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2010 | Book

The Institutional and Regional Context Read chapter Read first chapter

African Urban Harvest

Agriculture in the Cities of Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda

Editors: Gordon Prain, Diana Lee-Smith, Nancy Karanja

Publisher: Springer New York

Part of: Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" , Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" , Springer Professional "Technik"

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About this book

Over the past two decades, how has urban agriculture changed in sub-Saharan Africa? Is city farming now better integrated into environmental management and city governance? And, looking ahead, how might urban agriculture address the needs of the low-income households and modernizing cities of Africa? In this book, leading specialists in the fields of urban agriculture and urban environment present a unique collection of case studies that examines the growing role of local food production in urban livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa. Amongst many issues, the authors probe the changing role of urban agriculture, the risks and benefits of crop–livestock systems, and the opportunities for making locally produced food more easily available and more profitable. Concluding chapters reflect on the policy and governance implications of greater integration of urban natural resources and the built environment, an expanded role for urban agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa and the crucial role of women in urban food systems. African Urban Harvest will be of interest to decision-makers, development professionals, researchers, academics, and students and educators in urban planning, development studies, African studies, and environmental studies.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter

Cameroon

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. The Institutional and Regional Context
Abstract
How abundant is Africa’s urban harvest, how much does it help feed and support the 250 million people now living in the continent’s towns and cities? And how could it do this better? These are the questions which this book sets out to answer, and this chapter provides a regional and historical background to the research reported in the book which attempts to answer those questions. Despite the long history of agricultural production in around urban settlements, in Africa as in other parts of the world, this activity has faced technical, institutional and policy constraints, which only recently are beginning to change. The chapter provides an account of the origins of these constraints and why overcoming them can make an important contribution to urban food security and poverty eradication. It locates the present study within a research agenda begun more than 20 years ago which aims to provide evidence of the role of agriculture in the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban households and the changing treatment of this agriculture by city governments.
Gordon Prain
Chapter 2. Urban Agriculture in Africa: What Has Been Learned?
Abstract
Though the crisis in world food prices exploded during 2008, the problem of urban food insecurity in Africa has been a fact of life for many low-income urban dwellers for decades, and especially since the period of structural adjustment in the 1980s (Maxwell 1995). It is not that there is no food; it’s that poor urban consumers cannot afford it. This is the stark but simple truth lying behind much of the agriculture that is widespread within and around African cities. What urban households have known and practiced for generations, urban decision-makers have begun to recognize much more recently: urban agriculture is a livelihood strategy.
Gordon Prain, Diana Lee-Smith
Chapter 3. Urban Farming Systems in Yaoundé – Building a Mosaic
Abstract
Urban agriculture is prevalent in Cameroon, the first country examined in this book of case studies, yet its role in urban life was little studied until the 1990s. At that time researchers began to look at some aspects of this complex phenomenon, such as the role of traditional leafy vegetables in the diet and incomes of the urban poor (Gockowski & Ndoumbé 1999). Following their attendance at a regional stakeholder meeting organized by Urban Harvest in late 2000, scientists from different institutions came together in 2001 to move forward work they were pursuing independently on different topics related to urban agriculture in Yaoundé. This interdisciplinary collaboration produced the original empirical studies contained in this chapter and the two that follow, which aim at a deeper understanding of some of the complexities of urban farming in the country and indicate directions for further work, both in research and the development of public policy.
Athanase Bopda, Randall Brummett, Sandrine Dury, Pascale Elong, Samuel Foto-Menbohan, James Gockowski, Christophe Kana, Joseph Kengue, Robert Ngonthe, Christian Nolte, Nelly Soua, Emile Tanawa, Zac Tchouendjeu, Ludovic Temple
Chapter 4. Crop–Livestock Integration in the Urban Farming Systems of Yaoundé
Abstract
As a result of rapid rates of urban growth, especially in the larger centres of Douala and the capital, Yaoundé, about half the Cameroon’s population lives in urban areas (World Bank 2003). Yaoundé’s population increased at the rate of about 10 percent per annum from 0.64 million in 1987 to 1.5 million in 2000 (DSCN 2000), and is projected to be as much as 4 million by the year 2020. The city’s population faces enormous problems of poverty, with unemployment registering around 25 percent (DRSP 2003). To sustain themselves, households resort to urban agriculture (UA), which also provides some income. Statistics taken from just one aspect of UA show that at least 32 000 households sell traditional leafy vegetables, most of which are produced by the women in those households, using extensive mixed crop-farming systems (Gockowski et al. 2003).
Thomas Dongmo, François Meffeja, Jean Marin Fotso, Christian Nolte
Chapter 5. Institutional Development of Urban Agriculture – An Ongoing History of Yaoundé
Abstract
The premise of this chapter is that urban agriculture (UA), though widespread, lacks an adequate institutional response. The study presented is based on empirical surveys carried out in 2002–2003, but it is also an urban history, presenting a rich description coming from 20 years of documentary research on Yaoundé by the lead author. We also went back to examine and make a critique of the way the Yaoundé Structure Plan of 1981 was put together and, in doing so, engaged the collaboration of representatives of a variety of institutions involved with UA. Our basic question throughout has been to what extent the reality of UA has found expression in institutions. The study was one of those executed by the inter-disciplinary team mentioned in Chapter 3, who presented their findings collectively at the Town Hall exhibition and public meeting in Yaoundé in early 2004. This meeting again brought together the main stakeholders involved in UA, as a way of moving forward the agenda of institutional development.
Athanase Pr Bopda, Louis Awono

Uganda

Frontmatter
Chapter 6. Changing Trends in Urban Agriculture in Kampala
Abstract
Kampala in the 21st century is the showcase of Uganda’s economic, political and social transformation following the economic decay and civil war of the 1970s and 1980s. A capital city that reflects the country’s diversity, it is also the site of the historic Buganda Kingdom and its traditions, including agriculture. This and other socio-economic factors have contributed to agriculture being a visible part of the city’s life.
Sonii David, Diana Lee-Smith, Julius Kyaligonza, Wasike Mangeni, Sarah Kimeze, Lucy Aliguma, Abdelrahman Lubowa, George W. Nasinyama
Chapter 7. Can Schools be Agents of Urban Agriculture Extension and Seed Production?
Abstract
With increasing recognition of the role of agriculture in the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban communities all over the world, attention is focusing on it as one possible mechanism toward achievement of the Millennium Development Goals on hunger, poverty and the alleviation of urban slum conditions. This chapter describes an experiment aimed at improving urban and peri-urban agriculture outputs in the city of Kampala by working with schools.
Fred Baseke, Richard Miiro, Margaret Azuba, Maria Kaweesa, Moses Kalyebara, Peter King’ori
Chapter 8. Identifying Market Opportunities for Urban and Peri-Urban Farmers in Kampala
Abstract
Rapid urbanization in many Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries is an indicator of the ever-growing pace of structural transformation. Increasing urban population requires more services, the most basic being food. This increasing demand has led to recognition of the contribution of urban and peri-urban agriculture to providing food security, employment and income generation as well as productive management of idle or under-utilized resources. Statistics from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) indicate that approximately 800 million people are engaged in urban agriculture worldwide with the majority in Asian cities. Of these, 200 million are considered to be market-oriented producers, employing 150 million people full time (Smit et al. 1997).
Robinah Nyapendi, Rupert Best, Shaun Ferris, John Jagwe
Chapter 9. Health Impact Assessment of Urban Agriculture in Kampala
Abstract
While the Urban Harvest-supported studies described in the previous three chapters were going on in Kampala, an opportunity arose to complement them with an exploration of the health impacts associated with urban agriculture (UA) in the city. The Kampala City Council had expressed concern about the health risks associated with some forms of UA and the research team welcomed the chance to examine ways to reduce health risks and increase health benefits. A parallel research process was therefore set up, governed by a Health Coordinating Committee comprising researchers and policy-makers. Scholars from universities and research institutes in Uganda and Canada, in collaboration with local government and non-governmental organizations, were supported by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). This chapter is essentially a summary of a companion book titled “Healthy City Harvests: generating evidence to guide policy on urban agriculture”, which contains all these studies (Cole et al. 2008). As in that book, the research findings are translated into policy implications, not only for Kampala but also for other cities with similar conditions.
George W. Nasinyama, Donald C. Cole, Diana Lee-Smith

Kenya

Frontmatter
Chapter 10. Recycling Nutrients from Organic Wastes in Kenya’s Capital City
Abstract
The question how much of the potential soil nutrients contained in urban wastes are being used and what processes are involved led to this study in the early 2000s. The issue is of central importance to understanding the potential benefits of a properly managed urban agriculture sector, since soil fertility is a major problem in Sub-Saharan Africa and urban wastes represent a large potential source of nutrients (Savala et al. 2003). Mougeot (1993, p.114) highlighted the importance of solid waste management and offered insights into the use of organic wastes by farmers as compost for their crops. When the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) was starting up its new system-wide program – Urban Harvest – in Africa in late 2000, stakeholders called for better documentation of these processes. In response, we came together from a number of institutions in Kenya to identify and map out the basic market and material flows for composts and manure in Nairobi and identify opportunities for improving the functioning of the system.
Mary Njenga, Dannie Romney, Nancy Karanja, Kuria Gathuru, Stephen Kimani, Sammy Carsan, Will Frost
Chapter 11. Crop–Livestock–Waste Interactions in Nakuru’s Urban Agriculture
Abstract
As a complement to the research in Nairobi presented in the previous chapter, which mapped materials and market flows of nutrients in Kenya’s capital city, this chapter presents a more in-depth picture of sources and types of waste generated by farmers in an urban area and the management practices involved. Both studies are aimed at informing policy. Whereas the Nairobi study focused on the handling of nutrients by community-based organizations, this study of Nakuru focuses on how urban farming households handle waste, including that generated by livestock. Some of the health risks involved are examined in Chapter 12 of this book.
Nancy Karanja, Mary Njenga, Kuria Gathuru, Anthony Karanja, Patrick Muendo Munyao
Chapter 12. Benefits and Selected Health Risks of Urban Dairy Production in Nakuru, Kenya
Abstract
Health risks from food production in urban areas are attracting increased international attention, especially in poor countries with rapid urbanization where urban farming is widely practiced to mitigate hunger and poor nutrition as well as reduce food expenditures. This study examines a selected range of health risks as compared to the benefits for an urban population for which a considerable quantity of background data are available, namely Nakuru municipality in Kenya. The research was carried out in conjunction with a related survey of crop-livestock-waste interactions in the same town, described in the previous chapter.
Erastus K. Kang’ethe, Alice Njehu, Nancy Karanja, Mary Njenga, Kuria Gathuru, Anthony Karanja
Chapter 13. Urban Agroforestry Products in Kisumu, Kenya: A Rapid Market Assessment
Abstract
As researchers from the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) and the National Museums of Kenya, we undertook the work described here as a contribution to Kenya’s national development agenda, articulated in policies such as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) and Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation in Kenya after the change of government in December 2002. Those policies’ priorities of ensuring food security and livelihood support systems require the identification of activities that can provide a basis for localized action. Urban hunger and poverty are major issues, and urban agriculture (UA) is one such activity that can play an important role in reducing poverty and enhancing opportunities for wealth creation. In a region experiencing declines in agricultural productivity and competitiveness resulting in national-level food insecurity (Cunningham et al. 2008), producing food and non-food agroforestry products nevertheless provides many with a meaningful sense of food and income security.
Sammy Carsan, Dennis Osino, Paul Opanga, Anthony J. Simons

Urban Agriculture and Institutional Change

Frontmatter
Chapter 14. IDRC and Its Partners in Sub-Saharan Africa 2000–2008
Abstract
The peer-reviewed studies in this book are part of a larger set of ongoing urban agriculture initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this chapter we highlight the role played by international collaboration in supporting these, focusing on a group of institutions and how their interactions have evolved over time. Even though these institutions only formalised their programs on urban agriculture over the last decade or so, several were already active in the field earlier. The ideas and concepts associated with urban agriculture have been around for even longer, while the reality of urban agriculture itself dates as far back as humanity’s first urban settlements. For one, the “garden city” concept is rooted in modern urban planning (Smit et al. 1996; Lee-Smith & Cole 2008).
Luc J.A. Mougeot, Francois Gasengayire, Diana Lee-Smith, Gordon Prain, Henk de Zeeuw
Chapter 15. The Contribution of Research–Development Partnerships to Building Urban Agriculture Policy
Abstract
This final chapter draws conclusions about the prospects for urban agriculture policy and institutional change based on analysis of the towns and cities examined in this book, each of which casts a different light on a common effort to develop or adapt institutions that will come to terms with the on-the-ground reality of urban agriculture. The research-development partnerships established are examined in a broad conceptual framework and more specifically in relation to the investment in research. A political science perspective examining the power relations between the various actors involved is advocated. Political shifts toward inclusive and democratic governance, including the development of civil society, appear to favor the development of urban agriculture policies and institutions, as does research. The building of research-to-policy platforms may have been key factors influencing such developments in all three capital cities examined.
Diana Lee-Smith, Gordon Prain
Backmatter
Metadata
Title
African Urban Harvest
Editors
Gordon Prain
Diana Lee-Smith
Nancy Karanja
Copyright Year
2010
Publisher
Springer New York
Electronic ISBN
978-1-4419-6250-8
Print ISBN
978-1-4419-6249-2
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6250-8