ASSESSING PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF URBAN AGRICULTURE IN CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES: TOWARDS DEVELOPING ACTION PLANS

Background and Purpose: Urban agriculture (UA) has become an even more attractive option for food security and safety brought by the spread of COVID-19 which causes global health crisis. However, studies examining the perceived values, challenges, and needs towards urban agriculture are very limited and this does not exempt even the context of Cebu City in the Philippines. In this regard, this study aimed to assess the problems and prospects concerning urban agriculture in the aforementioned City. The purposes are to propose action plans and offer insights in designing and implementing food and agricultural programs and policies in the planned participatory action research (PAR) for sustainable urban agriculture. Methodology: This study used Kemmis and McTaggart’s (1988) Model of Action Research. The use of this research method is an essential approach towards constructing sustainable developments of urban agricultural systems. However, only the planning stage was accomplished in this phase of action research of which it employed sequential explanatory research design. There were 509 household representatives in this stage of the study who participated in an online survey, 217 and 292 were from the north district and south district, respectively. Subsequently, each district had five representatives who were subjected to interviews to explain the quantitative results. Findings: Results indicate that Cebuanos positively perceives the social, economic, health, environmental, and aesthetic values of urban agriculture. However, the presence of urban agriculture in the metropolitan is only from moderate to nonexistent due to lack of space or designated area. In addition, the participants disclosed a lack of training and capital or funding, thus further disengaging them from adopting urban agriculture. Nonetheless, the majority (n=463) expressed willingness to be trained in urban agriculture if given the opportunity. Contributions: This study provides key points as to how urban agriculture can be promoted. These include designating some portions of public and privately unused lands as “urban agriculture areas”. In addition, financing institutions may also allocate small subsidies for marginally low-income families as their starting capital for urban agriculture activities. Finally, universities, non-government, and government agencies in the agriculture sector may train Cebuanos in backyard and rooftop gardening being the widely accepted urban agriculture form. Keywords: Action research, perceived challenges, perceived needs, perceived values, urban agriculture. Cite as: Cortes, S. T., Bugtai, V. H., Lampawog, E. Q., Sadili, C. B., Agero, A. D., Ramas, C. B., … Lorca, A. S. (2022). Understanding the issues of citizen participation. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 7(1), 264-291. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol7iss1pp264-291

Role of Urban Agriculture for Livelihood Improvement, Waste Management and Greening in Case of Hawassa City

Background: Urban agriculture is one of the strategies to enhance the livelihood of the urban community, ensure food security and nutrition. Despite, the increasing development of the practice in Hawaassa city, its environmental and societal perspectives had been neglected. Moreover, the increase in urbanization due to several social-economic reasons has become a challenge for urban agriculture practices. Methodology: This study was aimed at investigating the roles of urban agriculture on livelihood improvement, waste management, and urban greening. A purposive random sampling technique was employed to select sample households. Besides questionnaire surveys and key informant interviews were used to elicit necessary information while literature analysis supplemented the data. Result: It was found that urban agriculture in the study area is maintaining the cultural experience of the local society, generating income, and introducing saving habits. It has also improved the esthetic value of the city via utilization of the organic waste. Hence, urban agriculture in the city is compatible with urban job creation, price adjustment, and provision of a green urban environment. Conclusion: Urban agricultural practices should keep the phase of increasing urbanization in the study area.

Global Trends in Urban Agriculture Research: A Pathway toward Urban Resilience and Sustainability

Urban agriculture has been proposed as an important urban element to deal with the challenges of food insecurity and environmental deterioration. In order to track current popular topics and global research trends in urban agriculture, we used bibliometric analysis and visualization mapping to evaluate and analyze the developments in the knowledge of urban agriculture based on 605 papers from the core collection database Web of Science from 2001–2021. The results were as follows. (1) The number of urban agriculture publications increased substantially year by year, indicating that the field is attracting increasing attention. The University of Kassel, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and University of Freiburg are the most productive research institutions in the field of urban agriculture. The top-five most influential countries are the Unites States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy, and China, of which the Unites States plays a central role in the cooperative linkage between countries. (2) Research on urban agriculture focuses not only on food production and different styles but also on how to realize the various functions of urban agriculture. In addition, UA-related sustainability and the water-energy-food nexus have become two emerging research topics. (3) Urban agriculture does not necessarily mean a resource-conserving and environmentally friendly food system. To achieve sustainable development, a transition based on technological innovation is needed. How to improve the sustainable development level of the food system while fully considering the resilience, sustainability, and versatility of urban agriculture is the main direction of future research.