Wednesday June 21, 13.30 - 15.30 hrs.
Room MR03
The session is organized by McGill University-Canada in cooperation with RUAF partner ETC Urban Agriculture and supported by IDRC.

This panel is based on the experiences gained in the Making the Edible Landscape project, jointly implemented by the above mentioned organisations and local partners in Kampala, Colombo and Rosario.

It will explore how land can be utilized by local authorities for (1) low-cost housing for the urban poor (2) inclusion in low cost housing projects of urban food production and empowerment of citizens through participatory processes, commercialization and income-generation (3) public-private partnership for sustainable development. Four mayors, horticulturists, housing experts and community representatives from the above mentioned cities as well as from Montreal will present urban upgrading and new construction projects that include food production and where the community plays an active part in both the decision-making and the maintenance of public lands.

This session was organised by IDRC, in cooperation with RUAF partners ETC-Urban Agriculture and IGSNRR.

In this panel local authorities from Beijing, Kampala, Rosario and Vancouver shared their experiences and discussed the next steps in strengthening the contribution of various forms of urban and peri-urban agriculture to different “city visions

Organised by the International Network of Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF Foundation) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

Key Highlights

Sorin Liviu Stefanescu and Monica Dumitrascu

In: UA Magazine No. 15 - Multiple Functions of Urban Agriculture

The expected integration of Romania in the EU has led to a significant change of perception on environmental issues by policy makers both in the rural areas as well in urban sites. With over 2 million residents, Bucharest is the largest city in Romania, has the lowest rate of unemployment in the country (4%) and faces high residential pressure. In the past decade, urban agriculture was seen as a minor issue at national and local level, but recently the quality of periurban agriculture and the impact of the industry on the quality of municipal food consumption have received increasing attention.

Vide Anosike, Shakirudeen Odunuga and Mayowa Fasona

In: UA Magazine No. 15 - Multiple Functions of Urban Agriculture

Land use reflects the functional activities assigned to a particular piece of land. In the past fifty years of Nigerian National Agricultural Development Planning, urban agriculture has not been promoted as a feasible urban land use or activity. Its contribution to urban food security and employment has not been acknowledged yet because food production is often perceived as a rural-based activity.

Ursula Lang

In: UA Magazine No. 15 - Multiple Functions of Urban Agriculture

Existing alternatives to factory foods can be remarkably nostalgic, relying on models of rural purity and tiny homesteads, separated from the urban centres these farms serve.  Our cultural associations with the purity of the countryside and the pollution of cities have limited our incorporation of new urban farming methods.  By relying on standard, and horizontal, spatial relationships to our food, we have overlooked the potential of cities to provide us with fresh, seasonal, and local foods.

Luc Laeremans and Ahmed Sourani

In: UA Magazine No. 15 - Multiple Functions of Urban Agriculture

The population in Gaza is increasing rapidly as cities and refugee camps continue to expand.  Large-scale, export-oriented agricultural production has reached its limits and is not able to meet the growing need for food security and  income generation. However, almost all agriculture in Gaza can be considered to be urban agriculture and its  potential  is high.

Kate Casale

In: UA Magazine No. 15 - Multiple Functions of Urban Agriculture

Demonstration gardens are a valuable and multi-functional use of land. Two programmes – Pro-Huerta and Plan Jefe y Jefas de Hogares Desocupados – have taken the lead in introducing such gardens in low-income neighbourhoods in the municipality of Almirante Brown, Buenos Aires. 

Antonio Lattuca, Raul Terrile, Laura Bracalenti, Laura Lagorio, Gustavo Ramos and Fernando Moreira

In: UA Magazine No. 15 - Multiple Functions of Urban Agriculture

The Urban Agriculture Programme (UAP) was launched by the Municipality of Rosario in 2002, amidst an unprecedented nationwide socio-economic crisis. This initiative marked an important step in further development of municipal policies and programmes towards supporting and strengthening this alternative production system.