RUAF Update #9

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RUAF Update # 9
October 2007

E-mail bulletin with news of the International Network of Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF).

In this bulletin you will find information on:

1. RUAF-Cities Farming for the Future programme in 2007

  • Progress of RUAF-CFF per region

2. Other Urban Agriculture projects by the RUAF Partners

  • Supporting peri-urban producer organisations SUPPORT
  • Distance Learning on Urban Agriculture – ‘Understanding Urban Agriculture’
  • Optimizing Water Management in Villa María del Triunfo (Peru)
  • SWITCH
  • Heifer Global Urban Agricultural Symposium, Chicago, USA
  • Workshop on urban agriculture, participatory governance and social inclusion (DR Congo)
  • Course to promote the transition to biological viniculture in the Netherlands

3. RUAF Publications

  • Urban Agriculture Magazine
    • Urban Agriculture Magazine no 19
    • Issues of the UA-Magazine planned for 2008
    • Urban Agriculture Magazine survey
    • RENEW Your subscription to the Urban Agriculture Magazine hardcopy!!!!
  • IPES RUAF Publications
  • RUAF website survey

Overview of RUAF Partners

1.  THE RUAF-CITIES FARMING FOR THE FUTURE PROGRAMME

For a description of the objectives and strategies in the RUAF-CFF programme and of the RUAF Partners, please visit our website: www.ruaf.org.

Progress of RUAF-CFF per region

Latin AmericaA two-day national seminar on urban and peri-urban agriculture was held in Brasilia with the participation of 100 representatives from the local and state’s government, urban farmers’ associations and groups, universities, NGO and important officials from the Federal government.
During the seminar all the stakeholders discussed some new city policies on promoting urban and peri-urban agriculture in Brazil. More information: http://www.ipes.org/au/Boletin/boletin6/seminarioaubrasil.html (Spanish) http://www.mds.gov.br/noticias/sociedade-civil-se-reune-com-governo-federal-para-discutir-diretrizes-para-a-agricultura-urbana/?searchterm=agricultura%20urbana (Portuguese) 

The implementation of the CFF pilot project in Villa Maria del Triunfo (Lima, Peru) has been finalized. A Productive Research and Training Center has been established with an area of 4000 m2 and is being managed by 15 urban farming families. The centre provides guided visits and training services to the members of the Urban Farmers Network of the city and other stakeholders in urban agriculture. The centre is also being used as a testing site for new technologies that will likely boost the farmers’ production or bring a solution for actual problems like the lack of water, etc. The impacts of the pilot project will be evaluated in 2008.
For more information on the project visit: www.ipes.org/au or send an email to au@ipes.org.pe
From August 21th to 25th the first urban agriculture week was held in Villa Maria del Triunfo (VMT). During this week the Municipality officially presented the first urban agriculture ordinance of the city (thus formalizing the inclusion of the activity to the city’s policies) and a number of publications on urban and peri-urban agriculture. More information: http://www.ipes.org/au/Boletin/boletin6/semanavmt.html


Southern and East-AfricaActivities in Bulawayo, the first pilot city in this region, have progressed well. The draft City Strategic Agenda on urban agriculture was discussed at a workshop on the 3rd and 4th of September.  Policy makers endorsed the agenda and urged the speedy development of project proposals from the agenda, particularly those relating to water provision as the city has been affected badly by water shortages.

In Cape Town a core team has been established that will facilitate the Multi-stakeholder Policy formulation and Action Planning (MPAP) process and a workplan was agreed upon.

The activities in Ndola (Zambia) are progressing rapidly. The first contact visits were held in June. A core team has been established and a workplan has been agreed upon. A Policy Awareness Workshop for councilors and other key decision makers was organised in Ndola in August. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed. A Training of Trainers (ToT) was then held from 10-14 September 2007. The first MPAP training is planned from 29 October to 2 November.

Short reports on meetings, as well as information on all pilot cities, can be found at the RUAF-MDP website.


Anglophone West AfricaThe activities in Ibadan (Nigeria) are progressing well. Part II of the training on Multi-stakeholder Policy formulation and Action Planning (MPAP) was successfully implemented in July. In addition, the results of the Ibadan exploratory study were presented and validated at the multi-stakeholder forum held in July, which resulted in the development of a City Strategic Action Plan on urban agriculture and an institutional arrangement for programme implementation. The exploratory survey report and short reports on meetings can be found at the RUAF-IWMI website.

In Accra (Ghana), the Accra Working Group on Urban and peri-urban agriculture (AWGUPA) developed an activity plan including amongst others support to the Accra Metropolitan Authority in reviewing bye-laws on urban agriculture. Also posters on good practices have been produced for public education.

In Freetown (Sierra Leone), members of Freetown Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture Programme (FUPAP) have resumed activities after a short break for election. At a recent meeting, the draft City Strategic Action Plan was validated and shared with strategic decision makers. A pilot project has been formulated and agreed upon by the team. The team has been revived after a short period of silence.

There are in total ten pilot projects under the RUAF-CFF programme in this region. For an overview see: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/africa/West/projects/RUAF-CFF/ .


Francophone West Africa
In Porto Novo (in Benin) the Municipality has shown its support and commitment to the multi-stakeholder planning process and integrated urban agriculture in municipal planning and budget for 2007 (8 millions of FCFA is available for support activities). 


MENA Region
Amman and San’a have been selected as Pilot Cities in this region and key partners have been identified. Agreements to establish enabling teams in Amman and San’a will be signed directly after Ramadan with the Amman Greater Municipality and the Sustainable Agriculture Association of Yemen who will act as respective focal points for the two countries. A Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop was organised in September. Next to representatives of these two cities, also two participants from the Ariana-Soukra Focus City project team in Tunisia joined this training.
A short report and materials in Arabic can be found at the new RUAF-MENA website. Also at this website you can find copies of the UA magazine in Arabic (issue no. 1-4).

ChinaIGSNRR, has started working in Shanghai, Minhang district and will organise the MPAP training in November 2007 (7-14). In this event representatives from all pilot cities and dissemination cities in China will participate.

In Chengdu RUAF China and the local partners are supporting and monitoring a number of initiatives related to agro-tourism and the formation of cooperatives (under the new law of cooperatives that came into being in 2007).

The pilot project in Huairou district, Beijing, provides support to a cooperative which develops horticulture production in greenhouses. The crops are irrigated by rainwater captured on the roof of the greenhouse, while excess water is used for aquifer recharge and a fish pond where Beijing citizens can combine the buying of produce with a day-out.

In the dissemination city of Lijiang, RUAF partner IGSNRR introduced the multi-stakeholder planning approach to promote innovation of agriculture in the peri-urban areas involving farmers, private enterprises and local government. Other local governments such as Yunnan, Kunming and Dali have shown interest in this approach.

Reports on these activities and materials (all in Chinese), information on the pilot cities and copies of the UA magazine in Chinese can be found at the new RUAF-IGSNRR website or you may contact zhangff.04s@igsnrr.ac.cn.

IWMI IndiaRegional partners from the RUAF pilot cities, Hyderabad, Bangalore (both in India) and Gampaha (Sri Lanka) participated in a regional MPAP training and networking workshop in Hyderabad. Among the participants was the Mayor of Gampaha.

In Bangalore a number of meetings were held with residents of selected areas (J.P. Nagar, Banahankari and Jayanagar) which may result in an initiative to allow urban gardeners to use the terraces, and in this way providing employment to the urban poor. In addition in Magadi, the exploratory survey is ongoing and the results will be discussed in a first Multi-stakeholder forum in this peri-urban area of Bangalore in November.

In Gampaha, an Enabling Team has been established entitled “Nagarika Haritha Balakaya- Gampaha� which means “Force for a Green-Gampaha� This includes 8 organizations that have signed a jointly agreed upon terms of reference and vision statement. These organisations are the Municipal Council, Botanical Gardens, Departments of Agriculture, Education, Health Agrarian Services, Animal Husbandry and SANASA City Bank. The situation analysis is being completed by mid November. A policy review workshop has been organised in August. Read more at: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/southasia/ruaf/gampaha.html
Reports of these events and information on the pilot cities can be found at: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/southasia/ruaf/hyd.html 

For more information on the RUAF-CFF programme: see www.ruaf.org. The RUAF website contains information on the RUAF-CFF programme, the activities in each region and pilot city and all RUAF publications, including the Urban Agriculture Magazine in 6 languages, as well as an extensive on line bibliographic database (English) and other valuable resources sections as well as linkages to the regional RUAF-websites with more specific information and regional contacts- and bibliographic databases (in French, Spanish, Chinese and English).

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2. OTHER URBAN AGRICULTURE PROJECTS BY THE RUAF PARTNERS

Supporting peri-urban producer organizations (SUPPORT)The project Enhancing Capacity for Innovation, increasing productivity and access to markets by peri-urban producer organizations in Latin America (SUPPORT) started in July this year. The work will be implemented in three countries: Montevideo (Uruguay), Rosario (Argentina) and Valle de Lurin in Lima (Peru). IPES is coordinating this project. More information with Cecilia Castro at: cecilia@ipes.org.pe

Distance Learning on Urban Agriculture– ‘Understanding Urban Agriculture’
In response to an increasing demand for training in urban agriculture, ETC-Urban Agriculture and the international network of Resource centres on Urban Agriculture and Food security (RUAF) are developing a portfolio of distance education courses on urban agriculture in partnership with Ryerson University’s Centre for Studies in Food Security and The Chang School. The courses are designed in such a way that they can be accessed with low-speed Internet connection. For more information on the first course visit www.ryerson.ca/ce/foodsecurity. You can also express your interest for the development of subsequent urban agriculture courses.

Optimizing Water Management in Villa María del Triunfo (Peru)
The first phase of the project “Optimizing Water Management to fight Urban Poverty�, implemented in Villa Maria del Triunfo in Lima, by IPES and supported by CORDAid (The Netherlands) was finalised. The project concerns the participatory design and planning of multifunctional urban space. A new phase has started that is aiming at the development of infrastructure (a wastewater treatment plant and productive and leisure green spaces). A Construction Committee, comprises of residents and have been elected by the neighbors. More information can be obtained from Gunther Merzthal at au@ipes.org.pe.

SWITCHThree RUAF partners participate in the SWITCH programme on sustainable urban water management and implement activities in Beijing, Accra and Lima. Review reports of these three cities are being finalised and working groups have initiated research activities. More information on SWITCH can be found at: http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/An event introducing the SWITCH project to various stakeholders in Lima was held in order to raise awareness on the importance of the project and forge partnerships between the more than 50 private and public institutions, NGO’s, universities and government offices participating.
In Lima the project is coordinated by IPES and the Department of Housing, Construction and Sanitation of Peru, and aims to articulate promotion efforts on integral systems the treatment of wastewater and its reuse for urban agriculture and irrigation of urban green spaces in Metropolitan Lima.
The next step is the preparation of inventories identifying urban agriculture and wastewater treatment activities in Lima. This research will serve as input for the formulation of political and operational guidelines on the issue. For more information about SWITCH Lima visit: http://www.ipes.org/au/switch. For more information about the global SWITCH visit: http://www.switchurbanwater.eu/.

Heifer Global Urban Agricultural Symposium, Chicago, USA, June 17 – 21, 2007
An International meeting was organised by Heifer International to share and learn about urban agriculture in different contexts around the world, to discuss how Heifer could best engage in urban agriculture and identify further actions, and to develop relationships with other professionals. Around sixty people from inside Heifer International and outside organizations - involved in urban agriculture participated in this event. A general presentation on urban agriculture and RUAF was given by René van Veenhuizen of ETC-Urban Agriculture and Gunther Merzthal of IPES presented experiences from Latin America. The report and more information can be requested to Rainbow.Brown@heifer.org or r.van.veenhuizen@etcnl.nl.

Workshop on urban agriculture, participatory governance and social inclusion (DR Congo)
This workshop was held in Bukavu from 24-28 September, and was organized and supported by RUAF, DIOBASS (DR Congo), Institut de la Vie, DGCD, CECODEL  and CGRI (Belgium).  Participants came from Bukavu, Butembo, Goma, Kinshasa, Kisangani and Lubumbashi (Congo), Ngozi (Burundi), Dakar (Senegal), Yaoundé (Cameroun), and from the mentioned institutes and other international organizations (like GlobalHort, Tanzania). Priorities for the development of regional programmes on urban agriculture in the region were identified as: (1) the development of school gardens, and (2) the strengthening of small urban and peri-urban producers in their production, processing and marketing strategies. A project formulation committee has been put in place and agreements were made to continue promoting urban agriculture development at city, national and regional level. Representatives from Kigali (Rwanda) and FAO, who could not participate due to the countries' general insecurity situation, will also be involved in the workshops' follow up activities.
For more information: Marielle Dubbeling m.dubbeling@etcnl.nl

Course to promote the transition to biological viniculture in the Netherlands
ETC Urban agriculture has organised a course to promote the transition to certified biological viniculture. Twenty eight wine producers participate in this course. Wine production is a relative new activity in the Netherlands and many of the vineyards are located in or near the cities in the Netherlands. For more information, contact: hp.reinders@etcnl.nl

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3. RUAF PUBLICATIONS

Urban Agriculture Magazine

Urban Agriculture Magazine no 19 
The next issue of the Urban Agriculture (UA) Magazine (no. 19) will be distributed in December. It will focus on Promotion of Innovation in Urban Agriculture. This issue of the UA-Magazine is intended as a first effort to take stock of a broad range of experiences involving participatory methodologies for promoting innovation in urban farming systems and new technologies in urban farming. We have received a high number of contributions and are currently editing them in collaboration with PROLINNOVA and Urban Harvest.
You will find this issue in December at: http://www.ruaf.org/node/101 where you already can find the other 18 issues.

Issues of the Urban Agriculture Magazine planned for 2008
The following issues will be developed in 2008 and your ideas and contribution of articles are already most welcome:
  • Productive Use of Urban Water (to be published in June 2008; you will received the call for contributions soon)
  • Urban Agriculture in Relief and Rehabilitation.
  • Urban Agriculture Related Marketing, Enterprise and Chain Development
RENEW Your subscription to the Urban Agriculture Magazine hardcopy!!!!If you are a subscriber to the UA-Magazine and you would like to keep your subscription, you have to renew your subscription. You can do that here by sending us back the UA-Magazine survey, or you can go to: http://www.ruaf.org/renew.html
If you are not yet subscribed to the UA-Magazine but would like to become a subscriber, subscribe here: http://www.ruaf.org/newsubscriber.html

Urban Agriculture Magazine survey
We need your opinion on the UA-Magazine! We have sent a survey to all subscribers with the UA-Magazine no 18. But you can also fill out the questionnaire here: http://www.ruaf.org/survey.html.


IPES RUAF PublicationsThe following (Spanish) publications (August 2007) can be ordered from IPES au@ipes.org.pe.

  • La Huerta Urbana a su Mesa (From the Urban Garden to your Table).
  • Huertos organicos urbanos en zonas deserticas (Guide for urban organic gardens in arid zones).
  • Villa Maria sembrando para la vida - Plan Estrategico Concertado de Agricultura Urbana para Villa Maria del Triunfo (2007-2011) (Villa Maria sowing for life - Urban agriculture Strategic Plan for Villa Maria del Triunfo).
  • Porciculture Urbana y Periurbana en ciudades de America Latina y el Caribe by Gustavo Castro (comp.) (Urban and peri-urban pig-farming in Latin American and Caribbean cities).

RUAF Website surveyWe also continuously seek to improve the quality of our website. During October and November, we ask you to give us your feedback in a short survey on the website. You can also go directly to: http://www.ruaf.org/sitesurvey.html.

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The RUAF programme is funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs (DGIS, the Netherlands) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC, Canada)

The partners in the RUAF programme are:


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