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International Conference on

Recent Trends in Environmental Sustainability

ESCON22/SAgri/23
Urban agricultural as sustainable agriculture

*1 Dr. Sahar Babiker A. Abdalla
1 Agriculture Research Corporation (ARC), Dry Land and Water Harvest Research Center
(DLWHRC), Khartoum, Sudan

Correspondence: sahar_babiker@yahoo.com
Abstract

Urbanization is a global phenomenon in both the world and is probably due to population
growth and rural migration. According to the UN report global population is expected to reach
9.7 billion by 2050 therefore food production needs to increase by 70% in the next 30 years.
At present, 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas, in 2050 around 64% of the world
population is projected to be urbanized, while in 1950 only one-third was living in urban areas.
In developing countries of Africa and Asia, urban population is expected to double between
2000 and 2030 due to land degradation, conflicts, food insecurity, poor education,
unemployment, and lack of infrastructure in rural areas. Urbanization contributes to climate
change given the intensity of urban cultivation systems. Nonetheless, urbanization can also be
considered a driving force of development in and the economy of cities; it creates new
opportunities for investors, marketers and consumers, whereby large, urbanized areas
experience significant economic growth. As urbanization increases, so does the need for food,
energy, shelter and water. Thus, the biggest challenge for urban planners is to find a balance
between urban resources and urban landscape towards a sustainable urban development.
What are the functions of urban agriculture (UA)?

Urban agriculture is defined as the production, distribution, processing, and marketing of food
and other products within and around the cities. Urban agriculture is not a new phenomenon
since ancient times. UA has made important contributions to feeding of city dwellers. Recently,
collected qualitative and quantitative data show that increasing numbers of urban poor are
engaged in urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) as a poverty alleviation strategy. As many
as 800 million people are employed in urban and peri-urban farming and related enterprises,
and this number are likely to increase in the future. Urban agriculture potentially integrates
food production, environment, and socioeconomics, thus offering a multifunctional strategy to
planners. Furthermore, UA is contributing to the livelihoods of urban dwellers by providing
income, food and job opportunities especially for women and children and ensures their food
security status. In Khartoum, harvested products are strongly market oriented and not mainly
for the households’ self-sufficiency. Moreover, UA facilitates direct access to food for the poor
and a stable supply of diverse foods for the middle class. Poor urban dwellers can also be
market consumers, they buy their food exclusively in cities and therefore particularly
vulnerable to food price increase and malnutrition. Thus, UA influences the nutritional status
of urban households where, symptoms of malnutrition are significantly higher in non-farming
families than farming ones. Taking advantage of the proximity of local markets, urban gardens
are oriented to produce vegetables and animal products. Plant and animal products from such
farming system is considered as a supplemental source of food for the household members,
rather than an income source. For instance, in Kampala (Uganda), Kathmandu (Nepal) and in
Zambia, most of the poultry and food stuff are produced within and around the cities. Urban
agriculture also contributes to recycling of human waste by using wastewater and composting
solid waste for use in the cultivation of crops.

Department of Environmental Sciences, COMSATS University Islamabad, Vehari Campus

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