Garden plots up to 15 times more productive than rural holdings?

[Tony Gosling]

  Garden plots can be up to 15 times more 
productive than rural holdings. An area of just 
one square metre can provide 20 kg of food a year.

Urban agriculture
The rapid growth of cities in the developing 
world is placing enormous demands on urban food supply systems.

  Agriculture – including horticulture, 
livestock, fisheries, forestry, and fodder and 
milk production – is increasingly spreading to 
towns and cities. Urban agriculture provides 
fresh food, generates employment, recycles urban 
wastes, creates greenbelts, and strengthens 
cities’ resilience to climate change. Latest
http://www.fao.org/urban-agriculture/en/

Presentation Growing greener cities - DR Congo  -  Resources
Presentation: Urban Agriculture and Food Security - Some Facts and Figures
         FAO's role in urban agriculture

Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) can be 
defined as the growing of plants and the raising 
of animals within and around cities.

Urban and peri-urban agriculture provides food 
products from different types of crops (grains, 
root crops, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits), 
animals (poultry, rabbits, goats, sheep, cattle, 
pigs, guinea pigs, fish, etc.) as well as 
non-food products (e.g. aromatic and medicinal 
herbs, ornamental plants, tree products).

UPA includes trees managed for producing fruit 
and fuelwood, as well as tree systems integrated 
and managed with crops (agroforestry) and small-scale aquaculture.
  Food security

UPA can make an important contribution to 
household food security, especially in times of crisis or food shortages.

  Produce is either consumed by the producers, or 
sold in urban markets, such as the increasingly 
popular weekend farmers’ markets found in many cities.

  Because locally produced food requires less 
transportation and refrigeration, it can supply 
nearby markets with fresher and more nutritious 
products at competitive prices.

  Consumers - especially low-income residents - 
enjoy easier access to fresh produce, greater choice and better prices.
  Urban farming

Vegetables have a short production cycle; some 
can be harvested within 60 days of planting, so 
are well suited for urban farming.

  Garden plots can be up to 15 times more 
productive than rural holdings. An area of just 
one square metre can provide 20 kg of food a year.

  Urban vegetable growers spend less on 
transport, packaging and storage, and can sell 
directly through street food stands and market 
stalls. More income goes to them instead of middlemen.

  Urban agriculture provides employment and 
incomes for poor women and other disadvantaged groups.

Horticulture can generate one job every 100 sq m 
garden in production, input supply, marketing and 
value-addition from producer to consumer.

  However, in many countries, UPA goes 
unrecognized in agricultural policies and urban planning.

Growers often operate without permits. Since it 
is officially "invisible", the sector receives no 
public assistance or oversight in many cities.

  Urban agriculture carries health and 
environmental risks – potential use of 
contaminated land and water smells and noise 
pollution, and inappropriate use of pesticides 
and of raw organic manure that can leak into 
water sources. These issues require proper attention.
  FAO’s role

FAO supports the transformation of UPA into a 
recognized urban land use and economic activity, 
integrated into national and local agricultural 
development strategies, food and nutrition programmes, and urban planning.

  It helps national and regional governments and 
city administrations optimize their policies and 
support services for urban and peri-urban 
agriculture, and improve production, processing and marketing systems.

  Its technical programmes support the work of 
many UPA partners in cities and urban areas.

It helps member countries to develop the sector 
via data collection on UPA’s contribution to food security.
--
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