Introdução: A alimentação é culturalmente e socialmente construída e é um direito humano básico, além de ser influenciada por determinantes sociais, do acesso, do ambiente e do sistema alimentar. Frequentemente, indivíduos que vivem em meios urbanos estão desconectados do ciclo de vida dos alimentos. As hortas urbanas promovem um aprendizado coletivo por meio da vivência e da experimentação e podem ser vistas como um espaço repleto de oportunidades para a prática da alimentação adequada e saudável. Objetivos: 1) Identificar e sintetizar os estudos publicados entre 2005 e 2015 que avaliaram a influência da participação em hortas urbanas em desfechos relacionados à alimentação e nutrição entre adultos e idosos; 2) Descrever as práticas de aquisição de frutas e hortaliças de moradores de áreas periféricas da região metropolitana de São Paulo e como eles percebem o acesso a estes alimentos naqueles ambientes; e 3) Descrever as influências na alimentação decorrentes da experiência de crianças com o cultivo de alimentos em hortas escolares. Métodos: Tese composta por três manuscritos. No primeiro foi realizada uma revisão sistemática dos estudos publicados entre 2005 e 2015, selecionados a partir da busca em cinco bases de dados, envolvendo adultos e/ou idosos não institucionalizados participantes de hortas urbanas que apresentassem resultados na alimentação. No segundo manuscrito foram realizadas entrevistas com indivíduos residentes em regiões adstritas a quatro Unidades Básicas de Saúde de um município da região metropolitana de São Paulo. No terceiro foram realizadas entrevistas com educadores e pais de educandos de três escolas do mesmo município que possuíam hortas escolares. Resultados: Os estudos incluídos na revisão sistemática apontaram que das experiências com hortas urbanas foram identificados eixos temáticos relacionados à alimentação adequada e saudável como: maior consumo de frutas e hortaliças, maior acesso a alimentos saudáveis, maior reconhecimento da culinária, o compartilhamento da colheita com familiares e amigos, valorização da produção orgânica e apropriação da importância da alimentação adequada e saudável. Em relação às entrevistas com os moradores, estes destacaram o abastecimento insuficiente de frutas e hortaliças, a demanda por mais variedade destes alimentos, a insuficiência de equipamentos que comercializem maior variedade de frutas e hortaliças, a associação da alimentação adequada e saudável a preços altos e a diminuição do número de feiras livres atribuída ao surgimento dos supermercados. Já as hortas escolares trouxeram elementos para reflexão sobre o ato de se alimentar e sobre os alimentos, pelo conhecimento que o contato direto com o cultivo produziu, e provocou mudanças não apenas nas crianças, mas também nas famílias envolvidas com as atividades. Isso se refletiu em mudanças concretas na alimentação, maior conhecimento sobre os alimentos e sobre o sistema alimentar, além de uma maior valorização dos alimentos produzidos e de um estímulo maior para experimentar novos alimentos. Conclusões: O ambiente alimentar pode constituir um fator restritivo à prática da alimentação adequada e saudável. Neste sentido, as hortas urbanas, por meio do contato com a natureza, sensibilização para o ato de se alimentar e maior acesso às frutas e hortaliças, contribuem para a promoção da alimentação adequada e saudável. / Introduction: Eating is culturally and socially constructed and a basic human right, besides being influenced by social determinants, access, environment and food system. Often, individuals living in urban areas are disconnected from the food life cycle. Urban gardens promote a collective learning through experience and experimentation and can be seen as a place full of opportunities for adequate and healthy food practice. Objectives: 1) To identify and to synthesise the studies published between 2005 and 2015 that evaluated the influence of participation in urban gardens on outcomes related to food and nutrition among adults and elderly people; 2) To describe the acquisition of fruits and vegetables practices by residents in socially disadvantaged areas of Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region - Brazil and how they perceive access to these foods in those environments; and 3) To describe the influences on eating resulting from children\'s experience with growing food in school gardens. Methods: The thesis comprises three manuscripts. In the first one we undertook a systematic review of studies published between 2005 and 2015, selected from searching in five databases, involving non-institutionalized adults and/or elderly participants of urban gardens reporting results on eating. In the second manuscript we conducted interviews with residents in four Basic Health Units\' areas in a city located in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region - Brazil. In the third one we conducted interviews with educators and students parents from three schools developing school gardens in the same city. Results: Studies included in the systematic review showed from the experiences with urban gardens we identified themes related to adequate and healthy eating: higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, increased access to healthy food, more recognition of the importance of cooking, sharing the harvest with family and friends, greater importance of organic production and greater importance of adequate and healthy eating. Regarding interviews with residents, they highlighted the insufficient supply of fruits and vegetables, demand for greater variety of these foods, lack of stores that sell greater variety of fruits and vegetables, association of adequate and healthy eating with high cost, and decrease in the number of street markets attributed to emergence of supermarkets. Concerning the school gardens, the activity brought elements to think about the act of eating and about food by itself through the knowledge created by direct contact with farming, and caused changes not only among children but also among families involved with the activities. This was reflected in concrete changes in diet, increased knowledge about food and food system, as well as greater appreciation of garden produce and a greater willingness to try new foods. Conclusions: Food environment can be a restrictive factor for adequate and healthy eating practice. Thus, urban gardens, through contact with nature, awareness of the the act of eating, and greater access to fruits and vegetables, contribute to adequate and healthy eating promotion.

O crescimento desordenado dos centros urbanos distancia o homem da natureza. Este cenário é intensificado com o crescimento populacional nas cidades, que poderá atingir, em 2030, 60% da população mundial. As ações do homem vêm transformando gradativamente o espaço habitado e essas transformações, muitas vezes são negativas, provocando a degradação e dete-rioração do ambiente urbano, tornando-o hostil e com condições de habitabilidade inadequa-das. A qualidade ambiental urbana depende de um conjunto de aspectos: sociais, ecológicos, biológicos, econômicos, tipológicos, tecnológicos e paisagísticos, estando diretamente ligada ao conforto no ambiente construído, no qual as áreas verdes cumprem um papel fundamental para manter o equilíbrio e são indicadores importantes da qualidade de vida. Muitas cidades não conseguem administrar adequadamente o rápido crescimento da população e enfrentam enormes desafios no planejamento e gerenciamento do espaço urbano. As situações econômi-cas e políticas instáveis, em adição a fenômenos naturais agravam ainda mais essa condição de vulnerabilidade. Dentro deste quadro, modelos econômicos mais justos e preocupações com a saúde e a alimentação, são questões que estão ganhando destaque no cenário mundial. Uma das alternativas que pode contribuir neste sentido é a Agricultura Urbana, que além de colaborar para a segurança alimentar, produzindo alimentos perto de seus consumidores, re-duz a pegada ecológica e contribui no aumento das áreas verdes das cidades e na diminuição de impactos sobre os recursos hídricos, entre outros. Diante desse contexto, o objetivo dessa dissertação é a investigação e análise das experiências das hortas escolares do município de Feliz como uma ferramenta educativa para a difusão de conhecimentos sobre a prática de produção de alimento no meio urbano. O método de pesquisa adotado foi o Estudo de Ca-so. A pesquisa foi desenvolvida em três fases: a primeira, definição e planejamento, trata da busca de referencial teórico sobre o tema, do planejamento da pesquisa e da seleção dos casos investigados; a segunda, preparação, coleta e análise, aborda a condução dos estudos de ca-sos investigados, procedimentos de coleta e análise dos dados e a terceira, análises e conclu-sões, versa sobre as análises dos dados e dos resultados obtidos. A investigação e observa-ção junto aos casos de estudo, escolas municipais e estaduais, somadas a órgãos do Estado, localizados no município de Feliz, no Estado do Rio Grande do Sul e seu contexto, resultou nas fontes de evidências da pesquisa. Os resultados indicaram que as atividades desenvolvi-das com os alunos envolvidos na implantação das hortas escolares e o envolvimento da co-munidade e técnicos de órgãos do Estado contribuem para a difusão de práticas de produção de alimentos no meio urbano, provendo a criação de espaços mais saudáveis e uma melhor qualidade de vida no meio urbano. Verificou-se, também, que o projeto horta escolar promove a participação social, desenvolvendo as habilidades coletivas dos alunos, integrando a comu-nidade escolar com a comunidade local e a sociedade civil organizada. Esses resultados apon-tam para um potencial a ser desenvolvido e explorado, sobre o papel da escola na difusão do conceito Agricultura Urbana, podendo a vir constituir uma proposta viável entre as políticas públicas. / The uncontrolled growth of urban centers distance man from nature. This scenario is intensi-fied with population growth in cities, which could reach, in 2030, 60% of the world popula-tion. Human activities have gradually been transforming the living space and these changes are often negative, causing the degradation and deterioration of the urban environment, mak-ing it hostile and with inadequate housing conditions. The urban environmental quality de-pends on a group of aspects: social, ecological, biological, economical, typological, techno-logical and landscaping and is directly linked to the environmental comfort of the buildings, in which the green areas play a key role in maintaining the balance and are important indica-tors of life quality. Many cities cannot properly manage the rapid growth of the population and face enormous challenges in the planning and management of urban space. The unstable economic and political situations, in addition to natural phenomena further aggravate this vul-nerable condition. Within this framework fairer economic models, health and nutrition are issues that are gaining prominence on the world stage. One of the alternatives that can con-tribute is the Urban Agriculture, which in addition to contribute to food security, by producing food close to its consumers, reduces the ecological footprint and helps increasing the green areas of cities and reducing impacts on resources water, among others. In this context, the aim of this thesis is to research the potential for integration of urban agriculture as a more sustain-able strategy for the production of food in a small city, from the analysis of case studies of school gardens in the town of Feliz. The research method adopted was the Case Study. The research was conducted in three phases: the first, definition and planning, deals with the search theoretical framework on the subject, the planning of the research and the selection of cases to be investigated; the second, preparation, collection and analysis, deals with the stud-ying of the researched cases and data collection and analysis and the third, analysis and con-clusions, deals with the analysis of the data and the results obtained. Research and observation together with the researched cases, municipal and state schools, added to State agencies, lo-cated in the town of Feliz in the state of Rio Grande do Sul and its context, are the sources of evidence for this research. The results indicated that the activities with the students involved in the implementation of school gardens and community involvement and technicians from State agencies contribute to the spread of food production practices in urban areas, providing the creation of healthier spaces and a better quality of life in urban areas. It was also verified that the school garden project promotes social participation, developing the collective skills of the students by integrating school community with the local community and organized civil society. These results point to a potential to be developed on the school's role in spreading the concept of Urban Agriculture that and may come to be a viable proposal in public policies.

Ainda que o cultivo de alimentos em meio urbano seja uma atividade milenar, foi na segunda metade da década de 1990 que a chamada agricultura urbana e periurbana (AUP) adquiriu destaque no cenário nacional e mundial, afirmando-se como um instrumento de integração nos processos de desenvolvimento sustentável. Alinhada aos princípios do direito humano à alimentação e da soberania alimentar, a implantação de uma Política Nacional de Agricultura Urbana constitui uma das metas do Plano Nacional de Segurança Alimentar e Nutricional para o período 2012- 2015. Como uma temática ainda pouco estudada pela academia, cabe investigar mais profundamente, no âmbito da saúde pública, as conexões entre a Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana e a Promoção da Saúde. Com o objetivo geral de compreender a importância, os desafios e as possibilidades da prática da AUP, a partir da experiência do município do Embu das Artes/SP, localizado na Região Metropolitana de São Paulo, o estudo se propôs a identificar os projetos de AUP no município; identificar os valores e significados atribuídos às experiências pelos participantes, membros de conselhos, técnicos e profissionais das Unidades Básicas de Saúde; explorar as conexões da agricultura urbana com as dimensões dos Serviços de Saúde no nível da Atenção Primária, do Abastecimento e do Planejamento Territorial; pesquisar as interfaces entre a agricultura urbana e as diretrizes da Promoção da Saúde. Os dados foram coletados por meio de questionário sócio-demográfico junto aos participantes dos projetos, entrevistas individuais e grupos focais. Para complementar as informações, realizou-se análise documental de materiais produzidos pelo governo e pela sociedade civil. A sistematização dos dados seguiu os parâmetros da perspectiva dialética, que destaca a importância da compreensão das contradições na análise das estruturas e do caráter histórico e dinâmico das ações. Os resultados apontam uma estreita ligação entre a prática das hortas e as diretrizes da Promoção da Saúde. Foi possível identificar significados e valores, tanto no nível individual como no coletivo, convergentes com o ideário da Promoção da Saúde, associados aos seus diferentes campos e princípios, como a criação de ambientes saudáveis, o reforço da ação comunitária, o desenvolvimento de habilidades pessoais, o resgate de práticas e hábitos tradicionais, o estímulo à autonomia e ao empoderamento e demandas por reorientação dos serviços. A partir do componente da multifuncionalidade da Agricultura Urbana e Periurbana aqui estudada com ênfase em suas conexões com a Atenção Básica da Saúde, com o campo do Abastecimento Alimentar e do Planejamento Territorial, um aspecto a ser aprofundado diz respeito à necessidade de definição de estratégias intra e inter setoriais, para viabilizar maior integração junto às secretarias que realizam interfaces com o tema, de forma a efetivar o comprometimento do conjunto da gestão, em parceria com as organizações sociais e referenciada no território. / Although the growing of food in urban areas is an ancient activity, it was in the second half of the 1990s that the so-called urban and peri-urban agriculture (PUA) acquired prominence in the national and world stage, asserting itself as an integration tool in sustainable development processes. Aligned with the principles of the human right to food and food sovereignty, the establishment of a National Agricultural Urban Policy is one of the goals of the National Food Security and Nutrition Plan for the period of 2012-2015. As a thematic still not appropriate by the academy, there is room for further investigation,within the public health system, to understand the connections between PUA and Health Promotion. With the overall goal to understand the importance, challenges and possibilities of the practice of PUA, from the experience of the city Embu das Artes / SP, located in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo, this study aimed to identify the PUA projects in the municipality; identify the values and meanings attributed to the experiences by the participants, board members, technicians and professionals of the Basic Health Units; explore the connections of urban agriculture with the dimensions of Health Primary Care, Supply and Urban Planning; research interfaces between urban agriculture and health promotion guidelines. Data were collected by using a socio-demographic questionnaire with the participants of the projects, individual interviews and focus groups. To complement the information, a documentary analysis of materials, produced by the government and civil society, was performed. The systematization of the data followed the parameters placed by the dialectical perspective that highlights the importance of understanding the contradictions in the analysis of structures and the historic and dynamic character of the actions. The results show a close link between the practice of gardens and Health Promotion guidelines. It was possible to identify meanings and values, both individually and collectively, convergent with the ideas of Health Promotion, associated with their different fields and principles such as the creation of healthy environments, strengthening community action, developing personal skills, the rescue of traditional practices and habits, the encouragement of autonomy and empowerment and demands for reorientation of services. From the multifunctional component of Peri-Urban Agriculture, studied here, with emphasis on its connections to Primary Health, with the field of Food Supply and Urban Planning, an aspect, which deserves deeper study, concerns the need to clearly define intra- and inter-sector strategies, to enable a greater integration within the departments that perform interfaces with this theme, in order to carry out the commitment of the entire management, in partnership with social and referenced in territory organizations.

This paper explores two potential land use planning strategies that can be used to preserve and enhance the economic viability of agricultural operations surrounded by suburban development in Santa Barbara County’s Eastern Goleta Valley: buffers between agriculture and other land uses, and agritourism. In the case of buffers, academic literature is examined to determine how effective buffers are at various tasks (filtering runoff, mitigating dust and wind, providing habitat, etc.) and how to construct buffers to maximize their effectiveness. Land use plans and codes from several California jurisdictions are studied to see how buffers are put to use. Academic literature is then reviewed to discover the benefits and potential drawbacks of agritourism to agricultural operations and the larger area. The zoning codes from the top five agritourism counties in California are evaluated to see how effective they are at facilitating five common agritourism uses; these best practices are then compared to the current zoning in Santa Barbara County. This paper concludes by summarizing the applicability of the literature and case studies to Eastern Goleta Valley, and proposes a new zoning designation and other policies to help maintain the urban agriculture operations. This new zoning designation includes a 30-foot minimum width for buffers and a three-tier categorization of land uses capable of promoting agritourism.

Introdução: A alimentação é culturalmente e socialmente construída e é um direito humano básico, além de ser influenciada por determinantes sociais, do acesso, do ambiente e do sistema alimentar. Frequentemente, indivíduos que vivem em meios urbanos estão desconectados do ciclo de vida dos alimentos. As hortas urbanas promovem um aprendizado coletivo por meio da vivência e da experimentação e podem ser vistas como um espaço repleto de oportunidades para a prática da alimentação adequada e saudável. Objetivos: 1) Identificar e sintetizar os estudos publicados entre 2005 e 2015 que avaliaram a influência da participação em hortas urbanas em desfechos relacionados à alimentação e nutrição entre adultos e idosos; 2) Descrever as práticas de aquisição de frutas e hortaliças de moradores de áreas periféricas da região metropolitana de São Paulo e como eles percebem o acesso a estes alimentos naqueles ambientes; e 3) Descrever as influências na alimentação decorrentes da experiência de crianças com o cultivo de alimentos em hortas escolares. Métodos: Tese composta por três manuscritos. No primeiro foi realizada uma revisão sistemática dos estudos publicados entre 2005 e 2015, selecionados a partir da busca em cinco bases de dados, envolvendo adultos e/ou idosos não institucionalizados participantes de hortas urbanas que apresentassem resultados na alimentação. No segundo manuscrito foram realizadas entrevistas com indivíduos residentes em regiões adstritas a quatro Unidades Básicas de Saúde de um município da região metropolitana de São Paulo. No terceiro foram realizadas entrevistas com educadores e pais de educandos de três escolas do mesmo município que possuíam hortas escolares. Resultados: Os estudos incluídos na revisão sistemática apontaram que das experiências com hortas urbanas foram identificados eixos temáticos relacionados à alimentação adequada e saudável como: maior consumo de frutas e hortaliças, maior acesso a alimentos saudáveis, maior reconhecimento da culinária, o compartilhamento da colheita com familiares e amigos, valorização da produção orgânica e apropriação da importância da alimentação adequada e saudável. Em relação às entrevistas com os moradores, estes destacaram o abastecimento insuficiente de frutas e hortaliças, a demanda por mais variedade destes alimentos, a insuficiência de equipamentos que comercializem maior variedade de frutas e hortaliças, a associação da alimentação adequada e saudável a preços altos e a diminuição do número de feiras livres atribuída ao surgimento dos supermercados. Já as hortas escolares trouxeram elementos para reflexão sobre o ato de se alimentar e sobre os alimentos, pelo conhecimento que o contato direto com o cultivo produziu, e provocou mudanças não apenas nas crianças, mas também nas famílias envolvidas com as atividades. Isso se refletiu em mudanças concretas na alimentação, maior conhecimento sobre os alimentos e sobre o sistema alimentar, além de uma maior valorização dos alimentos produzidos e de um estímulo maior para experimentar novos alimentos. Conclusões: O ambiente alimentar pode constituir um fator restritivo à prática da alimentação adequada e saudável. Neste sentido, as hortas urbanas, por meio do contato com a natureza, sensibilização para o ato de se alimentar e maior acesso às frutas e hortaliças, contribuem para a promoção da alimentação adequada e saudável. / Introduction: Eating is culturally and socially constructed and a basic human right, besides being influenced by social determinants, access, environment and food system. Often, individuals living in urban areas are disconnected from the food life cycle. Urban gardens promote a collective learning through experience and experimentation and can be seen as a place full of opportunities for adequate and healthy food practice. Objectives: 1) To identify and to synthesise the studies published between 2005 and 2015 that evaluated the influence of participation in urban gardens on outcomes related to food and nutrition among adults and elderly people; 2) To describe the acquisition of fruits and vegetables practices by residents in socially disadvantaged areas of Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region - Brazil and how they perceive access to these foods in those environments; and 3) To describe the influences on eating resulting from children\'s experience with growing food in school gardens. Methods: The thesis comprises three manuscripts. In the first one we undertook a systematic review of studies published between 2005 and 2015, selected from searching in five databases, involving non-institutionalized adults and/or elderly participants of urban gardens reporting results on eating. In the second manuscript we conducted interviews with residents in four Basic Health Units\' areas in a city located in the Sao Paulo Metropolitan Region - Brazil. In the third one we conducted interviews with educators and students parents from three schools developing school gardens in the same city. Results: Studies included in the systematic review showed from the experiences with urban gardens we identified themes related to adequate and healthy eating: higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, increased access to healthy food, more recognition of the importance of cooking, sharing the harvest with family and friends, greater importance of organic production and greater importance of adequate and healthy eating. Regarding interviews with residents, they highlighted the insufficient supply of fruits and vegetables, demand for greater variety of these foods, lack of stores that sell greater variety of fruits and vegetables, association of adequate and healthy eating with high cost, and decrease in the number of street markets attributed to emergence of supermarkets. Concerning the school gardens, the activity brought elements to think about the act of eating and about food by itself through the knowledge created by direct contact with farming, and caused changes not only among children but also among families involved with the activities. This was reflected in concrete changes in diet, increased knowledge about food and food system, as well as greater appreciation of garden produce and a greater willingness to try new foods. Conclusions: Food environment can be a restrictive factor for adequate and healthy eating practice. Thus, urban gardens, through contact with nature, awareness of the the act of eating, and greater access to fruits and vegetables, contribute to adequate and healthy eating promotion.

RESUME : Comme la plupart des villes africaines, Yaoundé, capitale du Cameroun, est confrontée aux phénomènes d’urbanisation croissante. Cette urbanisation rapide n’est pas accompagnée d’une croissance économique. En fait, le pouvoir d’achat extrêmement bas, le chômage, le sous-emploi, la pauvreté, voire la misère, ont amené une frange importante de la population à inventer de nouvelles solutions pour s’assurer un revenu. C’est alors qu’apparaît le phénomène d’agriculture urbaine et périurbaine. La caractérisation de cette agriculture a mis en évidence une interaction entre les catégories d’acteurs, les types d’espaces, les types de cultures, les produits obtenus et les revenus moyens générés. Il ressort de l’analyse des résultats que cette forme d’agriculture emploie près de 2000 personnes, pour la plupart des jeunes et, surtout, des femmes, dont la moyenne d’âge est de 35 ans. C’est une activité basée principalement dans les bas-fonds marécageux, le bas des pentes, les abords des routes avec une forte pression sur l’espace. Les cultures sont diversifiées et sont à dominance maraîchère, vivrière et floricole. Elles varient en fonction des trois espaces étudiés, à savoir l’auréole urbaine, la zone périurbaine et l’hinterland rural. L’analyse du système de commercialisation a mis en évidence trois types de circuits à travers lesquels les produits transitent des producteurs aux consommateurs. Ce sont notamment les circuits longs, les circuits courts et les circuits directs. Dans ces circuits de commercialisation, la régulation du marché se réalise au niveau de tous les intervenants. Cela signifie que les prix des produits ne sont pas fixés d’avance, mais varient en fonction de la demande. En ce qui concerne la rentabilité, l’analyse sur les comptes d’exploitation des cultures de céleri, de ndolé et de morelle noire indique que cette agriculture est rentable avec un gain moyen journalier de près de trois euros pour les producteurs. C’est la raison pour laquelle certains maraîchers estiment qu’à la place d’un travail salarial de près de 75euros / mois, ils préfèrent rester dans leur jardin. Cependant, aucun cadre juridique et réglementaire lié à l’exercice de cette activité n’est disponible. Aucun article de loi ne l’autorise. Nous avons noté également de nombreuses autres contraintes liées à l’organisation des producteurs, aux pratiques, à la structuration et la mise en marché des produits. Ces résultats ont alors d’importantes implications quant à la compréhension des interactions entre les agriculteurs en ville et le monde politique de Yaoundé. Les fonctions multiples de cette activité tel que l’emploi pour les jeunes, les revenus substantiels pour les couches des populations les plus vulnérables, la gestion des déchets urbains et la beauté du paysage étant autant d’attraits qui concourent à son encouragement. Les stratégies qui visent à susciter l’implication des producteurs urbains dans le développement de la ville de Yaoundé ont été mises en œuvre à travers la CAUPA (Coalition pour la promotion de l’agriculture urbaine et périurbaine en Afrique). L’intégration de ces stratégies dans les schémas directeurs d’aménagements urbains, pourrait contribuer à concilier les défis d'une amélioration du bien-être des populations en quête de survie. Cette thèse met en évidence la nécessité d’une médiation entre les différentes catégories d’acteurs pour une agriculture urbaine et périurbaine de qualité. Les résultats pourront permettre aux décideurs et administrateurs des villes de disposer d‘informations utiles sur l’importance de cette forme d’agriculture qui est, non seulement montante, mais aussi controversée. SUMMARY: As in most African cities, Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon, is faced with the phenomenon of urbanization. This leads to socio-economic problems especially in food supply and acquisition of basic necessities. The extremely low purchasing power, unemployment, underemployment, poverty - say misery, brought a significant proportion of the population to invent new solutions to ensure basic income through urban and peri-urban agriculture. The characterization of this agricultural system highlights the interaction between various stakeholders, types of spaces and crops, productivity and average revenue generated. Results show that this agricultural system has generated employment for about 2000 people, mainly youths and especially women, with 35 years average age. The activity is based mainly in lowland floody zones, low slope, landscaping roads with increase land pressure. Vegetables, gardening and flowers are dominant diversified crops noticed in the area. These crops vary from urban, peri-urban and rural areas, three landscape which were studied. The analysis of the marketing chain show three main types of distribution chains through which products pass from producers to consumers. These include long distribution, short distribution and direct channel. In these channels, the regulation of the market is achieved at the level of all stakeholders. This means that the prices of the products are therefore fixed in advance, and also are functions of demand. Regarding profitability, the analysis on the farmer’s accounts of Celery, Bitter leaf and Black nightshade indicates that this agriculture is profitable with an average daily gain of almost 3 euro per producers. That's why some gardeners believes that instead of a salary of almost 75 euro per month, they prefer to stay in their farm. However, no legal and regulatory framework related to this activity is available in the case of Yaounde. Also, there are many other constraints related to the organization of producers, practices, structuring and implementation of products in the markets. These results have important implications to the understanding of the interaction between farmers and policy makers. The multiple functions of this activity such as youth employment, income for substantial segments of the most vulnerable populations, urban waste management and the beautification of the landscape is as much attraction that contribute to its promotion. A strategy to encourage the implication of urban producers in the development of the city of Yaounde has been implemented through CAUPA. The integration of these strategies in urban planners, could help for the challenges of improving people’s welfare. Subsequently, this thesis brings forth the need for a mediation between different stakeholders and contributes to good quality of peri-urban agriculture. The results can therefore enable decision-makers and policy to provide useful information on the importance of this form of agriculture which is not only rising, but also controversial.

The years immediately preceding and following W.W.II marked a turning point in British colonial policy in Africa. In this doctoral thesis, which focuses on colonial and post-colonial Uganda, this turning point is approached in terms of a shift in would-be hegemonic socio-spatial diagrams of power. In turn, the town of Jinja is approached in terms of having constituted a strong point with shifting functions in a series of contested diagrams of power over time. Certain agents and spatial enclosures are examined in terms of having risen and fallen in terms of deemed efficiency in actualising specific lines and modalities of power; the ”African” housing estate, the ”Asian” and the ”Chief” being important among these. Drawing on the theoretical work of Foucault, Deleuze & Guattari, and Lefebvre, particularly that pertaining to discursive regimes of power-knowledge, space and the subject, I seek to show how projects and architectures of socio-spatial ordering instituted by dominant producers of space (principally the colonial and post-independence states, and capital) have impacted on – and in turn been influenced and translated by – the everyday projects of people in place. Much of this focus, and also the fieldwork, is channelled through the Walukuba Housing Estate that was built in the post-W.W.II colonial era. The study is based on archival research, extensive ethnographic fieldwork and secondary literature.

In developing countries, land management, government intervention in peri-urban land, and the striking decline of agricultural land have all affected farmers’ livelihoods and the capacity of locally supplied food for ever-growing cities. A growing body of literature has focused on the exploration of these issues in rural areas, which are believed to be the backbone of the national agriculture economy, and in peri-urban areas of large cities, which have experienced extreme changes during recent decades. But the issues are also relevant to peri-urban mid-sized cities where urbanization is in a different phase compared to the above areas. This study examines the main changes underway in the agrarian transition of peri-urban areas of Vinh city, a mid-sized city in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. Vinh was chosen given its unique position in transforming from a mid-sized to a large city. This study explores the dynamics of agricultural production, and the role of the Vinh government in mediating urbanization and its impacts on farmers’ livelihoods. In order to attain the objectives, interviews with local leaders, and a survey with farmers were conducted, and a GIS database was also developed. The findings regarding agricultural production in the case study demonstrate that this mid-sized city, in the early phase of development, manifests itself as a duplicate of larger cities, escalating the threat of food accessibility from local sources. Duplication is in the sense that the peri-urban population in Vinh still depends largely on agriculture with a shift to commercial agriculture with higher value products despite the shrinkage of agricultural land. Agricultural production primarily uses manual family labor, and traditional products are substantially subsistent. Compared to larger cities, post-production activities (including processing, packaging, marketing, and delivery) and the organization of the agrofood supply chain in Vinh are underdeveloped due to minimum support from local and outside agencies. The case study confirms that as general trend in developing countries, Vietnam’s land policies favor the expropriation of agricultural land for industrialization and modernization. The findings also demonstrate the heterogeneity of land administration in Vietnam, structured from the ‘bottom-up’ mechanism, through which Vinh’s local authorities have the prerogative to not issue land use right certificates of agricultural land despite the national policy. This has occurred in order to control land markets to satisfy the city’s goal of transforming to an independent municipality. The situation is perpetuated by the absence of agricultural land legislations in a peri-urban context while contemporary legislation has been developed to address the rural areas because of their importance in the national agriculture economy. This is an issue for land management in Vietnam as well as in other developing countries. Finally, the findings on land expropriation in the peri-urban areas of Vinh city also confirm that direct government intervention through land expropriation in developing countries, with low compensation and lack of alternative vocational training, undermines farmers’ livelihoods and threatens the local food supply.

In developing countries, land management, government intervention in peri-urban land, and the striking decline of agricultural land have all affected farmers’ livelihoods and the capacity of locally supplied food for ever-growing cities. A growing body of literature has focused on the exploration of these issues in rural areas, which are believed to be the backbone of the national agriculture economy, and in peri-urban areas of large cities, which have experienced extreme changes during recent decades. But the issues are also relevant to peri-urban mid-sized cities where urbanization is in a different phase compared to the above areas. This study examines the main changes underway in the agrarian transition of peri-urban areas of Vinh city, a mid-sized city in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. Vinh was chosen given its unique position in transforming from a mid-sized to a large city. This study explores the dynamics of agricultural production, and the role of the Vinh government in mediating urbanization and its impacts on farmers’ livelihoods. In order to attain the objectives, interviews with local leaders, and a survey with farmers were conducted, and a GIS database was also developed. The findings regarding agricultural production in the case study demonstrate that this mid-sized city, in the early phase of development, manifests itself as a duplicate of larger cities, escalating the threat of food accessibility from local sources. Duplication is in the sense that the peri-urban population in Vinh still depends largely on agriculture with a shift to commercial agriculture with higher value products despite the shrinkage of agricultural land. Agricultural production primarily uses manual family labor, and traditional products are substantially subsistent. Compared to larger cities, post-production activities (including processing, packaging, marketing, and delivery) and the organization of the agrofood supply chain in Vinh are underdeveloped due to minimum support from local and outside agencies. The case study confirms that as general trend in developing countries, Vietnam’s land policies favor the expropriation of agricultural land for industrialization and modernization. The findings also demonstrate the heterogeneity of land administration in Vietnam, structured from the ‘bottom-up’ mechanism, through which Vinh’s local authorities have the prerogative to not issue land use right certificates of agricultural land despite the national policy. This has occurred in order to control land markets to satisfy the city’s goal of transforming to an independent municipality. The situation is perpetuated by the absence of agricultural land legislations in a peri-urban context while contemporary legislation has been developed to address the rural areas because of their importance in the national agriculture economy. This is an issue for land management in Vietnam as well as in other developing countries. Finally, the findings on land expropriation in the peri-urban areas of Vinh city also confirm that direct government intervention through land expropriation in developing countries, with low compensation and lack of alternative vocational training, undermines farmers’ livelihoods and threatens the local food supply.

This doctoral thesis analyses the role of historical urban agriculture in a long-time perspective, through a combination of overarching surveys of Swedish towns and detailed studies of one town – Uppsala in east-central Sweden. The study shows how agricultural land – town land – of various sizes was donated to towns repeatedly during medieval times and in the 16th and 17th centuries. The study examines urban food production at three points in time, and concludes that grain production and, later, potato production as well was substantial in many towns, indicating high levels of urban self-sufficiency. This allows new perspectives concerning the interpretation of urban food provision, as urban dependency on countryside food production might have varied considerably between towns. In addition, the study shows how urban agriculture was connected to social welfare systems, in particular aiming at supporting urban widows. The results in this thesis provide an historical context to the increasing discussions about present-day urban agriculture globally, and identify a number of factors that may create or counteract opportunities for urban agriculture.