Urbanization is truly the mark of the 21 century and with its speed the 'Urbanization of Poverty' has risen too and accounts now for 25% of the worlds' poor. Urban Farming can in this regard be part of the solution to mitigate urban poverty, which hits much harder on the urban poor when food crisis or expected price hikes in the near future will reoccur.

1. Urban Farming and Public Procurement for Healthy Cities
Danish NCD Alliance/CPH 19.03.2012

2. Outline of lecture
• Urbanization and the changing face of poverty
• Urban Farming as part of a solution
• Present overall project idea:
Healthy cities – Healthy diets: Integrating Urban
Farming and Public food procurement

3. Urbanization:
The mark of the 21 century

4. Urban dynamics
• 60 % of the world is now urban – 70% in 35
years
• Every week a new city emerges with over 1.
mio. inhabitants (mostly in developing
countries) – Growth of Megapolis 10 mio+
• Every year the population of France migrates
from rural to urban
• In only 35 years two more India will have
emerged (2.5 billion more people)

5. Growing Urban Poverty
• Food crisis & rising food prices
• The Urban sector’s share of the poor is
rising over time
• Absolute poverty is higher in rural areas
(75% of DC’s poor still live in rural areas)

6. Rising food prices

7. 2 and 3 illustrated
Number of poor (millions) Percent of DW’s Urban
population below each share of
poverty line the poor
(%)
Urban Rural Total Urban Rural Total
1$ a day 1993 236 1,036 1,272 13.5 36.6 27.8 18.5
2002 283 883 1,165 12.8 29.3 22.3 24.2
2$ a day 1993 683 2,215 2,898 39.1 78.2 63.3 23.6
2002 746 2,097 2,843 33.7 69.7 54.4 26.2

8. The Slum Dog Billion
• > 30% of the world’s
urban population –
1 billion people –
resides in slums
• 90% of slum dwellers
live in developing world

9. Slum population by region

10. Urban Agriculture as a solution?
• 800 mio. people around the
world make a living from
urban farming – major part in
the metropolis’ of Asia
• 200 mio. people make a living from selling their urban
farm products to a market

11. • Cities around the world are already producing
on average 1/3 of the food the inhabitants
consume

12. 3 Types of Urban farming
• Micro scale farm plots integrated with
social housing or slum projects (often
vacant intra city-plots
• Smaller scale multifunctional (agro)forestry
in green city-corridors or peri-urban areas
(often less favorable areas: Steep slopes,
river banks, tree belt to stop desertfication,
utilizing sewage waste)

13. • Cluster of more intensive high-tech farming
with livestock (pork, chicken and fishfarms) or
greenhouse produce inter-acting in different
forms of cooperation utilizing manure etc
(Often Peri-urban areas)

14. Operating within three areas
Ecological (Environmental Social (Inclusive city)
Healthy city)
Subsistence oriented UA
Multifunctional UA Production of food for self
consumption
* Organic and diverse agriculture
* Savings on food & health
and (agro-) forestry close to
expenditures
consumers
* Some income from selling of
•Combination with other functions
surpluses
(recreation, urban greening,
* Part of livelihood strategies
microclimate, park management, of the urban poor
water storage, education)
* CO2 reduction
Market oriented UA
* Income generation from
producing food and non-food
products for the market
* Small scale family based
and
larger scale entrepreneurial
enterprises
Economical
(Productive city)

15. Positive urban farm outcomes
• Poverty alleviation
– Reduces food expences (normally 60-80% of
household budget)
– Potential for generating income by surplus sales
(30-70$/month compared with minimum wage
20-40$/month)
– Generating linkages to new jobs in inputs,
(organic waste collection, composting),
processing and marketing, transport, veterinary
services etc

16. Positive Urban Farm cont…
• Healthy city - Urban food security
– Buffer on food hikes and food supplies securing
potentially a healthy diet
– Regular food intake
– Mitigating the ’double burden of malnutrition’
wasting (weight/height)
stunting (height/age)
diabetes/obesity

17. Problems related to Urban farming
• Health risks for producers as well as
consumers (inappropriate use of
wastewater, contaminated
rivers/streams)
• Inadequate management of livestock
(confinements for collecting urine,
manure risk of attracting rats)

18. Problems cont…..
• Inadequate supplies of
nutrient inputs
• Theft
• Exposure to land, air, water
contamination from traffic,
industry
• Poor land use security/rights

19. Project idea:
Healthy Cities – Healthy Diets
• Integrating Urban farming with Public food
procurement as a driver for social inclusion
(School meal programs, hospitals, nursery)
– Children are send to school (free meal)
– Children can stay awake in class
– Higher chance teachers stay at school
– Medicine works (aids, TB etc)
– Educational integration

20. Urban Farming targeting:
• Social inclusion (garden training, nutrient and
pest handling, healthy food education)
• Market sale (marketing training, small shop set
up, new service job linkages: organic waste
collection, transport, seed or seedling production)
• Environmental services (sanitary awareness,
Greening the city, water management,
Demonstration plotsn plots

21. Quick conclusions
• Agriculture & rural development are still important
in mitigating poverty
• But new political initiatives integrating urbanization,
poverty and health is needed
• Urban Farming offers quick and concrete solutions
targeting and unifying difficult challenges:
– Improved food security
– Better sanitary services and Health
– Broad range of Environmental services
– Organic waste collection and compost making
– New job creation
– Human & political rights focus