ISHS Acta Horticulturae 495: WCHR - World Conference on Horticultural Research
STRATEGIES FOR URBAN HORTICULTURE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES |
| Authors: | W. H. Schnitzler, R. Holmer |
| Abstract:
Supplying the growing world population with food, particularly in developing countries, without jeopardizing the natural resources air, water and soil is an overwhelming challenge. According to the latest estimate of the United Nations, the World's urban population is expected to increase from 2.76 billion in 1995 to 5.34 billion in the year 2025. At this time more than half (2.72 billion) will reside in Asian cities (UNFPA, 1996). Due to a high rate of immigration from rural areas and from neighboring countries suffering political and social upheavals, urban populations in developing countries have been growing and still are growing at a markedly higher rate than the population as a whole, exerting greater pressure on the natural environment than ever before. Many cities are booming besetting them with nearly insurmountable problems, such as creating jobs for often fairly uneducated migrants from rural areas, proper disposal of an abundance of refuse from households, commerce and industry and sewage systems by safe means and sufficient supply of cheap but nutritious food rich in vitamins and minerals to feed the population of these expanding urban centers. International agencies, national governments and non-government bodies must address the challenge of those requirements for a better livelihood of the city people. Production of vegetables in urban and periurban centers is particularly suited for small-scale farming due to short crop cycles, high labor input and only small land area required for effective cultivation. Many vegetable production systems can be considered as “anthropomorphic production environments” (RICHTER, SCHNITZLER & GURA, 1995). Vegetables are grown at many elevations, from sea level to highlands, in almost every kind of soil, under many water regimes from rainfed to nearly waterlogged to fully irrigated. They are often grown in niches or patches, places often more related to market and population centers than to a given agroecological zone. It is known that consumption of vegetables is far from being sufficient in almost all developing countries. Hard data are scarce regarding vegetable consumption. Micronutrient deficiencies, however, are better documented. Two billion people, mostly women and children, are deficient in one or more micronutrients (FAO/WHO, 1992; BELLIN & LEITZMANN, 1995; GURA, 1995). The importance of urban and periurban vegetable production to improve vitamin and micronutrient supply, especially for the urban poor is recognized by international policy-makers and put on a high political agenda (WORLD BANK 1994; FAO 1996). | |
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