Some comments from World Vision on a few of the questions.
A
Share your comments on the objectives and proposed content of this report as outlined above. 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?
So far, the scope mentioned have covered most of the important urban and peri-urban food issues. However, we would like to suggest adding these components:
- Residents of urban slums are also facing serious risk of communicable diseases due to the overcrowding and poor hygienic conditions and lack of access to clean water sources. Hence, the urban slums dwellers, especially the young children, are very vulnerable to infections, and would be made worse by inadequate and unhygienic diet they consume.
- Urban dwellers rely mostly on food purchased from street vendors due to lack of space for cooking or because of busy life. Some studies estimate that five out of every six urban families in India typically spend 70% of their income on food, while in Kuala Lumpur, approximately 45–50% of total household expenditure goes to food (Zezza & Tasciotti, 2010). With unhygienic conditions, sometimes the food quality and food hygiene are below standard. On top of that, the rampant use of dangerous food additives such as coloring and preservatives make these foods a poor choice for children’s diet.
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.
- It is also common to find that few urban mothers can cook, sometimes based on the notion that ‘it’s cheaper to buy from small shop vendors, anyway, and we can get more options in smaller quantities’. It is a common sight in Jakarta, for instance, to see mothers of young babies queuing to buy baby porridge sold by street vendors every morning. They either could not cook, or feel that buying a cup of porridge costs less than 50 cents is more practical and economical. So, it is important to have work on changing the mindset of families in urban areas and at the same time teach mothers how to cook simple food, which can be done as a group session.
- Urban and semi urban agriculture are indeed lacking support from the state actors. When they do receive support, it is mostly focusing on ceremonials activities instead of supporting a sustainable agriculture system that community can continue in long term. Most successful change agents in urban farming are people who have skills in agriculture, who were able to modify their practice to planting of vegetables and fruits in pots and containers, and able to process household food waste as compost. Yet, this skill is not common for urban dwellers. It would be good to have more community promotion and community training on doing urban farming or urban backyard gardening, with cheaper options.
The following comments are based on the article written by Onyekachukwu Akaeze and Dilip Nandwani “Urban agriculture in Asia to meet the food production challenges of urbanization: A review”, Urban Agriculture and Regional Food Systems, 18 October 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20002
- The Pune City Corporation's City Farming Project was developed to encourage citizens to practice urban agriculture by growing vegetables and other crops on allocated land (Hallett, Hoagland, & Toner, 2016). Similar programs in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Chennai, and others have resulted in many individuals joining the ranks of urban farmers. Through these programs, farmers received assistance from the government, private agencies, and individuals.
- Establishment of numerous host ventures that specializes in training and assisting farmers on urban agriculture techniques further contributed to increasing the number of urban farmers. Examples of such ventures include- The Living Greens, iKheti, Khetify, Homecrop, Greentechlife, Squarefoot Farms, Edible Routes, City Farming, Earthoholics, Fresh and Local, and Urban Leaves etc. These organizations provide the needed guidance and directions to farmers who have chosen urban agriculture as a career or hobby.
- The Urban Horticulture Development Scheme introduced a “Do-It-Yourself” kit has enabled city dwellers to grow vegetables on open terraces of individual houses and apartment buildings. The kit contains basic materials needed to start a garden (Sahasrannaman, 2016). It was first implemented in the city of Chennai, but then also introduced to Madurai.
- Sky Green vertical farm in Singapore is example of successful in city, all year-round vegetable (lettuces and cabbages) production. Sky Greens’ vertical farming provides both an efficient and environmentally and low-carbon hydraulic water-driven urban vertical farm that reduces the amount of energy and land needed for traditional farming techniques. Within a greenhouse, the three story's-high vertical systems produce five to ten times more per unit area compared to conventional farms (Foodtank, 2013).
- Successful implementation of urban agriculture policies depends on effective partnership between government and private institutions. The synergistic efforts of Department of Agriculture (DoA) and Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), and key players in the agriculture sector is reported to have encouraged more urban residents to participate in urban agricultural activities in open field plots, community farms, balconies, rooftops and garden pots in vertical stands (Hui, 2011; Shanshan & Ge, 2013).
From Yue-man Yueng, “Examples of urban agriculture in Asia”, Food and Nutrition Bulletin, vol. 9, no. 2 © 1987, The United Nations University. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/156482658700900212
- Urban forestry for fruit production is rare in Asia, except in a handful of Chinese and Indian cities. The experience of Bangalore, in southern India, deserves scrutiny and possible replication. The Department of Horticulture there grows a large number of street trees, one-fourth of which bear fruit, with many providing food for animals at the same time.(Yue-man, 1987)
C
Share recent literature, case studies and data that could help answer the following questions:
1. What are the main bottlenecks hampering the contribution of urban and peri-urban food systems to food security and nutrition?
The following comments are based on the article written by Onyekachukwu Akaeze and Dilip Nandwani “Urban agriculture in Asia to meet the food production challenges of urbanization: A review”, Urban Agriculture and Regional Food Systems, 18 October 2020. https://doi.org/10.1002/uar2.20002
- Challenges particular to urban agriculture include a limitation in land area or spaces (Van Tuijl et al., 2018). This has resulted in higher prices to purchase, rent or lease urban spaces, thus forcing many prospective urban farmers to consider other options.
- Limitation of city plans or building codes which may prohibit the establishment of rooftop gardens at certain locations (Pfeiffer, Silva, & Colquhoun, 2015).
- The high financial, technological and infrastructural requirements to setup, operate, manage and maintain urban agriculture (such as hydroponics, aquaponics, aeroponics etc.) is beyond what most local farmer can afford (Van Tuijl et al., 2018; Dimitri, Oberholtzer, & Pressman, 2016; Van der Valk, 2012).
- Some question the ‘safety’ levels of ‘urban vegetables’. They argue that there are high chances of heavy metal pollution since the air in urban centers are often heavily polluted (Vaneker, 2014).
- Lawson (2016) reported air pollution (odor) and excess load on municipal energy grids especially in cases with livestock farms in urban centers.
女士 Diane Baik