Category — Africa

Subsistence farming is the life blood of communities in Sierra Leone

SPIN-Farming, now established in Matindi Town, Sierra Leone, will extend its roots to Samuel Town, Temini Town, Pueh Town and Torbgeh Town. These are five communities that will experience changes from now on. The people will be educated in small plot commercial farming. They will experience the benefit of their labors. They will learn how to produce fresh and healthy food for their families and communities. The project will help to identify technologies that might be used to sustain the living conditions of people in the rural areas. It will improve their farming skills, information sharing and cooperation at local, national and international levels.

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Published by the government of Zimbabwe in The Herald

Editorial
The Herald
Jan 3, 2012
[Note from Wikipedia: The Herald has for some time been noted for its completely one sided reporting for the government of President Robert Mugabe and the Zanu-PF party, and its demonization of the opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). See Wiki here.]

Excerpt:

In Harare, some would-be urban farmers have argued that once they apply for urban plots it takes ages to have responses from the authorities hence they have no choice but to cultivate anywhere.

We therefore urge the authorities in Harare, especially those tasked with that job, to move fast once people apply for plots for urban farming.

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See larger format of the film here.

4o minute film

Director/Producer: Ella von der Haide
Produced in 2006 – Germany

Synopsis:

Community gardens are widespread in South Africa. Traditional methods and innovative technologies are being used to grow organic food and create communities. The community gardens are places of hope, solidarity, and sometimes of active resistance against official neo-liberal politics. The four examples from the film show three outstanding projects: Women Peace Garden in the Cape Flats,

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The Constant Gardeners – Confronting climate change and poverty, a new crop of city farmers comes of age in Africa

By Jocelyn C. Zuckerman
Onearth
November 23, 2011

Excerpt:

But as Njenga is happy to show me, they’re finding new ways to cope. We meet up with Catherine Wangui, a friendly 25-year-old sporting a newsboy cap, who tells us how, about four years ago, representatives of the French nongovernmental organization Solidarités International, which does emergency relief and reconstruction work around the world, came here and distributed old flour sacks to some of the women. They explained how to fill them with soil and rocks before poking holes in the sides and pushing in seeds.

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L’agence IND nous propose un nouvel outil de développement urbain pour Casablanca

By Mohamed Achraf Sehnoun
aMush
Nov 22, 2011

Excerpt:

Par le biais d’un concept original “Agriculture urbaine”, les architectes tentent de doter les habitants des douars de Casablanca ( population mixte issue de la campagne) d’une boîte à outils leurs permettant de diminuer leurs dépenses, d’améliorer leurs train de vie et de les responsabiliser vis à vis de leurs devoirs de citoyen.

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Wendy Taylor has transformed an empty urban space into a farm that is now attracting bees, birds and butterflies. Photo by Charli Charles Denison.

Sky’s the limit for rooftop farming

By Barbara Cole
Sunday Tribune
November 21, 2011

Excerpt:

Durban, South Africa – Delegates to the massive Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP17) in Durban are going to learn all about rooftop farming – and they will not have too far too travel either.

Just across the road from the International Convention Centre, where the global conference is being held, there are cabbages, onions and spinach growing next to the taxi rank in Monty Naicker (Pine) Street.

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Must See video! Mike

“One day all AFHCO buildings will have rooftop gardens producing different vegies and herbs.”

Lebo Mashego
AFHCO
Urban Development Manager
Johannesburg, South Africa

Excerpt from AFCO website:

In 2009 Afhco approached the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA) to partner in establishing a pilot Rooftop Vegetable Garden. Through their Community Social Initiative (CSI) programme, the grant was given and Afhco’s Urban Development Manager, Lebo Mashego went to work on the project. A concept design was developed for a sustainable garden constructed solely from recycled materials, in the form of old tyres for planters and wooden pallets for the planters to stand on. A worm garden was also planned, to ensure a constant supply of compost and fertiliser.

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Photos by Liveinslums.

Live-in-slums

From Abitare
Nov. 2011

Project General Direction: Gaetano Berni – Silvia Orazi (Ong Liveinslums)
Scientific Coordination: Dr. Agronomo Tommaso Sposito – Prof. Elisabetta Bianchessi – Dr. Agronomo Fabio Campana In Collaboration With Prof. Claudia Sorlini (Cooperation Area Representative – Milan Università Degli Studi – Faculty Of Agriculture ) And With Prof. Franco Sangiorgi (Department Of Agricultural Engineering -– Milan Università Degli Studi)

The microjardins are vegetable gardens without soil, realized using mineral layers that replace the fertile soil: these transportable vegetable gardens are placed within containers obtained from recycled materials. This method of cultivating without soil in the City of Dead, besides solving the problem of fertilizing sand, also prevents desecration of the burial places while creating easy transportable structures, very practical in case the owner needs to leave the area.

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Samson in the former garbage dump. Photo by Nicholas Parkinson.

Gardener Turns Garbage Dump into a Successful Garden and Supports his Family

By Nicholas Parkinson
Urban Agriculture in Ethiopia
USAID Urban Gardens Program Ethiopia
02 November 2011

Excerpt:

Sometimes when Samson Aberra is working in the garden, planting seedlings or replenishing his nursery, onlookers gather to watch him toil. What they don’t know is that Samson Aberra is not “toiling”—he’s barely working, he claims. In fact, he is doing what he loves: gardening.

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The Harare City Council now has the blessing of the Zimbabwe Republic Police to slash crops grown in the city in an effort to curb environmental degradation brought about by urban farming. The move has received with mixed feelings from residents and political parties.

By Seven Nematiyere
The Zimbabwean
09.11.11

Excerpt:

With the coming of a new growing season, all places without buildings on them are being cultivated. These include football, netball and basketball pitches, road-sides and recreational parks as well as wetlands. This has resulted in serious environmental degradation including soil erosion and siltation. Most drains in the city in such places like Glen Norah, Tafara, Highfield, Kambuzuma and Mufakose are blocked with soil resulting in flooding that sometimes affects the sewerage system.

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The youth of Kibera are keeping poultry as an income generating project.

Kibera is a division of Nairobi Area, Kenya, and a province and neighbourhood of the city of Nairobi, located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) from the city centre. Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and the second largest urban slum in Africa. The 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census reports Kibera’s population as 170,070, contrary to previous estimates of one or two million people. (Wikipeida)

By Kiberia TV
KiberaTV is citizen journalism like you have never before seen it: the story of one of Africa’s largest and most controversial slums told by those who know it the best.

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Your Street Cape Town Winners – Let Us Grow from Design Indaba on Vimeo.

Growing and greening the city – “Let Us Grow”

World Design Capital Bid 2014
Nov 1, 2011

Excerpt:

“Let Us Grow” is a project to beautify Cape Town and drive interest in urban agriculture as part of growing hyper-local produce on unused or derelict plots in the city,” explains Andrea. “We also plan to drive community interaction and create employment opportunities with the initiative. The inspiration for Let Us Grow comes from various urban greening initiatives around the world and the team’s interest in promoting sustainable living.”

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Cities are always in flux and so old rules are broken and new ones are made concerning many dimensions of urban life.

By Danielle Nierenberg
Nourishing the Planet
Oct 21, 2011

Excerpt:

Diana Lee-Smith is a founder of the Mazingira Institute, an independent research and development organization based in Nairobi, Kenya. She carried out the first survey of urban agriculture in Kenya in 1985 and has over 20 years of experience in research, policy, and advocacy work on urban poverty, gender, development, and environment issues. Lee-Smith has written extensively on gender and urban agriculture, and her published works include Women Managing Resources: African Research on Gender, Urbanisation and Environment and Healthy City Harvests: Generating Evidence to Guide Policy on Urban Agriculture. She holds a doctorate in Architecture and Development Studies and was recently a visiting professor at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, where she was editing two books on urban agriculture in Africa.

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By Bettina Baumgartner and Hasan Belevi
EAWAG – Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science & Technology SANDEC – Dept. of Water & Sanitation in Developing Countries
Sept 2001
34 pages

Excerpt from Summary and Conclusions:

More scientific research is required on the following issues:

The actual and potential contribution of urban agriculture to food security and poverty alleviation has to be quantified.

Nutrient gaps, including the demand for fertilisers and organic waste as a function of different crops and geographic conditions have to be quantified.

The prevailing and potential organic material fluxes, including production, consumption, disposal, and urban agriculture in different regions have to be investigated to identify the role of urban agriculture as organic waste recipient and food supplier.

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A farm in South Africa.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization reports that produce from Africa’s small urban farms jumped by 122 percent from 2005-10.

By Marko Phiri
Written for UPI
Sept. 28, 2011

Excerpt:

From a modest piece of land provided by the local municipality, 69-year-old Nancy Witbooi is ensuring her community gets enough to eat.

Her weathered face reveals how tough it can be to toil in the Western Cape’s unpredictable climate. But Witbooi still has energy to work the land.

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Urban agriculture faces the prospect of growing to unprecedented levels in the near future.

By Shingai T Kawadza
The Herald
Published by the Government of Zimbabwe
30 September 2011
Shingai T Kawadza is a final year Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Rural and Urban Planning at the University of Zimbabwe.

Excerpt:

There is clear evidence that urban agriculture is increasing rapidly in urban areas, particularly in Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia and Tanzania.

It has become an essential socio-economic activity for the urban poor particularly in Harare and a great contributor to food security and income generation for the poor families. With the 2015 deadline for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and the widespread notion of sustainable development on cards,

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There will be 35 million urban farmers on the continent by 2020.

By Anna Plyushteva
The Big City
Sept 11, 2011
Anna is a PhD student at University College London and contributor to a forthcoming book on the politics of space and place.

Excerpt:

Greater government involvement is needed for urban agriculture to emerge out of marginality and illegality and deliver greater environmental and social benefits. Most importantly, without official regulation urban food can create some serious problems. At present, informal farmers and their produce are exposed to contamination with organic and non-organic pollutants, which is a serious threat to public health.

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China (right) with recently purchased chickens. Photo by Pol Cucala Bergadà.

China and her fellow gardeners say they would never go back to prostitution

By Nicholas Parkinson
Urban Agriculture in Ethiopia
Aug 25, 2011

Excerpt:

When 29 year old China Dessale approached the Wain Hotel where she used to work as a commercial sex worker, carrying a basket teeming with cabbage, carrots, lettuce and eggs, the hotel owner couldn’t believe his eyes. He remembered taking in China when she was 15 years old. In desperation, China had joined the same hotel to make a livelihood in Ethiopia’s risky commercial sex worker industry.

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Rice paddies, Antananarivo, Madagascar.

Antananarivo produces 90%-100% of the vegetables and 15% to 25% of the rice it consumes each year.

Christine Aubry
INRA press service
21/07/2011

Excerpts:

The capital city of Madagascar, Antananarivo now counts about 2 million inhabitants. Originally built on the top of a hill, the city then spread to neighbouring hills and their slopes before starting to cover the marshland in the valleys during recent decades.

Local agriculture covers nearly 43% of the 425 km² or so of the urban region; although it is present today in the centre of the city, it has long occupied the most flood-prone low-lying areas, the nearby plain and periurban hills. It benefits from a tropical, high-altitude climate (1250-1400 m).

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Growing vegetable crops within towns and cities, to supply urban markets, is becoming increasingly popular. Photo credit: FAO/Erick-Christian Ahounou.

Radio Interview in Zimbabwe

Interview by Busani Bafana
Agfax – Reporting Science in Africa
September 2011

Interview with two urban farmers who belong to the Northvale Farmers Association, Mr Leonard Mafuwa as well as Mr Mlamu Limkula, who are urban farmers on the outskirts of Bulawayo.

In much of Africa, growing food crops on small plots of land within the city is frowned upon by urban authorities. However, in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, a more positive attitude to urban agriculture is developing. A multi-stakeholder forum has been established to lobby for urban farming, and the city council is in the process of developing a strategic plan, as well as policies and by-laws, to optimise urban farm production. Two urban farmers and an economic adviser to the forum discuss some of the challenges and solutions for city-based agriculture.

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