International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability to publish special Urban Agriculture Issue

Forthcoming (mid/late February 2010) – Special issue: Urban agriculture: Diverse Activities and Benefits for City Society (Craig Pearson)

Editor in Chief: Jules Pretty OBE, University of Essex, UK
The International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability (IJAS) is a cross-disciplinary, peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing the understanding of sustainability in agricultural and food systems

Most of us live in cities. These are becoming increasingly complex and removed from broad-scale agriculture. Yet within cities there are many examples of greenspaces and local food production that bring multiple benefits that often go unnoticed. This book presents a collection of the latest thinking on the multiple dimensions of sustainable greenspace and food production within cities. It describes the diversity of “urban agriculture” and seeks a balanced representation between the biophysical and social : agriculturists, environmental scientists and social scientists: planners, landscape architects and community development specialists dealing with issues such as resource use, aesthetics and social cohesion. It deals with urban agriculture across scales -from indoor plants to farm-scale filtration of greywater – although it does not include greenhouse production.

Contents:

Guest editorial: Challenging, multidimensional agriculture in cities
by Craig J. Pearson

Commentary: Food price volatility and the urban poor
by Mark Redwood

Sustainable urban agriculture: stocktake and opportunities
by Leonie J. Pearson, Linda Pearson and Craig J. Pearson

The multi-functional use of urban green space
by Eveline van Leeuwen, Peter Nijkamp and Teresa de Noronha Vaz

Empowering residents and improving governance in low income communities through urban greening
by Nola-Kate Seymoar, Elizabeth Ballantyne, Craig Pearson

Strengthening Capacity for Sustainable Livelihoods and Food Security through Urban Agriculture among HIV and AIDS affected Households in Nakuru, Kenya
by Karanja, N., Yeudall, F., Mbugua, S., Njenga, M., Prain, G., Cole, D.C., Webb, A.L., Levy, J.M., Gore, C. and Sellen, D

Putting the Culture Back into Agriculture: Civic Engagement, Community and the Celebration of Local Food
by Jennifer Sumner, Heather Mair and Erin Nelson

The emergence of urban agriculture: Sydney Australia
by David Mason and Ian Knowd

The challenges to urban agriculture in the Sydney basin and lower Blue Mountains region of Australia
by J. Merson, R. Attwater, P. Ampt, H. Wildman and R. Chapple

Agronomic Considerations for Urban Agriculture in Southern Cities
by Nikita Eriksen-Hamel and George Danso

Urban Agriculture and Sanitation Services in Accra, Ghana: The Overlooked Contribution
by Mary Lydecker and Pay Drechsel

Agriculture on the Edge: Strategies to abate urban encroachment onto agricultural lands by promoting viable human scale agriculture as an integral element of urbanization
by Patrick M. Condon, Kent Mullinix, Arthur Fallick and Mike Harcourt

Nourishing Urbanism: A Case for a New Urban Paradigm by Lewis Knight and William Riggs

This issue will be available in mid/late February, 2010

You can access the Journal from their website.

Or this alternate one.

The Journal normally only sells subscriptions, but if people are interested in a purchasing the issue as a one off (or if they want any further information on the Journal/issue), they can contact journals@earthscan.co.uk.

The publishers are also aiming to produce a hardback version of the Journal special issue, but the schedule for this is yet to be finalised.