Urban agriculture is the practice of cultivating, processing and distributing food in or around urban areas. It is the growing of fresh produce within the city for individual, communal or commercial purposes in cities in both developed and developing countries.
Argentina The city of Rosario (population 1.3 million) has incorporated agriculture into its land-use planning and urban development strategy. Its Land Use Plan 2007–2017 makes specific provision for the agricultural use of public land. Under its Metropolitan Strategic Plan 2008–2018, Rosario is building a "green circuit", passing through and around the city, consisting of family and community gardens, large-scale, commercial vegetable gardens and orchards, multifunctional garden parks and "productive barrios" where agriculture is integrated into programs for constructing public housing and upgrading slums. In 2014 the green circuit consisted of more than 30 ha of land used to grow vegetables and fruit, as well as medicinal and aromatic plants. The city has five large, landscaped green areas known as "garden parks" covering a total of 72 ha of land, which are used both for agriculture and for cultural, sport and educational activities.
Australia Various studies propose that the increased usage of urban agricultural practices in Australian cities could profoundly mitigate the consequences of climate change and promote food security. In one 2020 study, the authors demonstrated that using 25% of vacant land and yard space in Sydney for urban agriculture practices could boost food supply by up to 15%. In light of these potential benefits, urban agriculture is beginning to become more common in Australia, particularly in the form of urban farms and roadside gardens. In some cities, local councils have encouraged urban agriculture by providing residents with guidelines to support roadside gardens. In others, however, planning policies and regulations have impeded access to sufficient and suitable land for urban agriculture. In general, insufficient land is a major obstacle to agriculture in Australian cities. In Queensland, the trend of utilizing aquaponics and self-watering containers has gained some popularity.
Canada
British Columbia A Canadian urban farmer in British Columbia has published details on a crop value rating (CVR) system that urban farmers can use to determine which crops to grow, based on each crop's contribution to supporting the farm economically. This entails forgoing some crops in favor of others, but he points out that urban farmers can develop business networks with rural farmers to bring some of those other crops to sale in the city. For example, an urban farmer may not be able to economically justify growing sweet corn (based on long days to maturity and low yield density per linear foot of row), but a networking arrangement is mutually beneficial, as it lets a rural sweet corn farmer gain an additional point of sale at retail price, while letting the urban farmer fill gaps in their product line. Several community projects in Victoria, British Columbia were instigated to promote urban agricultural practices. For example, the Sharing Backyards program intends to get people living in urban areas in contact with others who have extra space in their yards for agricultural purposes. Some organizations run public demonstrations in gardens to educate people in urban parts of Vancouver about growing food in an urban setting. Covering the roof of the west building of the Vancouver Convention Centre is the largest green roof in Canada and one of the 10 largest green roofs in the world. With around six acres of living space, it is home to more than 400,000 indigenous plants and grasses that provide insulation. It is also home to four Western honey bee beehives which pollinate the plants on the roof and provide honey. The living includes other sustainable practices such as recycling and reusing water. The city of Kamloops, British Columbia, actively promotes urban agricultural practices within their community. They stress the importance of food security and its effect on the economy as well as the ecology. In 2014, they initiated the Food and Urban Agriculture Plan (FUAP), which lays out goals and strategies to implement a sustainable food system utilizing urban agriculture. The areas which they cover include: Food Production and Land Availability, Food Processing and Preparing, Food Distribution/Retail/Access, Cooking/Eating and Celebrating Food, Food Waste and Resource Management, as well as Education/Governance and Capacity Building.
Ontario The City of Ottawa, Ontario is home to the largest urban farm in the nation, the Central Experimental Farm (CEF). Located near the center of the city, the 4 square kilometres (1.5 mi2) farm is an agricultural facility, working farm, and research center for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. The City of Ottawa is also home to numerous urban farms within the 203.5-square-kilometre (78.6 sq mi) greenbelt. Along with many other cities in Ontario, the City of Toronto allows eligible residents in 4 wards across the city to keep a maximum of 4 hens (no roosters) for the purpose of enjoyment or personal consumption of only the eggs. There are other requirements involved in rearing these hens under this program, such as zoning, and guidelines for building the enclosure, handling waste, and disposal. The wards eligible for this program from the UrbanHensTo site include Ward 13 (Parkdale-High Park), Ward 21 (St. Paul's), Ward 5 (Etobicoke-Lakeshore), and Ward 32 (Beaches-East York). Workshops are also available to those interested in rearing urban hens. However, failure to abide by these rules and regulations can result in fines.
Quebec
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