Urban Agriculture. What does the world eat?
The calculation, at least, seems simple: if we want to use our environment, the earth, in a sustainable way, we can only use up as many resources as can be replaced by means of natural processes. At the same time, the amount of emissions we produce must be equal to the amount the ecosystem earth is able to handle. However, living according to this equation proves to be more and more difficult: the world population is increasing rapidly and accordingly needs more and more food and energy. Traditional agriculture reacts to these increasing needs by enlarging the areas of cultivation and by increasing agricultural production. But cultivating land by cutting down trees, or boosting harvests by means of growing amounts of fertiliser may endanger the ecological balance. Additionally, climate change has a negative effect on agricultural production and threatens the harvests with droughts and floods.

Sustainable ideas are needed
The ones who are most affected by food scarcity are people in the developing countries. Very often, wheat and other food products are unaffordable; at the same time more and more cultivated land is used to grow raw materials for power generation, and agrarian subsidies for large scale producers are the downfall of small scale farmers. For these reasons the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations demands for a fundamental reorientation in agriculture (FAO). Regional ecological agriculture could ascertain the nutrition of the world's population better than extensive farming in monoculture.

Fruits and vegetables from the city
A special form of agriculture is "Urban Agriculture". This means farming and gardening within (intra-urban) or around (peri-urban) the city. It mostly takes place on areas that are not designated for agricultural use such as fallows, public property, house gardens and even roofs. The most simple form of urban agriculture is small scale animal husbandry and the growing of crops for self-subsistence. The importance of such ways of food production can be exemplified:
In Harare, the Capital of Zimbabwe, some 60% of the food consumed by low-income households is produced by the families themselves.
In the Ugandan capital of Kampala comparative studies showed that children up to the age of five show less signs of malnourishment when they grow up in a household that practises urban agriculture. City farmers grow about 40-60% of their food supply in their own gardens.
In Hanoi/Vietnam 80% of all fresh vegetables, 50% of pork, poultry and fish as well as 40% of the eggs are grown in urban and peri-urban agriculture.

Harvest in the high rise and a green view
Urban agriculture is not a new phenomenon. All along it has been the only way for the poorer parts of the population to maintain food security and an income in many developing countries. In the cities of the industrial countries, the reason for urban gardening are a bit different. They include the wish for resource efficient and ecological food production close to home and for meaningful activity close to nature as well as aesthetic reasons. In the face of a growing world population and the decrease of resources, urban agriculture has moved more and more to the centre of attention of international developing cooperation ever since the beginning of the 1990ies. Urban gardening and agriculture can contribute to a number of social problems on an urban as well as global level.

Research against hunger and poverty
In middle of October, the birth of the 7 billionth person was celebrated on the Philippines. Up until the year 2025, estimations expect this number to grow by another two billion. To feed this additional population some 50% more food products must be produced on about the same, or, due to erosion and climate change, on even less land than today. How can this increased demand be met in a sustainable way, which agricultural methods provide the best solutions, and how can they be implemented? With the support of the Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation, the BEAF: Advisory Service on Agricultural Research for Development of the GIZ (BEAF) is looking for answers to these questions. The objective is to implement the result of research in form of strategies, technologies or policy-oriented consultancy. Every year, about ten international research projects are supported by this service.

Related links

List of BMZ Funded Projects (PDF) Conserving home gardens as genetic treasure troves (GIZ) Documentation Request: The Future of Agriculture - Scenarios, Concepts, Visions Symposium 2010 The Future of Agriculture - Scenarios, Concepts, Visions Bonn 2011 Nexus Konferenz: Impulses for integrated solutions in Green Economy RUAF: The RUAF Foundation is an international network of seven regional resource centres and one global resource centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security. Urban furrows in Slovenia - In the upcoming year, Maribor will be the Cultural Capital of Europe alongside five other Slovenian cities. Their mutual concept aims at the interweaving of urban and rural structures.