Rapid urbanization, with more mouths to feed, has led to competition for available spaces in urban areas. A growing population births innovative ideas to ensure food security through urban agriculture.
Given the predicted numbers expected to live in major cities in the coming years, relying on traditional agriculture may not be enough. This is where urban agriculture comes in, utilizing small spaces in cities to grow food. It is an idea that has thrived across cities, with abandoned lots, balconies, and rooftops becoming important spaces for cultivation.
One of the major challenges in the world today is to produce more food for a growing population without increasing our agricultural footprint. Urban agriculture may solve this challenge.1
Urban farms have improved food production in cities. Providing residents an opportunity to grow fresh agricultural produce in whatever available space they can find.
Growing food sustainably should be prioritized even in small-scale urban farming. Urban areas already have their environmental challenges, so it is important to implement eco-friendly initiatives in small-scale urban farming to ensure sustainability.
What Is Urban Agriculture?
Urban agriculture is the production of crops and livestock goods within major cities and towns.2
In general, there are various approaches to the implementation of urban agriculture activities, including hydroponics, greenhouses, community and backyard gardens, ground-level or rooftop farming, school farms, market and food cooperatives, and other structures.3
Urban agriculture helps with food production in densely populated cities and towns. It reshapes a small portion of a city’s landscape to what it was before urbanization.
The idea of urban agriculture does more than provide fresh produce grown in small spaces. It contributes to the liveability, sustainability, and resilience of cities, and offers recreation and social interaction, community engagement, and a range of ecosystem services to the community and biodiversity.3,4
Learn more: How Does Industrial Agriculture Promote Farming Techniques that are Ecologically Destructive?
Challenges of Urban Agriculture
Urban agriculture has its challenges. The most common one is finding available spaces in densely populated cities and towns.
Food production thrives on vast tracts of land, which is almost impossible to find in urban environments. The small spaces urban growers can utilize are rooftops, balconies, or abandoned lots.
Farming in small spaces impacts food production and limits the variety of crops that can be grown. This is not a challenge in traditional farming, where farmers can grow a variety of crops to produce more food.
Another challenge urban growers have to deal with is water availability. Unless crops are planted in the open in urban areas that receive adequate rainfall, water may be a problem for growers.
Urban farmers in environments with strict water usage regulations can get innovative with better water management solutions. Prioritizing a sustainable water supply can provide adequate water to crops without straining the city’s resources.
Using fertilizers and managing pests with synthetic pesticides is another challenge in urban agriculture. The application of these toxic chemicals can contribute to pollution if not properly handled. Misusing these chemicals to grow crops in populated cities and towns can contaminate the local waterways.
Eco-Friendly Initiatives in Small-Scale Urban Farming
Food production in an urban environment is increasingly recognized as a potential strategy to meet at least part of the shift in food demands in urban areas.5
Surveys conducted among over 200 small-scale vegetable farmers in Benin, West Africa showed how farmers perceived the different attributes of eco-friendly nets. The nets served as physical barriers against insects in vegetable products, reducing the need for pesticides.6
Other eco-friendly initiatives for improved small-scale farming in urban environments include;
1. Improving Soil Health on Urban Farms
Soil health is key to crop growth, but in urban environments, continuous land use often leaves the soil in poor condition. This is a major challenge that urban growers have to deal with. To improve soil health, growers rely on organic matter from composted yard waste to maintain healthy soil nutrient levels.
Additionally, urban growers can improve soil health on their farms by working closely with their communities to get low-cost organic materials for composting. Finding food scraps won’t be difficult if growers can partner with local restaurants, grocery stores, and breweries.
2. Water Access and Management
Water is a valuable resource required for farming—and should be sustainably managed. Farming in urban environments comes with the challenge of water usage, as certain cities may have strict water usage regulations.
For urban growers, access to water can be expensive depending on the region. Additionally, The installation of a permanent water line to irrigate their crops can also be expensive. To ensure sustainability, urban farmers should always check with their local utilities to confirm if a potential farming lot has access to water.
3. Eco-Friendly Pest Control
Small-scale urban farming can implement sustainable pest management. Controlling pests on urban farms is similar to the process used in rural farms.
Firstly, monitoring emerging pest problems is critical towards sustainable pest management. Urban farmers can detect pest problems early by performing regular checks on their crops. This should be done at least once a week, with records kept for proper observation.7
Regular scouting for pests on crops on urban farms reduces the need to apply toxic pesticides. Checking crops for pest infestation is more sustainable than using pesticides on farms.
Other effective eco-friendly pest control methods include the introduction of beneficial insects (such as ladybugs, assassin bugs and aphid lions), the use of essential oils or a mild solution of soap and water.
Biological Control
Pests can become immune to synthetic pesticides over time. Biological control is an eco-friendly method that uses pest predators to keep pest populations in check.
Farmers can also rely on cultural practices to get rid of insects. These practices promote soil health and create a form of biological control that enables organisms such as fungi, arthropods, and bacteria that prey on insects.
Urban Farming Techniques that Minimize Environmental Impact
Urban agriculture aims to improve food production in small spaces in cities and towns. Farming techniques in urban environments differ significantly from traditional farming.
Since urban farming is practised in smaller spaces, advanced techniques are utilized to optimize the available spaces in urban environments.
1. Vertical Farming
Speaking of utilizing small spaces, vertical farming is an advanced farming technique that maximizes food production in smaller spaces. It involves cultivating crops in stacked layers in a controlled indoor environment.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, vertical farming offers so much more than traditional farming. For example, vertical farms in controlled environments allow urban farmers to grow regional or seasonal crops year-round. whereas crops traditional farming is limited by regional and seasonal changes.8
Vertical farming is a sustainable and resource-efficient farming method. Unlike traditional farming, where water is lost in the soil, vertical farms have a higher water-use efficiency.9
2. Hydroponics and Aquaponics
Hydroponics is an advanced farming technique that involves growing crops with water-based nutrient solutions.10 This technique is ideal for urban environments as it utilizes small spaces and allows for year-round growing without soil.11 Hydroponics uses less water and enables faster growth and higher yields compared to traditional growing systems.
Aquaponics combines aquaculture and hydroponics into one system.12 This is a sustainable farming technique that offers various advantages such as reduced weed growth, less water usage, and minimised land use due to the potential for vertical implementation.
In an aquaponics system, nutrient-rich fish waste is used for plant growth. The idea behind this innovative technique is to provide fish with the feed of the right composition. The ammonia produced from the fish urine and gill excreta are then converted into nitrate through nitrification, providing essential nutrients for plants13
3. Rooftop Gardens
Rooftop gardens offer more than just growing food in small spaces in cities and towns. While they are utilized for food production, regulating temperatures to keep houses warm in winter and cool in summer is one of the benefits of converting rooftops into gardens.
The elevated gardens can also serve as a relaxation spot as they improve air quality and biodiversity in urban environments. The idea of rooftop gardens converts idle spaces into a small urban farm producing fresh food while creating a calm atmosphere.
Rooftop farming has its challenges, especially getting water to the rooftop to hydrate crops. Other challenges include weather exposure, lack of storage facilities, and weight of plants and structures.
Learn more: Which Is a Sustainable Practice? Operating Wind Farms, Clear-Cutting, Flood Irrigation or Over Fishing
Success Stories of Sustainable Urban Farms
Sky Greens, Singapore
Sky Greens in the tiny nation of Singapore is a low-carbon hydraulic-driven vertical farm—the first in the world in one of the most densely populated areas on the planet.
For a country where locally grown vegetables account for only 7% of consumption, the Sky Green vertical farming system has been able to produce more compared to traditional farms.
According to Foodtank.com, the greenhouse system grows lettuce and cabbages all year round with less energy and water. Produce from the Sky Greens are sold in grocery stores across Singapore.14
Food Field, Detroit, Michigan
In 2011, Noah Link and Alex Bryan started Food Field, an urban farm that offers community-supported agriculture. Food Field grows various vegetables, fish, honeybees, fruit trees, chicken, mushrooms, and more.15
Link and Bryan were committed to developing an alternative to the corporate food system. Their effort provided an opportunity for residents to enjoy fresh produce from Food Field. The creation of this urban farm has enabled local communities to access farm products like salad greens and mulberries.16
What Farming Method is the Most Environmentally Friendly?
Organic farming is a sustainable farming method that avoids the use of toxic chemicals. It focuses on using natural processes to improve soil health. In organic farming, crops are grown using compost and other natural methods.
It’s a farming method that uses no chemical fertilizer or synthetic pesticides for pest control.
Which would be the Best Example of Sustainable Farming?
Companion Planting
Companion planting involves growing different types of crops close to each other to improve productivity. Farmers and gardeners practice companion planting for various reasons. This method maximizes space in farmlands, helps prevent harmful insects, provides shade to smaller crops, and offers support for crops and weed suppression. Companion planting also attracts beneficial insects and improves soil health.17
Cover Crops
A cover crop is a plant strategically planted on farms to cover the soil and improve soil health. Cover crops, including legumes and cereals, are grown specifically to protect the soil from erosion, suppress pests (including weeds) and enhance soil fertility. Cover crops are often grown for soil enrichment.18
How Can I Make My Farm Eco-Friendly?
An eco-friendly farm grows food organically without the application of fertilizers and pesticides. However, chemical fertilizers and pesticides are commonly used today, especially in traditional farming, to improve soil health.
The continuous of these toxic chemicals impacts the environment. These methods are unsustainable, contaminating the environment and polluting waterways.
To make your farm eco-friendly, it’s best to switch from modern farming techniques that rely on chemical use to organic farming. Whether you own a garden or a large farmland, prioritizing sustainable agriculture practices is a better option than relying on fertilizers and pesticides to grow crops.
To achieve eco-friendly farming, you should minimize tilling the soil, support pollinators, rotate crops, and plant cover crops to protect the soil in the off-season.
What is the Meaning of Eco-Farming?
Eco-farming describes practising sustainable farming methods that avoid toxic materials that harm the environment. This includes avoiding chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides in farms to grow crops and prevent insect attacks.
Eco-farming means growing food organically with compost while utilizing biological control to manage pests.
Conclusion
Urban agriculture has its challenges, but it has enabled cities and towns to get the best out of small spaces to produce fresh food.
The idea of urban agriculture does more than provide fresh produce grown in small spaces. It also contributes to the liveability, sustainability, and resilience of cities.
Sources
- McDougall, R., Kristiansen, P., & Rader, R. (2018). Small-scale urban agriculture results in high yields but requires judicious management of inputs to achieve sustainability. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 116(1), 129–134. ↩︎
- Brenda B. Lin et al: “Urban Agriculture as a Productive Green Infrastructure for Environmental and Social Well-Being.” ↩︎
- Natalia Varsami: “Understanding the role of citizens in sustainable development.” ↩︎
- FCS3378/FY1517: Social and Community Benefits and Limitations of Urban Agriculture. (n.d.). Ask IFAS – Powered by EDIS. ↩︎
- Nicholls, E., Ely, A., Birkin, L., Basu, P., & Goulson, D. (2020). The contribution of small-scale food production in urban areas to the sustainable development goals: a review and case study. Sustainability Science, 15(6), 1585–1599. ↩︎
- Vidogbéna, F., Adégbidi, A., Tossou, R., Assogba-Komlan, F., Martin, T., Ngouajio, M., Simon, S., Parrot, L., Garnett, S. T., & Zander, K. K. (2015). Exploring factors that shape small-scale farmers’ opinions on the adoption of eco-friendly nets for vegetable production. Environment Development and Sustainability, 18(6), 1749–1770. ↩︎
- USDA Sustainable Agriculture Research and Extension. (2024, May 20). Best Practices for the Sustainable Urban Farm – SARE. SARE. ↩︎
- Vertical farming – no longer a futuristic concept : USDA ARS. (n.d.). ↩︎
- Are vertical farms sustainable? (n.d.). Frontiers for Young Minds. ↩︎
- Hydroponics | National Agricultural Library. (n.d.). ↩︎
- Small-scale hydroponics. (n.d.). UMN Extension. ↩︎
- Aquaculture and Aquaponics | National Agricultural Library. (n.d.). ↩︎
- Wong, C. E., Teo, Z. W. N., Shen, L., & Yu, H. (2020). Seeing the lights for leafy greens in indoor vertical farming. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 106, 48–63. ↩︎
- Salshutz, E. (2018, December 17). Five examples of successful urban agriculture done differently around the world. Food Tank. ↩︎
- Nextdoor, & Nextdoor. (n.d.). Food Field – Detroit, MI – nextdoor. nextdoor.com. ↩︎
- Food Field : a four-arce Detroit urban farm. (n.d.). ↩︎
- Companion planting. (n.d.). Extension | West Virginia University. ↩︎
- Gianessi, L. P. (2008). Role of triazine herbicides in sustainable agriculture: Potential of nonchemical weed control methods as substitutes for herbicides in United States corn production. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 527–540). ↩︎