PI external reviews : summary of report; Cities Feeding People (CFP) - report to IDRC Board of Governors, March 2004

French version available in IDRC Digital Library: Résumé du rapport de l'examen externe de l'initiative de programme Agriculture urbaine (AU) présenté au Conseil des gouverneurs du CRDI en mars 200

Résumé du rapport de l'examen externe de l'initiative de programme Agriculture urbaine (AU) présenté au Conseil des gouverneurs du CRDI en mars 2004

Version anglaise disponible dans la Bibliothèque numérique du CRDI: PI external reviews : summary of report; Cities Feeding People (CFP) - report to IDRC Board of Governors, March 200

Promoting indigenous vegetables in urban agriculture & livelihoods : policy lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa

[From Introduction] Globally, the growth of urbanised areas continues at an exponential rate, and most spectacularly in the developing world. The global urban population will increase from 2.9 billion in 2000 to 5.0 billion by 2030. The mean rate of urban growth in non-OECD countries between 2000 and 2005 was just under 3% per annum, compared to 0.5 % for rural regions of the same countries (UN-Habitat 2006). Although the proportion of Africans currently living in urban areas is the lowest in the world (+ 40%), because of this low base it is not unsurprising that the rates of urbanisation are among the highest at approximately 4.3% per annum. Projections vary, but sometime in the mid- 2020s over 50% of Africa's population will be living in urban areas, as compared to just 15% in 1950 and 34% in 1994. As urbanisation takes place another important trend is revealed, namely the locus of poverty in Africa is slowly shifting from rural to urban areas. For example, it is estimated that more than 56% of the world's absolute or chronic poor will be concentrated in urban areas (WRI 1996). Since as much as 60-80% of the income of the urban poor is spent on the purchase of food (Maxwell et al. 2000), the issue of food supply, both its quantity and quality, is increasingly a central issue in poverty reduction debates and strategies. In rural areas, a common strategy to alleviate poverty is to call for measures to boost small-holder food production. Surprisingly, this is less common in urban poverty alleviation programmes, despite the widespread promise of urban and household agriculture in contributing to improved food security

Urban agriculture and Anopheles habitats in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

A cross-sectional survey of agricultural areas, combined with routinely monitored mosquito larval information, was conducted in urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to investigate how agricultural and geographical features may influence the presence of Anopheles larvae. Data were integrated into a geographical information systems framework, and predictors of the presence of Anopheles larvae in farming areas were assessed using multivariate logistic regression with independent random effects. It was found that more than 5% of the study area (total size 16.8 km2) was used for farming in backyard gardens and larger open spaces. The proportion of habitats containing Anopheles larvae was 1.7 times higher in agricultural areas compared to other areas (95% confidence interval = 1.56-1.92). Significant geographic predictors of the presence of Anopheles larvae in gardens included location in lowland areas, proximity to river, and relatively impermeable soils. Agriculture-related predictors comprised specific seedbed types, mid-sized gardens, irrigation by wells, as well as cultivation of sugar cane or leafy vegetables. Negative predictors included small garden size, irrigation by tap water, rainfed production and cultivation of leguminous crops or fruit trees. Although there was an increased chance of finding Anopheles larvae in agricultural sites, it was found that breeding sites originated by urban agriculture account for less than a fifth of all breeding sites of malaria vectors in Dar es Salaam. It is suggested that strategies comprising an integrated malaria control effort in malaria-endemic African cities include participatory involvement of farmers by planting shade trees near larval habitats

Participatory Mapping of Target Areas to Enable Operational Larval Source Management to Suppress Malaria Vector Mosquitoes in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Background: Half of the population of Africa will soon live in towns and cities where it can be protected from malaria by controlling aquatic stages of mosquitoes. Rigorous but affordable and scaleable methods for mapping and managing mosquito habitats are required to enable effective larval control in urban Africa. Methods: A simple community-based mapping procedure that requires no electronic devices in the field was developed to facilitate routine larval surveillance in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The mapping procedure included (1) community-based development of sketch maps and (2) verification of sketch maps through technical teams using laminated aerial photographs in the field which were later digitized and analysed using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Results: Three urban wards of Dar es Salaam were comprehensively mapped, covering an area of 16.8 km2. Over thirty percent of this area were not included in preliminary community-based sketch mapping, mostly because they were areas that do not appear on local government residential lists. The use of aerial photographs and basic GIS allowed rapid identification and inclusion of these key areas, as well as more equal distribution of the workload of malaria control field staff. Conclusion: The procedure developed enables complete coverage of targeted areas with larval control through comprehensive spatial coverage with community-derived sketch maps. The procedure is practical, affordable, and requires minimal technical skills. This approach can be readily integrated into malaria vector control programmes, scaled up to towns and cities all over Tanzania and adapted to urban settings elsewhere in Africa

Land tenure, food security, gender and urbanization in Northern Ghana

Links between land tenure and food and nutritional insecurity are receiving increased attention. Nevertheless, urban and periurban dwellers face challenges in accessing land to produce food for subsistence and sale. An ethnographic study and food and nutrition insecurity survey were conducted between October 2013 and November 2014 in Tamale, Northern Region of Ghana, to explore the dynamic and recursive links between land access, food access and the ability to maintain resources to meet long-term needs. Results showed that infra structural development and agriculture compete for land. The shortage of land for agricultural purposes was pronounced in urban areas (20%) than in periurban areas (1.3%) and rural areas (0%). Food insecure households were more likely to name a lack of land than anything else as the primary reason for their inability to grow crops (Fisher’s exact probability = 0.040). Urban and periurban dwellers cope with the constraints posed in the communal tenure system by using strategies such as urban–periurban-rural migrant farming and buffer zone cultivation. The role of women in providing nutritious soups is especially important, and they use various mechanisms to circumvent their lack of access to land and provide food for the household. Political, economic and cultural elements thus interact to constitute the link between land and food

Agriculture, environment, and health toward sustainable solutions: understanding the links between agriculture and health

"Agricultural production relies on environmental services to transform raw inputs into the nutritious and diverse food that humans rely on for survival. Although the practice of agriculture is essential for human health, careless and inappropriate agricultural practices can degrade and contaminate natural resources and in so doing, harm human health. Modified agricultural practices can help mitigate these problems. This brief provides an overview of the linkages between agriculture, environment, and health, some of which are dealt with in more detail in other briefs in this series." From textAgricultural production, Environmental services, Food crops, Nutrition security, Nutritional status, plant breeding, pesticides, Fertilizers, Agriculture-health linkages,

Final report to IDRC : Urban Poverty and Environment (UPE); external review

This External Review focuses on two aspects of the Urban Poverty and Environment Program (UPE): the extent to which the program meets its objectives; and the results and effectiveness of the Program. Approximately 190 people were interviewed, mostly IDRC’s research partners, including researchers, government and community leaders. Objectives identified in the UPE Prospectus were clearly formulated. The evaluation reviews capacity building, policy influence, contributions to technology development, environmental improvement, community strengthening, tenure security and disaster vulnerability