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Nigus G, Ketema M, Haji J, Sileshi M. Determinants of adoption of urban agricultural practices in eastern Haraghe zone of Oromia region and Dire Dawa City administration, eastern Ethiopia. Heliyon 2024; 10:e26758. [PMID: 38434071 PMCID: PMC10906398 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e26758] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2023] [Revised: 02/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Although urban agriculture (UA) can aid economic development, food inflation, unemployment, and nutritional insecurity often necessitate urban households to engage in various agricultural practices. Hence, the study aimed to identify UA practices adopted and their determinants in the Eastern Haraghe zone of the Oromia region and Dire Dawa City Administration, Eastern Ethiopia. Data was collected from 385 randomly selected urban households using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and a Multivariate Probit (MVP) model were used to analyze the data. The results of the MVP model reveal that sex, age, education level, land size, extension contact, credit access, community group participation, training, and household non-farm income significantly influenced vegetable farming adoption. On the other hand, livestock production adoption was also affected by factors such as sex, land size, perception, credit access, farming experience, community group participation, market distance, training, and non-farm income. Crop-fruit production adoption was also influenced by factors like age, perception, farming experience, market distance, training, and dependency ratio. Improving the ability to use the land for UA purposes, empowering female-headed households, improving livestock breeds, creating awareness through short-term training, and improving credit accessibility are important recommendations to enhance the adoption of UA practices in the study areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gebregziabher Nigus
- School of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Haramaya University, Haramaya, Ethiopia
| | | | - Jema Haji
- School of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Haramaya University, Haramaya, Ethiopia
| | - Million Sileshi
- School of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, Haramaya University, Haramaya, Ethiopia
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Dorr E, Hawes JK, Goldstein B, Fargue-Lelièvre A, Fox-Kämper R, Specht K, Fedeńczak K, Caputo S, Cohen N, Poniży L, Schoen V, Górecki T, Newell JP, Jean-Soro L, Grard B. Food production and resource use of urban farms and gardens: a five-country study. AGRONOMY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2023; 43:18. [PMID: 36748098 PMCID: PMC9891751 DOI: 10.1007/s13593-022-00859-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 12/20/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
UNLABELLED There is a lack of data on resources used and food produced at urban farms. This hampers attempts to quantify the environmental impacts of urban agriculture or craft policies for sustainable food production in cities. To address this gap, we used a citizen science approach to collect data from 72 urban agriculture sites, representing three types of spaces (urban farms, collective gardens, individual gardens), in five countries (France, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, and United States). We answered three key questions about urban agriculture with this unprecedented dataset: (1) What are its land, water, nutrient, and energy demands? (2) How productive is it relative to conventional agriculture and across types of farms? and (3) What are its contributions to local biodiversity? We found that participant farms used dozens of inputs, most of which were organic (e.g., manure for fertilizers). Farms required on average 71.6 L of irrigation water, 5.5 L of compost, and 0.53 m2 of land per kilogram of harvested food. Irrigation was lower in individual gardens and higher in sites using drip irrigation. While extremely variable, yields at well-managed urban farms can exceed those of conventional counterparts. Although farm type did not predict yield, our cluster analysis demonstrated that individually managed leisure gardens had lower yields than other farms and gardens. Farms in our sample contributed significantly to local biodiversity, with an average of 20 different crops per farm not including ornamental plants. Aside from clarifying important trends in resource use at urban farms using a robust and open dataset, this study also raises numerous questions about how crop selection and growing practices influence the environmental impacts of growing food in cities. We conclude with a research agenda to tackle these and other pressing questions on resource use at urban farms. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13593-022-00859-4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erica Dorr
- University Paris-Saclay, INRAE-AgroParisTech, UMR SAD-APT, Palaiseau, France
| | - Jason K. Hawes
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA
| | - Benjamin Goldstein
- Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec Canada
| | | | - Runrid Fox-Kämper
- ILS Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Kathrin Specht
- ILS Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Konstancja Fedeńczak
- Faculty of Human Geography and Planning, Department of Integrated Geography, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Silvio Caputo
- School of Architecture and Planning, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Nevin Cohen
- Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy, City University of New York, New York, NY USA
| | - Lidia Poniży
- Faculty of Human Geography and Planning, Department of Integrated Geography, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Victoria Schoen
- Centre for Agroecology, Water, and Resilience (CAWR), Coventry University, Coventry, UK
| | - Tomasz Górecki
- Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznań, Poland
| | - Joshua P. Newell
- School for Environment and Sustainability, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA
| | - Liliane Jean-Soro
- University Gustave Eiffel, GERS-LEE, F-44344 Bouguenais, France
- IRSTV-FR CNRS 2488, Ecole Centrale de Nantes, Nantes, France
| | - Baptiste Grard
- University Paris-Saclay, INRAE-AgroParisTech, UMR ECOSYS, Palaiseau, France
- ISARA, Agroecology and Environment Research Unit, Lyon, France
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How Much Margin Is Left for Degrading Agricultural Soils? The Coming Soil Crises. SOIL SYSTEMS 2022. [DOI: 10.3390/soilsystems6010022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural soils are in peril. Multiple lines of observational and empirical evidence suggest that we are losing the world’s fertile soils at an alarming rate, worsening the on-going global food crisis. It is increasingly clear that the risk of soil crises driven by erratic precipitation, warming air, and farming mismanagement is coming sooner rather than later. At this critical time, society cannot avoid looking for ways to curb soil crises. We argue that now is the right time for science-based mitigation strategies and new insights to protect soils. We offer four research priority areas that society needs to address. Arresting and reversing the ongoing soil degradation are tantamount to safeguarding humanity and the environment. To the extent that we continue to treat soil crises as a problem for farmers only—not as a global challenge—we only escalate the scale to which the problem will grow in time and complexity.
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