In the contemporary world, modernist Western thought supports stereotypical perceptions of cities (innovative, dynamic, progressive) as fundamentally different from the countryside (traditional, static, conservative). This leads to the effect of making near-residential agriculture obsolete; made redundant by transport technologies and an agricultural industry that rapidly moves large quantities of foodstuff from one region to another. However, the reality of urban food production in most countries of the Global South tells another story. This chapter uses recent and Pre-Columbian Maya case studies from four different regions of the world (Africa, South-East Asia, Middle America, and the Caribbean) to illustrate the importance of urban and peri-urban agriculture and food and nutrition security as fundamental aspects of the social-ecological resilience of cities. The chapter elaborates the differences of urban and peri-urban agriculture in the Global South and the Global North, including institutional support and regulations, gender roles, the importance for food and nutrition security (case studies on Cuba and Thailand), livelihoods, ecosystem services, urban ecology (case studies on Burkina Faso and Ghana), and the role of urban food commons (case study on Cuba). This demonstrates that food production is not "the antithesis of the city", but an urban activity that contributes to the resilience of cities.
Urban sprawl is a global phenomenon that has transformed the surrounded agricultural lands over the fringe of megacities. Vegetable production areas in the Bangkok’s peri-urban area have been at risk for changing due to the influences of urbanization. This study on the prime vegetable production areas in Bangkok, Thawi Watthana district, aimed to: 1) understand and determine the land use changes to these areas, 2) clarify the landscape configurations of these areas to assess landscape fragmentation, 3) discuss and recommend land use planning policies and measures to conserve the existing peri-urban agricultural landscape. A geographic information system (GIS) database and three thematic map layers (land use, waterways, and roads) were created and analyzed to clarify land use proportions, changes in the vegetable production areas, and the land configurations during different periods from 1976 to 2015. The Spatial Analyst in the ArcGIS 10.3 program was utilized. The results showed that vegetable production areas in the district decreased at a rate of 20.38 ha/y, even though the district was designated as an agricultural area in the Bangkok’s land use planning policies. The fragmentation of the vegetable production matrix (indicated by patch number, patch density, and mean patch size) increased due to the immediate effect of the expanded road network construction and due to a later consequence of the contiguous roadside urban development. The remaining vegetable production areas were mostly away from the primary road leading to the Bangkok center city. The monitoring system on the fragmentation of agricultural lands is essential as a database to find suitable measures to control urban sprawl in various cities.
The SARS-CoV-2 virus has caused a public health crisis globally. Against the backdrop of global resilience, studies have demonstrated the therapeutic value of home gardening as a measure to strengthen human health. However, there is a lack of comparative studies on its benefits across countries. Studies need to examine the role of home gardening in improving public health in various societies to understand and encourage this practice broadly and effectively. We chose Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam as case studies, which have suffered substantial pandemic impacts, with millions of infections and thousands of deaths. We explored and compared the perceptions of people on home gardening and its health benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted online surveys in three countries between May 1 and September 30, 2022, with a total of 1172 participants. Data were collated on perceived pandemic stress, challenges and solutions in gardening, home gardening intentions, and mental and physical health benefits. In these countries, we found that perceived pandemic stress positively affects home gardening intentions, whereby the motivation of Vietnamese people is the highest. Challenges hinder gardening intentions, while the solutions only positively affect gardening intentions in Taiwan and Vietnam. Home gardening intentions positively affect mental and physical health, whereby there are higher mental health benefits in Taiwanese people than in Thai people. Our findings potentially support public health recovery and promote healthy lifestyles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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