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 2008 1. Programme Coordinators Meeting 2. Mid term Review RUAF-CFF 3. Progress of RUAF CFF per region 2. Other Urban Agriculture projects by the RUAF Partners 1. Distance learning courses on urban agriculture 2. New course on urban and peri-urban agriculture in Ghana 3. Study visit to Cuba 4. International seminar on urban agriculture in Bolivia 5. Focus City project in Dakar 6. Project on agriculture and urban design: the case of Diamalaye (Dakar) 7. Micro credit and investment for urban agriculture 8. SARNISSA - Sustainable Aquaculture Research Networks in Sub Saharan Africa 9. Developing research-based policy briefs 10. Use of rainwater and greywater in urban and peri-urban agriculture in Tunisia 11. Initiative to create the North American Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture Alliance (NAUPAA) 12. RUAF pilot city wins Eco Citizen Award 3. RUAF Publications
1. Urban Agriculture Magazine § UA Magazine and RUAF website survey § Urban Agriculture Magazine no 19 § Urban Agriculture Magazine no 20 § Forthcoming issues 2. Other Publications 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 1. Programme Coordinators Meeting The RUAF partners met in Doorn, The Netherlands, from 14 to 19 February for their annual meeting.
The meeting focused on the following:
a. Systematisation of experiences: A start has been made with the systematisation of the experiences gained with Multi-stakeholder Action Planning on Urban Agriculture in the 20 RUAF pilot cities. As a result of the systematisation a series of RUAF working papers will be produced. A draft version of the first two working papers can be found at http://www.ruaf.org/node/419. Working papers on other aspects of the MPAP process will become available during the remainder of this year.
b. Next phase: Initiation of the preparations for the next phase of the RUAF programme in which more attention will be paid to strengthening farmer organisations and improving urban agriculture farming and marketing systems. A short description of the next phase will soon be available on the RUAF website.
c. The Mid term review (see under 2. below)
d. Study visit: The RUAF partners paid a short visit to the Buurtschap IJsselzone, an agricultural area directly neighbouring the city of Zwolle and located along the river IJssel. Local farmers and concerned inhabitants of Zwolle in cooperation with the Municipality of Zwolle and the local Water Management Agency have started a joint initiative to develop this area, combining agricultural production with other functions like landscape and biodiversity maintenance, water management, recreation, ecological education, among others. An introduction to these plans by the chairperson of the initiative can be found here.
2. Mid term Review The RUAF CFF project has been reviewed between 7 and 29 January 2008 by an external team consisting of Dr Yves Cabannes (Chair Development Planning Unit, University College London and former Coordinator of the Habitat Urban Management Programme in Latin America) and Dr Margaret Pasquini (research officer CAZS-Natural Resources, University of Wales, Bangor, UK and Coordinator of INDIGENOVEG, an EU-INCO funded research project on indigenous vegetables in urban and peri-urban agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa). The Review Team studied the RUAF reports and visited RUAF regional and local partners in Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Zimbabwe and China. The mission’s main conclusion is that RUAF-CFF is a successful, highly relevant, effective and efficient programme with high quality results beyond the set targets. The mission states that RUAF-CFF is laying foundations for more sustainable urban development by promoting participatory governance and empowerment of the urban poor. RUAF CFF also makes important contributions to social inclusion and urban poverty alleviation. The RUAF-CFF programme has introduced innovative approaches to urban planning and has put urban agriculture high on the city agenda in a large number of cities. Impressive contributions have been made to policy change at different policy levels (national and local sector policies, Municipal spatial plans and legal frameworks, a/o). Some critical observations by the mission include: - The link between the pilot projects and the Multi-stakeholder Policy formulation and Action Planning (MPAP) process is not always clear
- Pilot projects are small in relation to the ambitions of the City Strategic Agenda on Urban Agriculture developed
- Some pilot projects have encountered problems that should receive proper attention
- The impact monitoring system is too ’heavy’ in comparison with the size of the pilot projects
The mission formulated various recommendations to further improve the ongoing RUAF-CFF project in 2008, including a/o: - Reduce the number of pilot projects and use resources to solve problems in existing pilot projects or enhance the size of successful projects
- Better link the various programme components especially the relation between the MPAP process and the pilot projects
- Stimulate the partners in dissemination cities to go beyond the implementation of a pilot project
- Make more resources available for systematisation and wider dissemination of the full wealth of experiences gained and lessons learned
- Facilitate networking of partners in the various cities and make better use of these partners in the training of their peers in other cities
- Undertake a cross regional analysis of the factors that facilitated or hampered partners’ success of implementing the MPAP process as a basis for future dissemination to other cities
The mission also formulated some recommendations for the longer term, including a/o: - Develop a longer term strategy (-2020) including a number of priority programmes that link up with important urban challenges
- Specify on what type(s) of urban agriculture and what types of cities RUAF wants to focus its attention in future
- Develop a more strictly urban agriculture focus (rather than an ‘agriculture in the city’ focus) by linking with strong urban sectors (e.g. water supply, wastes and wastewater management, housing, etcetera)
- Consider to develop from an inter-regional into a global programme
- Consider to extend the regional coverage (e.g. Central Africa, East Asia)
- Define a membership policy (open to new members? Only regional partners or also inclusion of local partners?; also private sector?)
- Develop new strategic partnerships with donor organisations, cities and their networks, producer organisations and grassroots movements and their international allies
- Create a green and fair trade label for urban agriculture products
- Initiate an intercity urban agriculture seed and plant exchange programme
The full report will be made available on the RUAF website after it has been discussed with the RUAF partners and the donor organisations. 3. Progress of RUAF-CFF per Region Information on the RUAF pilot cities is regularly updated at the RUAF website. Please click here for an overview of all the RUAF pilot projects.
Latin America
The City strategic Plan was published and presented officially in August, during the celebration of the First Week of Urban Agriculture in Villa Maria del Triunfo (Lima). 75% of the short term strategic actions were implemented with resources from the Forum members (approximately 195,000 USD). A new Coordination Committee has been elected for the year 2008, and the working groups continued their activities. The farmers organized into the Urban Farmers Network of Villa Maria (created in 2006 as a result of the MPAP diagnosis stage) participate actively in the Forum and in the implementation of the City Strategic Plan. The Network is legally registered with the municipality as a local CBO. More information about the MPAP in VMT is available in Spanish and English. The City Strategic Plan is available at: http://www.ipes.org/au/recursos/publicaciones_docpoli.html. In Belo Horizonte the final documents of the Participatory Diagnostic Assessment has been completed and validated. The Policy Narrative, which is based on this assessment and suggesting strategies for further action, is being printed by the Municipality of Belo. A working group has been formed to develop the draft Strategic Plan. The pilot project in Belo is the development of a productive park (of 3,200 m2), incorporating urban agriculture in the design and use of public spaces. More information about the MPAP in Belo Horizonte is available in English and Portuguese.
The pilot project in Bogota, called “Farming in my house,” has been finalized. It involved the design and construction of 20 terraces at houses of vulnerable families. A new Mayor and a Town Council started in January 2008. More information about the MPAP in Bogota is available in English and Spanish.
For more information you can contact: au@ipes.org.pe
Southern and East-Africa
A series of documents have been published together with local partners in Bulawayo and South Africa (see the RUAF Publications section in this Update). A documentary on urban agriculture, covering the cities of Bulawayo, Harare, Cape Town and Ndola, is at an advanced stage of development. It will show RUAF-CFF experiences with policy development, capacity development, institutionalization and gender, and will be used for promotion, advocacy and in education.
A memorandum of understanding will be signed between Bulawayo City Council and Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality to formally agree on a partnership on urban agriculture. More specfically, the MoU aims at improving the marketing of products produced in these two cities. Under the pilot project in Bulawayo 20 farmers have started bee-keeping as a way of diversifying their activities. City partners concentrate on the improvement of access to water for the urban farmers.
In Ndola the first MPAP workshop was held in October, with 22 participants from an wide array of stakeholders, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Lands and Social Welfare, the City Health department and the Legal Division, the NGOs, Rainbow Group and Ndola Nutrition Group, CARE, and representatives of Urban Farmers Group from Ndola. The workshop resulted in an agreement on the set up and process of the situation analysis and on the New Kaloko pilot project. The project, with a RUAF contribution of 51%, is in progress. The report on the situation analysis is being finalized and will soon be available at http://www.mdpafrica.org.zw/ua_cffp.htm. The first Multi-stakeholder forum in Ndola was held on 29th of November and was attended by 32 stakeholders who agreed on a ToR for the Forum. For more information on the activities in Ndola you may contact Raphael Muyaule For more information please contact Takawira Mubvami.
Anglophone West Africa
A Regional Exchange and Planning Meeting was organised in March in Accra, to share experiences, and discuss the different city plans and the ongoing projects. Representatives from the pilot cities and dissemination cities participated in this meeting and agreed on the activities to be implemented in the region in 2008.
The AWGUPA (Accra Working Group on Urban and Periurban Agriculture) provided technical input into the review and amendments to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) bye-laws on urban agriculture. The working group conducted a series of stakeholder fora with beneficiaries (farmers, traders, and dealers), and with assembly members and staff from technical AMA departments to sensitise them on the proposed amendments. The report will soon be available at the IWMI Ghana website or you can contact Evelyn Adzorkor Doku or Nelson Obirih-Opareh. AWGUPA in collaboration with FAO, has developed a poster on “Seven Ways to Food Safety”, which can be used as educational material for specific target groups (street food vendors, restaurants, 'chop bars', and the general public) in the region. In addition AWGUPA, as part of the pilot project, has developed a video documentary on good practices for urban and peri-urban agriculture in Accra for educational purposes. For more information contact: Evelyn Adzorkor Doku or Nelson Obirih-Opareh.
RUAF-IWMI advocated and provided input for the integration of urban and peri urban agriculture into the Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy II (FASDEP) of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Ghana (for more information contact IWMI). Similarly, members of the RUAF Regional Advisory Committee provided technical input into the drafting of the National Policy on Agriculture in Sierra Leone. Please contact Pamela Konneh or Saidu Kanu.
Francophone West Africa
The pilot project in Pikine was re-formulated and now focuses on support in access to inputs and equipment for Pikine urban farmers. The project continues to work with the same group of farmers, but shifted focus to another priority as defined in the city action plan. This project will be finalised by July this year. Some of the RUAF-CFF local team members attended the IDRC funded regional workshop on financing urban agriculture organised in March in Dakar. A guide on Financial Management of Urban Producer Organisations has been elaborated within the IDRC project.
In Bobo Dioulasso the pilot project on enhancing green fields in the city is being implemented and saw its first harvest. As a result of the activities of the RUAF partners in this city, the new Municipal Development Programme (elaborated in 2007 and validated in March 2008), now has an urban agriculture component with a specific budget. So urban agriculture became a topic integrated in the municipal policy. In addition, a course on the economic impact of urban agriculture has been integrated in the curriculum of the National School of Water and Forestry. Also, in Bobo Dioulasso Catholic University, an introduction on urban agriculture has a component of Environment module.
In Porto Novo, the Municipality has committed an amount of 8 million FCFA in its municipal budget for the RUAF-CFF project and action plan. After the tragic death of Mr Francis Adjovi, a new coordinator of the local team has been appointed: Mr Barthélemy Godonou. The report of the exploratory study is available on request. Selected working groups have already formulated the City Action Plan and a workshop organized in March to validate the city agenda. For more information, please contact Moussa Sy or Ngone Mbengue
MENA Region
The website of RUAF-MENA will be launched in April. The site provides information, related to urban agriculture in the MENA region, and contains an online repository of documents and materials, back copies of the Arabic urban agriculture magazine, and information on the Arab Network on urban agriculture. The 7th Arabic issue of the urban agriculture magazine will be published in July 2008, and a special issue on the launching of the urban agriculture programme in the MENA region will be published in April.
RUAF MENA and the Arab Network on urban agriculture will collaborate in the exchange of a bi–monthly newsletter and the exchange of experts and expertise between Amman and Tunis.
The topic of urban agriculture has been incorporated in the MSc course "Rural Community Development" at AUB. The course will start in 2009.
The multi-stakeholder forum was launched in the city of Amman on December 12, 2007. Eighty-one representatives from several Ministries, the Directorate of City Planning, the Municipality of Amman, NGOs, farmers organizations, syndicates and cooperatives, the University of Jordan, and the committee of a large public garden participated actively. The event was covered by the press. The city of Amman agreed to co-finance up to USD 12,400 (50%) to the proposed MPAP process. Several other institutions agreed to provide necessary information, expertise and other assistance when needed. More information can be obtained from Ziad Moussa.
China
In November, 52 people participated in an MPAP workshop in Shanghai: including government officials of various levels, professors, NGOs, farmers, agricultural enterprises, and the representatives from pilot cities.
In Chengdu, the aquaculture cooperative is developing well, supported by RUAF-IGSNRR and its local partners. The cooperative has applied for government support (the Science & Technology Fund) to develop fish breeding, environmental protection and provide training to its members.
In 2007, a series of projects and short-term consultancies related to urban agriculture were generated by RUAF-IGSNRR, with a total budget of around Euro 555,000. RUAF-IGSNRR was asked to facilitate multi-stakeholder planning on urban agriculture in Lijiang, involving farmers, local governments, NGOs and enterprises. The consultancy report is available on request.
Cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and several universities in China, such as Beijing Agriculture College, Beijing Vocational Agricultural College, Agriculture University of China, Agriculture Academy of Sciences, and universities in Chengdu and Shanghai was strengthened under the implementation of the RUAF-CFF programme. Increasingly students from China and from abroad express their interest in urban agriculture and in pursuing their MSc and PhD degrees with IGSNRR under RUAF-China supervision.
More information (in Chinese) can be found at: www.cnruaf.com.cn or contact Zhang Feifei IWMI India
Dr. Rob Simmons left IWMI to take up a university position with Cranfield University, UK. Dr. Priyanie H. Amerasinghe has taken over his position as Programme coordinator of South and South East Asia, with effect from March 1st, 2008.
The 2nd meeting of the RAC was held from 28th of November to 1st of December 2007. The meeting was held to coincide with a regional sub-working group meeting of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA) on food security and productive sanitation sub-theme.
In August 2007 a training was provided by AME Foundation on Organic terrace gardening in Bangalore (for an overview of the course content contact KVS Prasad. The pilot project "Home Gardens in Bangalore City" was launched in March.
A series of nine meetings have been held with stakeholders in Magadi, Bangalore, to facilitate the MPAP process. Six villages in two clusters, 3-5 km from Magadi town have been identified, and the pilot project, “Strengthening Magadi Peri-Urban Farmer groups on ecological agriculture through Farmer Field Schools”, which includes Farmer Field Schools, has been agreed.
In the Surabhi Colony, in Serilingampally, Hyderabad, 40 households participated in a training programme on kitchen gardening concepts conducted by the Agriculture University of Hyderabad. For those households who have limited space, "low space/no space technologies" have been introduced. Seeds and implements were supplied through the RUAF funds. Rainwater harvesting units were installed and a few community members were given compost bins for demonstration purposes on recycling.
In Gampaha, the draft policy narrative was completed in December in Sinhalese and is being translated in English. It will soon be published. The City Action Planning meeting was held in February 2008 after which a selected group has started drafting the City Strategic Action Plan. The pilot project entitled “Greening of Gampaha City through Urban Agriculture” which is promoting home gardens and family business gardens have commenced.
In the Western Province the pilot project commenced in January 2008. This project entitled “Urban agriculture for sustainable city of Colombo”, is operational in six locations, involving 150 households, and the first harvest has been collected. For more information please contact Priyanie Amerasinghe.
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). Top
2. OTHER URBAN AGRICULTURE PROJECTS BY THE RUAF PARTNERS 1. New offer: Distance Learning Courses on Urban agriculture by Ryerson University, ETC Urban Agriculture and RUAF: For more information on these courses please contact: Marielle Dubbeling or Joe Nasr
-Understanding Urban Agriculture (CVFN 410)
Schedule: May 10-August 9, 2008; Duration: 42 hours; Fee: $456 (CDN)
Millions of people practise urban agriculture globally and governments and civil society organizations increasingly promote it, to enhance urban food security, health, community building, sustainable livelihoods, and environmental management. This course expands the understanding of urban agriculture, its main types and dimensions, its potential impacts, the constraints and opportunities facing it, the stakeholders involved in it, the historical contexts shaping it, and the local, regional, and international development trends bearing on it.
-Dimensions of Urban Agriculture (CVFN 411)
Schedule: September-December, 2008; Duration: 42 hours; Fee: $456 (CDN)
This course focuses on the main dimensions of urban agriculture and how these complement, supplement, compete with, substitute, or undermine those provided by other land uses, sectoral activities and actors. The main dimensions covered are (functions, roles, benefits, potential risks) of: health and food security, socio-cultural dimensions, economic dimensions, and environmental dimensions. Selected well-documented case studies will be used throughout the course to highlight each dimension separately, before bringing them all together. 2. New Course on Urban and Peri-urban agriculture in Ghana
This course, under the B.Sc in Agricultural Extension and Community Development, with the University of Cape Coast, introduces students to the field of urban agriculture and its multiple functions within the context of rapid urban growth and development. More infomation with Theophilus Larbi 3. Study visit to Cuba
RUAF staff members of IPES and ETC and representatives of Local Teams from Villa Maria del Triunfo and Bogota participated in a study visit of seven days to Havana and Cienfuegos in Cuba in November. The study visit was organized in collaboration with ACTAF (Association of Agricultural and Forestry Technicians), ACPA (Cuban Association of Animal Production), FANJ (Antonio Nuñez Jiménez Foundation for Nature and Man) and the University of Cienfuegos, and aimed at strengthening the capacities of the attendees to implement the pilot projects in their cities. Participants visited different cooperative gardens, institutional gardens, the urban farmers markets, small-scale experiences with processing and conserving products, and had several meetings with different stakeholders in both cities. The study visit allowed the participants to incorporate new elements in their pilot projects especially related to production and organization. For more information contact Gunther Merzthal or Hans Peter Reinders. 4. International seminar on urban agriculture in Bolivia
RUAF-IPES jointly with the FAO Regional Office for Latin America organised the International Seminar “Urban and Peri-urban agriculture: Strategies and tools for food and nutritional security and overcoming poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean”, held in La Paz (Bolivia) from November 20 – 23, 2007. The objective of the Seminar was to contribute to regional consensus-building and coordination among the urban and peri-urban agriculture projects in Latin America and the Caribbean. More information can be found at: http://www.ipes.org/au/Boletin/Boletin7/seminariofao.html. 5. Focus city project in Dakar
This project, coordinated by IAGU and funded by IDRC seeks to stress the impact of the waste deposit on social, economic, environment and health issues. More information at: salimata@iagu.org
6. Project on agriculture and urban design: the case of Diamalaye (Dakar)
The purpose of this project, which is executed in partnership with Architecture School of Laval University (Canada), is to explore the possibilities to integrate agriculture in the architecture within a city. It is executed in Diamalaye district in Dakar, the same location as the focus city project mentioned above. More information at: gora@iagu.org or moussa@iagu.org
7. Micro credit and investment for urban agriculture
This project is also supported by IDRC, and executed by IAGU, in four countries: Benin, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Senegal. The main components are: research on funding of urban agriculture, capacity development on financial issues and sensitisation of the financial institutions. More information at: moussa@iagu.org 8. SARNISSA – Sustainable Aquaculture Research Networks in Sub Saharan Africa
This project, funded by the European Commission (FP7) runs for three years and aims to support sustainable urban, peri-urban and rural aquaculture development through linking professionals in Europe and Sub Saharan Africa and will build on an existing knowledge resource base and exchange platform – The Aquaculture Compendium. SARNISSA is a consortium of 8 project partners mainly from Africa and Europe (Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling (co-ordinator UK), CIRAD (France), World Fish Center (Egypt), CABI (UK), Asian Institute of Technology (Thailand), Bunda College of Agriculture (Malawi), IRAD (Cameroon), and ETC Netherlands). The project is currently identifying interested individuals and organisations working in the field of urban and rural aquaculture in Africa. A stakeholder database will be compiled allowing for better targeted information exchange and cross-country linkages. Interested stakeholders are invited to send their full contact data to Marielle Dubbeling. For general information on the project please contact: William Leschen at the Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling, Stirling-Scotland.
9. Developing Research-Based Policy Briefs
A key recommendation from recent bilateral donor research (DFID, DANIDA amongst others) is to contribute to a better and more effective dissemination and utilization of research results in decision-making processes. Minimizing the communication gap between researchers and decision-makers is seen as important, for example through the development and dissemination of research-based policy-briefs. Related to this, the Danish Research Network for International Health organized a one-day workshop on “How to develop research-based policy briefs”. ETC Urban Agriculture was invited to deliver a key-note speech on its experiences with developing policy briefs on urban and peri-urban agriculture and aquaculture. For more information: Marielle Dubbeling. ETC Urban Agriculture would like to offer its expertise to other organizations interested in this subject. 10. Use of Rainwater and Greywater in Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Tunisia
This Focus City project in Ariana-Soukra, Tunisia, is financed by IDRC-Canada and coordinated by the "Club UNESCO/ALECSO pour le Savoir et le Développement Durable de Tunis" and is supported by ETC-RUAF. The multi-disciplinary action –research project, aims at optimising the use of rainwater and treated greywater in urban and peri-urban agriculture and the improvement of the livelihood conditions of small urban farmers in Ariana-Soukra. An integral and sustainable model for land and water management in urban and peri-urban agriculture will thus be tested and validated in the course of the project and in a later stage be disseminated at national, regional and international level. For more information please contact Moez Bouraoui. 11. Initiative to Create the North American Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture Alliance (NAUPAA) An extensive but disjointed urban and periurban agriculture movement is emerging in North America. The founders of NAUPAA identified this fragmentation as a major hindrance to the development of urban farming in the region. The NAUPAA initiative was launched in October 2006 in Vancouver BC at a workshop during the joint Community Food Security Coalition – Food Secure Canada conference. A year later, the Cedar Tree Foundation of Boston awarded the Alliance seed funding to support its proposed state of activities during 2007-2008. A retreat to flesh out the mission, vision and strategic plan for the Alliance took place in March, and its inaugural conference is planned for in October in Philadelphia. The aim of the Alliance is to bring together a wide and culturally diverse range of actors and stakeholders involved in urban and periurban agriculture in North America, to share knowledge and best practices amongst them and to foster linkages externally, so as to give voice to its advocates and recognition and legitimacy to its activities.
The initiative is based in Toronto and Madison (Wisconsin). To see the Founding Statement and additional details on the Alliance, please go to http://www.foodsecurity.org/ or contact one of the coordinators: Martin Bailkey, James Kuhns or Joe Nasr. 12. RUAF Pilot City wins Eco Citizen Programme
The pilot project of the dissemination city in Macae, Brasil, won the Eco Citizen Programme award among 853 submitted proposals from 109 nations. The pilot project called "Agricultura Urbana e sustentabilidade socioambiental; Cultivar Plantas – Cultivar Paz" aims to train students, women and mentally disabled persons in ecological agricultural practices and setting up schoolgardens and community gardens. The national award will be presented by high ranking representatives of the European Parliament on 26 May in Brussels. For more information please contact: Marielza Cunha Horta or Gunther Merzthal. Top
3. RUAF PUBLICATIONS 1. Urban Agriculture Magazine UA Magazine and RUAF website Survey
In 2007 a survey among subscribers of the UA-Magazine and visitors of the RUAF website was undertaken. Similar surveys have been undertaken by the RUAF partners.
In 2007, the RUAF website had over 500.000 visitors, having many different occupations and coming from a variety of countries, looking for information for a wide spectrum of activities, including study (many students) or for use in teaching, looking for new contacts, improving technical farming knowledge, developing a business plan or a project. More than half of them visit the website weekly to monthly. The website was rated very positively both on content and on ease of use. One of the suggestions was to add more photos and videos.
All the respondents to the survey on the UA-magazine find the information they receive very useful. Most of them come from developing countries and also represent a variety of occupations. They use it for study, advocacy or in city planning, in the development of guidelines, or in the development of a community or school gardening programme on urban agriculture. Most of the respondents appreciate receiving the information by hardcopy and relatively few of them read the UA-Magazine on-line. Most of the respondents indicate that they share their copy of the UA Magazine with on average 8 others. About 50% of the copies end up in the library of their institution. Topics which the respondents would like to see tackled in future issues are: Climate Change; Organic Urban Agriculture, Urban Livestock; Urban Food Systems and Micro-Technologies. The respondents suggested to include more interviews with urban farmers and other stakeholders, to increase the font and add more good photos.
Based on this survey, the UA magazine will be redesigned in 2008. For more information please contact ruaf@etcnl.nl
UA Magazine no. 19
This issue of the UA-Magazine was published end of 2007 and takes stock of a broad range of experiences related to innovation by urban farmers and the efforts of other actors to support the farmers’ initiatives. It explains concepts and gives examples of farmers’ innovation and how it is being stimulated. This issue is a collaborative effort of RUAF; PROLINNOVA; and Urban Harvest. We would appreciate your comments on the articles in this issue and welcome further reports on your own experiences in stimulating innovation in urban agriculture.
UA Magazine no. 20
Currently we are working on the issue Sustainable Use of Water in Urban Agriculture. This issue is a collaborative effort of RUAF, SWITCH and SuSANa. For suggestions, comments, or a last minute suggestion for a contribution, you are invited to contact the the editor (Click here to go to the call for contributions).
This issue will present experiences regarding sustainable water use in urban and periurban agriculture, especially: - An analysis of the (mix of) strategies that urban producers apply when faced with water shortages or decreasing water quality and the technical or organizational innovations they develop in this field
- Stories on successful efforts to create alternative water sources for/with urban producers (rainwater collection, recycling grey household water, etc.)
- Cases on (cost-effective) ways to reduce the water needs of urban producers
- Recent experiences with innovative approaches to enhance the safe recycling of urban water for agriculture
- Experiences gained with promoting the integration of agriculture in integrated sustainable urban water and sanitation management strategies
Forthcoming Issues
Your contribution is welcome to the following issues of the UA magazine that will be produced end of 2008/early 2009:
No. 21: Role of Urban Agriculture in Emergency Situations and Rehabilitation
No. 22: Marketing of Urban Agriculture Production and Chain Development
More information: The editor
2. Other publications The following five technical publications by RUAF-MDP ESA have been published and are available at www.mdpafrica.org.zw/ua_cffp:
• A Guide Book on Technologies for Urban Agriculture (for production and processing)
• Low Input Techniques for Urban Gardens
• Herbs for Urban Communities
• A Guide Book on Urban Mushroom Production
• A Guide Book on Urban Poultry Production At http://www.ruaf.org/node/500 you can find the recent publication by RUAF-IAGU on the regularisation of access to land for urban agriculture, the case of Pikine, Senegal (in French): Guide méthodologique sur les modalités d'accès des agriculteurs/trices urbains et périurbains à la terre. Le cas du Sénégal. You can also request a copy from IAGU. Profitability and sustainability of urban and peri-urban agriculture. Published by FAO as a FAO Agricultural Management, Marketing and Finance Occasional Paper, no. 19. Edited by van Veenhuizen, R. and G. Danso. 2007.
This study aims to inform a wide audience on the profitability and sustainability of urban agriculture. It seeks to highlight the benefits of linkages between agriculture and the urban environment and to contribute to a greater understanding of issues and opportunities characterizing intra-urban and peri-urban farming from long-term perspective. An overview is provided of the roles and importance of urban agriculture on the basis of earlier studies by IWMI (Ghana office) and CIRAD for FAO. These studies have been integrated and put in a wider context, using additional published and unpublished information available at the International Network of Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF), and a section on policies was added. The first issue of the Academic Journal on Rural Agro-tourism Research (in Chinese) has been published in Taiwan in July 2007. It was jointly edited and produced by Taiwan Asia University and RUAF China Regional Centre. An English version of the journal is in production. For more information you may contact Zhang Feifei. Top
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: - International coordination: ETC-Urban Agriculture, Leusden, the Netherlands.
Email: ruaf@etcnl.nl | Website: www.etc-urbanagriculture.org - Regional Coordination Latin America and the Caribbean: IPES (Promocion del Desarrollo Sostenible), Lima, Peru.
Email: gunther@ipes.org.pe | Website: www.ipes.org/au - Regional Coordination East and Southern Africa: MDPESA (Municipal Development Partnership for Eastern and Southern Africa), Harare, Zimbabwe.
E-mail: tmubvami@mdpafrica.org.zw
Website: www.mdpafrica.org.zw/urban_agriculture.html - Regional Coordination West and Central Africa (Anglophone): IWMI-Ghana (International Water Management Institute Sub regional Office for West Africa), Accra, Ghana.
Email: o.cofie@cgiar.org
Website: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/africa/West/projects/RUAFII-CFF.htm - Regional coordination West and Central Africa (Francophone): IAGU (Institut Africain de Gestion Urbaine), Dakar, Senegal.
Email: moussa@iagu.org | Website: www.iagu.org/ruaf/ruafiagufr.php - Regional Coordination South and South East Asia: IWMI-India (International Water Management Institute India Office), Hyderabad, India.
Email: P.Amerasinghe@cgiar.org
Website: http://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/southasia/ruaf/about.html - Regional coordination China: IGSNRR (Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resource Research of the National Academy of Sciences) Beijing, China.
Email: caijm@igsnrr.ac.cn | Website: www.cnruaf.com.cn - Regional Coordination Northern Africa and the Middle East: AUB-ESDU (Environment and Sustainable Development Unit, American University of Beirut), Beirut, Lebanon.
Email: ziadmoussa@yahoo.com | Website: http://www.ecosystems.org/urbanagriculture/index.htm Please, feel free to forward this bulletin. Back issues of RUAF Update are available on the RUAF website in PDF and html (www.ruaf.org). You are very welcome to send us your comments regarding this e-mail bulletin.
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