According to a needs assessment by
the Millennium Development Goals Hunger Task Force,
all problems of food security in poor countries would
be solved if the rich world spent US$70 billion per
annum, or 0.3% of its GNP, on addressing them, mainly
by building infrastructure.
 |
| Growing vegetables in a valley
in the heart of Kampala, Uganda. Photo ©
Diana Lee-Smith.. |
The fact is, they don't, and they are probably not
about to do so. Meanwhile, in the real world, poor
people practice urban agriculture. They do this to
feed themselves and to get the produce they grow and
the animals they keep nearer to the big markets. The
worse the roads and transport, the fewer refrigerated
vehicles that go down them, the more live animals
and perishable crops for human consumption are needed
near cities.The same applied to cities in Europe up
to the last century, when refrigeration was invented.
For UN-HABITAT to ignore the facts of urban agriculture
and refuse to deal with it, is about as realistic
as if ILO had ignored the "informal sector"
in the 1980s.
It is clear there are health issues associated with
urban agriculture. The question is, what to do about
them? Risks include disease transmission from livestock
and the use of contaminated wastewater for growing
crops. Where sanitation is poor there are pathogens
in that water, and where factories and workshops discharge
chemicals into the drains there are toxic wastes as
well. Vegetables grown close to roads can contain
toxins from exhaust fumes. But there are health benefits
too. Research has shown that children in urban farming
households - specifically those headed by women -
are better nourished than those from non-farming households.
Kampala City Council in Uganda is currently carrying
out a health impact assessment of urban agriculture.
This is needed to establish better policies, and to
plan and regulate urban agriculture based on improving
people's current practices. Public education and information
are envisaged. Banning urban agriculture is unrealistic
where a third of Kampala residents do it, about half
the city land is used for it, and it produces 40 per
cent of the food and 70 per cent of the poultry consumed
in the city.
Urban agriculture also carries environmental risks
and benefits. Unplanned farming can cause erosion.
But well-planned farming can provide open space and
greenery a city needs. Near Paris, residents in one
area are lobbying for farms to be kept as it increases
the amenity and land value of their properties. And
nobody is thinking of getting rid of Hyde Park in
London so as to turn it over to a higher value land
use.
In poor countries, land can be permanently zoned as
open space and temporarily used for farming. Remember
that the commons in English towns were once
used for grazing. Regulation and planning controls
are essential, and these should be evidence-based
- using research data and risk assessments.
Rather than banning crops grown in town, why not
ban lead based fuels and control air pollution? Why
not stop industries discharging toxic wastes into
public drains? Why not provide better sanitation?
And, why not do more research and development on nutrient
cycling? About 60 per cent or more of waste in the
cities of poor countries is organic, and can be used
to produce compost. The nutrient load from human waste
in cities can be properly managed to produce organic
fertilizer. Poor soil nutrition is the biggest constraint
to farming in sub-Saharan Africa. In fact, the Consultative
Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)
and its partners in African cities are already doing
such research.
Few cities have food or agriculture departments that
enable them to address issues of food security and
plan food supplies properly. In the last two years,
there have been several international declarations
calling for such policies and institutions.
Should UN-HABITAT not respond to these?
Diana Lee-Smith is African Regional Coordinator,
Urban Harvest, International Potato Centre (CIP).
Urban Harvest is a programme of CGIAR of which CIP
is a member.
|
