At Constitutional level, legislation in South Africa entrenches the provision of food and water for all its citizens. In instances where citizens are unable to provide in these basic requirements for themselves, social assistance should be provided to ensure a healthy life for all. In this regard, legislation and Town Planning ordinances and regulations are in place to ensure that built-up environments in which we live and work are healthy and safe for all. However, this study revealed that food provisioning by community gardeners is peripheral in legislation, ordinances and regulations and the practice of urban agriculture is, in many instances, in conflict with the principle of safe and healthy food for all. Community gardeners/urban agriculturists are food farmers within the city who produce food for themselves and others without the checks and balances that are otherwise applicable to food brought into the city from outside. While food production on any piece of available land is vital for these community gardeners for their sustenance and survival, it could become a potential health hazard if no checks or testing measures are in place to ensure that the food being produced is safe for human consumption. The study sought the views and perceptions of community gardeners, residents, Environmental Health Practitioners and Town Planners in the eThekwini Metro region with regards to community gardening/urban agriculture and its impact on food provisioning to citizens. For data collection, a one-on-one interviewing survey method was used with all four groups and results were calculated and converted to average percentages and analysed. The results revealed that there was conflict between legislation, ordinances and regulations regarding the production of food in the built-up environment of the EThekwini Municipality. It was also revealed that there was no cohesive policy to control the production of food produced and sold by community gardeners in the study area. The need for control measures and regulations regarding food production and sale by community gardeners was highlighted. Moreover, where ineffective or none such measures or controls exist, a transparent and consultative process involving all stakeholders must take place in order to establish up viable and sustainable control measures. The people who will be most affected by these rules, namely the community gardeners, should be pivotal role players in the establishment of a sustainable urban agriculture policy. Recommendations to address the problems illuminated by the study are presented. / Environmental Sciences / Ph. D. (Environmental Management)

Community participation is a key feature of major global health declarations and a fundamental principle of health strategies in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the frequency with which it is espoused belies the complexities associated with its practical application. Engaging communities in primary health care programmes designed to improve their health has been identified as a major challenge. This study’s objective was to explore community members’ perspectives of participation within a health development programme. The programme chosen aimed to increase the fruit and vegetable intake of targeted population groups, including M ori, Pacific peoples, and low income earners. A qualitative instrumental case study approach was adopted to examine the programme and investigate what influenced, constrained, and sustained community participation. Data collection included fieldwork over an eighteen-month period. Two programme projects were selected as the study foci: a communityled project involving distributions of thousands of free heritage variety plants; and, instigated by health services, a project establishing community gardens. These projects provided markedly different pictures of participation occurring within the same programme. The plant distributions had widespread appeal, while the community garden faltered. Community participation fitted within a description of ‘focused social action’. Participation was motivated by needs, values, and interests. While some were personal and family based, the programme also became an imagined vehicle for addressing wider health, social justice, and environmental sustainability goals. Ongoing challenges related to defining targeted communities and groups, varying degrees and types of participation, and different perspectives of participation, especially as health sector staff worked from an equity mandate and community members spoke of equality. Programme groups established as mechanisms to foster community participation had contradictory effects, engaging some as advisors, while failing to reach communities targeted for the programme. The complexities of health sector bureaucracy both enabled and constrained the programme and community participation. This thesis provides an in-depth examination of the complexities of community participation in action, the contradictory effects of contexts enveloping programmes, and the resolve of community members. It increases our understandings of how community members perceive health programmes and community participation, which are critical factors in improving population health.

Community participation is a key feature of major global health declarations and a fundamental principle of health strategies in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the frequency with which it is espoused belies the complexities associated with its practical application. Engaging communities in primary health care programmes designed to improve their health has been identified as a major challenge. This study’s objective was to explore community members’ perspectives of participation within a health development programme. The programme chosen aimed to increase the fruit and vegetable intake of targeted population groups, including M ori, Pacific peoples, and low income earners. A qualitative instrumental case study approach was adopted to examine the programme and investigate what influenced, constrained, and sustained community participation. Data collection included fieldwork over an eighteen-month period. Two programme projects were selected as the study foci: a communityled project involving distributions of thousands of free heritage variety plants; and, instigated by health services, a project establishing community gardens. These projects provided markedly different pictures of participation occurring within the same programme. The plant distributions had widespread appeal, while the community garden faltered. Community participation fitted within a description of ‘focused social action’. Participation was motivated by needs, values, and interests. While some were personal and family based, the programme also became an imagined vehicle for addressing wider health, social justice, and environmental sustainability goals. Ongoing challenges related to defining targeted communities and groups, varying degrees and types of participation, and different perspectives of participation, especially as health sector staff worked from an equity mandate and community members spoke of equality. Programme groups established as mechanisms to foster community participation had contradictory effects, engaging some as advisors, while failing to reach communities targeted for the programme. The complexities of health sector bureaucracy both enabled and constrained the programme and community participation. This thesis provides an in-depth examination of the complexities of community participation in action, the contradictory effects of contexts enveloping programmes, and the resolve of community members. It increases our understandings of how community members perceive health programmes and community participation, which are critical factors in improving population health.

In this study I explore the social organization of community gardening in Toronto. I have done this by: exploring (a) the experiences of community garden coordinators hired by non-profit organizations do to improve poor Torontonians’ access to food, and how this work occurs within and is affected by the larger framework of (b) the City of Toronto’s Community Gardens Program. This inquiry was carried out using institutional ethnography, with data collection occurring through open-ended interviews with garden coordinators and the analysis of non-profit and municipal documents. The results of the study are that garden coordinator’s work to improve access to food for poor Torontonians is at odds with the municipal understanding of community gardens and park space existing to attract economic investment to Toronto via “creative professionals.”

In this study I explore the social organization of community gardening in Toronto. I have done this by: exploring (a) the experiences of community garden coordinators hired by non-profit organizations do to improve poor Torontonians’ access to food, and how this work occurs within and is affected by the larger framework of (b) the City of Toronto’s Community Gardens Program. This inquiry was carried out using institutional ethnography, with data collection occurring through open-ended interviews with garden coordinators and the analysis of non-profit and municipal documents. The results of the study are that garden coordinator’s work to improve access to food for poor Torontonians is at odds with the municipal understanding of community gardens and park space existing to attract economic investment to Toronto via “creative professionals.”

The overall goal of this thesis project was to explore principles of sustainable development through planning and design. A 60-hectare site was chosen in Surrey, where two different community plans were designed based on the proposed Clayton general land use plan. The first community plan was based on typical or status quo development principles. The second community plan was based on alternative or sustainable principles of development as described in the East Clayton Neighbourhood Concept Plan. These two plans were then compared using nine different economic, ecological and social parameters. Further detailed design was then done for two areas on the alternative community plan; Stormwater Park, an integrated park and school site, and the Community Garden. Typical residential and commercial streets were also illustrated in detail.

Dans les années 1970, alors que la Ville de New York faisait face à une grave crise économique et sociale, des citadins ont entrepris d'investir le tissu urbain en transformant des terrains vagues en jardins collectifs. Après avoir accueilli favorablement ces initiatives grassroot qui palliaient des carences en espaces verts et articipaient à la vie des quartiers, la municipalité a cherché à les éliminer dans les années 1990, lorsque la relance économique les a fait apparaître comme un usage peu rentable du territoire. Usant de tactiques fortement médiatiques et théâtrales, les jardiniers ont réussi à protéger provisoirement une grande partie des community gardens, mais leur sort demeure aujourd'hui incertain. L'étude de l'histoire de ces jardins inscrits dans une tradition politique d'intervention par la base, ainsi que l'analyse ethnographique de quatre de ces espaces, permettent de développer un point de vue à plusieurs échelles sur un mouvement né d'initiatives ultra-locales, mais dont seule la mise en réseau à l'échelle de la métropole permet de justifier l'existence à long terme. La question se pose aujourd'hui de la manière dont ces pratiques citoyennes peuvent être intégrées à l'aménagement urbain dans la perspective des politiques de ville durable, tout en ne perdant rien de leur richesse et de leur diversité.

This study provides feedback from the Extension Officers and community garden members involved in community garden projects of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, by investigating the contribution of community gardens to household food security. The investigation included interviews with 61 Extension Officers from the Bergville, Hlanganani, Eshowe, Vryheid and Mbumbulu districts and 106 community garden members from 31 community gardens in the Bergville and Hlanganani districts. It was found that the people involved in community gardens were older persons, with little or no education. Those involved in community gardens were unemployed and relied on pensions, remittances and selling handicrafts to purchase garden inputs. The average household dependency ratios were 4, 5 and 5, 5 persons per active household member in Hlanganani and Bergville, respectively. Community garden members were mostly females, but most community garden members’ households were male-headed. The community garden members indicated that the most important reason for producing vegetables was for household use. Extension Officers were not satisfied with the state of community gardens and the relationship between the regional and district offices. Community gardens do not reflect the effort put in by the Extension Officers. The Extension Officers want to be involved in determining research priorities and be regularly informed about research findings and policy changes made at the regional level. The Extension Officers would like to see all government departments working together towards the development of communities. Extension Officers believe that if the government departments pool their resources, they would be able to serve the communities better than when each department works alone on community garden projects in the same community. Despite the initial funding of community gardens by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs, there were many factors limiting production of vegetables in community gardens. The limiting factors included poor soil fertility; small garden plot sizes; low water availability; high start-up costs and poor management of the community garden finances. The community garden members were positive about the contribution of community gardens to their lives. The benefits were in the form of information about vegetable production, cropping practices and the availability of fresh vegetables that provided nutritious food and allowed them to buy other household requirements instead of vegetables. Community garden projects have a potential role to play in the lives of many rural people if the following concerns raised by the Extension Officers are addressed: the relationship between the offices at district level and the regional level improves; the establishment and maintenance of sound channels of communication between the district field staff and the regions; research support is received from the regions; and government departments work together. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs should not only focus on providing infrastructure for projects but should also ascertain that the proposed project achieves the objectives of both the community garden members and the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Affairs and that the beneficiaries are trained before the project is handed over. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Community participation is a key feature of major global health declarations and a fundamental principle of health strategies in Aotearoa New Zealand. However, the frequency with which it is espoused belies the complexities associated with its practical application. Engaging communities in primary health care programmes designed to improve their health has been identified as a major challenge. This study’s objective was to explore community members’ perspectives of participation within a health development programme. The programme chosen aimed to increase the fruit and vegetable intake of targeted population groups, including M ori, Pacific peoples, and low income earners. A qualitative instrumental case study approach was adopted to examine the programme and investigate what influenced, constrained, and sustained community participation. Data collection included fieldwork over an eighteen-month period. Two programme projects were selected as the study foci: a communityled project involving distributions of thousands of free heritage variety plants; and, instigated by health services, a project establishing community gardens. These projects provided markedly different pictures of participation occurring within the same programme. The plant distributions had widespread appeal, while the community garden faltered. Community participation fitted within a description of ‘focused social action’. Participation was motivated by needs, values, and interests. While some were personal and family based, the programme also became an imagined vehicle for addressing wider health, social justice, and environmental sustainability goals. Ongoing challenges related to defining targeted communities and groups, varying degrees and types of participation, and different perspectives of participation, especially as health sector staff worked from an equity mandate and community members spoke of equality. Programme groups established as mechanisms to foster community participation had contradictory effects, engaging some as advisors, while failing to reach communities targeted for the programme. The complexities of health sector bureaucracy both enabled and constrained the programme and community participation. This thesis provides an in-depth examination of the complexities of community participation in action, the contradictory effects of contexts enveloping programmes, and the resolve of community members. It increases our understandings of how community members perceive health programmes and community participation, which are critical factors in improving population health.

Thesis (MTech (Business Administration in Project Management))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2018. / The purpose of this study was to investigate the failure of critical Food Security Community Gardens as poverty alleviation projects in Cape Town. Community garden projects have been used as poverty alleviation many years ago and as it are today. Community garden projects provide food like, fresh vegetables, fruits, grain, and other natural products such as wood, flowers and herbs for poor communities. The unemployment rate in South Africa is an ongoing issue; however this has made the South African government to an emphasis on community garden projects. Although there has been a commitment by South African government to promote use of community garden projects to address food insecurity, however food security still remain a major developing problem in this country. The objectives of this study were to identify aspects that may contribute to failure of critical Food Security Community Gardens as poverty alleviation projects. To identify critical success factors related to community garden projects. To address the issue of food insecurity cape flats residents in Cape Town. To find a solution to failure of critical Food Security Community Gardens as poverty alleviation. A questionnaire was developed and used as a tool to acquire inputs to satisfy the research questions. This study was based on material that was collected from school, churches, clinics, and community residents. The findings were: identification of the project risk, horticultural skills, project leadership, and land tenure and water accessibility is critical for project success. Households sometimes spend a day without eating any vegetable. The households are not always got their vegetable from community garden projects. There is a lack of project leadership skills and effective communication. Community members are educated on garden skills, Opportunity are given to children to apply gardening skills, Community parks and gardens are used to share knowledge. The analysed data has led to recommendations that it is most important to identify critical success factors that are specifically to community garden projects in order to succeed. The results from the study could enable community members, professionals and assist government officials who are involved in addressing food insecurity in order to alleviate poverty.