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.