Dr. Anita Pinheiro
Urban agriculture and sustainability, sustainable urban and agri-food systems, Nature-based Solutions, circular agri-food systems, policy analysis, scientometric analysis
Anita Pinheiro has completed her PhD from the Centre for Studies in Science Policy, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India for her research on urban agriculture and sustainability from a sustainability transitions perspective. In her PhD research, she explored government interventions that promote urban home gardening as a Nature-based Solution and how people's movement has complemented these government interventions while filling the gaps. She has also taught urban agriculture course to Master's students at Ambedkar University Delhi. Also, she has contributed to the development of 'Draft Citizen's Policy for Urban Agriculture in Delhi', developed by a non-profit organization People's Resource Centre (PRC) in Delhi. Her broad research interests include sustainable urban and agri-food systems, Nature-based Solutions for urban and agri-food system sustainability, and circular agri-food systems. Her field experiences are from a Global South perspective, however, she is keen to expand her knowledge horizons to other parts of the globe.
Dr. Anita Pinheiro
Dear Évariste Nicolétis and Paola Termine,
This is an important step that can address various socio-ecological and economic challenges related to urbanisation and sustainability. I appreciate you for taking this timely and important topic for consultation.
My comments will focus more on gaps in the scope related to urban agriculture that address questions A and B.
A. Do you find the proposed scope comprehensive to analyze and discuss the key issues concerning the role of urban and peri-urban food systems in achieving food security and nutrition? Are there any major gaps or omissions?
B. Share good practices and successful experiences on strengthening urban and peri-urban food systems in the context of urbanization and rural transformation, including in the case of emergencies or conflicts.
a. In one of the Indian states, Kerala, there were government interventions for promotion of urban home gardening in private residential spaces across the state irrespective of the size or population of the urban areas. Kerala has a rural-urban continuum and high urban population (almost half of the total population). From 2012-2013 to 2021-22, the government has taken measures to incorporate subsidised distribution of containers planted with vegetable seedlings at a cost as low as less than 7 USD, after 75 % subsidy. This enabled people from almost all sections of society to start home-garden vegetable cultivation in all possible spaces in their residential areas, be it ground, rooftop, parapet, balcony or top of boundary walls. Also, there were measures to distribute drip or wick irrigation units suitable for small house lots to ensure water-efficient vegetable gardening. In addition, there were also interventions to distribute waste management units under subsidy schemes so that home garden vegetable cultivation can be integrated with household waste management. These activities, carried out as part of ‘Promotion of urban clusters and waste management’ under Vegetable Development Program focused on reviving the traditional practices of home gardening with small-scale technological support to make it suitable for space-crunch urban areas. In other states where respective state governments promote urban home gardening/kitchen gardening in India, the scope has been limited only to large cities with a higher population.
b. In one district centre in Kerala, there is an initiative led by a social media collective (Facebook-based agriculture group operated in the local language Malayalam) to link home-grown food production with urban short food supply chains. They use the Facebook group to disseminate information on the types and quantities of the produces that will be available in the urban weekly market. This group takes stringent measures to ensure that all the produce sold there is grown completely organically and ensures “know your farmer” or “vegetables with an address” to the customers. More details can be found in Pinheiro (200). The document is attached here.
Enclosures for further reading:
Pinheiro, A. (2022). Urban home gardening movement in Kerala—Role of social media collectives. LEISA-India. https://leisaindia.org/urban-home-gardening-movement-in-kerala-role-of-…
Pinheiro, A., & Govind, M. (2020). Emerging Global Trends in Urban Agriculture Research: A Scientometric Analysis of Peer-reviewed Journals. Journal of Scientometric Research, 9(2), 163–173. https://doi.org/10.5530/jscires.9.2.20