César Jaramillo Avila

In: UA Magazine 7 - Economic Aspects of Urban Agriculture

Among the approximately two million residents of the Metropolitan District of Quito, Ecuador, 45% live in conditions of poverty, and 12% in destitution. These conditions are linked to and aggravated by the economic crisis produced by the structural adjustment policies of the last three years. The "AGRUPAR" Programme, described here, aims to combat the disproportionate impact of the economic crisis on the poorest urban populations, focusing on the generation of income and employment and ecological protection of natural resources.

Shingirayi Mushamba

In: UA Magazine 7 - Economic Aspects of Urban Agriculture

One principal factor for the slow development of the urban and peri-urban agricultural sector in Zimbabwe is the inadequate, or in some cases total absence of financing arrangements, especially from the formal sector. This article draws on the experiences of two schemes in Harare - Musikavanhu Project and the Kintyre Lake Country (KLC) Development. The former is a fairly well established co-operative scheme for the urban resource-poor that has been in existence since 1998 while the latter is a land development scheme implemented by the private sector since 1999. The two provide useful information on which to evaluate the prospects for financing urban and periurban agriculture for the different income groups.

R. Soriano, J.D. Leaver, G. Woodgate and H. Losada

In: UA Magazine 7 - Economic Aspects of Urban Agriculture

A study was carried out in order to assess the economic performance of the periurban agroecosystem known as "chinampa". Chinampa is small piece of land of irregular form, of pre-Hispanic origin, where inhabitants from the valley of Mexico still produced a diversity of plants for the city. These were built in a lacustrine setting by reclaiming land bordering a lake and building the plots and a network of channels. Results showed a different use of inputs in the four chinampa plots studied and different economic performances, although all were positive. Farmers with lower use of external inputs (seeds and fertilisers) were less productive in terms of yields but obtained better returns per each dollar invested. This shows the importance of the use of local resources and its positive impact on the economies of small-scale farmers in a periurban setting.

Access to land and water, adequate norms and regulations, integration in land use planning (E-conference - 3-22 November 2003)

Alain Santandreu

In: UA Magazine 5 - Methodologies for UA research, policy development, planning and implementation

The local government of Montevideo, along with its citizens and civil organisations, is promoting baseline studies and action plans for the implementation of urban agriculture programmes. Baseline studies should identify the principal practices and their distribution in the city. The fieldwork allows for comprehension of the most relevant characteristics of the urban farmers, as well as experiences of public organisations (Municipality of Montevideo, schools, universities, etc.), NGOs, and producer organisations. In addition, it examines the nutritional state and the current normative and legal framework of the city.

Adrienne Martin, Nicoliene Oudwater and Sabine Gundel

In: UA Magazine 5 - Methodologies for UA research, policy development, planning and implementation

Situation analysis in urban and peri-urban agriculture is often a starting point for programmes and projects supporting interventions to improve the contribution of urban agriculture to income, family nutrition, social and environmental conditions and well-being. Yet there has been little specific consideration of appropriate methods and tools for assisting situation analysis in the urban and periurban context. The focus in this article is on methods, which help to build and facilitate action-oriented programmes, particularly emphasising participatory diagnosis and learning. We consider some of the broader analytical frameworks for understanding, and the conceptual challenges in investigating UPA. We then discuss some specific contexts of investigation in a UPA setting and raise issues for critical reflection in relation to the use of the methods and tools described.

Leoncio S.Duran, Joseph H. Batac & Pay Drechsel

In: UA Magazine 4 - Integration of UPA in urban planning

Marilao, located on the fringe of Manila in the Philippines, faced a typical peri-urban dilemma a few years ago, when its mayor could not find affordable land for a new waste disposal site. There were more than 850 business firms and housing projects that competed for the use of municipal land. Not only the problem of where to bring the waste was a problem, also what to do with recycled waste and changes in policy and urban management needed to be tackled.