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Organic Urban Agriculture in Quito, Ecuador

If we can plant orchards, build greenhouses and wormeries, buy seedlings, and train people though workshops, we can enable people to provide for and feed themselves and their children.

26% of Ecuador’s children under 5 suffer from malnourishment. Since 2000, the cost of food in Ecuador increased dramatically. It’s cheaper to buy a Peruvian potato than to produce it.

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FoodNYC – A Blueprint for a Sustainable Food System

Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer
February 2010

GOAL: Establish urban food production as a priority in New York City for personal, community, or commercial use by the year 2030

Recommendations:

1. Assess Land Availability and Suitability for Urban Agriculture:

The New York City Council should pass legislation mandating that City agencies conduct an annual assessment of City-owned property and nominate suitable sites for urban agriculture. This effort is similar to the “Diggable City” project in Portland, Oregon that integrated urban agriculture into planning and policymaking. Based on a preliminary analysis of data provided by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in 2008, there are 454 total vacant lots above 110th Street in Manhattan. Of those, over 100 are owned by the City and many have no development plans. In 2008, the Manhattan Borough President’s office also identified significant amounts of open land on New York City Housing Authority properties which should be evaluated as possible garden sites. Where appropriate and following a public review process,
City and State parkland should also be considered for urban agriculture.

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By David D. Mkwambisi , Evan D. G. Fraser , Andy J. Dougill

Journal of International Development
Published Online: 17 Feb 2010

Abstract

Support of urban agriculture can be used as a route to reducing urban poverty across Sub-Saharan Africa. However policy makers require more precise information on how it contributes to alleviating food insecurity and poverty problems. This study in Malawi’s two main cities (Lilongwe and Blantyre) revealed two predominant types of urban farmers: (i) low-income, less educated, often female-headed households, who use urban agriculture as an insurance against income losses and who can employ skilled workers to support their livestock activities; and (ii) middle- and high-income, often male-headed households, that undertake urban agriculture for personal consumption and hire significant numbers of unskilled workers.

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Incredible Edible Todmorden: Introducing Britain’s greenest town

By Joanna Moorhead
The Independent
29 November 2009

It’s an ordinary small town in England, but its residents claim they’ve discovered the secret that could save the planet. And with world leaders preparing to gather in Copenhagen in just over a week’s time to debate how to do just that, the people of Todmorden in the Pennines this week issued an invitation: come to our town and see what we’ve done.

In under two years, Todmorden has transformed the way it produces its food and the way residents think about the environment. Compared with 18 months ago, a third more townspeople now grow their own veg; almost seven in 10 now buy local produce regularly, and 15 times as many people are keeping chickens.

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