Urban Harvest- Research- Framework

Urban Livelihoods Activities

Eco-health project

Livelihoods study of urban agriculturalists in Yaounde

Seedling production for fruit trees in the urban areas of Yaounde

Assessment of market opportunities for urban farmers in Kampala

Enhancing the contribution of crop-livestock systems and agro-processing to sustainable livelihoods in peri-urban Hanoi

Research in urban and peri-urban Manila, Philippines into an agro-enterprise cluster based on sampaguita (jasmine) garland-making

Strengthening Urban Agriculture in Kampala, Uganda

Evaluating potentials for crop-livestock integration in urban and peri-urban areas in Yaounde, Cameroon

Confronting urban poverty through agriculture: the case of the eastern cone of Lima, Peru

An IITA-led activity, “Livelihoods study of Urban Agriculturalists in Yaounde, Cameroon”, identified three major types of cropping system:

(1) mixed crop systems dominated by open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) of improved maize in the upland areas (vacant lots, unused municipal lands);

(2) monocropping systems of OPVs of improved maize grown in valley bottoms and;

(3) intensive horticultural systems in valley bottoms, primarily the production of traditional leafy vegetables (TLVs).

In addition, there is widespread use of small home garden plots for growing leafy vegetables and stands of banana, plantain, avocado African plum and other fruit trees around homesteads. Within the various cropping systems, the research identified two types of agricultural units: “commercial” and “household food” producers. Based on the criteria of producing for sale, at least, half of the output came from one of their products. It was recognized that production for both sale and food exists in both types of producers. Although both types of producers were found in each cropping system, there was a close correlation between the valley bottom systems and commercial production (87%) and upland systems and household food production (80%).

The study found that women are the main producers for household food and for sales, accounting for 87% of the total sample. Amongst those men who are involved, they are overwhelmingly associated with production for sale. The sometimes-voiced idea that commercial production requires greater education was not supported by the findings. Only a quarter of commercial producers had received secondary education compared with 42% among those producing for household food, which may reflect the fact that skilled or semi-skilled adults engaged in other occupations are also producing food for the household. Among the commercial producers, enterprise budgets indicated monthly earnings of 36,000 CFA ($69) per month, which is above minimum wage. Children are commonly engaged in farm laboring in both commercial and household food production (57%) and are sometimes engaged in potentially hazardous activities such as applying pesticides. The higher levels of morbidity and higher health care expenses reported by commercial producers may be linked to pesticide use, or may be due to another health risk affecting this group - the contaminated water in the valley bottoms where they are mostly farming.

The study confirmed the frequently reported insecure tenancy arrangements associated with urban and peri-urban agriculture. Just over half (55%) of all producers reported having been forced to abandon fields because of tenurial issues, though this occurred with greater frequency among household food producers than with commercial producers where customary rights were more common.

An ICRAF/IRAD-led project in Cameroon, “Seedling production for fruit trees in the urban areas of Yaounde”, sought to identify opportunities and constraints for improvements in seedling enterprises in the city. A survey found that although nurseries were found all over the city, they were very unequally distributed. This was due to the choice of location, based on quality of nearby clients (31%), ease of access by customers to the nursery (23%), availability of land (15%), water availability (26%). Furthermore, new nursery enterprises choose to cluster close together, to seek opportunities for complementarity – carrying different species – and also benefiting from the combined publicity. Although this study focused on tree nurseries (23% of all nurseries), the most common types were horticultural (41%) followed by mixed nurseries (36%). These are primarily male-led enterprises, with female leadership in only 10% of cases. They are also led predominantly by skilled individuals: 46% of the sample had higher education qualifications, 60% had had professional training in gardening/nurseries and 23% have professional titles (ingenieur). Apart from the skills that are involved in these enterprises, this also suggests that many nursery owners have diversified livelihoods with different income sources.

Although there is in general considerable genetic diversity in the urban nurseries (as many as 50 species were found in the nurseries), individually there are a limited number of species available: on average only 5. The survey indicated that there is strong interest to establish greater access to seed supplies of new species, especially of local fruit trees such as safoutier or African plum (Dacryyodes edulis) and kola through links with rural nurseries and seeds. In fact, lack of seed material was mentioned as one of the major constraints, along with management of pests and diseases. A workshop organized for both rural and urban nursery enterprise owners revealed opportunities for reciprocal assistance with their different constraints: the rural nurseries have problems with market access, whereas the urban nurseries lack species diversity and seed multiplication techniques. Participants proposed innovative solutions:

a) buy – sell, where urban nursery owners buy planting material of new species from rural producers;

b) sub-contract, where urban owners place orders for plants;

c) store – sell, where rural owners transfer some of their produce to urban nurseries and compensate the latter for the service.

Mechanisms for implementing these options could be greatly supported by both IRAD and ICRAF.

A study in Kampala, led by CIAT/IITA, “An assessment of market opportunities for urban farmers” has taken a demand-oriented enterprise approach to assessing market opportunities, with an emphasis on maximizing economic opportunities through analyzing the market in terms of product potential for farmers:

- Products whose demand exceeds supply
- Products that are in scarce supply
- Products that are currently sold by urban and peri-urban farmers
- Alternative high value products that could be grown by urban and peri-urban farmers

A matrix has been built of the product criteria and the types of market outlets, to show where they may be most relevant. A rapid market survey provided information on the levels of demand and supply and indications about possible alternative high value products. A production characterization assessed the opportunities and constraints of increased production and/or selling to different outlets of products in high demand and/or scarce supply or which have high potential as alternative products, taking into consideration the need for sustainable production practices. A commercial characterization, based on the rapid market survey, also, provides information on quality requirements, and type and location of clientele for the product, which further narrows down potential products. Finally, an economic evaluation determined the likely financial benefits that could accrue to producers who enter the different markets. On the basis of these characterizations, the study came up with eight products with high enterprise potential: poultry, dairy cattle, piggery, avocado, mango, papaya, leafy vegetables and mushrooms as a high value alternative crop. These options were presented to farmers in a feedback process, which resulted in farmers choosing poultry, mushrooms and pig-raising as their best-bet options for agro-enterprise. It is hoped that these options can be further explored in a subsequent phase of the project.

A CIAT/CIP-led project in Hanoi, Vietnam, on Enhancing the contribution of crop-livestock systems and agro-processing to sustainable livelihoods in peri-urban Hanoi completed phase 1 during 2001. This activity examined the contribution to household livelihood of piglet-raising and root crop processing enterprises in two communes on the fringes of Hanoi. The study identified clusters of enterprises associated in one case with the raising of got or young pigs (weighing about 25 –27kg when sold) and in the other, with the production of starch. Within the pig-raising clusters, although all households are also farming, pigs provide the great majority of income. Small-scale starch processing, because it involves an intermediate, highly versatile product, generates a highly complex cluster involving multiple activities and relationships. Though the commune studied contains nearly 2200 households, almost 5000 enterprise activities were recorded, indicating that households engage in multiple livelihood activities related to starch. As in the case of the pig enterprises, starch-related activities tends to provide the major income source, with pig-raising based on use of by-products for feed also being of considerable importance for some households. Both of these enterprise clusters involve intensive credit relations, which facilitate investments, but also, in some cases, creates cash flow problems.

Phase 1 looked in particular at the innovation processes involved in these livelihood activities and to what extent clustering of enterprises facilitates such innovation. The study found that especially in the starch cluster, innovation spreads rapidly through the clustering of different enterprises, mainly driven by the machine manufacturers. More generally, it found that social capital is nevertheless rather weak in both settings, with quite high levels of distrust. It seems that innovation has taken off on the back of commercial calculations rather than social sharing.

Second phase interventions have begun recently in the pig-raising clusters with evaluation of alternative feeds. Vietnamese scientists associated with the project note that opportunity exists for improvements in pig-feed practices through replacing cooked rice (a traditional practice) with fresh maize. This not only cuts down on fuel consumption at household level, but also results in a better growth and appearance of the pigs.

UPWARD and the University of the Philippines led research in urban and peri-urban Manila, Philippines into an agro-enterprise cluster based on sampaguita (jasmine) garland-making. The project began with a livelihoods study of the different household-based enterprises making up this cluster. That study included a characterization of flower producers and indicated high and very late use of pesticides (97% of respondents spray as little as 12 hours before buds are picked). Because of the intensive handling of buds by farmers/pickers, traders, garland makers and garland sellers, sometimes within a day of picking, health risks were considered potentially high. As a result of these findings the second phase of this project is focusing on pest management and pesticide use practices among the garland-making enterprises.

CIAT is leading an interdisciplinary and multi-agency research team in Uganda on Strengthening Urban Agriculture in Kampala. The project includes a study of livelihoods and production systems amongst Kampala households involved in agriculture by CIAT, CIP and local partners from Makerere University and Kampala City Council. It is divided into three components: Livelihoods and production systems in UPA in Kampala; Market opportunities for urban farmers; technical interventions to support UPA. As part of an initial need to understand the current situation of UPA in different parts of the city and to identify schools where particular technical interventions can be targeted, a Participatory Urban Appraisal (PUA) was conducted in four parishes representing different spatial characteristics of the city: urban old; urban new; peri-urban in transition to urban; and peri-urban stable. Rootcrops (sweetpotato, taro, cassava) are important in most of the locations, often for self-provisioning but also for sale to the market. Eating banana (matooke) is another important food security crop in several areas and chicken-raising is also widely spread. Dairy production is an important source of cash income for some families, even in the old urban location. Using wealth ranking and other participatory techniques participants characterized four socio-economic groups from “very rich to extreme poor”, using key indicators such as health care, education, material possessions, domestic circumstances and employment. It also differentiated a wide range of agricultural activities which have provisionally been used to develop a farming typology or more realistically, a number of key “farming styles”: smallholder poultry farms; smallholder mixed-crop and livestock provisioning systems; off-plot provisioning/economic survival systems; intensive mixed-crop and livestock systems. Farming is clearly combined with several other livelihood strategies in the different socio-economic groups, such as office work among the better off and pottery and laboring among the poorest. Following up on the insights from the PUA study, two groups are conducting on-going in depth studies into livelihoods and production systems.

The component looking at technical interventions works with three schools to explore their potential for UPA extension and the commercial production of seeds for UPA. This work concentrates on evaluating and demonstrating new varieties of sweetpotato, maize and beans and the application of agronomic innovations. The marketing component has not yet started.

As part of efforts to consolidate understanding of the current situation of UPA in Kampala, the CIAT-Urban Harvest project has produced an annotated bibliography of research and development related to UPA in Uganda (“Farming in the City: an annotated bibliography of urban and peri-urban agriculture in Uganda”). The project has also assembled resource materials to establish a library in CIP’s offices in Kampala.

An IITA/IRAD-led project in Yaounde, Cameroon evaluating potentials for crop-livestock integration in urban and peri-urban areas surveyed pig and poultry keepers around Yaounde during 2002. The study found these are primarily income-generating enterprises run by women and youth. Pig farmers manage integrated systems with intensive use of manure, whereas the poultry producers have less integrated systems and preliminary results indicate significant quantities are not marketed, leading to lost resources and possible environmental and health risks. Full analysis of results and recommendations for action research are expected in 2003.

Two other research components related to this project deal with seedling production for fruit trees in the urban areas, and development of a model of urban food supply.

In Lima, Peru, a pre-feasibility study identified the shantytown and agricultural areas of the city's "Eastern Cone" as the research site for strengthening the role of agriculture in alleviating urban poverty. Satellite imagery, census databases, data from the irrigation authority and from the Ministry of Agriculture were integrated through Geographic Information Systems (GIS) techniques to understand land use in the target areas (Click here to read a recent report on the use of GIS tools to analyze peri-urban agriculture in Lima).
The preparatory studies also included background analyses of public-sector programs addressing food and nutritional security issues in Lima, (especially as they affect young children from 6 months to 3 years), and studies of market demand for vegetables, poultry products and crops in Lima markets. On the urban policy planning front, a stakeholder dialogue was initiated involving the "Eastern Cone" research site. A first meeting with the Mayor elicited an agreement for the group of Urban Harvest-led partners to participate on the municipal reorganization to ensure institutional viability for UPA.

The above studies have paved the way for the new project- “Confronting urban poverty through agriculture: the case of the eastern cone of Lima, Peru”, which is funded by the Government of Spain (click here to read more). In addition to addressing animal and crop production issues, marketing constraints and environmental concerns, the project will also continue nutrition research on the use of local crops and livestock products as components of cheap and nutritious infant foods. As part of the livelihood focus, cooperating scientists and local producers will evaluate improved pest management strategies, better marketing options and ways to recycle organic and animal residues.