A methodological approach for assessing the impact of urban agriculture on water resources: a case study for community gardens in Rome (Italy)

Marta, Anna Dalla; Baldi, A.; Lenzi, Anna; Lupia, Flavio; Pulighe, Giuseppe; Santini, Emanuele; Orlandini, Simone; Altobelli, Filiberto

doi:10.1080/21683565.2018.1537323

Cited by 13 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…Only a handful of studies provide detailed accounts of farm inputs, yields, and environmental impacts. This data gap forces researchers evaluating UA to use unrepresentative statistics from rural agriculture (McClintock et al 2013 ; Aragon et al 2019 ) or to estimate values for yield and input use based on secondary data (Dalla Marta et al 2019 ; Weidner and Yang 2020 ). To study functioning UA in situ as opposed to research-oriented, ideally managed experimental urban farms, researchers use citizen science to enlist farmers to collect and report data on their farming practices (Pollard et al 2018a ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food production and resource use of urban farms and gardens: a five-country study

Dorr

Hawes

Goldstein

et al. 2023

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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There is a lack of data on resources used and food produced at urban farms. This hampers attempts to quantify the environmental impacts of urban agriculture or craft policies for sustainable food production in cities. To address this gap, we used a citizen science approach to collect data from 72 urban agriculture sites, representing three types of spaces (urban farms, collective gardens, individual gardens), in five countries (France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, and United States). We answered three key questions about urban agriculture with this unprecedented dataset: (1) What are its land, water, nutrient, and energy demands? (2) How productive is it relative to conventional agriculture and across types of farms? and (3) What are its contributions to local biodiversity? We found that participant farms used dozens of inputs, most of which were organic (e.g., manure for fertilizers). Farms required on average 71.6 L of irrigation water, 5.5 L of compost, and 0.53 m2 of land per kilogram of harvested food. Irrigation was lower in individual gardens and higher in sites using drip irrigation. While extremely variable, yields at well-managed urban farms can exceed those of conventional counterparts. Although farm type did not predict yield, our cluster analysis demonstrated that individually managed leisure gardens had lower yields than other farms and gardens. Farms in our sample contributed significantly to local biodiversity, with an average of 20 different crops per farm not including ornamental plants. Aside from clarifying important trends in resource use at urban farms using a robust and open dataset, this study also raises numerous questions about how crop selection and growing practices influence the environmental impacts of growing food in cities. We conclude with a research agenda to tackle these and other pressing questions on resource use at urban farms.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food production and resource use of urban farms and gardens: a five-country study

Dorr

Hawes

Goldstein

et al. 2023

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

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“…Urban spaces where food production takes place can be framed within urban green infrastructures, namely, multifunctional ecological areas (e.g., backyard, rooftop gardens, public gardens, and open spaces) that provide ecosystem services and benefits for human well-being (i.e., regulating, provisioning, supporting, cultural) [6,7]. Apart from food supply and nutrition issues, opportunities and benefits include the positive potentials for climate regulation [8], greenhouse gas emissions [9], air quality [10], biodiversity [11], storm-water runoff [12], rainwater harvesting [13], cultural and health issues [14], while controversies are reported for water resources [15,16]. Furthermore, UA can represent an interesting way of saving money reducing the budget earmarked for the purchase of fresh food [17].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multitemporal Geospatial Evaluation of Urban Agriculture and (Non)-Sustainable Food Self-Provisioning in Milan, Italy

Pulighe¹,

Lupia²

2019

Sustainability

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Urban agriculture in Global North cities is strongly promoted as a sustainable solution to achieve different goals, such as food production, quality of life, and well-being. Although several attempts have been made to evaluate urban agriculture production, few studies have investigated food production in a multitemporal geospatial way and considered per capita population needs, gender, and age strata consumption. This study presents a spatiotemporal quantification of urban agriculture in the city of Milan (Italy) for assessing food self-provisioning potential. We utilized high-resolution Google Earth images and ancillary data to create a detailed cadaster of urban agriculture for the years 2007 and 2014. Based on four scenarios of food production and statistical data on vegetables and cereals consumption, we estimated current total production and requirements for the city dwellers. Our results showed that the actual extension of vegetable gardens (98 ha) and arable land (2539 ha) in the best scenario could satisfy approximately 63,700 and 321,000 consumers of vegetables and cereal products, respectively. Overall, current urban agriculture production is not able to meet vegetables and cereal consumption for more than 1.3 million city residents. Scenario estimates suggest rethinking land use promoting horticultural production to achieve more sustainable food systems.

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“…In this study, both observational data and data reported by gardeners were considered for the areas occupied by the different crops in the three gardens. Regarding the yield, since the gardeners were not able to quantify the amount of vegetables harvested, we estimated crop yields based on the Italian average yield per unit area of each crop according to ISTAT (2019b), which was comparable to that found in some urban community gardens in Rome (Italy) (Dalla Marta et al, 2019).…”

Section: Cultivated Crops Dedicated Areas and Yieldmentioning

confidence: 99%

Productive function of urban gardening: estimate of the yield and nutritional value of social gardens in Prato (Italy)

Baldi,

Gallo,

Lenzi

2024

Renew. Agric. Food Syst.

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The impact of urban gardens on food production and nutrient supply is widely recognized in the literature but seldom quantified. In this paper, we present the results of a semi-structured interview conducted in the ‘social gardens’ of Prato (Italy), i.e. areas of land assigned by the Municipality to individual pensioners or unemployed people for the cultivation of vegetables intended for domestic consumption. Some demographic and socio-economic aspects, the cultivated crops and the related areas were investigated. Starting from the areas, the total production of vegetables and their minerals and vitamins contents were estimated. The typical gardener was male, retired, with an average age of 74, and a low level of education. Gardening enabled pensioners to utilize their free time, facilitated physical activity, promoted socialization, and stimulated self-esteem. A 50 m2 plot cultivated on 40% of the area produced an estimated amount of 90 kg of vegetables per year, equivalent to approximately 61.5% of a person's fruit and vegetable needs. Tomato, by far the predominant species, occupied more than 80% of the cultivated area. The highest contributions to nutrients intake concerned Vitamin C and Vitamin A, the lowest Ca and Na. A higher yield and a greater and more balanced nutrient supply could be easily obtained through better use of the land (reduction of uncultivated area and greater assortment of vegetables). In our view, raising gardeners' awareness of this aspect and involving them in training programs on agricultural practices, vegetables composition, and nutrition, could be helpful for increasing the nutrient productivity of the plots and, ultimately, for strengthening the productive function of social gardens.

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A methodological approach for assessing the impact of urban agriculture on water resources: a case study for community gardens in Rome (Italy)

Cited by 13 publications

References 14 publications

Food production and resource use of urban farms and gardens: a five-country study

Food production and resource use of urban farms and gardens: a five-country study

Multitemporal Geospatial Evaluation of Urban Agriculture and (Non)-Sustainable Food Self-Provisioning in Milan, Italy

Productive function of urban gardening: estimate of the yield and nutritional value of social gardens in Prato (Italy)

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