Urban farming news, research and analysis - the conversation

January 26, 2025 Tinashe P. Kanosvamhira, _University of Cape Town_ Young urban farmers in Khayelitsha are nurturing connections, creating economic opportunities, and promoting environmental

conservation. June 4, 2024 Michael Hardman, _University of Salford_; David Adams, _University of Birmingham_, and Peter Larkham, _Birmingham City University_ Access to nature is provenly

beneficial. Yet the UK’s urban green spaces are poorly funded and are vulnerable to local government budget cuts. May 22, 2024 Handan Vicdan, _EM Lyon Business School_ Scholars believe

vertical farming, the practice of growing crops in stacked pots in vacant spaces, could be well suited to degrowth values. October 26, 2023 Kate Neale, _Southern Cross University_ As the

cost-of-living crisis bites into our household budgets, growing or foraging food can save you money. June 15, 2023 Elizabeth Nicholls, _University of Sussex_ Maintaining a diversity of

insects may be key for crop pollination in cities. April 4, 2023 Karen A. Spiller, _University of New Hampshire_ and Prakash Kashwan, _Brandeis University_ Food forests are urban oases that

pack a lot into small spaces, including food production, local cooling and social connections. March 14, 2023 Jan Hugo, _University of Pretoria_; Andy van den Dobbelsteen, _Delft University

of Technology_, and Chrisna du Plessis, _University of Pretoria_ Urban farms can work in developing countries if farmers and architects are aware of conditions that favour food production in

built spaces. July 12, 2022 Yuyu Zhou, _Iowa State University_ Artificial light is upending trees’ ability to use the natural day-night cycle as a signal of seasonal change. May 17, 2022

Jess Davies, _Lancaster University_; Charlotte Hardman, _University of Liverpool_, and Sofia Kourmpetli A ‘right to grow’ law encouraging more locally-grown food could boost health,

community pride and food supply resilience. August 26, 2020 Dan Evans, _Lancaster University_ and Jess Davies, _Lancaster University_ Nurturing enthusiasm for growing food closer to home

could benefit people, wildlife and the global food system. May 26, 2020 Kabila Abass, _Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)_ and Kwadwo Afriyie, _Kwame Nkrumah

University of Science and Technology (KNUST)_ Policies should protect arable land from urban encroachment and make peri-urban households less vulnerable. October 4, 2019 Michael Hardman,

_University of Salford_ and Nick Davies, _University of Salford_ From happier and healthier residents to more resilient buildings – green roofs offer significant benefits to cities. November

28, 2018 Rachel Carey, _The University of Melbourne_; Jennifer Sheridan, _The University of Melbourne_, and Kirsten Larsen, _The University of Melbourne_ To improve access to locally grown

food and help prevent disruptions to supply chains caused by climate change, we need to support farming on the fringes of cities. September 10, 2018 Andrew Jenkins, _Queen's University

Belfast_ Vertical farms grow more food but use much more energy, so let’s consider other kinds of urban agriculture. February 13, 2018 Silvio Caputo, _University of Portsmouth_ Hydroponics

and aquaponics are already being used by the agriculture industry – is it time urban farmers got on board? February 9, 2017 David W. Olivier, _University of the Witwatersrand_ Urban farming

increases access to healthy foods. And building social networks is one of the greatest benefits of urban agriculture in poor areas. October 25, 2016 Michael Hardman, _University of Salford_

Urban farms might be trendy, but they won’t replace rural agriculture anytime soon. March 10, 2016 David W. Olivier, _University of the Witwatersrand_ In Cape Town’s Cape Flats, female urban

farmers are vital for food security and strengthening social capital. March 7, 2016 Elizabeth Taylor, _RMIT University_; Andrew Butt, _La Trobe University_, and Marco Amati, _RMIT

University_ As consumption has soared and prices have fallen, the realities of industrial chicken farming often clash with the values of people who live on the urban fringes where broiler

farms are sited. June 18, 2015 Julia Wright, _Coventry University_ and Emily Morris, _UCL_ Farms in the cities and suburbs produce half of Cuba’s vegetables. But warming relations with the

US could put this unique, productive system at risk.