The objectives of the study were to provide quantitative information on the material benefits generated from urban farming in order to assess the contribution of this activity to the food security and nutrition of participating households and to explore the meaning of urban agriculture in the livelihood of participants. The study was conducted in five informal settlements of Atteridgeville, Pretoria and involved a pilot study, a household survey and multiple case studies using participants in the different types of urban farming projects as units of data collection and analysis. More than half of the households in the study area participated in urban farming which consisted of home gardening, group gardening and dryland farming in open urban spaces. Active participation was predominantly by women. The contribution to total household income and food security of the different types of farming found in the study area was generally modest but the livelihood benefits derived from urban farming extended far beyond material gain, reducing social alienation and the disintegration of families associated with urban poverty. Lack of space and limited access to water for irrigation were the main constraints that affected participants in urban farming.

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Recent reports detail a rise in the practice of home food preservation in the United States due to economic woes, nutritional concerns, and increasing devotion to local food production.Home food preservation is the processing of foods in order to extend its shelf-life. Current common approaches to preserving foods at home include pressure canning, freezing, drying, water bath canning, and cellaring/storing. Local food production in four Kentucky counties were examined through in-depth qualitative interviews with home food preservation practitioners to yield a rural/urban comparison. Forty home food preservation practitioners were interviewed between Fall 2009 and Fall 2013. The primary question driving this project is what motivates those who grow gardens and practice home food preservation in an era of readily available, relatively cheap foodstuffs? Secondary questions include, how do the motivations of home food preservation practitioners compare in rural and urban areas? What are the links, if any, between home food preservation and environmental sustainability concerns in rural and urban areas? Each of these questions will be examined through a mixture of qualitative methods and a grounded theoretical approach. In-depth field interviews with 40 preservers, documentary filmmaking, and participant observation were conducted in two rural and two urban Kentucky counties. Interview transcripts were coded by themes, interpreted using hermeneutic analysis, and analyzed by grounded theory. Policy institutes could make gains from this research by building upon already existing community food practices. Agriculture extension agent could use these findings to inform their food preservation programs and improve safety recommendations.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The majority of rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa are predominantly poor and depend largely on small-scale subsistence farming. To date, various farming mechanisms (e.g. organic farming, crop rotation, agroforestry and inter-cropping) have been introduced to improve food security and to avert hunger; however, water scarcity remains a challenge. The sub-Saharan African region is currently regarded as water stressed and this has had a significant impact on rural livelihoods. Despite being considered as a water-scarce region, the demand for water for agricultural purposes continues to increase exponentially, while, on the other hand, its supply keeps on diminishing, particularly for agricultural production.

Home gardening has historically been a subsistence or supplemental form of food procurement worldwide and promoted as a food security project in times of economic hardship. Qualitative research was used to investigate container gardening's potential to provide the impetus for further agricultural activities within low-income, low-food-access, rural Appalachian Virginia, thereby impacting community food security, food choices of individuals, and the local food system. Ethnography and phenomenology methodologies were used through the lens of community-engaged research, and the lived experiences of participants were recognized as valid representations of food insecurity. Semi-structured interviews with fourteen participating households revealed program involvement was deeply connected to previous food production experiences and fueled by existing interest in home gardening. Containers were valued as providing alternative modes to continue a meaningful practice, specifically mitigating challenges of limited mobility for the elderly. As rural areas are experiencing an outmigration of young people and struggling social services, container gardening could be utilized as a low-cost culturally appropriate mental- and nutritional-health service for the rural elderly. Similar initiatives should begin with appreciative inquiry into existing perceptions, values, assets, and potentials within a target community. Through preliminary investigation, needs and barriers can be acknowledged and community-identified solutions can be implemented through culturally sensitive program development. With the existing impetus for home gardening in the region, program expansion could potentially impact food security and the local food system. Overall, this case study serves to further endorse a public effort to support home food production in rural areas of the United States. / Master of Science

M. Tech. (Food Service Management, Department of Hospitality and Tourism, Faculty of Human Sciences) -- Vaal University of Technology| / INTRODUCTION: Urban agriculture (UA) is increasingly being seen as an important component of urban development and urban environmental management. Urban agriculture is an alternative source of employment, household income, food and nutrition security among many low-income urban dwellers. Investments in Urban agriculture in South Africa are negatively influenced by a paucity of information on available land and farming opportunities and lack of policy. A situation analysis in Eatonside concluded that high unemployment rates, income-poverty, chronic household food insecurity and a high prevalence of malnutrition existed. Efforts to increase food availability will bring overall benefits to the community. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this project was to conduct an empirical study to assess food insecurity training needs in order to develop an appropriate home gardening training programme for gardeners in the informal settlements. METHODS: A random selection of 143 households was made from the informal settlement (refer baseline), but only 91 dwellers successfully completed the questionnaires that were administered by four trained field workers. The resu Its were analysed using the SPSS® 12.0 program. MAJOR FINDINGS AND IMPLICATIONS: The results showed that 72.5 percent had some knowledge of home gardening, whereas 29.7 percent had skills at all in home gardening; 69.2 percent responded that they had some knowledge of soil management, while 69.2 percent had no knowledge regarding planting management and only 13.2 percent had any knowledge regarding storage after harvesting and preparation of vegetables. Out of all the 91 participants, only 29.7 percent had ever worked in a garden. The researcher and fieldworkers were the first group to be trained so that they could conduct the training of the participants with the assistance of the farmers. Since the patiicipants were both male and female, no problems were encountered with digging the ground, as every day after training the males made a point of preparing the ground for the next day. Training was conducted over two days for each group; there were four groups including the fieldworkers. Groups 2 and 3 had 25 participants each while group 4 had 41 participants (n = 91). On day one, the trainers provided all the theory that the participants would need to work in a garden. On day two, the trainers incorporated theory with practical training which involved the participants. CONCLUSION It was found that most of the householders who participated in this project owned a vegetable garden. Most of the participants felt that they had benefited greatly from the training given in the gardening project, both because they were now able to have year round access to fresh vegetables, and because of the money-saving aspect / NRF -- CRC