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Sub
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It is estimated that 200 million urban Africans
will be partly dependent on urban agriculture for
their food by 2020. Urban farming is a survival
strategy for many of the urban poor in Africa,
with a large amount of women involved in it. Yet
in most African countries it has been undervalued
and resisted by generations of public officials.
This attitude has only recently begun to change
as a result of the growing awareness of urban agriculture's
potential to alleviate growing hunger, poverty,
and environmental crises in African metropolises.
In the 1980's several governments began to play
a supportive role in the transformation of African
cities through urban agriculture, most notably
in countries such as Tanzania, Malawi, and Ethiopia.
In other countries too, there was a rise in urban
agricultural activities. Surveys indicated that
one fifth and one half of households in the capital
cities of Kenya and Uganda respectively were engaged
in urban agriculture in the 1980s. Recent figures
show higher proportions especially in small and
medium-sized towns.
Partly as a response to the lack of public support
for urban agriculture, and partly due to lack of
sufficient physical and financial inputs, the poor
in many African cities evolved their own marginal
modes of urban agriculture. Most commonly noted
is the "roadside agriculture" that has developed
within many cities, and for miles on the periphery.
Horticulture and grazing are being practiced along
roadsides, stream banks, and in public and private
vacant or derelict land areas.
According to UN-Habitat, the number of urban slum-dwellers
in Sub-Saharan Africa has doubled between 1990
and 2005, from 100 to 200 million people. It
is estimated that by 2020 this figure will double.
Slum dwellers are usually more likely to be involved
in urban agricultural activities due to their economic
status. Therefore, legitimizing urban agriculture
activities is crucial for the well being of these
marginal peoples. With some exceptions, urban
agriculture in Africa today is less efficient and
productive than in Asia and Europe. In general,
it falls into the informal and "quasi-legal" category.
It is typically under financed and uses low quality
seeds, feed, and other inputs. In most African
countries, urban agriculture is split into farming
systems of the rich and farming systems of the
poor with a big difference in the quality of inputs,
technical assistance and credit available to farmers.
Nonetheless, urban agriculture is firmly rooted
in Africa as a vibrant, effective industry with
excellent prospects for growth.
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