Rapid urbanisation has resulted in a sharp increase in food insecurity. For this reason, urban farming practised by the poor and lower-income groups is fast becoming de rigeur among city dwellers. In some suburbs, maize and vegetable plots are springing up to counter expected food shortages, reports DANIEL ESSIET.
Urban farming is the cultivation of a wide range of crops – including fruits, vegetables, tubers and ornamental plants – in cities and towns and the surrounding areas.
With unemployment estimated at above 80 per cent and basic foodstuffs becoming unaffordable even for those who have jobs, vacant lots are fast being turned into agricultural plots. Following this, urban faming, widely practised by the poor and lower-income groups is fast becoming de rigeur among the city dwellers.
One of them is Madam Okoro Madu (not real name) who lives at the Journalists Estate, Arepo in Ogun State.
She was desperate to grow something, so she planted some vegetables on the only available open space around her home. Madam Madu sets aside time for farming on weekends. She tends her crops herself and makes sure that she does not run out of food by producing vegetables for consumption and sale.
Consequently, other residents followed her and began planting crops for their consumption. Collectively, they hope for enough rains to enable them to harvest a reasonable yield part of which they can sell to earn an income for their families.
In many states of the federation, urban farming is playing a pivotal role in supporting the growth of the food industry.
It is providing a livelihood for thousands of city dwellers, with vegetables bringing in good money for small growers and helping to alleviate malnutrition nationally. The demand for vegetables and the high prices they command in the cities have pushed many jobless residents into becoming small-scale growers.
The burgeoning income of small vegetable growers, who sometimes earn between 200 and 300 per cent profit, have made them more attractive to those involved in agro exports.
In some states with link to the major highways, most of the green spaces along the roadsides have been transformed into small farms.
For experts, urban farming is a lucrative business. This is particularly the case for some states where the dynamism of the sector has led to move up the value added chain and strong market position.
As a result, the sector contributes 30 per cent of the food sector total production.
A Crop Protection Specialist, Prof Daniel Gwary, told The Nation that developing urban agriculture is crucial, given the current demographic trend.
Globally, reports said urban food markets are set to increase fourfold to exceed $400 billion by 2030, requiring major agribusiness investments in processing, logistics, market infrastructure, and retail networks. This is because the growing middle class is also seeking greater diversity and higher quality in its diets. The most dynamic sectors overall are likely to be rice, feed grains, poultry, dairy, vegetable oils, horticulture, and processed foods.
The good news also, is that many supermarkets are poised to take off, where they serve the middle-income population. Their benefits can include a broader supply of produce, safer foods, economies of scale, and lower consumer prices.
The supermarkets support small-scale farmers, including urban farmers.
For this reason, Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and many other international and local institutions, are pushing just that message – that micro-gardening and other forms of urban horticulture can go a long way to boosting city dwellers’ food security and improving living conditions.
Gwary, of the Department of Crop Protection, University of Maiduguri, said micro-gardening and urban farming allow people to better feed their families.
As a matter of urgency, he wants governments at various levels to recognise their roles as facilitators in food security and nutrition strategies.
So far, he sees the biggest weakness in the value chain, however, as farmers not being able to organise the collection of crops produced in scattered locations for delivery to processing facilities.
As such, there are high rates of spoilage. A shortage of sufficient throughput for processing discourages investments into value-added production, which in turn leads to a further increase in spoilage.
Apart from this, there are significant information gaps as well: on up-to-date market information related to growers.
Prof Abel Ogunwale sees urban farms as a “growth area with compelling fundamentals driven by urbanisation, population growth, and rising incomes’’.
For Ogunwale, a consultant with the World Bank, urban farming is one within a menu of solutions to help feed more people in a manner that advances economic development and reduces pressure on the environment.
He said most forms of urban farms require land, water, feed, and energy—input that are scarce and need government assistance.
For him and some private sector stakeholders, one of the biggest challenges facing urban fruit and vegetable farmers are difficulties in obtaining large surfaces of land.
Whatever the size, the don noted that urban farmers need enough lands to assure sufficient production volumes.
Others are poor input markets, difficulties in accessing land and finance and inadequate skills and technology.
All-weather roads, Ogunwale noted, are crucial for urban farms to gain access to markets. Recent improvements in main roads mean that a disproportionate share of the high transport costs for agricultural produce are incurred within the first few kilometres from the farm, because the roads are bad.
For a strong sector to emerge, he said supply and credit services with it should be strengthened.
However, Ogunwale said the Geographical Information System (GIS) could be used to map vegetable production and analyse how urban agriculture contribute to food security.
GIS project, he maintained, would analyse data gathered on the ground and via satellite about crop species, production, land surface and workforce.
He appealed to the government to address post-harvest loss issues and improve input products and service delivery to farmers, while the agricultural and finance institutions should be well-positioned to support the development of the sector.
The President, Lagos Apex Fadama Association, Alhaji Abiodun Oyeniran, said the government is trying to open up some areas of land suitable for large-scale production to farmers despite increasing pressure on urban lands for residential development.
FAO said an estimated 130 million urban residents in Africa and 230 million in Latin America engage in agriculture, mainly horticulture, to provide food for their families and earn an income.
“While the urban poor, particularly those arriving from rural areas, have long practised horticulture as a livelihood and survival strategy, in many countries the sector is still largely informal, usually precarious, and sometimes illegal,” world body said.
People often farm idle urban land, but with no legal standing, they can be kicked off when the land is wanted for development. FAO said urban policies should acknowledge the role of urban and peri-urban agriculture in development.
