What used to be considered wasteland – patches alongside roads, streams or between houses – has become a new food basket for cities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, thanks to an FAO project that shows how urban and peri-urban horticulture can have a profoundly positive effect on national food security. Many of the thousands of gardeners who participate in the FAO “Growing Greener Cities” project in five cities of DR Congo were once considered “squatters,” using land they did not own to grow vegetables for their families. But a decade of expanding support from FAO has helped them legalize their activities and improve their farming techniques. Participants have not only improved family nutrition and made money from selling their surpluses at local markets. They also supply urban supermarkets, restaurants and hotels. In the capital city of Kinshasa alone, they produce 80 000 to 100 000 tonnes of vegetables a year from gardens in and around the city.