Environmental Benefits Of Urban Agriculture

Urban Agriculture

The world population is increasing at a rapid rate, currently at 7.2 billion and according to the UN, the population is projected to increase by 1 billion over the next 12 years and reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Population growth means increasing food demand, reduction in agricultural land and various environmental implications.

Urbanization is also growing at a rapid rate, especially in the developing world. Coupling urbanization and population growth, world food demand and need increases and that’s where Urban Agriculture comes in. Urban Agriculture is defined as ‘the growing, processing, and distribution of food and other products through intensive plant cultivation and animal husbandry in and around cities’ (Urban Agriculture

Urban agriculture has become more popular in the last couple of years as concerns about the environment have combined with increased curiosity in health and community-building issues. Despite the benefits of urban agriculture in terms of health, environmental and the economics that come with growing food and raising animals in urban areas, resources such as land and type of land available for use for urban agriculture varies with municipalities and so does the type of agriculture appropriate for each area. Although big metropolitan cities support urban agriculture there are many challenges facing urban farmers.

One of the major challenges facing these famers is access to water. Access to water is difficult for urban farmers, the costs involved with installing water lines to long-vacant lots, hooking into existing water sources or paying ongoing costs of using water at retail rates. The fact that these famers rarely if ever will get access to ground water that’s possibly available to other farming systems. Another factor is that these farmers are reluctant to invest heavily in infrastructure

Securing long term use of land and encouraging investment in the infrastructure through local governments’ policies and land trusts or securing permanent land ownership. Some of the farmers hesitate in investing in infrastructure and equipment for sorting, refrigeration, processing, transport and on-site buildings with the fear of them losing their land through reasons. These reasons can include, permetting, zoning issues or lack of permanent ownership. If local governments own these lands and dedicate them to urban agriculture through policies such as informal agreements with the first option to later own the land, organizations and individuals could easily be inclined to invest in their farms and therefore growing