Location

Date of RUAF intervention: 2005-2008

Edited by: Alice Hovorka, Henk de Zeeuw and Mary Njenga, 2009, Practical Action Publishing, Rugby, UK.

Since the start of the first RUAF programme until now, many RUAF Publications have been published. On this page, you will find links to the the RUAF Publications available online, subdivided per type of publication. If you are looking for non-RUAF publications, you should search our bibliographic database. If you are looking for a certain Urban Agriculture Magazine article, please go to the Urban Agriculture Magazine section of this website.

Olufunke Cofie ¹, Pay Drechsel ¹ and Henk de Zeeuw <sup>2

1</sup> International Water Management Institute (IWMI), West Africa Sub-Regional Office, Accra, Ghana
² RUAF, ETC, Leusden, The Netherlands

"Added Value is a non-profit organization promoting the sustainable development of Red Hook by nurturing a new generation of young leaders. They work towards this goal by creating opportunities for the youth of South Brooklyn to expand their knowledge base, develop new skills and positively engage with their community through the operation of a socially responsible urban farming enterprise.

Produced by Alexandra Heinegg, Patricia Maragos, Edmund Mason, Jane Rabinowicz, Gloria Straccini and Heather Walsh

This guide is written as a primer on soil contamination, as it relates to gardening in an urban setting. It seeks to provide individual gardeners or community groups with the necessary background information to address this issue. There are several important aspects of soil contamination which are addressed in this guide, including the dangers of gardening in contaminated soil, the potential sources of contamination, ways to evaluate the level of contamination present in the soil, and your options for addressing the problem. At the end of this document there are several appendices with information pertaining to the topics discussed here. Most of these are Montreal- and Canada–specific, but should provide some good starting points for similar resources in other cities and countries.

Gordon Prain

In: Cities Farming for the Future - Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities

The urban setting offers special advantages for food and animal production, but also presents particular challenges. Urban agriculture needs to be highly innovative in competing and adapting to new situations. Urban and peri-urban agricultural systems exhibit even higher levels of complexity than rural upland systems and call for a wider range of participatory methods. This chapter discusses participatory agricultural research and its relevancy for the urban setting. A sustainable urban livelihoods framework is discussed, which enables to better understand and define the multi-sectoral, institutional and policy aspects of urban agriculture in order to identify appropriate interventions. Specific participatory methods are discussed for urban horticulture and livestock to help urban producers adapt agriculture to urban realities.

René van Veenhuizen

In: Cities Farming for the Future - Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities

Attention to urban agriculture has increased markedly during the last couple of decades. The number of activities to promote urban agriculture at international, national and local level has grown, but urban farmers in many cities in the world still struggle to get their main survival strategy recognised by city authorities. The demand of policy makers and local practitioners for inspiring examples of successful policies and actions in cities is therefore growing. Urban agriculture contributes to a wide variety of urban issues and is increasingly being accepted and used as a tool in sustainable city development. Currently the challenge is its integration into city planning and facilitation of its multiple benefits for urban inhabitants. This book seeks to present the current state of affairs regarding urban agriculture and sustainable urban development.