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'?