Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Source: CAB Abstracts and academic search premier.
Figure 13.1 The growth of peer-reviewed articles with 'UA' in their title,
1985-2008
Some remaining questions for researchers
Economic issues
At the centre of UA is a question that has not yet been satisfactorily answered:
precisely what is the contribution that UA makes to the urban economy?
Many topics, articles and research begin with the premise that UA is making a
contribution. However, a question remains: how much of an economic
influence does it actually have? How are profits spent? Who benefits directly
or indirectly?
Much of the work exploring UA through the lens of economics touches
only on descriptive financial data. Data on revenue and costs are acquired and
presented over relatively short periods. To date, there have been few
integrated, large-scale economic studies on the topic. Many are limited
surveys of a few informal farmers, so there is not much in the way of
comparative methodologies. Nonetheless, most reports on UA start from the
premise that it is an important economic activity which only has case evidence
to offer as proof. In order to confirm this statement, it is important that
robust, broad economic analysis be conducted.
Another issue that confounds researchers is the scale at which UA takes
place. UA exists on a small scale (e.g. household subsistence gardening) as
well as on much larger scales (livestock farms and peri-urban agricultural
industries). Revenue generation in the former may simply be in the tens of
