The United Nations predicts that over the next twenty five years nearly all population growth will be in the cities of the developing world and that by 2030 60% of the world's population will live in cities. Experts also predict food shortages as a result of climate change combined with increases in urban populations. Peru is an excellent example of increases in urban population and is a candidate for especially intense impacts of climate change on agriculture so it is important to learn more about possibilities for urban agriculture.
A sustainable city must provide both food security and environmental health. Fortunately, urban agriculture is increasingly on the agendas of citizens and there is a great deal of experience. The UNDP estimates that about fifteen percent of the world's food is now grown in urban areas. That figure continues to rise as citizens and planners begin to understand that growing food in the city can do a lot to replenish the spirit, stimulate civic participation and care for the earth while helping to meet food needs.
This Web Scout provides background information from a few key organizations (FAO, USDA, IRDC, AAAS) as well as some examples of innovative projects: school and community gardens, design of vertical farms and rooftop gardens. I am including quite a few links for rooftop gardening in the expectation that construction in many cities in Peru lends itself to gardening despite the more extreme conditions of sun and wind frequent on rooftops. There are also links to case studies of programs sponsored by cities to promote farming in cities as well as links to learn some urban gardening techniques.
Background articles on Growing Food in Cities
Wikipedia (brief intro and examples)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Urban_agriculture
Urban Agriculture for Sustainable Development (IDRC)
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-92997-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html
Farming in the City (Heifer Foundation)
http://www.heifer.org/site/?c=edJRKQNiFiG&b=3916267
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
http://www.fao.org/unfao/bodies/COAG/COAG15/X0076e.htm#P79_5235
Good Practices for Urban Greening (InterAmerican Development Bank)
http://www.iadb.org/SDS/doc/ENV109KKeipiE.pdf (paper written 1998 but still an interesting discussion of urban agriculture policies within a general “greening” framework)
Cultivating the Urban Scene (American Association for Advancement of Science)
http://atlas.aaas.org/index.php?part=4&sec=urban
US Department of Agriculture
http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/AFSIC_pubs/urbanag.htm
Urban Agriculture Australia
http://www.urbanag.org.au/index.html
Peru Urban Harvest
http://www.cipotato.org/urbanharvest/home.htm
http://www.cipotato.org/urbanharvest/news_events/latin-america/index.htm
Project Examples
School gardens portal
http://www.cityfarmer.org/subchildren.html
Community gardens
Community Garden Association US and Canada
http://www.communitygarden.org/learn/
Vertical Farm Design
http://www.skyvegetables.com/2008/06/05/mithuins-vertical-farm-design/
http://www.verticalfarm.com/
Rooftop Gardening
International Green Roof Association
http://www.igra-world.com/
The Rooftop Gardening Source Portal
http://www.skyvegetables.com/links/
Blog skyvegetables with examples from other cities:
http://wordpress.com/tag/progressive-farming/
Green Roofs Australia
http://www.urbanag.org.au/Greenroofs_Australia.html
Vancouver Condo Roof Garden Space
http://www.skyvegetables.com/2008/04/04/want-to-grow-veggies-and-herbs-from-your-condo-roof-move-to-canada/
Rooftop Victory Garden Plans from PBS
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/explore/ourgarden/sketches/index.html
City Farmer
http://www.cityfarmer.org/subrooftops.html
City Program Examples:
Philadelphia Green
http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/phlgreen/index.html
Port-au-Prince Haiti CARE projects
http://www.cityfarmer.org/haiti.html
Villa Maria del Triunfo Peru (Resource Centers on Urban Agriculture and Food Security Partner Cities) http://www.ruaf.org/node/486 and for more city case studies:
Growing Cities, Growing Food Case Studies http://www.ruaf.org/node/54
Oregon Food in the City Program
http://www.osalt.org/food_in_the_city-land.html
Ideas on “How-to” Raise Food in the City
Government Promotion Canada
http://www.cityfarmer.org/
Universities: Washington University Botanical Garden for Urban Horticulture
http://depts.washington.edu/urbhort/, North Carolina State
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/
How to grow vegetables in containers U of Arizona Ag
http://ag.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/mg/vegetable/container.html
Container Gardening Virginia Tech
http://www.ext.vt.edu/pubs/envirohort/426-336/426-336.html
Container Gardening
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/container-garden.htm |
