Berihun Tefera and Getachew Tikubet

In: UA Magazine no. 19 - Stimulating Innovation in Urban Agriculture

Solid waste management is a major challenge facing the cities in the developing world. The commercial recycling of organic waste into a valuable organic fertiliser called “Bio-compost� is new in Addis Ababa and it is having a noticeable impact on improved organic waste management and urban agriculture.

Sanderijn van Beek and Rebecca L. Rutt

In: UA Magazine no. 19 - Stimulating Innovation in Urban Agriculture

Uncollected solid waste is one of Kampala’s most visible environmental problems, and one of the main causes of environmental degradation within the city. While this poses a critical health hazard to the livelihoods of the urban poor, it also hinders economic growth and social achievement (Sengendo, 1994). However, amidst the gloom, there are local initiatives – developed by enterprising individuals and groups – which are helping to address waste problems through the creative reuse of organic waste in urban farming. Some of these innovations are rapidly becoming common practice; others are still experimental.

Zhang Feifei, Cai Jianming and Ji Wenhua

In: UA Magazine no. 19 - Stimulating Innovation in Urban Agriculture

Beijing is a city faced with a shortage of water. Less than 600 mm of rain falls per year; but this figure is highly variable and actual rainfall has been lower than average in the past eight years. Less than 300 cubic metres of water is available per person per year; this is one eighth of the average volume per person available in the country as a whole and one thirtieth of the world average. Because of the downward trend in rainfall, surface water is gradually drying up and the level of ground water is declining.

Bernard Keraita, Pay Drechsel, William Agyekum and Lesley Hope

In: UA Magazine no. 19 - Stimulating Innovation in Urban Agriculture

Irrigated vegetable farming is a common practice in and around many cities in low-income countries. It is also an important means for attaining urban food security and balanced diets, and it provides a livelihood to many urban dwellers. However, increasing contamination of irrigation water sources makes this practice a major risk factor for public health, especially as most vegetables grown are consumed raw. Urban vegetable farmers in Ghana use different water sources for irrigation, depending on the location of their farming sites. Surface water is most commonly used as it is easily accessible and thus most economical. Farmers collect it from streams, stormwater drains
and gutters with greywater. However, these water sources are usually heavily contaminated with untreated wastewater. 

Marit Brommer and William Critchley

In: UA Magazine no. 19 - Stimulating Innovation in Urban Agriculture

It is increasingly recognised that in rural areas of developing countries the microenvironment around the household/ home garden is the centre of productive resources (Chambers, 1990; Scoones, 2001; Critchley et al.,in preparation). Not only are people based there, but animals tend to be housed close by and crop production is more intensive and diversified around the homestead. The most common hotspot of fertility and production is thus around the house and compound. From the point of view of water, the home is again a concentration point: not only is water brought there for various domestic purposes (and wastewater thus available after use), but also roof tops and compacted compounds give rise to runoff.

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.

Abdelmalek Boudjenouia, André Fleury and Abdelmalek Tacherift

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

Nowadays, quality of living is considered as a key factor for the physical and psychological wellbeing of city dwellers. The presence of nature in the city is an important component due to the diversity of its functions. In addition, it can be a valuable source for companies, improving their corporate image and working environment. The environmental space of a city determines in part its fitness for habitation and economic resources under the concept of a sustainable city. For farmers, the environmental space primarily represents a production area, but increasingly this space is seen as being multifunctional.

Julio Moscoso

In: UA Magazine No. 14 - Urban Aquatic Production

The Treatment and Use of Sewage Water programme started at CEPIS twenty years ago in order to contribute to increasing the sewage water treatment network in the region using technologies that would allow for the removal of pathogenic organisms as well as  organic materials. So far, CEPIS and the various Peruvian institutions have carried out a series of experiments on the treatment and use of sewage water at the Bio-Ecological Complex in San Juan, south of Lima, Peru.

Wim van der Hoek, Vuong Tuan Anh, Phung Dac Cam, Chan Vicheth and Anders Dalsgaard

In: UA Magazine No. 14 - Urban Aquatic Production

The major challenge in sustainable use of wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture is to optimise the benefits of wastewater as a resource (both the water and the nutrients it contains) and to minimise the negative impacts on human health. Epidemiological studies in different countries have established
that the highest risk to human health of using wastewater in agriculture and aquaculture is posed by worm infections.

Peter Edwards

In: UA Magazine No. 14 - Urban Aquatic Production

Recent field visits of the author to periurban areas in Bangladesh and Vietnam indicate that some wastewater-fed aquaculture systems may have limited prospects, while others prove difficult to extend. The major constraining factor is the limited availability of land in rapidly expanding cities.