Dialectics of Mainstreaming Agriculture in Urban Planning and Management of Cities of the Global South

Abstract

Most cities in the global south have evolved overtime with significant organic changes in their wake. One of the noticeable changes is the emergence of pockets of city-based agricultural activities, a previously rural-based activity. There are varying interpretations behind this new trend. With increased agglomeration arising from rural-urban migration, residents resort to farming as a panacea to urban challenges. Even employed urban residents resort to agriculture for supplementary income. This emerging scenario has generated debates, dialectics, and polemics among stakeholders as to the propriety or otherwise of this development. This chapter, therefore, takes a panoramic view to all the sides of the issue through review scoping of desktop research method. Specifically, it examines the scope of increase in urban agriculture (UA), the types and nature of UA; urban planners’ attitude towards UA, and then propose the management strategies such as promoting agriculture-friendly urban plans for access to agricultural land and practices. The findings revealed that UA takes place on residential land, undeveloped private/public lands, and riverbanks. The prominent UA activities are animal husbandry, aquaculture, cultivation of food and cash crops, etc. The urban-planning measures for integrating UA into the urban environment include inculcating UA-responsive policies in broad plans.