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Thesis (M.M. (Public Policy))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / This research set out to explore the feasibility of developing Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA) collaborative policy networks in South African metros. The study explored related challenges and barriers, and investigated the role of the state (national, provincial and local/metro) and other sectoral development stakeholders (private sector, research institutions, non-governmental-organisations, development partners, donors, and farmers) in the substantive UPA policy management process in South Africa. The research was conducted against the backdrop of institutional/procedural policy and collaborative policy networks’ theory was used as framework. The research goal was to contribute to and generate new information and knowledge to enhance UPA collaborative governance and procedural policy. This was done through the application of collaborative policy networks as a contemporary procedural policy arrangement framework. Collaborative policy networks in this research are patterned relationships between state and society. These networks link a variety of actors (in the public and private sector) in a set of relatively stable relationships, that are non-hierarchical and interdependent, that share similar policy interests and exchange resources. The purpose is to collaboratively pursue specific policy goals as outlined by Börzel (1997:1). This research applies institutional/procedural theory as formal and legal aspects of government structure and particularly focuses on the way governments are arranged, their legal powers, and their rules and procedures in policy management (Kraft and Furlong, 2004). South Africa’s metros have continuously demonstrated an appreciation of the developmental role of UPA through small and concrete initiatives, including the development and implementation of urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) development policies. In line with Mougeot (1994:1), this research however notes that the focus on UPA development in South Africa overemphasises agricultural production as the major component of the UPA definition. According to Dr Jane Battersby-Lennard, Head of the Urban Food Security programme of the African Centre for Cities at the University of Cape Town, the overemphasis on agricultural production can mainly be attributed to the peri-urban agriculture vi (UPA) terminology, which accentuates agriculture – even in metros where agricultural production is not feasible. As a result, this research recommends that the UPA terminology in South Africa be rephrased as ‘Urban Food-security Systems’ (UFS). In this context UFS is defined as a systems approach to develop sustainable and equitable urban food value chains while incorporating a strong focus on elements of urban land-use planning, access to production resources (land and water), food production, safe supply of production inputs, value adding and processing, market development and access. Such an approach also develops responsive institutional/procedural and substantive policy management instruments. The emerging trend noted through this research is that South African metros have not made much progress on the ground in terms of UPS substantive policy management. This also applies to UPA institutional policy in South Africa, which in its current form offers limited opportunities to UFS development in South African metros. This type of development still faces a number of barriers and challenges that relate to institutional ad substantive policy issues. Even with the metros’ demonstrated interest in advancing the sector, UPA policy management capacity and resources (human, social, physical, economic and environmental capital) remain limited. UPA suffers overall limited state attention and commitment and consequently restrictive legislation, bureaucratic red tape and limited institutional, technical and financial support. The research argues that UPA development initiatives could benefit from government’s commitment and prioritisation at all spheres (metro, provincial and national). The research gathers that UPA governance could be enhanced through institutional policy improvements that emphasise wider stakeholder participation through collaborative policy networks. The researcher argues that there is a strong need for state sanctioned interventions that initially focus on developing strategic institutional policy networks as a development foundation for comprehensive, accelerated, equitable and sustainable UFS interventions rather than just agricultural production. This calls for the engagement of multiple stakeholders from social, economic and environmental vii development sectors (including agriculture, food security, natural resources management, social development, political management, climate change, environment and health, etc.) as active UFS development partners in South Africa. This research emphasises collaborative policy networks as an appropriate form of UPA institutional/procedural policy arrangements to help ensure trust, transparency, participation, reciprocity and a good balance of vertical and horizontal power/governance structure (as also defined by Deleon and Varda, 2009:67-71). Here the researcher argues that institutional policy networks articulate very well with the desired objectives of achieving collaborative UPA governance, and that these objectives are key to efficient UPA substantive policy management for South Africa. As a justification for policy networks, the study found that UFS development as a multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral public policy issue could benefit not only from the distributed intelligence presented as a benefit of policy networks, but also from the distributed human, social, physical, financial, and political capital/resources that can be accessed and utilised collaboratively to pursue overarching and specific substantive UFS policy goals at national, provincial and local levels. The study recommends the establishment of a national level UFS policy network that could be led by the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) in partnership with the metros and other strategic state and non-state actors. The research recommends that a national UFS Secretariat be established at part of DAFF, to deal with national UFS policy issues (substantive and institutional) and to provide strategic programming and technical support to metros. The research also notes that developing efficient UFSs would require engaging numerous specialised skills and capacity sources that thus calls for the establishment of smaller specific substantive policy networks within the national UFS policy network. This could be led and constituted by specialist institutions with the required capacity and skills. Potential smaller specific substantive policy networks could include: agricultural production, trade, food/nutrition security and research; trade and marketing and research; environmental management and research; and spatial development and land-use planning and research. The research recommends that such policy networks be institutionalised at national, provincial and local/metro levels and that viii these policy networks are referred to as the Urban Food-security Systems – Community of Practice (UFS-COP). The research also notes that although there is a strong appreciation of the characteristic benefits of policy networks for managing multi-dimensional policy issues such as UFS, it must be noted however, that policy networks are not a panacea and that they do exhibit a hind-side of major challenges (for collaborative governance) that must be continuously addressed in search of efficient collaborative policy governance structures that emphasis the active engagement of multi-sectorial and multi-level policy management stakeholders for collective action.

Lau, Hoi Lung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2013. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 156-172). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts also in Chinese; appendix I in Chinese.

Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2013 / Urbanisation is one among the pressing issues facing human kind today and with it large number of rural poor immigrated to cities, failed by economic growth to get formal employments, large number of the poor are now found in informal settlements around cities where abject poverty, unemployment and extreme hunger is concentrated. Urban Agriculture is viewed as one of the strategies the urban poor employs to cushion themselves from the hardships of poor economic conditions. In contrast, there is a view that urban agriculture exploits labour, generates below poverty incomes and land fetches higher prices in cities, as such providing scarce public resources to this practice is not of economic importance. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of urban agriculture on poverty, more precisely on the contribution of the practice towards job creation, cash incomes and food security. To determine if, urban agriculture can become a potential avenue for local economic development in the informal settlements of Soweto. Descriptive and quantitative assessments of the variables of urban agriculture in the study area were attempted to validate whether urban agriculture can emerge as a substantial mechanism to eradicate poverty and bring forth a potential area for local economic development in the study area. A questionnaire was used as an instrument for data collection. In the study, some of the facts revealed were that large proportion of the practitioners of urban agriculture are women and few went pass the matric. Moreover, large proportion of the urban farmers were doing so to supplement food at home and surplus sold, on average generating below poverty incomes and no job opportunities were recorded. The study concluded by providing recommendations on how city municipalities, development scientists and policy administrators can ensure that Urban Agriculture is supported in order to offer a potential avenue for local economic development. Some of the recommendations proposed, to cite a few, are that bottlenecks that limit development of Urban Agriculture must be removed, such as policy biasness, especially to livestock production in the cities, provision of infrastructure, tenure system and access to credits to improve productivity of the practice. Provision of advisory service must be conducted in indigenous language to improve adoptability and comprehension to facilitate technological transfer.

Urbanisation is one of the most forceful social and economic trends currently affecting large cities in the developing world and is an important component of national economic development processes. This is despite the general decline of formal urban economies in both developed and developing countries. A mirror-image reflection of the urbanisation process is increasing urban poverty, clearly evident in large cities and metropolitan areas in South Africa. The urban poor, local government, and urban planners have responded to urbanisation and poverty in different ways. Informal settlement processes take place and consolidate themselves in a climate of isolation and continuous conflict with the rules of the established formal urban economy, with the informal sector providing a safety net for survival. With the barest minimum of resources people living in informal settlements have provided some sort of shelter for themselves in spite of successive and systematic governmental opposition. They have generated many income earning opportunities in the informal sector; and in some cases they have made and effort to supplement household food supplies through direct production within the city. The practice of urban agriculture is guided by the "logic for survival" and it may be equated to squatter housing and street trading in that they are all examples of innovative responses from the urban poor. In the recent past the general response of local government planning authorities in African cities has been the fomiulation and implementation of urban management programmes linked to poverty alleviation programmes. It is within this context that various government authorities have responded by repressing the survival strategies of the urban poor, · tolerating it if they lacked the capacity to control it, or encouraging it by having had enabling mechanisms in place to support such activities. Generally, government authorities have used all of the above strategies simultaneously due to a relatively greater acceptance or tolerance of some informal activities in comparison to others. The practice of urban agriculture has been repressed in certain countries, while tolerated or promoted in others. For urban planners the connection between food and the land on which it is produced has become increasingly remote and abstract as an issue that directly concerns urban planning and wellfare. Food production and distribution is intricately linked to the global economic trade, and it will be difficult to change the terms of trade in an effort to produce subsistence food supplies. People living in urban areas are reliant on the cash purchase of food which in turn is linked to levels of affordability. However in the face of declining real incomes and reduced purchasing power, and as mentioned above, the poor and destitute have resorted to supplementing their household food supplies through direct production within the city. Food relief programmes are an added expense to government's already overburdened coffers. As such food security is a matter that urban planners and policy makers should consider from now on. Urban agriculture has an important role to play in feeding the ever growing urban popUlation, especially the urban poor. The planning of cities rarely considers the production of urban food supplies since the prevailing attitude is one that consigns food production to the rural areas, with the focus of the city on the pursuit of economic activities. There is an compelling urgency to defeat the ethical, ideological, psychological, attitudinal and practical obstacles to promoting urban agriculture since positive policies in support of urban agriculture are unlikely to emerge from this negative frame of mind. / Thesis (MTRP)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

South Africa is considered food secure yet, depending on the source used, it is estimated that food insecurity exists in 20-52% of households. Many factors, such as differing livelihood strategies, play significant roles in determining food security and this project attempted to explore these issues, using Cape Town as a case study. In particular, we compared two types of urban agricultural interventions:home and community gardening as facilitated by two urban agriculture NGO’s (Soil for Life and Abalimi, respectively). Semi-structured interviews were conducted amongst 91 participants living below the poverty line in two ‘townships’ in Cape Town: Langa and Khayelitsha. Twenty-five home-gardeners in Langa and 21 community-gardeners in Khayelitsha were interviewed and compared with equal numbers of non-gardeners in both areas. Data analysis showed that participants who cited community gardening as a food source were most food secure (Household Food Insecurity Access Scale [HFIAS] = 13.04), followed by Langa’s home gardeners (HFIAS = 18.88), Langa’s non-gardeners (HFIAS = 21.84) and finally non-gardeners in Khayelitsha (HFIAS = 22.25). Food Security for non-gardeners in Langa and Khayelitsha was correlated with income (r=0.78; 0.48, respectively), as compared to both gardening groups. The gardeners in Langa and Khayelitsha also showed more diversified diets and lower Months of Inadequate Household Food Provisioning Scores (MIHFP), indicating fewer months of inadequate food provisioning. These data suggest that food security may be positively affected by gardening practices as well as by increased diversity in food sourcing. Community gardening appeared to be more effective than home gardening, perhaps due to greater accessibility to inputs such as land space, manure and water, as facilitated directly by the associated NGO. / Thesis (Master, Environmental Studies) -- Queen's University, 2013-09-17 14:02:39.23

Master of Science / Department of Horticulture, Forestry, and Recreational Resources / Rhonda Janke / With the increasing popularity of urban farming, more people are seeking resources to start their own farming/growing production in urban environments. Traditionally, county Extension educators are a key resource for beginning farmers and growers. However, urban Extension offices are often overlooked as resources in the urban farming planning process. The objectives of this study are 1) identify information urban farmers currently have, information they need, and their preferred delivery methods 2) look at the resources and information that are offered by local Extension educators in the KC metro area and 3) analyze how these two groups are communicating and what could improve to meet farmers‟ needs. This project evaluates current interaction between urban farmers and Extension educators in the Kansas City area through a two-pronged approach: a written mail-out questionnaire for urban farmers and growers in the Kansas City metropolitan area and through in-person one-on-one interviews with Extension educators that emphasize topic areas related to urban agriculture in the KC area. One hundred and nineteen farmers/growers were surveyed, and a 54.6% response rate was achieved. The majority of farmers had small, diversified farms and were relatively new to farming. Respondents were primarily older, white men that had higher education. Independently-driven sources (such as self-research, other farmers, and friends/family) were most commonly used sources among farmers. Overall, respondents ranked Extension highly in terms of information quantity, quality and as their "go to" source. Extension educators from Kansas State University, University of Missouri, and Lincoln University were interviewed one-on-one using scripted interview questions to determine topics and medias of information that are currently being offered. Production and processing information is offered the most by educators followed by distribution, equipment, and marketing information. Financial information was the least offered information topic. Extension educators use a wide variety of methods to distribute information. Most Extension educators are aware of benefits and barriers relating to urban agriculture in the KC metro area. Extension educators are addressing urban agriculture in varying degrees and the level of involvement corresponds to the Extension institution.

Master of Landscape Architecture / Landscape Architecture/Regional and Community Planning / Jason S. Brody / Kansas City is currently under achieving in its capacity of divert recyclable and compostable solid waste from city landfills. The city recycling system provides free access to single family residents, but it does not provide access to high density residential and commercial land uses commonly found Downtown. To solve this dilemma, KCDC has studied the current solid waste systems in the city, and developed its [re]considered proposal through a MARC Solid Waste Management District grant to improve Kansas City waste diversion. This is achieved through a system of links, clusters and nodes which will help to promote and facilitate greater recycling (KCDC 2015 Fall Studio 2015) Compost | KC seeks to answer if the organic nodes as proposed in can effectively compost residential organic waste in down town Kansas City. As part of this system, the organic node at 12th and Holmes functionally demonstrates the potential feasibility and benefits of residential compost of organic solid waste. Through the site design, the proposed organic node creates an integrated system of residential organic waste collection, processing and utilization. Collected form a 15 minute radius the waste is processed into a rich organic compost that is used in various ways to improve soil quality for stormwater management, carbon sequestration, and increased biomass production in and around the site. To compost the organic waste, the site contains a series of in-vessel composting drums, agitated compost piles connected to greenhouses, and an external maturing pile visibly demonstrating and educating the public composting benefits. Managed through a local non-profit organization, compost is used to grow a variety of produce and nursery stock sold to help fund the site management. Organic waste is brought to the site by organized collection with apartment complexes and free public drop-off points. By incentivizing access, ease and appeal of composting in Kansas City for residences, the organic node at 12th and Holmes achieves the goals of both the site design and [re] considered proposals. By meeting those goals, the organic node helps to increase organic waste diversion and increase education and awareness about the benefits of composting in downtown Kansas City.

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS) / This research investigates the impact of urban agriculture on food security through urban food garden projects in Kayamandi. Food insecurity is a major global challenge, 795 million people in the world suffer from hunger and malnutrition and 780 million of these are from developing countries. In South Africa, poverty, unemployment, and inequality play pivotal roles in the dynamics of food security. These indicators have shown that chronic poverty and food insecurity are mostly found in urban and peri-urban areas, affecting the most vulnerable groups such as women, children, and the elderly. In addition, food insecurity exists in Cape Town. In 2008, 80% of poor households in Khayelitsha, Philippi and Ocean View were either moderately or severely food insecure. Similarly, in Manenberg, a study revealed that 64% of the households were food insecure. Only 18% of poor households were food secure compared to the 74% and 94% for middle and high income households. Although there is numerous research on food insecurity in Cape Town, the contribution of urban agriculture to household food security in Kayamandi has not been addressed adequately. This study assessed the current state of food security in the Kayamandi settlement. The study also identified the impact of urban agriculture on food security in Kayamandi, as well as investigating the outcomes of an urban agriculture project in Kayamandi provided by the NGO, Love2Give. Qualitative research method was used to deeply understand the extent in which urban agriculture contributes to food security. In this process, 12 participants were purposively selected from the urban gardeners of the Love2Give organization including 2 key informant interviews. The Sustainable Livelihoods approach was applied to this study in order to understand the role Love2Give plays in building a sustainable community. As a theoretical framework, the Sustainable Livelihoods approach identified the mechanism Kayamandi gardeners use to secure their household food security. This is in alignment with the initial hypothesis, which is that Kayamandi households are food insecure. The majority of the participants in Kayamandi were either moderately (33.3%) or severely (33.3) food insecure whilst only four households were food secure (33.3). The high food insecurity in the area can be attributed to the high unemployment rate of 84% of the participants. Urban agriculture contributes to the household food security of participants. 75% of respondents engaged in urban farming for consumption purpose while the rest practice urban farming to generate income. Although participants generate little income from urban cultivating, it contributes significantly to their lives especially when they mix this with other livelihood diversification methods. Lack of water, land and enough farm equipment hinders the potential impact of urban agriculture. Therefore, there is a great need of intervention from multi-stakeholders such as NGOs, government and municipal authorities to intervene and promote urban agriculture as a means to reduce poverty and food insecurity.

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Richard A. Little, for the Master of Science degree in PLANT, SOIL AND AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS, presented on 2018, at Southern Illinois University. TITLE: COMPARATIVE FERTILITY EVALUATION FOR PEPPERS AND MELONS ON AN EXTENSIVE GREEN ROOF. MAJOR PROFESSORS: Karen Stoelzle Midden Co- Chair, Dr. S. Alan Walters Co-Chair, Dr. Brian P. Klubek. With the continued expansion of urban centers around the world comes a growing population of urban dwellers who need a reliable supply of produce that is healthy, safe, and locally grown. Urban green roof agriculture provides an alternative growing space to supply healthy and affordable produce to local markets and helps to address food security. However, there have been few studies done on the fertility requirements for fruits and vegetables grown in an extensive green roof environment. The growing media of most extensive green roof systems are composed mainly of light weight clay aggregate and contain a low amount of organic matter. Appropriate fertility treatments are required to optimize the potential for green roof agriculture. This research study evaluated 6 treatments for ‘Sweet Hungarian’ Peppers (Capsicum annuum, L.) and 4 treatments for ‘Savor’ Charentais Melons (Cucumis melo var. Cantalupensis, L.) grown in a three-inch extensive green roof medium located on the Southern Illinois University campus. A randomized complete design was used for both fruit crops. Each treatment for both the melons and peppers were replicated three times. Each pepper and melon plot contained 4 plants. The treatments applied to ‘Sweet Hungarian’ Peppers were: (1) Limited (reduced) fertility (Organic Miracle GrowTM at bi-monthly intervals-200 mls of solution/12 ft2 Plot); 2) Bonemeal at 6 Tbsp/12 ft2 Plot (applied at planting and flowering); 3) Bloodmeal at 6 Tbsp/12 ft2 Plot (applied at planting and flowering); 4) Bonemeal at planting then sidedressed with bloodmeal at flowering (6 Tbsp/12 ft2 Plot); 5) OsmocoteTM applied once at planting and once at flowering (3.8 oz/12 ft2); and 6) Standard granular fertilizer (13-13-13) with a broadcast application of (1.9 oz/12 ft2) complimented with a sidedress of (13% N by volume calcium nitrate at 1.9 oz/12 ft2) at flowering. The Charentais Melon treatments were: (1) Limited (reduced) fertility (Organic Miracle GrowTM at bi-monthly intervals-200 mls of solution/15 ft2 Plot); 2) Standard granular fertilizer (13-13-13) with a broadcast application of (2.4 oz/15 ft2) complimented with a sidedress of (13% N by volume calcium nitrate at 2.4 oz/15 ft2) at flowering; 3) OsmocoteTM applied once at planting and once at flowering (4.75 oz/15 ft2) 4) vermicompost at 25% of medium by total volume of 120L plot complimented by a sidedress of bloodmeal (7.5 Tbsp/15 ft2) at flowering. Watering was applied daily through drip line irrigation as needed. Plant vigor and active chlorophyll content, monthly from June to August, were recorded with a chlorophyll radiospectrometer. At harvest, the weight and yield were recorded for each plot number. In addition, nutrient composition of the green roof medium was analyzed for each treatment at the beginning of each year of replication. The objective of this research was to identify differences between a set of fertility treatments for the optimization of green roof food production and to reduce fertilizer use. The data from the three year study was analyzed using JMP statistical software. Year by treatment interactions were detected (P ≤ 0.05) for Pepper weight and yield parameters. OsmocoteTM and conventional 13-13-13 treatments outperformed the organic treatments. OsmocoteTM had higher yields than any other treatment for all three years. For the melons, environmental factors made the data inconclusive. However, the results suggest that OsmocoteTM and Vermicompost may have shown some positive interactions among the test parameters such as weight and yield.