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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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'?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.