on urban agriculture are more recent. Growing cities and populations are one of the big challenges of the future. The importance of urban agriculture in sustainable urban development is growing, and recognition grows.
This maiden issue of the UA Magazine has sought to give a broad picture of urban agriculture, both thematic and background of cases. Most of the articles further show the importance of urban agriculture, as a tradition, as a strategy of improving access to food, and/or as a response to crises. Subsequently, the need to incorporate urban agriculture in urban planning and policies is highlighted.
Future issues of the UA Magazine will focus on a specific theme.

Editorial

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

Growing cities and urban populations are some of the big challenges of the future. The importance of urban agriculture in sustainable urban development is growing. As recognition grows, more people are becoming involved in the issue. Many newsletters and magazines have devoted issues to the subject in recent years, including GATE, Urban Age, African Urban Quarterly, and the LEISA Newsletter, and there have been many workshops and conferences on the subject.

Urban agriculture: concept and definition

Luc J.A. Mougeot

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

This article is a part of a longer article by Luc Mougeot of IDRC from Growing Cities, Growing Food (Bakker et al., 2000). In this excerpt, the author takes the need for conceptual maturity of urban agriculture as a starting point to show the various dimensions of urban agriculture and to claim its firm position in the urban system.

Urban Agriculture, a response to crisis?

Axel W. Drescher, Petra Jacobi & Joerg Amend

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

The authors discuss why people get involved in urban agriculture. The article is based on information extracted from 20 city case studies on urban agriculture worldwide and additionally draws from experiences of the Urban Vegetable Promotion Project in Dar Es Salaam (Tanzania). They argue that local authorities have to take their responsibilities in securing urban food security and to create an impact on urban poverty alleviation.

Urban Agriculture and Biodiversity

Jac Smit

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

Jac Smit of TUAN (The Urban Agriculture Network, based in the USA) argues that bringing back agriculture, forestry, aquaculture and livestock rearing to the human settlement is a key component in reducing the negative ecological footprint of cities that is 50 to 125 times the area of the city itself. He illustrates this with a number of interesting examples.

The integration of agriculture in urban policies

Henk de Zeeuw, Sabine Guendel and Hermann Waibel

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

The major objective of the International workshop in Havana, Cuba was: 'to move urban agriculture beyond the daily reality of urban farmers to the agenda of policy-makers'. In synthesising that conference, the authors review the variety of conditions that facilitate the growth of UA, and, secondly, discuss a range of policy options to selectively support the development of sustainable urban food production systems. This article is an abridged version of article you can find in Growing Cities, Growing Food (Bakker et al., 2000).

Learning to live with livestock in town

Ann Waters-Bayer

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

Government services concerned with livestock production for urban populations have given most attention to large-scale livestock rearing in the urban periphery. Small-scale rearing of animals by families living inside the cities is usually ignored and often forbidden. However, such urban livestock keeping is much more widespread than most city authorities would care to admit. Ann Waters-Bayer discusses the growth in urban livestock keeping in recent years, classifies various types of urban livestock systems, outlines functions of livestock, and indicates some of the problems caused by these systems.

Dynamics in tropical homegardens

Raul Boncodin, Dindo Campilan, Gordon Prain

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

The importance of home gardens, the small areas of cultivated land immediately surrounding a home or a homestead, is often underestimated despite its vital contribution to meeting various household-needs, especially for the poor families in developing countries. The authors explore the importance of homegardens in the Philippines and give the findings of the programme, Users' Perspectives with Agricultural Research and Development (UPWARD).

Ahmedabad Green Partnership Project

Liliana Marulanda

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

Urban forestry programmes and projects need longer time to show results. Trees are long-term products and to make an urban forestry programme a success, the project partners need to keep a constant dialogue and a long-term commitment to make it happen. Liliana Marulanda illustrates this in a description of the Ahmedabad Green Partnership Project, which is an effort between the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and the Private Sector towards increasing the green cover and improving the environmental quality of Ahmedabad, India.

Urban agriculture in St Petersburg, Russia

Oleg Moldakov

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

The St. Petersburg Downtown Gardening Club is one of the six Eastern European organizations active in SWAPUA, SWAPUA stands for 'Soil and Water Management in Agricultural Production in Urban Areas in CEE/NIS Countries'. In this contribution, Oleg Moldakov from the St. Petersburg Downtown Gardening Club shows that the urban gardening movement in St. Petersburg has a long-standing history, both as a strategy to overcome shortcomings in food availability and for income improvement.

Urban agriculture in Havana, Cuba

Martin Bourque & Kristina Canizares

In: UA Magazine 1 - Maiden issue

Martin Bourque and Kristina Canizares from Food First, describe the impact of urban agriculture in Havana on availability and cost of fresh produce. The rise of urban agriculture was a clear response on the crisis of the early 1990s, and was stimulated by Government programmes and by the use of appropriate technologies.

Colophon

Urban Agriculture Magazine
No 1, June 2000

The UA-Magazine is published by the Resource Centre for Urban Agriculture (RUAF), a Programme executed by ETC Netherlands and financed by DGIS, The Netherlands and IDRC, Canada. It is published 3 times a year. In the future the UA-Magazine will also be published in French and Spanish, and distributed through regional institutions.

Editorial

This Issue has been compiled by Henk de Zeeuw (guest editor) and René van Veenhuizen (responsible editor).

Photographs

Except for the article of Ahmedabad (photos by L. Marulanda), photos available at RUAF have been used, of the following sources: C. Schilter (Togo), B. Mbiba (Zimbabwe), T. Pinzas (Peru), P. Jacobi (Tanzania), F. Nunan (India), L.M. Sanchez (México), M. Amar-Klemesu (Ghana), PUVPP Project (Phillippines), Ciudad de Havana (Cuba).

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UA Magazine no. 2 - Livestock in and around cities

Urban Agriculture Magazine
October 2000, Volume 1, no. 2

UA Magazine no. 2 - cover

Dear Readers

The first issue of the Urban Agriculture Magazine presented articles covering the broad spectrum of urban agriculture. This second issue focuses on a specific topic: Urban Livestock, and this is how the Urban Agriculture Magazine will appear from now on. It will be published three times a year, each time covering a specific topic.
This issue came out a bit later than planned. The number of articles submitted was high, and we certainly hope we will receive the same kind of enthusiasm for the next issues. We offer you 16 articles in this issue. It was decided to publish almost all of the submitted articles, because the issue of urban livestock appeared to cover many different aspects, and only by taking all these contributions together we felt the issue was adequately dealt with. In forthcoming issues we will continue to try to keep the amount of articles to about 10, not going over the 40 pages in the paper version of the Urban Agriculture Magazine.
The appearance of the Urban Agriculture Magazine has been received very positively, and various encouraging reactions on the first issue have been sent to us. We have put the Editorial Board in place, in which persons of different organisations take a seat, including the Regional Focal Points on Urban Agriculture. These organisations will play a major role in the further development and regionalisation of the UA Magazine in the near future. In the next issue you will receive more information on this.
The subscription policy of the UA Magazine is under discussion with the RUAF Focal Points and the Editorial Board, but it is certain that the hardcopy edition will cost you about 15 US$ per year. Of course, the UA Magazine will remain available for free on RUAF's web site.
Guest editors for this issue were Azage Tegegne from ILRI in Addis Adeba, Ethiopia and Hans Schiere, from IAC and Wageningen University, The Netherlands. A considerable input was also received from the Urban Livestock group of ETC: Ann Waters Bayer, Katrien van 't Hooft, Sheila Oparachoa and Willem van Weperen. A great thanks to them all.

The Editor.

Editorial: Livestock in and around cities

Hans Schiere, Azage Tegegne, René van Veenhuizen

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

The cobblestones of the streets in the old city of Pompeii near Rome are scarred by the wheels of wagons that used to be drawn by horses and/or oxen, for carrying goods or for supplying the military. The covered bridge in Florence is now the home of goldsmiths and jewellers who replaced butchers and fish traders, supposedly because a 'Medici' queen complained of the smell.

(A. Scappini, pers. communication 2000)

Livestock in nineteenth-century New York City

Louis P. Tremante

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

For two centuries after the Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam agriculture on Manhattan Island remained not all that dissimilar from farming elsewhere in northern North America. Over the years farm families engaged in both commercial and subsistence production, raising livestock, garden and field crops. They gladly sold surpluses when they existed, but always sought to provide for domestic needs first.

Urban livestock agriculture in the state of New Jersey, USA

Anne C. Bellows, Verdie Robinson, Jennifer Guthrie, Troels Meyer, Natalie Peric and Michael W. Hamm

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

Urban livestock agriculture (ULA) in the USA is a constructive, yet largely unknown, underground, and unevenly regulated activity. Livestock encompasses multiple meanings for practitioners in the urban environments: economic buttress, tradition, cultural and/or religious endurance, and community cohesiveness. Research on and policy development for urban livestock (as for community food security generally) is lacking and needed. However, because livestock in the city is kept under diverse legal, illegal, and quasi-legal conditions, and because practitioners tend not to be part of the dominant culture, care must be taken to raise the issues under circumstances of support. In this article it is argued that issues of invisibility, distrust, and/or animosity between regulators and practitioners of urban livestock are founded more in the lack of attention paid by policy makers to food systems and food security generally, than in insurmountable challenges of urban livestock as a positive urban land use.

Livestock and livelihoods in Hubli-Dharwad

Fiona Nunan

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

A review of dairies and pig-keeping in the twin-city of Hubli-Dharwad, in the State of Karnataka, illustrates the role of livestock in household livelihood strategies in Indian cities. Small urban dairies and roaming pigs are a common sight in Hubli-Dharwad and make an important contribution to household livelihoods and urban food supplies. However, the future of livestock keeping in urban centres can be questioned, given public concerns at city and national level and recent moves by city authorities to evict pigs.

The stray-cattle controversy in Delhi

Johan Bentinck

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

In the streets of urban India, many cows can be seen scavenging around. At first glance it may appear as though the cattle are an undisputed part of city life, but the case of Delhi shows that the issue is surrounded by controversy. The persistence of dairy farming in the city is related to how villages and their people become urbanised. Since 1951, about 140 villages have become completely incorporated into the city of Delhi (Census of India, 1991). Caste-specific economic traditions and constraints cause certain households to continue dairy farming despite the spatial constraints.

The Beja urban economy: understanding and responding to an evolving reality

Sara Pantuliano

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

The Beja are a confederation of tribes united by a common language, TuBedawiye, and a common segmentary structure, each of which is linked to a common ownership and use of land. The three main tribes are the Amar'ar/Atmaan, the Bishariyyn and the Hadendowa, who mostly live in North-eastern Sudan between the Egyptian and the Eritrean borders, and all speak similar versions of TuBedawiye. This article describes the migration of Beja pastoralist labour to Port Sudan from Halaib Province (NE Sudan). It reviews the different livestock holdings that the Beja have in town and shows that, although most urban-based pastoralists live in great poverty, some manage to successfully exploit urban opportunities whilst continuing to engage in rural-based livelihood strategies.

Urban livestock systems in the Niayes zone in Senegal

Safiétou Touré Fall

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

The main agricultural cities of Senegal are located in the Niayes Zone. Production in this zone accounts for more than two thirds of the total horticultural production, and urban livestock is also well represented. Livestock keeping is well integrated into the production systems, in the form of waste recycling and animal traction. Considerable efforts are being made to restructure the production system in order to meet increasing demand for animal products. An exploratory study of the main agricultural systems in the Niayes Zone indicated that there is great diversity in farm products (fruit and vegetables as well as livestock) and also potential for further development. The main constraints to further development are the land tenure system, deterioration of natural resources, lack of organisation of farmers and minimal access to credit.

Livestock in a middle-sized East-African town: the case of Nakuru

Dick Foeken & Samuel O. Owuor

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

In a survey done in 1999, basic information was collected on urban farming practices in Nakuru, Kenya. The main aim was to obtain a general overview of urban agriculture in this town for the local authorities in the context of their town planning exercises. Part of the survey covered several aspects of livestock keeping.

Market-oriented urban and peri-urban dairy systems

Azage Tegegne, Million Tadesse, Yoseph Mekasha and Alemu Yami

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

In this article a systems approach is used to describe urban and peri-urban dairy production systems in Addis Ababa. These urban and peri-urban dairy production systems evolved to satisfy the increasing demand for milk in urban centres as a consequence of increasing urbanisation, rising per capita income and increasing cost of imported milk and milk products. They contribute to overall development through income and employment generation, food security, asset accumulation, poverty alleviation and improving human nutrition and health.

Increasing use of poultry manure in Ghana: is farmers' race consumers' fate?

Pay Drechsel, Robert C. Abaidoo, Philip Amoah and Olufunke O. Cofie

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

Livestock production is a vital part of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in Kumasi, where many crop farmers benefit from cheap poultry manure available in large quantities. However, with increasing competition for this resource, the manure is seldom stored long enough to prevent the contamination of food and water with pathogens. While the actual incidence of disease related to this contamination has not yet been assessed, interventions to prevent the spread of infection should focus first of all on the consumer household. Farmers' access to clean irrigation water is another important step but only makes sense if farmers' own practices do not contribute to water pollution.

Urban livestock in Kumasi: survey findings

Geoffrey Poynter and Denis Fielding

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

Kumasi is Ghana's second largest city after Accra and is the capital of the Ashanti Region. Kumasi is located in the south-central part of the country 100 miles inland from the coast and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) is responsible for a population of some 700,000 to 1 million people. The survey reported here was undertaken as an MSc project by the senior author, in 1999 with the aim of characterising urban livestock keeping in Kumasi and identifying the problems encountered by livestock keepers.

Urban pig farming in irregular settlements in Uruguay

Alain Santandreu, Gustavo Castro & Fernando Ronca

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

At the end of the 19th century, Sansón Carrasco (nom de plume of Daniel Muñoz, 1849-1930), reported on pigs being bred with household wastes. His chronicles are still valid today. For instance, in his article "Trash" (1883), he writes:
"...and in the depressions, and on the beach, pigs and more pigs, and always pigs everywhere you look, some of them feeding, some stretched out without a care in the world, others grunting as they get a glimpse of me, as if upset by my intrusion in their domain..."

Veterinary urban hygiene in developing countries

Adriano Mantovani

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

Zoonoses have been defined by WHO (1959) as 'Those disease and infections (the agents of) which are naturally transmitted between (other) vertebrate animals and man'. Recently the concept has been enlarged with the following proposal: 'Any detriment to the health and/or quality of human life deriving from relationships with (other) vertebrate or edible or toxic invertebrate animals', Mantovani 2000).

Cysticercosis, a zoonosis in rural and urban areas

Katrien van 't Hooft

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

Cysticercosis is one of the most dangerous diseases caused by a parasite that passes from animals to human beings. It is most prevalent in the rural areas of developing countries, from where it can become a threat in urban areas too. Cysticercosis is closely related to economic standards, culture and aspects of hygiene. Latin America, non-Islamic parts of Africa and South East Asia and especially India face major problems with this disease. In this article the author describes cysticercosis that originates from pigs (Cysticercosis cellulosae) in Bolivia, South America.

Vermiculture for organic waste processing: mini-livestock in Rosario, Argentina

Spiaggi, E.P., Biasatti, N.R., Marc, L.B.

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

Rosario City in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina is an urban centre of more than 1,200,000 inhabitants. Over 20% of the population live in conditions of extreme poverty. Unemployment and marginality leads them to live in the marginal areas, without adequate sanitary services and under limited social and economic conditions. There are many examples of social welfare interventions, which can help to alleviate these conditions of dire poverty.

Improved pig feed in Vietnam

Dai Peters, Nguyen Thi Tinh, Tran Than Thuy

In: UA Magazine 2 - Livestock in and around cities

Pig-raising in urban areas has become important in meeting the growing pork demand. The main constraints to using sweet potato vines as pig feed are labour and storage. Regardless of how they are fed to the animals, the vines must first be chopped into small pieces, a daunting and time-consuming task, mainly undertaken by women. If the vines are fed fresh, the women must allocate time each day for this task, even during the busy field season. Silage offers a potential alternative and overcomes both main constraints.

Linking students to urban livestock producers in Mexico City

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.

Colophon

Urban Agriculture Magazine
Volume 1, No 2
October 2000

The UA-Magazine is published by the Resource Centre for Urban Agriculture (RUAF), a Programme executed by ETC Netherlands and financed by DGIS, The Netherlands and IDRC, Canada. It is published 3 times a year. In future, the UA Magazine will be published in French and Spanish, and distributed, possibly in separate editions, through regional networks.

Editorial Board

Ms Marielle Dubbeling, Urban Management Programme-Latin America and the Caribbean, Ecuador
Ms Ndèye Fatou Gueye, Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine (IAGU), Senegal
Ms Dagmar Kunze, FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF), Ghana
Mr Luc Mougeot, IDRC, Canada
Mr Shingirayi Mushamba, Management Development Programme - East and Southern Africa, Zimbabwe
Mr Gordon Prain, CIP- Sustainable Initiative on Urban and Peri-urban Africulture (SIUPA), Peru
Mr Frits Penning de Vries, IBSRAM, Thailand
Mr Jac Smit,TUAN, USA
Mr Henk de Zeeuw, ETC - Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Forestry (RUAF), Netherlands

Editors No. 2

This issue has been compiled by René van Veenhuizen (responsible editor), with Hans Schiere, WAU, The Netherlands and Azage Tegegne, of ILRI, Ethiopia (guest editors). Further inputs have been received by Willem van Weperen, Sheila Oparachoa, Katrien van ?t Hooft and Ann Waters-Bayer of ETC-Urban Livestock.

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UA Magazine no. 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Urban Agriculture Magazine
March 2001, Volume 1, no. 3

UA Magazine no. 3 - cover

Dear Readers

Urban agriculture is practised to a substantial degree in many cities in the world. In discussions on a sustainable development of urban agriculture the positive and negative relationships play an important role, whether based on facts or on prejudice. Health is a major issue in this. There is indeed an obvious relationship between urban agriculture on the one hand, and the health and environmental conditions of the urban population on the other. This third issue of the UA-Magazine focuses on the relationship between urban agriculture and health.

Once again, the number of articles submitted to the magazine was high. We offer you ten articles on a diversity of topics surrounding the theme; food security, food policies, use of waste and wastewater and zoonoses. Unfortunately, a contribution on food security and nutrition was withdrawn at the latest moment. In order to fit into the magazine, some articles had to be cut down from the original. Only two- or three-page articles (1,700-2,500 words) are placed in the hard copy of the UA-Magazine. The RUAF website provides more room for longer articles, while also contributions that could not be included in this hard copy issue are shown on www.ruaf.org.

The guest editor for this issue was Karen Lock, from the European Centre on the Health of Societies in Transition, at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Karen was also involved in the Electronic Conference, on which she reports together with Henk de Zeeuw. Further support was received from Marianne Lindner, from the ETC Health Group, who recently finished an analysis of key issues in urban health and health-care in developing countries.

Starting in 2001, the UA-Magazine is translated into French and Spanish, and is distributed through the RUAF Regional Focal Points in Asia, Africa and Latin America. This makes the readership substantially higher than the originally registered readers at RUAF in Leusden. At the moment we send the UA-Magazine to about 4,000 addresses.

You are invited to contribute to future issues of the UA-Magazine. Firstly, please note the call for contributions to the next two issues, at the end of this magazine. Secondly, any suggestions you might have for topics for 2002 are welcome. Issues that are thus far being considered for 2002 are:

Economic and marketing aspects of urban agriculture
Transition to ecological urban farming
Rural-urban linkages (nutrient cycles, transportation, etc.)
Training in urban agriculture

Submitted articles should be written in such a way that those working with farmers would readily be able to understand them. Articles would ideally be up to 2,500 words in length, and preferably accompanied by illustrations (digital if possible), references and a good abstract. Articles will be examined for selection by the editorial team consisting of the responsible editor and the external scientific advisor/co-editor.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

The Editor.

Editorial: Balancing the Positive and Negative Health Impacts

Karen Lock & René van Veenhuizen

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Urban agriculture can have both negative and positive effects on the health and environmental conditions of the urban population. Previous reviews or studies of health issues have tended to highlight the health risks of urban and periurban agriculture (e.g. Birley and Lock 1999). This has served to reinforce the perceptions of many governments and municipal authorities that urban agriculture is a (marginal) activity that has substantial health risks and should not be supported.

Mitigating the Health Risks Associated with Urban and Periurban Agriculture

Karen Lock & Henk de Zeeuw

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

This article focuses on the discussion from the UPA, Health and Environment session of the E-conference. The effects of UPA on the environment were also discussed but will not be included here.

Food Policies are Essential for Healthy Cities

Robert M. Pederson & Aileen Robertson

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Food production and its retail sales are increasingly perceived to be presenting risks to society in Europe. Consumers are concerned, and have lost trust and confidence in their food supply. Policies are therefore needed to limit the risks and to promote the assets of different means of food production and distribution, as well as to restore consumer confidence.

Designing a Research Agenda on Malaria and Agriculture

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

During the last several decades, a considerable investment of financial resources has been directed towards the development of curative drugs and vaccines against malaria, and to the evaluation of chemical insecticides for mosquito control. Historically, the agricultural dimension has received little attention from the research community, despite its importance as a contributory factor to malaria transmission risks and its inherent opportunities for paradoxically minimising such risks. The incorporation of a relevant health component in agricultural research could contribute to the identification of opportunities for minimising malaria risks through agriculturally-based interventions, both in rural and in urban and periurban settings. The CGIAR system-wide initiative on malaria and agriculture (SIMA) co-ordinated by IWMI (see Networking Section in this issue) has taken up this challenge.

Pesticide Soil Contamination: a Case Study from Perth, Western Australia

Andrea Gaynor

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

The safety of food produced in urban agriculture depends on a number of factors, including the history of persistent toxic chemicals applied to an area. Using the application of organochlorine pesticides in Perth, Western Australia as a case study, this article examines the problems that can arise when urban agriculture is scattered throughout a metropolitan area, and carried out by people who often have little detailed knowledge of how land in the area has historically been treated, and therefore what kinds of soil contamination might be present. The article concludes with recommendations for health and local government workers, which could help to ensure that households are aware of the potential health risks associated with food production in urban areas, and are able to act to minimise those risks.

Supporting Farmers towards Safe Year-round Vegetables in Periurban Manila

J.R. Burleigh & L.L. Black

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Manila typifies the best and the worst of Asian cities. Affluent residential areas with functional sewerage and regular waste collection border squalid areas of cardboard shacks with no amenities. High-rise office and apartment buildings in the municipality of Makati stand in contrast to the squatter areas in Taguig, Muntinlupa, and Mandaluyong.The collapse of the Payatas garbage dump in August 2000 and the deaths of at least 220 squatters who lived at the dump site to scavenge discarded refuse are symptomatic of urban blight and poverty which threaten civility, governance and life itself.

Zoonoses of Dairy Cattle, with Reference to Africa

Pia Muchaal

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Zoonoses are infections naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans, either directly or indirectly through the consumption of contaminated foods. Traditional zoonotic diseases for which effective control measures and cures are available in affluent countries, are still a cause of morbidity and mortality in humans and animals in developing countries (Wastling et al. 1999, Cosivi et al. 1995). Increasing urbanisation, the growth of livestock production in close proximity to humans, the rising rate of HIV, inadequate hygienic practices, and cultural customs and beliefs exacerbate the transmission, persistence and impact of zoonotic diseases in these regions.

Public Health Issues of Wastewater-fed Aquaculture

Peter Edwards

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Farming fish in ponds fertilised with urban wastewater or sewage is not widespread although it does benefit millions of people, particularly in China, India and Vietnam. It provides food and employment, particularly for the poor, and more general environmental benefits such as low-cost wastewater treatment, stormwater drainage and provision of green areas or "lungs" which improve the health and well-being of urban residents.

Reducing Health Risks of Urban Organic Solid Waste Use

Christine Furedy

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Whereas health concerns received little attention at the beginning of the thrust to promote urban and periurban agriculture in the past five years, progress has been made in articulating the health issues in developing countries. This paper comments further on one aspect related to the issue of health and urban agriculture: the risks of urban organic solid waste re-use. The focus is the relation of health risk management to informal or community-based practices, which are seen as a major challenge for agriculture in the city. Because the capacity of governments to intervene is currently limited, gradual progress in self-regulation or self-limitation of risks is necessary. International projects and experts can assist in developing appropriate standards, research and practical measures.

Reducing the Health Risks of Using Wastewater in Agriculture: Recommended Changes to WHO Guidelines

U.J. Blumenthal, D.D. Mara, A. Peasey, G. Ruiz-Palacios and R. Stott

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

In many areas of the world, urban agriculture depends on water supplies for irrigation. Water is often extracted from rivers, and these may be contaminated with wastewater, discharged into the river with little or no prior treatment. In some areas, untreated wastewater is used for irrigation directly. Use of both can increase the risk of gastro-intestinal diseases for farm workers and their families, and for the consumers of the crops. Policy makers and farmers need to know what quality of water they can use, and what forms of wastewater treatment (or other health protection measures) can be employed. As the water available for irrigation often does not meet national standards or international guidelines for wastewater reuse, this poses a challenge to the safe development of urban agriculture.

The Use of Wastewater for Urban Agriculture: the Example of Dakar, Nouakchott and Ouagadougou

Ndèye Fatou Diop Gueye and Moussa Sy

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Though seemingly trivial, this statement is pertinent as we realise how difficult it is to satisfy all water needs, encompassing domestic needs, agricultural activities, residential and recreational needs. This competition is especially tough in dry climates of the Sahelian zone, such as in Burkina Faso, Mauretania and Senegal �? the three countries on which we are focusing our attention. Here, water is the major stumbling block to developing agricultural activities, and domestic needs win out over agricultural activities in the competition for water.

Periurban Irrigated Agriculture and Health Risks in Ghana

Moïse Sonou

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

In Africa, more than one-third of the population already lives in urban cities, and over the next 25 years, the rapid urbanisation of Africa could lead to increasing food insecurity in the cities. In Ghana, the urban population is growing at an estimated annual rate of 4.1% compared with the overall population growth of 3%. Among major urban problems are those related to unemployment and under-employment, as well as high food prices especially due to the high costs of marketing food products. The growing demand for fresh and perishable agricultural produce in the major cities is driving the development of peri-urban agriculture. This demand is not seasonal, necessitating year-round production, heavily dependent on irrigation.

Ecological Sanitation: Closing the Loop

Steven A. Esrey and Ingvar Andersson

In: UA Magazine 3 - Health aspects of urban agriculture

Ecological sanitation, through urine diversion, may contribute to food security, less pollution, better resource management of water, nutrients and soil. It is likely that it can also contribute to health and well-being in two direct ways: less transmission of disease, by killing pathogens at the source, and increased food security, by increasing nutrient intake. It is far more feasible financially and ecologically than conventional approaches, not only by reducing inputs into the system, but increasing savings throughout urban economies. It results in decentralised systems, empowering people, providing for local livelihoods, and enhancing community cohesion. It can be made safer than conventional sanitation approaches and less polluting, reducing urban expenditures for health care and environmental clean-up as well as potentially increasing tourism dollars.

Colophon

Urban Agriculture Magazine
Volume 1, No 3
March 2001

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

Editorial Board

Ms Marielle Dubbeling, Urban Management Programme-Latin America and the Caribbean, Ecuador
Ms Ndèye Fatou Gueye, Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine (IAGU), Senegal
Ms Dagmar Kunze, FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF), Ghana
Mr Luc Mougeot, IDRC, Canada
Mr Shingirayi Mushamba, Management Development Programme - East and Southern Africa, Zimbabwe
Mr Gordon Prain, CIP- Sustainable Initiative on Urban and Peri-urban Africulture (SIUPA), Peru
Mr Frits Penning de Vries, IBSRAM, Thailand
Mr Jac Smit,TUAN, USA
Mr Henk de Zeeuw, ETC - Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Forestry (RUAF), Netherlands

Editors No. 3

This issue has been compiled by René van Veenhuizen (Responsible Editor), together with Karen Lock (Guest Editor). Inputs have been received by Marianne Lindner of ETC-Crystal.

Resonsible web edition

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The editor

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UA Magazine no. 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Urban Agriculture Magazine
July 2001, no. 4

UA Magazine no. 4 - cover

Dear Readers

In regions of the world characterised by economic collapse, such as those in East and Southern Africa, the last decade has witnessed a tremendous increase in total city area under informal urban food production. Associated with this has been an unprecedented increase in worldwide attention to urban agriculture. Yet, the overall picture shows that formal recognition and integration of urban agriculture into urban planning and city development has hardly changed, save for a reduction in prohibitive or anti-urban agriculture interventions.

This issue deals with the integration of urban agriculture into city planning.

Again, the amount of articles submitted to the magazine was very high, for which we thank you. It was decided to accept quite a lot of these articles, since the wealth of experiences is illustrated and the broad topic could only be covered sufficiently this way. The guest editor for this issue was Beacon Mbiba from Zimbabwe, Co-ordinator of PeriNET (Peri-Urban Transformations Research Network), South Bank University, London, UK. Further input was received from Axel Drescher, from the University of Freiburg, Germany. The latter reports on the FAO-ETC E-Conference session on Planning (held in September 2000) in this issue. We offer you sixteen articles on a diversity of topics surrounding the theme; Integration of Urban Agriculture into Urban Planning. Articles cover all regions again, although West-Africa is not represented sufficiently this time.

Great news from Latin America:

The first edition of the UA-Magazine in Spanish has been released by our colleagues in Quito, Ecuador!

Looking forward to hearing from you.

The Editor.

Editorial & Interviews

Beacon Mbiba and René van Veenhuizen

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Formal recognition and integration of urban agriculture into urban planning and city development has hardly been changed despite an increase in presence and attention. Some countries have witnessed a reduction in prohibitive or anti-urban agriculture interventions, but the transformation of city responses from prohibitive models towards permissive or enabling ones has hardly materialised nor been formalised. The perceptions and responses to urban agriculture among actors in a certain city at any given time are not consistent. It is argued that there is a need for a flexible approach and differential targeting to further stimulate integration.

Interviews

Planners and policy-makers of Marilao, the Philippines; Accra, Ghana, and Lusaka, Zambia were asked about urban agriculture and planning related issues. Quotations from the interviews are given grouped under questions and issues, related to the issues discussed in the editorial.

Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture on the Policy Agenda, Report of the E-Conference

Axel Drescher

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

A virtual conference on "Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture on the Policy Agenda" was jointly organised by FAO and ETC-RUAF, from August 21 - September 30, 2000. The conference was divided into three main themes: Household Food Security & Nutrition; Health & Environment; and Urban Planning. This short article revisits some issues regarding the nature of planning, the diverse opportunities for intervention and potential enhancement tools of urban and peri-urban agriculture.
The introductory and final papers, and the discussion of the e-conference can be found here (in English).

Why We Need New Urban Planning Concepts; Insights from South Africa

Lena Jarlov

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

This article is a synthesis of insights from a short period of participation in a comprehensive urban planning project in Kimberley and Port Elizabeth (South Africa) in 1998 and 1999. It has been observed that the phenomenon of urban agriculture in these two cities challenges the western concepts of urban planning and reinforces the need for new models appropriate to non-industrialised cities of Africa and other developing countries. The western model assumes labour employment for the majority, travel to work and the separation of work, employment, recreation and so on. However, drawing in particular from Port Elizabeth, the South African experience is that a majority of urban inhabitants is unemployed, and the informal sector economy dominates. This means that work, recreation and housing all occur in one place. Urban agriculture is one activity in the informal sector.

Awareness and Action in the UK

Joe Howe and Ian White

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

This paper presents the findings from a UK Government Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded survey examining the role played by planning in regulating urban agriculture on allotments, community gardens and city farms in metropolitan areas of the UK. Planners' attitudes to, and knowledge of, urban food production are explored; the geography of, and the agencies involved in, urban food production is detailed and an examination of the regulation of urban food production is undertaken. Despite encouraging signs of an increasing engagement with urban agriculture, planning's apparent low level of involvement remains perplexing given the significance of food to the metropolitan system.

Support for Urban Agriculture Needs Integration in St Petersburg

Oleg Moldakov

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

In Russia, agricultural activities of the urban inhabitants are taking place at significant distances from their urban homes. The term "urban agriculture" refers more to agricultural activities of city dwellers than to agricultural activities within the city boundaries only. The agricultural sites, usually with a house, are called dachas and are located between 6 and 60 km from the city. This article call for the necessary inputs by NGO's and farmer organisations to improve technical know-how and improved use of the facilitating infrastructure to urban agriculture in St. Petersburg.

Using Urban Agriculture for Sustainable City Planning in Bulgaria: the Case of Trojan

Antoaneta Yoveva and Plamen Mishev

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Current urban planning and development in Bulgaria does not take into account the existence of urban and peri-urban agriculture. The SWAPUA project, operating in 10 cities in five CEE countries, has identified characteristics of the various types of farming and the main problems associated with urban and peri-urban farming, with an emphasis on soil and water management issues. Here, the case study of the Bulgarian city Trojan is presented.

The Urban Planning Dilemma in Harare, Zimbabwe

Isaac Chaipa, The Women and Land Lobby Group

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

The growth and geographical spread of urban agriculture in Zimbabwe is largely attributed to the harsh effects of economic structural adjustment programmes (ESAP). The land under cultivation has also increased under the economic hardships of the last years. The responsiveness and actions of urban local authorities in addressing the pressing needs of the urban community has become of utmost significance. The mandate of the Women and Land Lobby Group is to advocate and lobby for gender-sensitive land policies and promote women's economic empowerment through the equitable access to and control of land. The organisation is concerned with ensuring that policies affecting women's access to land are effectively translated into practice and implementation.

The Marginalisation of Urban Agriculture in Lusaka

Beacon Mbiba

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

In 1987, Sanyal suggested that Lusaka, Zambia, was the capital city of urban agriculture (UA) in Africa. This was at the peak of Zambia's economic crisis. Today, one will easily agree that Harare, Zimbabwe, has taken over as the capital of urban agriculture. There is no longer abundant maize growing and in addition, there is little integration into planning. In fact, urban and peri-urban agriculture has been marginalised out of planning; it is not considered a priority by the city authorities and is being gradually squeezed out by residents seeking lodgings to rent, as well as developers. Under these circumstances, a recurring question is 'what factors determine the integration (or otherwise) of urban agriculture into city planning'?

Integration of Agriculture in City Development in Dar Es Salaam

Martin Kitilla and Anasteria Mlambo

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

In the present form, agricultural activities in the city of Dar Es Salaam often conflict with planning of urban land-uses. In some cases, agricultural activities are conducted in fragile environments or hazardous areas of the city, resulting in land degradation and water pollution. In other cases the activities are carried out in areas affected by industrial pollution. The initiative by the Dar Es Salaam City Council to adopt the Environmental Planning and Management approach in the city planning in 1992, was timely and most welcome. Achievements accrued from the new approach have provided significant change to the common practices.

Incorporating Urban Agriculture In Gaborone City Planning

Branco Cavric and Alosius. C. Mosha

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Today, the scale of urban agriculture (UA) in Botswana's urban settlements is very limited comparing to the intensive agricultural practices found in other Southern African cities. In the capital of Gaborone, one of the fastest growing cities in Africa, a few agricultural projects have been started and integrated into its urban development. The aim of this article is to give more details on these improvements using a case study of Glen Valley that is a typical example of urban agriculture integration into urban planning.

Urban Agriculture Support Programme for Madhyapur Thimi Municipality in Nepal

Kai Weise and Isaac Boyd

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Traditionally, municipalities in Nepal are defined on the basis of (the accumulation of) non-farm activities. Agriculture is considered to be a rural activity, which is one constraint to the promotion of urban agriculture. How this problem was overcome is narrated in this article, which describes the integration of urban agriculture into the land-use planning of Madhyapur Thimi municipality located in the centre of Kathmandu Valley in Nepal.

Urban Farming and Land-Use Planning in the Dominican Republic

Jacqueline Acevedo Abinader

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Scaling up of activities requires land-use planning municipal policies, as well as specific technical, financial and legal incentives, laws or regulations related to land tenure, access and land taxation. The municipality of Santiago de los Caballeros, in the Dominican Republic, aims to promote a more coherent and effective inclusion of urban agriculture citywide through municipal management and land-use planning policies, mechanisms and instruments.

The El Panecillo Pilot Project in Quito, Ecuador

Marielle Dubbeling, Jesús Loor Bravo & Margarita Llerna Cepeda

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

The Municipality of Quito is challenged by demands to eradicate urban poverty, to improve the urban environment and to promote a participatory style of governance. Urban agriculture is a potential source of food, income and employment, and is part of a multifunctional use of land, and therefore has an important and strategic role to play in this development. By way of a participatory city consultation on urban agriculture, the municipality embarked upon a process of institutionalising urban agriculture.

Multifunctional Land Use: an Opportunity for Promoting Urban Agriculture in Europe

Tjeerd Deelstra, Donald Boyd, Maaike van den Biggelaar

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Politicians and planners are faced with many competing claims for the use of scarce land in and around cities in industrialised countries. Multifunctional land use - combining different functions within one area - offers a solution. On the basis of a case study in the heavily populated west of the Netherlands, the authors aim to demonstrate that urban agriculture can be promoted as one element land-use offering valuable functions to society.

Planning for Urban Agriculture in Suburban Development in Canada

Gerda Wekerle

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

An examination of suburban development plans and official plan documents revealed that planning for urban agriculture in suburban development planning is non-existent in North American cities. While proponents of urban agriculture seek land for food production on remnants and left-over spaces in the core, built up areas of cities, they ignore the potential to include spaces for urban food production in the settlements of the future, from the outset.

Supportive Policies from Two Distant Cities: Lisbon (Portugal) and Presidente Prudente (Brazil)

Isabela. M. Madaleno

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Agriculture is an old urban function. It never ceased to exist in developing countries and is now once again welcome in most developed countries as well. Poor Brazilian communities see urban agriculture as an alternative survival strategy, because it produces food and improves household's nutrition, but also generates income and jobs. In Portugal, city gardening is small-scale, aimed at giving opportunities for child and adult education, providing ways to produce and consume healthy food, and to enhance contact with land and living things.

Planning in a Changing Environment: the Case of Marilao in the Philippines

Leoncio S.Duran, Joseph H. Batac & Pay Drechsel

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Marilao, located on the fringe of Manila in the Philippines, faced a typical peri-urban dilemma a few years ago, when its mayor could not find affordable land for a new waste disposal site. There were more than 850 business firms and housing projects that competed for the use of municipal land. Not only the problem of where to bring the waste was a problem, also what to do with recycled waste and changes in policy and urban management needed to be tackled.

Colophon

Urban Agriculture Magazine
No 4, July 2001

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

Editorial Board

Ms Marielle Dubbeling, Urban Management Programme-Latin America and the Caribbean, Ecuador
Ms Ndèye Fatou Gueye, Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine (IAGU), Senegal
Ms Dagmar Kunze, FAO Regional Office for Africa (RAF), Ghana
Mr Luc Mougeot, IDRC, Canada
Mr Shingirayi Mushamba, Management Development Programme - East and Southern Africa, Zimbabwe
Mr Gordon Prain, CIP- Sustainable Initiative on Urban and Peri-urban Africulture (SIUPA), Peru
Mr Frits Penning de Vries, IBSRAM, Thailand
Mr Jac Smit,TUAN, USA
Mr Henk de Zeeuw, ETC - Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Forestry (RUAF), Netherlands

Editors No. 4

This issue has been compiled by René van Veenhuizen (Responsible Editor), together with Beacon Mbiba (Guest Editor). Valuable inputs have been received by Axel Drescher.

Resonsible web edition

Administrations

Design and Layout

Language Editor

Printing

Subscriptions

The editor

ruaf@etcnl.nl

Address

UA Magazine no. 5 - Methodologies for UA research, policy development, planning and implementation

Urban Agriculture Magazine
December 2001, no. 5

UA Magazine no. 5 - cover

Dear Readers

Agricultural activities within the city limits have existed since the first urban populations were established thousands of years ago. Yet only recently has urban agriculture become a systematic focus of research and development attention as its scale and importance in the urbanising world we live in become increasingly recognised. Urban agriculture has been recognised as a cross-sectoral issue that requires a multi-sectoral and multi-actor approach and active participation of the direct and indirect stakeholders in the planning and implementation of policies and action programmes. This requires the adaptation of the methods used in rural agricultural research and development for the specific urban conditions and to realise an innovative integration of these methods with the methods applied by urban managers and planners and other relevant disciplines.

This issue of the Urban Agriculture Magazine contains the synthesis papers produced by the six topic co-ordinators and selected contributions submitted to the editor and written for the expert workshop "Appropriate Methodologies for Urban Agriculture".

Great news from West Africa this time: the first edition of the UA-Magazine in French has been released by our colleagues of IAGU in Dakar, Senegal. French readers are suggested to contact IAGU. Issue no. 2 on Livestock is now available in Spanish. Please contact UMP-LAC.

You are invited to contribute to future issues of the Urban Agriculture Magazine. Articles would ideally be up to 2,500 words in length, and preferably accompanied by illustrations (digital and of good quality), references and an abstract. As suggested by the Editorial Board, we welcome your contributions on any subject. Articles will be examined for selection by the editorial team consisting of the RUAF-based responsible editor and the external scientific advisor/co-editor.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

The Editor

Editorial