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Urban agriculture is an increasingly popular practice in cities worldwide, and a sustainable future for it is critical, especially for the urban poor of the developing world. This book presents the first findings of original field research projects funded by IDRC's AGROPOLIS International Graduate Research Awards on Urban Agriculture. Countries studied include Cuba, Argentina, Botswana, France, the UK, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Togo and Tunisia. Together, these studies examine concrete strategies to better integrate "city farming" into the urban landscape.

Full text: http://web.idrc.ca/openebooks/186-8/

To purchase the book:

http://shop.earthscan.co.uk/ProductDetails/mcs/ProductID/586/GroupID/6/CategoryID/3/v/182972b4-ad33-4bfc-b649-d6f972a327df

Not wasting waste: improving the livelihoods of poor urban waste pickers

Sifting through and recycling used glass, metals and plastics is the only way for many urban inhabitants in low income countries to earn a living. In most cases they do not recycle all the waste and leave low value waste (LVW) unutilised. Greater attention needs to be paid to mechanisms for converting LVW into energy, as this will benefit urban poor people.

http://www.id21.org/urban/u4sk1g1.html

Composting - a business for the urban poor?

As cities in developing countries continue to grow at a rapid rate, rubbish has become a severe problem. Municipal authorities struggle to dispose ever increasing quantities of urban solid waste. Previous top-down approaches have given little attention non-municipal initiated solutions. Recycling of organic waste is almost non-existent. Composting could at the same time contribute to the Millennium Development Goals of reducing poverty and enhancing environmental sustainability.

http://www.id21.org/zinter/id21zinter.exe?a=0&i=u3ma1g1&u=428a050b

Linking rural and urban livelihoods for poverty reduction in marginal areas

The majority of the world's poor people live in rural areas. Although most are farmers, many households also pursue a variety of other livelihood strategies. Attempts to create non-agricultural opportunities in marginal areas have met with limited success. The reality is that the only prospect of diversification into non-farm occupations is to travel to towns and cities. What can be done to strengthen the links between rural and urban livelihoods?

http://www.id21.org/zinter/id21zinter.exe?a=0&i=r1pd1g2&u=428a050b

Are Land Titles the Solution to Urban Poverty?

The promise of land titling as a powerful policy instrument to attack poverty has been recently reinvigorated in policy circles by the work of De Soto (2000). His work argues vehemently that titled property creates capital because formal landholders could use these assets as collateral for loans. In turn, this credit could be invested as capital increasing their labor productivity and hence, the income of the poor. However, rigorous evidence backing up these effects is scant and ambiguous. Are land-titling programs a powerful tool to reduce poverty or will the societies that adopt them face another policy delusion? In other words, what are the causal effects of urban land titling?

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/poverty/highlights/showMore.do

Understanding Urban Chronic Poverty: Crossing the Qualitive

Author(s): Kedir, A.M.

This paper summarises the recent quantitative and qualitative evidence on urban poverty in Ethiopia. The author contends that the analysis of poverty dynamics is difficult and has been neglected, hence most of the studies reviewed here focus on urban poverty at a particular point in time. The paper also attempts to discuss in some detail what little evidence exists on urban chronic poverty.

This paper examines the consistency of findings across studies which use different methodological approaches and considers key correlates or dimensions of poverty such as livelihood insecurity, gender, income/total household expenditure, prices and HIV/AIDS. Finally, the study identifies the emerging research agenda, future research strategy and activities. The paper concludes that since most of the studies reviewed are static in nature, it is suggested that future research should focus on the analysis of household welfare in a dynamic sense.

http://www.eldis.org/cf/rdr/rdr.cfm?doc=DOC18403

Can the links between rural and urban areas reduce poverty?

The majority of the world's poor people live in rural areas. Most are farmers but many households pursue a variety of other activities to generate income. Attempts to create non-agricultural opportunities in the poorest areas have not had much success. The only prospect of finding non-farm jobs is in towns and cities.

http://www.id21.org/society/r1pd1g2.html

Migration from rural areas may triple slum dwellers by 2050 - UN HABITAT

The United Nations organization HABITAT has warned that growing poverty and urbanization may result in a tripling of populations living in the world's slums to three billion people by the middle of the century.

http://www.edcnews.se/Research/UrbanslumsHABITAT.html

Health Benefits of Urban Agriculture - Public Health and Food Security

PDF "Research shows that gardening is a preferred form of exercise across age, gender, and ethnicity. Overall, older persons do more gardening than younger ones. Even moderate forms of garden exercise increase muscle strength and endurance in activity-reduced persons including pregnant women, cancer survivors, and those generally sedentary." Also a one page handout for public health officials is available here: Factsheet: Health Benefits of Urban Agriculture - Public Health and Food Security

http://www.foodsecurity.org/UAHealthArticle.pdf

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