Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
13
FOOD FOR THOUGHT? LINKING URBAN
AGRICULTURE AND LOCAL FOOD
PRODUCTION FOR FOOD SECURITY AND
DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC
Alec Thornton
Throughout the developed and developing world, millions of people engage in urban
and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) for a variety of reasons and using different produc-
tion and distribution systems. In differentiating 'urban' from 'rural' production sys-
tems, perhaps it is helpful to ask the question 'what is agriculture'? According to the
Oxford Dictionary, 'agriculture' is
the science or practice of farming, including cultiv-
ation of the soil, for the growing of crops and the rearing of animals to provide food,
wool and other products.
Agriculture taking place in urban setings will have harac-
teristics that distinguish it from rural types of cultivation. Although both types of pro-
duction systems share certain biophysical and natural determinants, an urban classi-
ication includes additional atributes, suh as unique productivity constraints (issues
of legality, land tenure, pollutants), spatial form (vacant lots, rooftops) and practical
function (husbandry, crops, informal source of income and employment).
When observing urban agriculture as a distinct typology, there appears to be sig-
nificant differentiation in its practice, reflecting varying levels of economic and social
development. In the global North it often takes the form of a social movement for sus-
tainable communities, where organic growers, 'foodies' and 'locavores' (those who
eat locally-produced food) form social networks founded on a shared ethos of nature
and community holism. These networks can evolve when receiving formal institu-
tional support, becoming integrated into local town planning as a 'transition town'
movement for sustainable urban development. In the developing South, food secur-
ity, nutrition and income generation are key motivations for the practice. However, in
both areas, it largely exists as an informal activity that is too often discouraged by city
