“Moving to the cities, we are told not to grow vegetables, not to raise chickens in the community, not to leave things in the corridors, and so on and so forth because these habits may annoy our neighbors. But it’s not that easy to change.”

By Liu Yujie
China Daily
2011-12-18

Excerpt:

Zhang Guichun, a 55-year-old Beijinger, has astonished the local community with his organic “hanging garden” on the roof of his traditional courtyard home north of Tian Tan, or the Temple of Heaven in southern Beijing.

“Even if we don’t have enough land in the city, agriculture can go vertical, up to roof and balcony,” Zhang notes.

Zhang, a traditional Chinese medicine practitioner, began creating his “hanging garden” five years ago, and now it is home to some 30 kinds of vegetables and fruit, including tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet bell peppers, melons and watermelons – all enough to feed his family.

For Zhang, the rooftop project translates to tangible benefits, such as safe, nutritious vegetables, a cooler home in summer, fewer mosquitoes (thanks to the tomatoes, which are natural insect repellents) and better bonding with neighbors.

“Neighbors enjoy dropping by for a relaxing chat or just to see how well the lovely vegetables and fruit are doing.”

People like Zhang are still rare. The greening of roof space with vegetables and fruit takes skill and energy.

Read the complete article here.

www.ChinaCityFarmer.com

Shelley Xu, a visitor to our Compost Garden in Vancouver, looked at some Chinese language websites for information on urban agriculture.

I did some searching on the web and found a Chinese site named “CityFarmer” and some other sources, most of which have information for the public at a grassroots level. Since there’s limited residential space in urban areas, most gardeners utilize their balcony spaces. Community gardens can also be found, and there are some privately owned farms open to the public for recreational/educational visits.

(I love veggie gardens) http://www.52caiyuan.com/

(Happy Farmer) http://kaixinfarmer.com/index.php

RUAF foundation links to a Chinese website where I downloaded and read some of the articles about projects in China. The RUAF has a partnership with the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

There’s one other urban agriculture research institute at Beijing University of Agriculture. In Chinese only.

Gardens of Beijing – Video

By DJ Clark
China Daily
Part of a series on the Food Crisis in Asia
July 20, 2011
(Very interesting! Must see. Mike)

About three years ago Tom Huang found himself in increasing pain from a bad stomach and went to the hospital for a diagnosis. The doctors told him it was the food he was eating that caused the problem and he needed to change to a healthier diet. Tom could not afford the expensive organic food offered in the Beijing supermarkets so he joined the increasing army of urban farmers tending small plots of land on the outskirts of the city.

The first five parts of this series made the case that populations across Asia are increasing at a faster rate than food production and that unless something is done the continent will face a food crisis. In the last part D J Clark returns to Beijing to investigate the development of urban farming as a means to mitigate increasing global food prices.

Link here to video.

We now have about 100 plots of land rented out.

NTD Television
2011-07-13 09:03

Residents in Beijing pluck their own vegetables straight from the soil in urban farm plots that have sprung up on the outskirts of the city.

A recent string of food safety scandals have prompted some health-conscious citizens to boycott the markets and grow their own produce by renting their own plots on a local farm.

Like many of the farm’s customers, 42-year-old business manager Jiang Bing makes the one-hour drive out to his urban farm on the weekends, collecting enough vegetables to last his family through the week.

[Jiang Bing, Urban Farmer]:
“To be honest, consuming food that is sold in the city worries me – you never know what they have added. But here at the vegetable garden, we are very clear with the farmer on our requirements on what he can add to our vegetables such as fertilizer or plant food, and he has to have our permission. And our instructions to him are very simple – we just ask that it’s all natural.”

Farm owner Liang Ping started offering vegetable plots for rent at the beginning of the year. He charges about $300 a year for each space.

He says business has been good so far.

[Liang Ping, Farm Owner]:
“To date, the business is doing alright – we now have about 100 plots of land rented out. For the customers, their requirements, and the terms and conditions, the response has been pretty good. That’s to say that the business is growing. The rental prices are reasonable as well. We’ve only just started so we can’t charge too much.”

Food safety scandals in China have been under scrutiny in recent times.

In May, Chinese state media reported that watermelons in China’s east Jiangsu Province had burst before they ripened after farmers used too much of the chemicals to make the fruits sweeter and crisper.

Link here.

China goes organic after years of ‘glow in the dark pork’ and ‘exploding watermelons’

After years of nerve-racking food scares from “melamine milk” to “glow-in-the-dark” pork and “exploding watermelons” urban China is starting to embrace the shoots of a new, green revolution and is going organic.

By Peter Foster
The Telegraph
29 May 2011

Excerpts:

From a runner-bean spotted spiralling along the balcony balustrade of a Beijing apartment, to long waiting-lists for allotments, a plethora of gardening websites and a mushrooming of organic farms and shops, Chinese families are increasingly looking to “grow their own”.

In recent years China has been hit by a number of food scandals and fears about safety have lingered. In 2008, 300,000 babies became seriously ill and six babies died after being given formula contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine.

Peng Xunan, the founder of the “Farmlander” allotment scheme that has 200 sites across China said the plots were being rented in ever-growing numbers, and no longer just be pensioners looking to occupy their time.

“I’d say it was split three ways between families who want to teach their children where food comes from, older people in their retirement, but in recent months definitely a growing number worried about food safety concerns after all these reports of lax food safety,” he said.

Read the complete article here.

Vegetables from a tiny space of land on what had been rubble

By Sue Anne
Shanghain Street Stories
Nov 22, 2010

Excerpt:

I recently returned to Dongjiadu (upon learning that westward demolition has resumed with the intention to completely flatten the north part of Old Town (which also hangs blocks away from the Huangpu River by early next year.

In the sole structure that has been spared for refurbishment – the Shangchuan Huiguan or Merchant Shipping Hall – lives a family from Anhui who are responsible for organizing the razing. Nearby, another crumbling structure housed workers from Chongqing, also involved in scrapping and demolition.

These migrant families have been moving around the area and into whatever available space while doing their jobs. The Shangchuan Huiguan is the latest accommodation before it has to be renovated.

On my way out, the matriarch of the family was picking some vegetables from a tiny space of land on what had been rubble only months ago. In effort to reduce costs and control their own food supplies, the families planted small plots of vegetables (bak choy seems hardy and easy to grow, large cabbage, spring onions etc) which look so out of place amidst dump trucks, cranes, scrap and rubble.

The family from Chongqing had a more ambitious farm plot, managed communally by neighbors living in individual shanty shacks (6 planks of wood, a bed and a small table).

Read the complete article here.

A Chinese man has grown rice on the roof of his house because his city lacked the open space he needed

By Charlotte Bailey
The Telegraph
30 Oct 2008

Excerpt:

Peng Qiugen decided to plant rice on the roof of his four storey house in Shaoxing in east China’s Zhejiang province as a novel way to farm in the overcrowded city.

Mr Qiugen planted the rice back in May on his 120-square-metre roof paddy and his crop is now ready to be harvested.

The rice paddy is expected to yield 120kg of rice grains.

Read the complete article here.

Urban Agriculture Hits the Rooftops in China

In previous years he has grown 400kg of watermelon

ByLivingRoofs.org

Excerpt:

In China, every year, more than 15 million people move from the countryside to the cities. Most will eventually find themselves living in an apartment in a multi-storey block. They may be cramped but at least they have a roof over their heads. But most of these new urbanites miss contact with nature and yearn for the days when they could potter in their own garden back in their ancestral village, enjoying fresh food produced through their own effort.

After moving to Yang Xunqiao Town, Shaoxing County in Zhejiang Province, Peng Qiugen found himself in this position. Living in a four storey block in the burgeoning city and with no access to land, he felt that his green fingered days were over. Much of the new housing in China is of a sturdy reinforced concrete construction, and once Mr. Peng had realised that his building had a sturdy flat roof, he made plans for his 120m2 rooftop farm.

Since 2007 he has been growing watermelons and rice on his roof and now neighbours are following suit. His rice harvest has been particularly successful. After planting in May he has been able to harvest more than 120kg of glutinous rice which is destined to be made into (in order of importance) rice wine, rice cake and rice dumpling.

Read the complete article here.

“Things that you grow yourself are extra tasty.”

By Li Shuang and Chen Jing
Global Times
September 14 2010

Excerpt:

The Beijing Agricultural Bureau is trying to encourage the cultivation of mini-farms on balconies and in yards by offering residents free seeds and farming equipment. Growing one’s own greens can help to reduce carbon emissions, clean the air and release stress.

Starting this Saturday, Beijingers can go to their residence committees to receive a limited number of seeds and fertilizer offered by the bureau.

The information hotline 12316, which used to only serve Beijing’s rural population, is now prepared to field any questions posed by urban farmers.

“We want Beijingers to become balcony farmers because it is a healthy and low-carbon lifestyle,” said a spokeswoman surnamed Su with the agricultural bureau. “The vegetables and fruits you grow in your home are completely organic and safe to eat.”

Equipment includes a seed tray and bottled liquid fertilizer, custom-designed for balcony farmers by experts at the Beijing Academy of Agricultural Sciences. The kits come in three sizes: a six-square-meter kit suits ground-floor residents with yards, while the two-square-meter version fits most balconies and has a handy fertilizer drip system. “With our fertilizer, you won’t have pest problems,” Su said, but was unable to elaborate on why.

Offered seeds include cucumber, cherry tomato and melon. “With the fertilizer we offer, cherry tomatoes can be ready for harvest within a month,” said Su.

Read the complete article here.

Farming in the City: Joys of Growing Food

by Ann Dornfeld
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report
July 5, 2010

The Voice of America, which first went on the air in 1942, is a multimedia international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government through the Broadcasting Board of Governors. VOA broadcasts approximately 1,500 hours of news, information, educational, and cultural programming every week to an estimated worldwide audience of 125 million people.

The short article is about Seattle’s Alleycat Acres. Sean Conroe and Amber Banks are interviewed. Following the story, 42 people from around the world used their limited English to comment on the story and speak about urban agriculture.

Examples:

ZX Cindy (China)
What a coincidence! People in my city (I live in Chengdu, a middle-sized city in Southwestern China) are also enjoying a new trend to grow foods by themselves. They rent a small piece of land in the suburban areas, and plant vegetables there. The rent is about $180 a year. All the things from the soil belongs to you, of course. The enthusiasm for growing food from a life-simultation computer game called HAPPY FARM, but in which your friends will steal your products and vice versa!

Ton Nu Truc Huong (Vietnam)
I like this article so much. I believe it is very interesting when we grow vegetables by ourselve and eat them. It can save our money and be good for the health. However, the most difficult problem is that how we can find out the land to do this in urban areas which have a big population.

Korea (Jane)
When I was young, my parents grew some vegetables in the garden. But these days there aren’t any places in the cities. I always want to grow some vegetables. Do I have to move to country??

See the complete story here.

By Thair Shaikh
CNN
April 8, 2010

Excerpts:

London, England (CNN) — As the world’s urban population continues to grow at a rapid rate, communities around the world are increasingly turning to “city agriculture” to produce cheap, locally grown fruit and vegetables.

Among skyscrapers and housing estates, previously vacant lots are being used to produce millions of tons of organically grown food that experts say are “greener” and cheaper than commercially grown produce.

But while many countries are in the early stages of their urban agriculture development, China, Japan and Cuba have had successful city farms for decades.

Cuba’s model of environmentally friendly and sustainable urban agriculture has been an inspiration for numerous city projects around the world.

When the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Cuba’s supplies of cheap oil suddenly dried up, plunging the country into a severe recession referred to as “the Special Period.”

Farming in Cuba until then had relied heavily on oil to drive tractors and other heavy machinery, so there was a fundamental reorganization of food production, leading to a boom in urban organic agriculture.

And while North America may not have the food and water shortage problems of some African nations, urban farms are still expanding in major cities such as Vancouver on the west coast of Canada.

Michael Levenston, the executive director of City Farmer, part of Canada’s Office of Urban Agriculture, told CNN that there were a number of models being deployed.

“There are people growing stuff in their back gardens and then there are bigger models like the University of British Columbia, which has a market-sized farm in the center of the city selling produce every Saturday at a farmer’s market … that is a very strong and vibrant entity,” he said.

The United States has sizeable urban agriculture projects in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York and Pittsburgh. One U.S. collective of urban farmers says it is has 800 city-based plots that last year produced 150 tonnes of food.

See the rest of the article here.

Landgrab City

By Joseph Grima, Jeffrey Johnson, José Esparza
December 2009 – January 2010
2009 Shenzhen/Hong Kong Biennale of Architecture/Urbanism

From the China-lab site:

Landgrab City is an installation commissioned by the Shenzhen/Hong Kong Biennale of Architecture/Urbanism and located on Shenzhenwan Avenue (Nanshan), a busy shopping district in the city of Shenzhen. Conceived as an experimental investigation into the full extent of Shenzhen’s spatial footprint, the installation is comprised of two parts: an aerial photograph of one of the city’s densest areas, home to approximately 4.5m people, and a plot of cultivated land divided into small lots. This land is a representation, at the same scale as the city itself, of the amount of territory necessary to provide the food consumed by the inhabitants of the portion of city sampled in the map, projected to 2027 (the year China is expected to overtake the US as the world’s leading economy). Each lot represents the extent of a single food group’s footprint: vegetables, cereals, fruit, pasture (for livestock), and so on.

In reality, of course, these agricultural territories are not actually clustered around Shenzhen, as in the installation, but scattered across China and contiguous regions. As China’s political and economic influence grows in range and complexity, increasing proportions of these territories of agricultural production have, in fact, migrated to far-flung regions of the planet, typically in Africa, Latin America or Eastern Europe.

Photo by Dezeen.

As is the case with many other regions of the world that urbanised rapidly in recent decades (such as the four Asian Tigers, the city-states in the Persian Gulf and even certain portions of northern Africa), one of the greatest threats to future stability and growth is perceived as the volatility in food prices on the international market. In response, agricultural land – as opposed to the food produced on that land – has itself become the target of acquisitions, leading, in some cases, to a situation in which nations have effectively purchased substantial tracts of agricultural territories in other (generally less wealthy) countries. This phenomenon is frequently criticized as a post-colonial land grab that enslaves vast agricultural territories of the planet to distant, wealthier urban enclaves.

The countryside is a vital but frequently overlooked category in the contemporary discourse around spatial policy, and its role with respect to the future of urbanism is more often than not neglected. Landgrab City is an attempt to visually represent the broader spatial identity of the 21st century metropolis; it proposes a new spatial definition of the city and thereby a more complex understanding of urbanism, one that no longer considers city limits as the boundary of its remit, but instead looks beyond – even across international borders – to the spatial, social, economic and political implications of the planet’s rapid urbanization.

See the story and more fantastic photos at Dezeen Design Magazine here!

Harvesting crops at Landgrab City.

After several months, the eggplants, chilies, corns and other crops in “LandGrab City” are already ripe. At 3pm, Dec 20, the first round of “happy garden” harvesting started in the Nanshan sub-venue so that citizens can be more involved in the Biennale.

Under the instruction of the staff of the Biennale, parents along with their children participated in the harvesting. In addition to bringing them the family fun that had been absent for a long time, this activity also helped the children to experience the life of vegetable farmers. After the harvesting, the staff there also asked questions to the participators. Every correct answer was awarded with a pack of fresh and pollution-free “happy vegetables” that can be brought home for a healthy dish.

See story here.

LandGrab City: A Geography of Spatial Prostheses

Joseph Grima and Jeffrey Johnson with Jose Esparaza

“LandGrab City” is a joint project by Joseph Grima, a New York based architect, writer, researcher and director of the Storefront for Art and Architecture, and Jeffrey Johnson, founding director of China Lab, an experimental research unit at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation of Columbia University.

Both Grima and Johnson have extensive research experience within the Chinese context. Their installation “Landgrab City” represents the Shenzhen-Hong Kong experience through a “micro-farm” in which the city is regrouped to be placed with the territories around the world that deed it. It is a common misconception that the contemporary city is becoming increasingly disconnected from the countryside. In some case it is becoming more rigidly connected, albeit to rural areas in remote regions on distant continents. “Landgrab City” proposes an examination of these cities as complex, multinational territorial systems no longer confined by their physical and administrative city limits. (Wei Wei Shannon)

Video showing the Langrab project.

2007 – Winner of the 2nd International Competition for Sustainable Housing by Knafo Klimor Architects and Town Planners, Israel

Excerpts from Living Steels’ competition design website.

Agro-housing, the winning design for construction in China, blends urban and rural living by creating vertical greenhouse space within high-rise apartments. Designed by Knafo Klimor Architects, the Agro-housing concept allows tenants to produce their own food, reducing commuting needs and providing a green neighbourhood.

Knafo Klimor Architects developed this concept with concern for predictions that 50% of China’s one billion people will live in its cities, a trend mirrored in many developing countries in the world. The architects observe that massive urbanisation displaces communities, dissipating existing traditions and heritage, as well as placing a strain on energy resources and infrastructure.

The Agro-housing concept presents a new urban and social vision that addresses this chaotic urbanisation problem by creating a new order in the city and, more specifically, in the housing environment. The idea behind Agro-housing is to create a space close to home where families can produce their own food supply according to their own abilities, tastes and choices to promote independent living, freedom and potentially provide additional income. In addition, these greenhouse spaces become a natural gathering place for the community to interact. Agro-housing is a place for living, but in essence, it is a model for a new urbanity, contributing to the preservation of traditions and community values and diminishing the trials of rural migration.

Agro-Housing is composed of two parts: the apartment’s tower and the vertical greenhouse. The greenhouse is a multi-floor structure for cultivation of crops such as vegetables, fruits, flowers and spices, equipped with a drip irrigation system that re-uses grey water. The greenhouse climate is controlled through natural ventilation and a heating system. A roof-top terrace garden offers open-air green space for recreation and informal gathering. A sky club on the roof is designed to host social gatherings and celebrations, and a kindergarten on the ground floor keeps young children close to home and family. The individual apartments allow maximum flexibility to arrange interior spaces to accommodate family changes over time, including integration of a work space. The building has a minimal footprint in order to free the ground surface for gardening and rainwater harvesting. Paving is limited and made of recycled materials.

With Agro-housing, Knafo Klimor Architects envisions a community that can provide its own food, jobs and saleable goods right where the people live, gifting residents with the resources for self-reliance within an urban setting.

The roof-top terrace garden provides additional garden area, as well as grassy areas for community activities. The roof-top sky club provides a location for community celebrations and social gatherings. The sky club’s roof houses solar energy panels and a rainwater capture system while providing shade for the spaces beneath.

Agro-housing’s inner vertical space in the building functions as a thermal chimney, ventilating the apartments in summer months and circulating heat during the winter months. In summer, the roof-top windows are opened to allow the apartments to benefit from the natural cross ventilation, and the balconies and shades reduce heat absorption. The greenhouse floors with their vegetation act as vertical screens and shades for cooling the inner part of the building. South facing apartments have shaded balconies to block the summer sun. In winter, the roof-top windows are closed, trapping warm air inside the building. The low-angle winter sun penetrates the building and heats the high mass elements during the day, which in turn warms the apartments at night. A solar heating system delivers heat energy from the collectors on the roof to each apartment through a forced circulation system. The greenhouse’s glazed walls further warm air that can circulate through the thermal chimney.

See the complete Agro-housing concept in this 6MB PDF.

See the architects Agro-housing web page here.

Competition website here.

An estimated 15 million urban white-collars spend more than five hours a day on Happy Farm, according to data from the game’s creator.

China’s growing addiction: online farming games

Elliott Ng
Venture Beat
October 29, 2009

A new agrarian revolution has occurred in China, but only in the virtual worlds of social games. Social farm games now dominate all major Chinese social networking sites — RenRen (formerly Xiaonei), Kaixin001, 51.com, and QQ’s QZone. The May launch and 2H 2009 adoption of QQ Farm — a version of China’s already popular Happy Farm game built to run on Tencent’s estimated 228 million active-user QZone platform — may very well have transformed China into the leading country of online farmers.

Some fear that this new social farming revolution may not contribute to the positive development of society. A central feature of social farm games in China is stealing vegetables. Official state media People’s Daily reports that 70 percent of users on Kaixin001 cite it as their favorite feature, and it has even spawned the popular phrase “How many vegetables have you stolen today?” This key addictive feature has created news stories of business executives “obsessed” with stealing vegetables and broken relationships over vegetables stolen on the night shift. The game is so addictive — with players setting alarm clocks at all hours of the night to check crops — that it “destroys jobs and relationships.”

“Simplicity and stickiness are behind the global epidemic of farm games. Anyone can learn to grow crops within minutes and reap a reward for getting friends — or the entire office — addicted too,” said BloggerInsight Co-Founder Lucas Englehardt.

See the complete article here.

Weekday white-collars turn farmers at weekend

From China’s People’s Daily Online
July 27, 2009

After playing the “happy farm” game on kaixin001.com, would you like to put yourself among the real corps while smelling the fragrance of the countryside? Recently, a farm land service called “happy farm in reality” was opened in the suburbs of Shanghai where white-collar workers from around that region can experience the real farmer’s life by themselves.

A family of farmers at weekend

Weekend is the time for those who have worked a whole week to be happy with their families. And now there is another good option for them to choose.

Mr. Liu, a white-collar worker who lives in the Pudong district with his family, rented a piece of farmland in the suburb with a 3, 000 yuan membership fee. When weekend comes, the whole family likes to drive to their own farm to have fun. Watering, weeding, fertilizing and worming, each bringing them unique fun. And during the harvest season, they usually take the harvest back to enjoy with their friends and neighbors.

Mr. Liu said they took part in the program on one hand to bring the family and child a special experience, and on the other, so they can eat the products without any concerns about pollution. He also said since the membership began more than a month ago, they have go to their farm every weekend to experience the special happiness.

To monitor farming on the Internet in future

Meng, the representative of this farm land, said they would set up monitoring equipment in the future for their customers’ to watch their plants on the Internet.

Meng also said the mode of this farm land is still not mature enough, and they are now seeking better development. He revealed that more than 100 cabins were under construction. When the project is finished, members can not only come here at the weekend, they can also live here for one or two weeks to live a real farmer’s life.

Find this article here.

In this bulletin you will find information on:

1. RUAF From Seed to Table Programme

2. Other Urban Agriculture activities by the RUAF Partners

Food, Agriculture and Cities: challenges and way forward

Workshop on influencing and assisting national policy processes

Increasing recognition for urban agriculture in China

Urban agriculture in Antananarivo, Madagascar

Sustainable Food Planning Conference, Almere

Networking and constructive dialogue among researchers and policy makers in the field of aquaculture

Exchange visit on Multifunctional (urban) agriculture

Distance Learning Course 3: Types of Urban Agriculture

3. RUAF Publications

Urban Agriculture Magazine

Overview of RUAF Partners

See the RUAF bulletin here.

Jin Meisheng
1959, February
The vegetables are green, the cucumbers plumb, the yield is abundant
Cailü guafei chanliang duo

Great Leap Forward (1956-1960)

In the three years of crop failures and famine following the Great Leap Forward, this poster with its abundant food is reprinted over and over again. The total number of copies runs to over a million.
From Chinese Posters Net.

The RUAF Foundation, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, International Development Research Centre, Urban Harvest (CGIAR), the Chinese Urban Agriculture Association and the Nanjing Agriculture and Forestry Bureau are organizing a networking event “Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture for Resilient Cities (Green, Productive and Socially Inclusive)” to take place on Wednesday, November 5th, 14.00-16.00 hours, in the Auditorium, at the World Urban Forum in Nanjing, China. There will also be a booth at the Exhibition and a tour to some urban and peri-urban agricultural sites.

See program flyer here.

“Farm plots amidst apartment blocks in Chaozhou. A beautiful addition to an otherwise drab urban scene.” Photo from Flickr by JesseWarren.

Chaozhou, literally “Tide Prefecture”; (usually spelled Chiu Chow in the US and Hong Kong), also widely known by its Postal map spelling Teochew, is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, People’s Republic of China.

Link to larger photo.>