Hailu Araya, Alemayehu Ayalew, Azeb Werqu and Nigusie HaileMariam

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

As urbanisation increases in Ethiopia, city dwellers are responding in innovative ways to problems of high unemployment and opportunities of high market demand by growing crops and raising animals. Many people in poor families, especially women and youth, take these initiatives because they already knew farming before they migrated to town, or they learned it from others who were farming in town. 

Augustin Cihyoka

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

The city of Bukavu, the administrative centre of South-Kivu Province, is situated in Eastern DR Congo some 2,000 km from the capital, Kinshasa. It is an important commercial, administrative and university centre with a population of over 600,000 inhabitants. For several
reasons many of them have turned to farming to secure their livelihoods.

Jessica Alegre, Gordon Prain and Miguel Salvo

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

Pig raising is an important livelihood activity in the District of Lurigancho Chosica, which is a low-income periurban neighbourhood located in the Rimac valley in the eastern part of the city of Lima. As many as 1600 families are thought to depend on this activity for some or all
of their income. Without organisation, technical support or regulation, they mostly operate in small clusters of informal livestock units perched on the arid hillsides of this desert city. This type of production raises concerns about public health risks and environmental pollution, and yet relatively simple changes in management can make pig raising a profitable, sustainable activity that can contribute
significantly to the well-being of urban and periurban families.

Yemi Akinbamijo

In: UA Magazine No. 13 - Trees and Cities - Growing Together

There is a growing presence of new animal genetic resources in West African cities geared to boost the local production base for meat and milk. Access to good quality feeds and supplements is becoming difficult for the farmers.

Inger Ledin and Anna Jonasson

In: UA Magazine No. 13 - Trees and Cities - Growing Together

Interest in using grazing animals in the management of parks and other urban green areas has grown in Sweden in recent years. Through grazing and trampling these animals create the conditions for a rich flora and fauna. This study was undertaken to document the use of grazing animals for management of urban green areas in Swedish municipalities.

Charles Wambugu and Steven Franzel

In: UA Magazine No. 13 - Trees and Cities - Growing Together

In Kenya, there are about 650,000 smallholder dairy farmers and most are near cities and towns, where milk demand is high and marketing costs are relatively low. Milk is highly perishable, which is a primary reason why it is produced in and around urban areas.

Azage Tegegne

In: UA Magazine No. 12 - Gender and Urban Agriculture

Urban livestock production plays a substantial role in the food security of the city. Yet urban livestock keepers are still receiving little attention in terms of policy, and institutional and technical supports targeted at their needs. In Ethiopia, women perform 70% of the livestock production activities. Milk processing and marketing activities are mainly done by women, while selling and buying livestock is exclusively the men's responsibility. Women make important contributions to food production through the long hours they spend on the farm caring for household animals, selling farm products and processing food.

Daniel Rodríguez, Delvey Anchieri, Alejandra Lozano, Gustavo Castro, Edgardo Vitale and Winston Lozano

In: UA Magazine 10 - Appropriate (Micro) Technologies for Urban Agriculture

The population of Uruguay is highly concentrated, with a proliferation of irregular settlements in cities. An increase in unemployment has forced many people to resort to extreme strategies for their survival and the survival of their families. Informal collection and sale of household waste is one of the more widespread, and is linked to the breeding of pigs within the household. Municipal authorities are reluctant to accept this activity because of the environmental and health risks it implies. However, in order to formulate urban agriculture policies that preserve the health of the population it is important to critically examine this phenomenon, including both its risks and benefits, trying to minimize the former and maximize the latter. Based on this reality, the Veterinary School of Montevideo (Uruguay) developed a series of experiments with the goal of assessing and commercialising technologies for the processing and collection of organic waste used to feed pigs.

Sabine Guendel

In: UA Magazine 8 - Wastewater Reuse in Urban Agriculture

With the objectives to understand the current situation of poor urban livestock keepers in East Africa, and to identify areas where future research could make a contribution to the development and promotion of this activity for the poor, five city case studies were selected in Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia. The cities were Dar es Saalam, Kampala, Kisumu, Nairobi, and Addis Ababa. Results are discussed here.

Caleb Mireri

In: UA Magazine 7 - Economic Aspects of Urban Agriculture

Unlike in rural Kenya where agricultural promotion is an integral part of development initiatives, agriculture is excluded from formal urban land-use systems. However, urban agriculture constitutes a critical food security strategy for low income urban farming families. Also, urban agriculture is an important aspect of urban agribusiness where the sector generates important income and employment opportunities. Urban agriculture lacks access to efficient credit and investment support services. The agro-based industries are playing an important role in the promotion of urban agriculture, which can be enhanced by an organised farmers' society and favourable government policy environment. This paper covers two case studies of farmer-industry linkages in the capital city of Nairobi.