AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACTS OF URBAN AGRICULTURE ON LIVELIHOODS IN SEKE, MATERERA. By KUDAKWASHE LUCHELLE KWENDA R101698J A thesis submitted in… [600443]

MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACTS OF URBAN AGRICULTURE ON
LIVELIHOODS IN SEKE, MATERERA.

By

KUDAKWASHE LUCHELLE KWENDA
R101698J

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of Master of Arts

In

Development Studies

Faculty of Arts
Midlands State University
December 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………….. …………… PAGE

Contents
CERTIFICATION OF DISSERTATION ………………………….. …… Error! Bookmark not defined.
COPYRIGHT ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
DEDICATIONS ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Abstract ………………………….. ………………………….. …………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
Acknowledgements ………………………….. ………………………….. …….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER 1 ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.0 Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.1 Background of the study ………………………….. ……………………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.2 Statement of the problem ………………………….. …………………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.3 Research aim ………………………….. ………………………….. ………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.4 Research objectives ………………………….. ………………………….. . Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.5 Research questions ………………………….. ………………………….. .. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.6 Significance of the study ………………………….. ……………………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.7 Theoretical framework ………………………….. ……………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.8 Limitations ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.9 Ethics ………………………….. ………………………….. ………………….. Error ! Bookmark not defined.
1.1.2 Area of study ………………………….. ………………………….. ……… Error! Bookmark not defined.
1.1.3 Summary ………………………….. ………………………….. …………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER 2 ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
LITERATURE REVIEW ………………………….. ………………………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.0 Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.1 Causes of urban agriculture ………………………….. ………………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
Year ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.2 Contributions of urban agriculture to urban livelihoods ………. Error! Bookmark not defined.

2.3 Three policy perspectives on urban agriculture ………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.4 Problems associated with urban agriculture ………………………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.5 Strategies for sustainable urban agriculture ……………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
2.6 Summary ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER 3 ………………………….. ………………………….. ……………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY ……………………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.0 Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.1 Sampling techniques ………………………….. …………………………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.2 Research techniques ………………………….. ………………………….. . Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.3 Data presentation and analysis ………………………….. ……………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
3.4 Summary ………………………….. ………………………….. …………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER FOUR ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. Error! Bookmark not def ined.
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION …… Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.0 Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1 Response rate ………………………….. ………………………….. ………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2 General Demographic Information ………………………….. ………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2.1 Gender Distribution ………………………….. ……………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2.2 Household head ………………………….. ………………………….. ….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2.3 Age Distribution of the urban farmers ………………………….. . Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2.4 Marital status ………………………….. ………………………….. …….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2.5 Educational Level ………………………….. ………………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2.6 Distributio n of wealth status ………………………….. …………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.2.7 Household size ………………………….. ………………………….. ….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.3 Crop production ………………………….. ………………………….. …… Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.4 Garden production ………………………….. ………………………….. .. Error! Bookmark not defi ned.

4.5 Livestock Ownership ………………………….. ………………………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.6 Time engaged into urban agriculture ………………………….. …… Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.7 Destination of the urban agricultural produce …………………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.8 Land Tenure ………………………….. ………………………….. …………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.9 Major causes of urban agriculture ………………………….. ……….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1.1 Land ownership ………………………….. ………………………….. …. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1.2Support from local authorities ………………………….. …………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1.3 Strategies to enhance sustainable urban agriculture …………. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1.5 Acquisition of land for urban agricultur e ……………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
4.1.6 Summary ………………………….. ………………………….. ………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
CHAPTER FIVE ………………………….. ………………………….. ……….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ……………. Error!
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5.0 Introduction ………………………….. ………………………….. ………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.1 Discussion of results ………………………….. ………………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.2 Conclusion ………………………….. ………………………….. …………… Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.3 Recommendations ………………………….. ………………………….. …. Error! Bookmark not defined.
5.4 Areas of Future Study ………………………….. ……………………….. Error! Bookmark not defined.

FACULTY OF ARTS
CERTIFICATION OF DISSERTATION

I certify that this dissert ation is entirely my own effort except where otherwise acknowledged.
The undersigned certify that they have read, and recommended this thesis to the Department of
Development Studies for acceptance, of the thesis entitled:

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACTS OF URBAN AGRICULTURE ON
LIVELIHOODS IN SEKE, MATERERA.

Submitted by Kudakwashe Luchelle Kwenda in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of
the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES.

Appro ved by;

Supervisor……………………………..
Ms. E. Nciizah

Chairperson……………………………..
Dr. J. Matunhu

Date………………………………………

COPYRIGHT
No part of this dissertation may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or transmitted in
any for m or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without prior

written permission of the author or Midlands State University Department of Development
Studies on that behalf.

DEDICATIONS
This dissertation is dedicated to my late father Leonard Kwenda, two lovely mothers Lydia
Makore and Epiphania Madzinga, my sister Sheila Kwenda, my best friend, pillar of strength
Takudzwa Mukandi and the entire Kwenda family who have been a source of ins piration in my
studies.

Acknowledgements
This project is deeply appreciative to Seke, Materera community for providing me with an
opportunity to explore on the impacts of urban agriculture on livelihoods in Seke, Materera. I also
want to convey my heartfelt gratitude and profound appreciation for the support I have received
from my supervisor Ms E. Nciizah who provided a lot of guidance for me to accomplish this study.
Acknowledgements would be incomplete without thanking my mother Ms L. Makore, Ms E.
Madzinga and my brothers and sisters for their unwavering support during the entire period of the
study. It is with great pleasure to thank Takudzwa Mukandi for his unconditional love and support
you are greatly appreciated. Above all I give great honour to the Almighty, God who makes
everything poss ible and for His grace in my life .

CHAPTER 1

1.0 Introduction
This research assessed the impacts of urban agriculture on livelihoods in Seke, Materera. This
chapter lays a foundation for the research; it covers the background of the study, the problem
embedded in the need for this research, the research questions, an d objectives of the research, the
essence of the study and definition of the key terms. The chapter highlights reasons why the
researcher considered the need to assess the impacts of urban agriculture on Seke, Materera
livelihoods.

Various parts of the world are facing an ever increasing challenge of urbanization, absolute and
relative growth in urban poverty, increasing unemployment rate and food insecurity. Urbanisation
in the developing world has increased in the last twenty years and is likely to con tinue in the
coming years. Mougeot (2000), Countries that are urbanizing the most rapidly are also among the
least well -prepared to satisfy their food needs and many already depend precariously on food aid
and imports. World Vision (2003),famine and drough ts are threatening millions of lives in
Southern Africa in 2003 an estimated 14.4 million were at risk of starvation in Lesotho, Malawi,
Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Even though mechanisms such as drought relief
and food -for-work programmes have been developed to support the rural communities, in most
cases the urban poor are left to fend for themselves. United Harvest (2008), there is now a general

recognition of the significance of urban agriculture in most countries of the world and in the
African continent in particular. Wastewater reuse for agricultural purposes, an ancient practice that
is being revisited in many nations because of growing water scarcity. The idea of wastewater reuse
could play an important role in ensuring food security and enhancing the livelihoods of the urban
poor in Southern Africa.

Urban agriculture may be done one way to sustain city food supplies whereas also increasing the
incomes of the poor. Mougeot (2000), urban agriculture uses resources, products and servi ces
found in and around the urban area in turn, often supplies resources, products and services to that
area. Urban agricultural systems include horticulture, floriculture, forestry, aquaculture and
livestock production. The United Nations Development Prog ramme estimates that 800million
people are engaged in urban agriculture worldwide, with the majority in Asian cities. Of these, 200
million are considered to be market producers, employing 150 million people full time. Thus is it
a significant supply sourc e in developing country urban food systems, a critical food -security valve
for poor urban households.

Zimbabwe is under immense social and economic affliction this has led to impedance in
development concerns which govern day to day activities and outco mes that sustain the livelihood
of communities. In the face of increasing food prices, food unavailability on local markets,
escalating unemployment rate Hopkins (2000), propounds changes in the world economic system
and mounting concerns about social and economic insecurities, in his findings practical and
deliverable steps to a more sustainable urban lifestyle, are being adopted by a growing number of

urban communities that are involved in urban agriculture. Although urban agriculture was once
considered radical or impractical it is now the backbone of Materera food security and income
generating activity. Urban agriculture could therefore become an instrument that could tackle
household food insecurity if geared towards increasing urban food production a nd employment by
encouraging productive participation on urban development. Moreover, Materera, Seke is highly
populated by unemployed economically active people and pensioners that lack a source of income,
urban agriculture is a result of many reasons. Ho pkins (2000), asserts that urban areas which want
to become sustainable need to develop a more localized way of providing for residents and the
food to be grown close to the point of consumption in urban environments.

1.1 Background of the study
It is c ommon around the world to appreciate food being grown in and around cities. Kniznhik
(2012), in the United States, people’s perception about farm locations are changing aquaponics
allows more food to be grown in less space, uses less water, produces less p ollution and can be
done virtually anywhere. In United States urban farming can also be soil based either in the ground
or in the raised beds and can revitalize vacant lots (Kniznhik, 2012). The size of farms in the city
can differ greatly from home garden s to community gardens to commercial operations. FAO 2013
report, states that 70 percent of world’s population could live in cities and we will need to grow
about 70 percent more food than we do today. The end result urban agriculture offers local
healthie r food choices, generates employment and permits farmers to grow food where the people
are.

The idea of growing food within city limits, is by no means a novel initiative. Garnet (2000), infers
the nineteenth century market gardens in Paris produce a high proportion of the fresh produce
consumed in the city, using all kinds of waste generated by the city as a growing medium, and
until the end of the First World War, they were famous for abundance of crops. Consequently
‘Victory Gardens’ were established in America during Second World War to reduce the pressure
on the public food supply due to the war effort and those gardens were also considered a civil
“morale booster”, in that gardeners could feel empowered by their contribution of labour and
rewarded by t he produce grown in the same spirt (Garnet, 2000). Many people that survived the
second World War remember the wartime Dig for Victory campaigns when backyard and gardens
became unexpectedly very productive in the UK in response to a nationally perceived n eed to
support the war effort. Mougeot (1999a), notes that ever since the first French geographical
accounts of intra and peri urban agriculture, were published on Central Africa in the 1960s,
scattered and isolated urban surveys by individual social scien tists like Egziabher 1994, have
gradually been giving away to institutional projects led by multidisciplinary teams. Over the same
era public initiatives pioneered by few local and national governments have been shadowed by
further widespread awareness on the part of local authorities in their regional and global meetings
for the growth and potential of agriculture in and around cities. Urban agriculture is different from
the complementary to, rural agriculture in local food systems. It is integrated into a local urban
economic and ecological system.

The spreading out of urban agriculture is a global phenomenon that has caught the courtesy of
policy makers, activists and funding agencies as a new reaction to issues of food security,
economic growth, poverty mitigation, urban blight, waste recycling and environmental

conservation. While this is the situation, it is apparent that official support for urban agriculture is
still to be industrialised in Eastern and Southern Africa. Policy, legislation, institutio nal support
and advisory services are yet to be designed in the majority of the urban areas and countries. These
recent developments and acceptance of urban agriculture presents challenges for planning and
managing the urban space for urban agriculture. Ur ban agriculture represents an opportunity for
improving food supply, health conditions, local economy, social integration, and environmental
sustainability altogether. The expansion of urban agriculture is one of the major approaches that is
being unexpect edly adopted in developing countries to address urban poverty and improve socio –
economic well -being of residence. The poor are more exposed to both work and food insecurity,
and more subjected to violence and criminality. The lack of economic resources, an d therein of
political power, is the major cause of this vulnerability. Although food is easily found in local
markets, most residents cannot afford its cost, especially for fruit and vegetables.

Mlozi et al (1992), studies in the region show that urban a nd peri -urban agriculture contributes
greatly to the food security of many urban residents. It enhances considerably the degree of self –
sufficiency in cereal, fresh vegetable and small livestock production. Mougeot (2000), self –
produced food provides nutr itious food otherwise unaffordable, replaces purchased staples or
supplements these with more nutritious food stuff, affords savings that can be spent on non –
produced foodstuff other needs and generates principal income that can be reinvested in other
urban businesses. Nugent (2000), urban and peri -urban agriculture also provides employment to a
large number of urban residents, in Nairobi, for example, 25 percent of the population is employed
in urban and peri -urban activities.

A study by Drescher (1994), revealed that close to 40 percent of households in Lusaka, Zambia,
relied on the urban environment to gather or grow food for home consumption. Lee -Smith (1991),
reported that a 1985 study in Nairobi, Kenya, showed that 29 perce nt of Nairobi households grew
crops and 17 percent raised livestock with a total value of US$17 million. In 1991, Mbiba assessed
urban agriculture comprising of dairy cows, maize, sheep and pigs in Maseru, Lesotho, at close to
US$13 million (Mbiba, 1995). In Zimbabwe, it has been shown that maize production is dominant
and supplies households with up to three months of their stable diet.

The majority of the urban poor of Accra in Ghana and Kampala in Uganda spend most of their
income to feed themselves; ho wever, their food consumption remains insufficient in quality and
quantity (Drescher, 2004). Moreover, these people are more vulnerable to the macroeconomic
fluctuations such as inflation and price rises, (Garrett and Ruel, 2000). Poor management of
resour ces in urban areas leads to a depletion of the opportunities of living in cities. According to
WHO (2009), in 2007 approximately one third of the worlds waged workers were employed in
agriculture, this is the largest employment sector in non -industrialized countries and is also deemed
to be a key pathway out of poverty. Instruments and tools that could alleviate poverty are not
available and may explain the dramatic increase in poverty in urban areas. The intervention of
international development agencies in this field is relatively new (UNFPA 2007).

Zimbabwe has been riddled by socio -economic problems in the recent times, thus economic
meltdown has resulted in increased job losses, dilapidated infrastructure and communities at the

verge of hunger and star vation, (Mutimba, 2003). This has further exacerbated massive
unemployment, high crime rate, urban poverty and malnutrition. More so, food insecurity due to
lack of money to purchase food available on the market has also contributed to the high rate of
urban agriculture in Matererera, Seke area. The question that concerns this research is to assess the
role urban agriculture in improving the health, well -being and the local economic development.
Mutimba (2003), ascribes urban agriculture in most cities and towns of less economically
developed countries as the sole provider of food and poverty eradication, as such about 15 -20 %
of the world’s food is produced in urban areas. This ensures substantial amounts of food for urban
households.

The ever increasing population growth in most developing countries results in pressure for income
opportunities. Molden (2007), outlines most cities in developing countries are not able to generate
sufficient formal and informal income opportunities for the rapidly growing p opulation. Margaret
(2000), avows, few of the urban poor can afford to be employed where the rest alternatively engage
in urban agriculture. Hence due to the increasing population in urban settlements, jobs in the
industrial sector are seriously threatened , thus the option of going back to urban agriculture is
seriously considered by urban dwellers as a pillar for socio -economic development.

A critical appreciation for the role of urban agriculture in cities of some developing countries,
Mougeot (2006) in fers how local small -scale food production makes a significant contribution to
food security for poor families, providing consistent access to sufficient food at affordable prices

over the long term. The nutritional benefits of local food production are in creasingly also being
recognized in many countries where “exclusion from the consumption of fresh produce is
becoming a reality for many people living in poorer urban areas as their localities effectively
become retail deserts” (Howe 1999). Government thin k-tank DEMOS, (2002), observe disparities
in the availability of fresh and healthy food across different social and demographic areas, hence
conclude that the disproportionate influence of large retailers on planning for food retailing
allocated resulted i n pockets of real “food poverty” across nations and this could only be addressed
by a more pro -active government role in promoting greater food access (Jupp, 2002).

Captivating the process of urban food provision one step further to one of actual food production
in the city by adopting the term “urban agriculture” has been postulated in the Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs) as encapsulated by United Nations Economic and Social Council
(UNECOSOC), (2015). Materera, Seke experience has revealed that al though levels of actual food
production at local level, food growing projects may be limited, at least in the early stages, there
are a number of immediate benefits to be had in allocating land to food growing activities. In the
report on urban agriculture , the Community Food Security Coalition, (2003), observe that, “City
revitalization efforts which include urban agriculture have a regenerative effect when vacant lots
are transformed from eyesores, weedy, trash -ridden, dangerous gathering places into boun tiful,
beautiful and safe gardens that feed peoples’ bodies and souls.” Nugent (2000), infers, besides
access to food, the definition of food security explicitly integrates the need for a healthy diet. A
healthy diet should include necessary vitamins and p roteins, not only sufficient calories. Indeed,
“variability in food consumption is desirable from a nutritional point of view” and higher diversity

of food and beverage items consumed implies a welfare gain (Pouw, 2008). The popularity of
urban agriculture has increased considerably in the last few years as concerns about the
environment have combined with increased interest in health and community -building issues,
giving rise to support for food systems in metro areas as an integral part of a sustainable
development path for cities.

Zimbabwe has an agro -based economy with a well -developed agriculture sector that is production,
marketing, processing, financing. Agriculture is categorized into five that is large, medium and
small sca le commercial farming, communal farming and more recently the category of resettled
farmers. Urban agriculture can be considered a recent addition to these categories, although it is
not exactly a new phenomenon. It has always been going on right from the early days of
urbanization in the 1890s. However, the practice has been on the increase, particularly after
1990.According to Mazambani et al (1982), research into the development of (peri) urban
agriculture indicate that the areas under cultivation have i ncreased by over 100%., the area
increased by 68% between 1950 and 1980 and by 93% between 1990 and 1994. The last increase
is attributed to the impact of the economic structural adjustment programme (ESAP) introduced in
the early 1990’s. Urban agriculture has become an important strategy through which families are
coping with the impact.

Physical and economic access to food is a central issue in all definitions of food security, there is
high risk of food insecurity in Materera, Seke which may be addresse d by urban agriculture growth
to derive social and economic development. The World Health Organization (2010), avows, food

security concept is based on three principles that is, food availability: sufficient quantities of food
available on a consistent bas is, food access: having sufficient resources to obtain appropriate foods
for a nutritious diet, food use: appropriate use based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care, as
well as adequate water and sanitation. The use of the urban space for agricultural purposes in
Zimbabwe has been classified into the ‘on plot’ and ‘off plot’ types. The on plot type is usually
practiced on the residential stand itself and is usually limited to the production of vegetables.
Mazambani (1982), off plot agricultural activiti es on the other hand take place on open spaces
reserved for future uses they also take place along river banks, dams, catchment areas along road
sides, railway reserves and hills. These types of activities can either be legal or illegal depending
on whethe r permission from the local authority has been granted or not.

Until recently, local authorities have viewed urban agriculture as demanding a large portion of
urban land and having negative environmental and health impacts. The authorities therefore trie d
to deter or stop agricultural activities from continuing. This attitude has since changed over the
years and now local authorities with the help of non -governmental organizations (NGOs) like
MDP are trying to find ways to work together with urban farmers to promote sustainable and
environmentally friendly urban agriculture. Commercial farmers practice high value intensive
peri-urban agriculture on farms surrounding the city. Peri -urban communal production is also
practiced in areas such as Seke and Dombos hava, from which tomatoes and other vegetables are
drawn from. Veenhuizen (2006), with the increase in urban poverty, food insecurity and
malnutrition, shifting from rural to urban areas, renewed interest arises in alternative strategies for
improving urban livelihoods, local governance, urban design, local economic development and
waste management, as well as for urban food security and nutrition. Urban agriculture includes

food products, from different types of crops for example grains, root crops, fruits ,vegetables to
mention a few and animal rearing rabbits, goats, sheep, poultry and many others. It is a mechanism
for households to be increasingly self -reliant, thus relieving the burden on the state.
Moreover, urban agriculture has an important role in social and economic development of
Zimbabwe. According to RUDEP (2004), the high yields obtained from small urban agriculture
coupled with other benefits such as increased food security, incomes and empl oyment creation are
indications that urban agriculture can be a vehicle for long term food security at household level.
Moreover, a large number of the people involved in urban agriculture are the urban poor and
women. Many citizens have turned to urban ag riculture as a livelihood strategy and source of
income for a substantial number of urban households. Armar -Klemesu (2000), it is estimated that
200 million urban residents produce food for the urban market, providing 15 to 20 percent of the
world’s food. The most striking feature of urban agriculture which distinguishes it from rural
agriculture is embedded in and interacting with the urban ecosystem, linkages such as urban
labourers, use of typical urban resources like organic waste as compost and urban w astewater for
irrigation, direct links with urban consumers.

Urban agriculture increases as the city grows. Increasingly, policy -makers and researchers are
acknowledging the potential role that urban and peri -urban environments play in alleviating food
insecurity and enhancing the nutritional status of urban poor and marginalized communities,
(FAO, 1999a). More than half of the world population now lives in cities and in many developing
countries, the urban agriculture process goes along with increasing urban poverty and polluted
environment, growing food in -security and malnutrition, especially for children, pregnant and

lactating women; and increasing unemployment. Contrary to general belief that those involved in
agriculture are immigrants from rural a reas this is due to the fact that urban farmers need time to
get access to urban land, water and other productive resources.

Materera Seke, as a residential town there are more people that the employment opportunities as a
result the residence have limit ed livelihoods. Alternatively to ensure food security, employment
and income generating urban agriculture has remained the major option.

1.2 Statement of the problem
Urban Agriculture is increasing in cities in developed countri es as well as in developing countries,
and the number of cities revising existing policies or formulating new policies and action
programmes on Urban Agriculture is growing rapidly (van Veenhuizen, 2006). However, many
urban farmers around the world operat e without formal recognition of their main livelihood
activity and lack the structural support of proper municipal policies and legislation, training,
investment and enabling environment. Appropriate policies and regulations are required to
enhance the pot ential of agriculture in cities and mitigate its potential risks as urban agriculture is
in response to inadequate, unreliable and irregular access to food supplies.

The challenge is for urban agriculture to become part of Sustainable Urban Development a nd to
be valued as a social, economic and environmental benefit rather than a liability. Urban agriculture
has become widespread in cities and towns of Zimbabwe but lack of support services with regards

to training, credit facilities and furthermore due to increasing population, jobs in the industrial
sector have been seriously threatened with a significant increase in job losses through
retrenchments and company closures. Thus urban agriculture has become a serious matter for
consideration as far as improv ing the socio -economic livelihoods of urban dwellers but to what
extent. This study will adopt both quantitative and qualitative research methods.

1.3 Research aim
(i) To assess the impacts of urban agriculture on livelihoods in Materera, Seke.

1.4 Research objectives
(i) To determine the viability of urban agriculture and the factors that determine its
viability.
(ii) To explore strategies that can be adopted to enhance urban agriculture.
(iii) To assess the relevance of urban agriculture as sustainable urban development tool.

1.5 Research questions
(i) What are the causes of urban agriculture?
(ii) Can urban Agriculture be practiced sustainably?
(iii) How do current policies and frameworks in developing nations support and
encourage urban Agriculture?
(iv) Are there any other policies and, or strategies that can be formulated, adopted and, or
implemented to support Urban Agriculture?

(v) Can Urban Agric ulture be taken as an urban development tool?
(vi) Can urban Agriculture be practiced without compromising the sustainability goal of
many developing nations,
(vii) What are the socio -economic impacts of urban agriculture?

1.6 Significance of the study
This study seeks to contribute on the socio -economic impacts of urban agriculture in urban
settlements. The research provides strategies to enhance urban agriculture in order to derive
sustainable socio -economic benefit. Mutimba (2003), urban agriculture i s the sole provider of food
and poverty eradication for urban dwellers. As such the data collected from farmers, local
authorities and agricultural personnel in Matererera, Seke community will add to the existing body
of literature on socio -economic impact s of urban agriculture.

Upon reviewing the available literature, it becomes clear that the criteria and methods used to
measure socio -economic impacts are lacking, vary substantially or show important gaps. As such
there is need to provide pertinent info rmation on profitability and sustainability of urban
agriculture to a wide audience of managers and policymakers from municipalities, ministries of
agriculture, local government, Non -Governmental Organizations (NGOs), donor organizations
and university res earch institutions. It aims to highlight the benefits or linkages between
agriculture and the urban environment, leading to a more balanced understanding of the conflicts
and synergies. The research examines how urban agriculture can contribute substantial ly to the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly in reducing urban poverty and hunger
(MDG 1) and ensuring environmental sustainability (MDG 7).

The World Bank (1993), reports that, “people are both the ends and means of development, healthy
and educated human beings are also principal means of achieving development.” In light of this,
the study can sensitize and enlighten the government, non -governmental organizations and other
stakeholders to ensure better intervention methods as a means and w ay to bring about social and
economic development to a country. The research can also open up new avenues for future research
that is it can act as reference to future researchers, policymakers and non -governmental
organizations who may have the desire to improve quality of urban livelihoods in Zimbabwe and
anywhere else in the world.

The findings may be used as research to support those working with peri -urban communities as
well as provide an argument for the need to provide sound investment for the prov ision of support
services and an enabling environment for urban agriculture practise in Zimbabwe. Furthermore
this canvassing will improve awareness on the socio -economic opportunities that may be derived
from urban agriculture as a tool for pro -employment initiatives.

1.7 Theoretical framework
The study used the sustainable livelihoods approach by Scoones 1998 and Sen’ s 1991 entitlement
framework. Rakodi (2002), sustainable livelihoods approach is based on the idea that poor
households use a portfolio of assets that are made up of both tangible resources such as land, cash
or stores of food, as well as intangible assets like skills and social networks.

Applying sustainable livelihoods approach tangible resources such as land ownership or cash from
sales of urban agriculture were examined to see how their availability and access affect food
security and income of the farm ers. Rakodi (2002), available literature agrees that sustainable
livelihoods analysis, which was originally applied in rural context Scoones, 1998, can also be
applied in urban areas. Garrett (2000) and World Bank (1986) cited in Nutrition Bulletin (2007),
had earlier identified at least one area where the sustainable livelihood framework needed to be
treated with caution as urban food insecurity and malnutrition may be different from rural food
insecurity and malnutrition may be different from rural food i nsecurity because most urban
dwellers depended almost entirely on incomes to purchase their food, a scenario that is changing
with the advent of urban agriculture.

Sen’s approach considers food security as a function of a household’s bundle of “food
entitlements”. Sen (1991), according to this argument, entitlements are the set of commodity
bundles that a person can command in society using the totality of rights and opportunities that
they have. Broadly speaking, Sen identifies four types of entitlement : direct or production based
entitlement, which occurs when a person consumes the food they directly produce and eat or sell,
labor -based entitlement, which is obtained through working for a wage and purchasing food from
the market, trade -based entitlement s obtained through sale or barter of assets, and transfer -based
entitlement where entitlement is transferred through charity or food aid. It thus describes the sum
of the possible methods through which access to food is facilitated. Pearce (1997), indicate d that
the possibility of entitlement is created through household production, or through other income –
generating activities such as the sale of labor or participation in trading. Seen in this light, Sen’s
entitlement framework can help explore the complex ity of urban agriculture. Food grown and

livestock kept in urban centers can provide direct entitlement for those urban farmers who
consume the food they produce. If urban agriculture is used by charities, Community Based
Organizations (CBOs) and NGOs it c ould be used as the basis for transfer entitlements. The
labor -based entitlement can provide two different types of indirect entitlement, first by providing
marketable produce that a poor family could sell for income. Second, it may provide a source of
paid employment for workers on urban farms.

1.8 Limitations
(i) Some respondents may refuse to co -operate as they view the research with suspicion that they
may be victimized from their illegally owned lands.

1.9 Ethics
According to Saunders et al. (2009) in the context of research, ethics refers to the appropriateness
of your behaviour in relation to the rights of those who become the subject of your work, or are
affected by it. Research ethics relates to questions about how we formulate and clarif y our research
topic, design our research and gain access, collect data, process and store our data and write up our
research findings in a moral and responsible way. A number of key ethical issues will possibly
arise across the stages and duration of a re search project. The researcher has to make sure that
every situation is dealt with accordingly which at the end will help in the validity and variability
of the research study, some of the ethical issues may include; Confidentiality of the respondents,
this is meant to ensure privacy of the respondents, it is not all the people who feel safe to be known
that they have engaged in a research study even if the study has no tense reactions, thus the
researcher will not ask any names or particular identity.

The consent of participation makes it right for the participant to withdraw partially or completely
from the study. The researcher will respect the respondents’ willingness or unwillingness to
respond to the questions drafted for the study. In conclusion , the research was done with full
respect of these research ethics. The participants were not forced to participate in the research at
any stage; their consent was sort before they participated. The information they give was used for
the purposes of this researc h only and all questions that were felt to make respondents
uncomfortable were avoided.

1.1.2 Area of study
Seke Materera town is situated 40 km south east of Harare, The major high density residential
areas of the town are Makoni, Dema, Materera and ot hers.

1.1.3 Summary
The chapter introduced the research problem as well as the background of the study, statement of
the problem, an outline of research questions, aim, objectives as well as the importance of the
study, definition of terms, delimitation of the study and finally the study area.
CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.0 Introduction
This chapter reviews literature on work done by other researchers concerning urban agriculture.
Some references to studies done in other count ries both developing and developed are given
particularly on the causes of urban agriculture, impacts on livelihoods as well as strategies which
can be adopted for sustainable urban agriculture. Urban agriculture can reflect varying levels of
economic, env ironmental and social development. In the global north, it often takes the form of a
social movement for sustainable communities, where organic growers, ‘foodies,’ and locavores ’
form social networks founded on a shared ethos of nature and community holism . These networks
can evolve when receiving formal institutional support, becoming integrated into local town
planning as a ‘transition town’ movement for sustainable urban development. In the developing
world urban agriculture is essential for food securit y, nutrition and income generation these are
key motivations for the practice. Moreover, more direct access to fresh vegetables, fruits, and meat
products through urban agriculture can improve food safety and security.

Literature review begins by recogn izing that urban agriculture is practiced around the world and
is often suited or limited by the climate in which it takes place. As a result, there are many different
forms of urban agriculture in existence and some forms are more suitable or beneficial t o a
particular region than others around the world, it has different meanings to different people there
is more than one definition of the phrase. The Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has a
broad definition of urban agriculture, while other definit ions prioritize different themes within
urban agriculture, such as food security. Urban agriculture has the potential to offer food security

to urban residents, while also offering environmental, social and economic benefits. However, if
urban agriculture is poorly planned, it has the potential to have negative environmental
consequences.

Rees (1997), the world over there has renewed interest in urban agriculture. While more common
in cities of the developing world as a matter of necessity, interest in c ity farming and the need for
it is increasing in the cities of the developed countries. Urban agriculture has become irrestible in
the light of an increasingly urban world where about seventy -five percent of the people in so called
industrialized countries already live in towns and with urbanization becoming a global
phenomenon in the last halfcentury (Rees,1997). In fact the mass movement of people from farmes
and rural villages everywhere constituters the greatest human migration history. For a longtime,
most developed country urban residents viewed urban agriculture in the sense of the back yard
gardens of a few people who like to grow tomatoes and other table vegetables as a hobby. Very
few were able to envisage either the need for, or the potential bene fits of, urban agriculture as a
serious activity. This neglect is rapidly changing as agriculture as a serious activity. This neglect
is rapidly changing as agriculture generally enters a new phase in the turn of the twenty -first
century. Contrary to the norm Girardet et al (2000), vehemently state that “at the end of the 20th
century, humanity is involved in an unprecedented experiment: we are turning ourselves into an
urban species”. It is unlikely that the planet will be able to accommodate an urbanized humanity
that continues to draw upon resources from ever more distant hinterlands or which uses the
biosphere the oceans and the atmosphere as a sink for its wastes at the current accelerating rates.
As it were, cities do have enormous potential for food growing. For example, Smit et al (1996)
purports that there are eighty thousand community garderners on municipal land in Berlin with a

waiting list of sixteen thousand, and also sixty five percent of Moscow families are involved in
food production compare d with twenty percent in 1970.

Mougeot (2000), the official view on urban agriculture the world view is now biased towards urban
agriculture management, and not its ban. Urban agriculture management involves deciding which
types of products and what scal es of operation should be allowed in different parts of the city. For
instance, in areas where public open spaces are in short supply, tenure agreements are being sought
between urban residents and owners of private or public estates with idle areas for ex ample school
yard in Santiage, Chile and Ocean port grounds in Lome.

The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations stated in 2005 that urban and
peri-urban agriculture supported approximately 700 million people globally (Farming in the cit y
Good News, 2007). Urban agriculture takes many forms around the world, such as horticulture,
animal husbandry, fodder production, aquaculture, forestry and mild production, whereas in
North America urban agriculture is limited to horticulture (FAO, 2007c ). Devaux et al (2002),
motivations for urban agriculture in North America range from recreational to psychological and
educational, to concerns around nutrition, food security and or the environment. Motivations for
urban agriculture around the world may be different. Iceland for instance, has housed green roofs
for centuries (Metropolitan Council) and therefore urban agriculture in Iceland has historical
roots and has historical roots and has developed for separate reasons than the recent initiatives

taken by other nations. Other countries that have recently taken initiatives to encourage green
roofs include: Canada, Germany, France, Switzerland and many more.

Historically, there have been six waves of urban agriculture in Canada since the late 19th century.
Davidson et al (1999a) notes that, these waves of urban agriculture have corresponded with times
of war and economic recession. Figure 4, below, describes the six waves of urban agriculture in
Canada:

Timeline of urban agriculture in Canada
Year Description of urban agricultural wave in Canada

1890 –
1930 Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) begins planting gardens along the railway
to encourage settlement in the prairies and to make the railways more
aesthetically appealing. The plantings sto pped after the automobile was
introduced en masse following WWII.

1900 –
1913
The Canadian school curriculum included gardening and all school
children grew a garden as part of their education. This movement was
facilitated by the 1913 Federal Agriculture Instruction Act, which funded
the inclusion of school gardens in the curricul um (Dick 1996a). See Figure
5 for an example of the Canadian school gardens.

WWI –
WWII
(in
between)
Vacant lots were used for gardens to improve urban conditions and to
provide food and employment to the poor.

WWI –
WWII
Relief gardens and victory gardens were encouraged to support the war
efforts. See Figure 6 for an example of how victory gardens were
promoted during the war.

1965 –
1979
The counter -culture movement grew out of a concern for the environment,
out of concern for energy deficiency and out of a desire for natural
preservation and increased self -sufficiency amongst humans. For example ,
City Farmer (1979), Canada’s first urban agricultural office, grew partly in
response to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
(OPEC) oil crisis.

1980’s :
The final movement towards urban agriculture was known as the open –
spaces movement. The open -spaces movement began when peo ple in

urban areas realized the mental health benefits of open -spaces and green –
spaces.
(Davidson and Krause 1999)

Devaux et al (2002), today there are successful urban agricultural initiatives operating in all
major Canadian cities and especially in th e cities of Montreal and Vancouver. Montreal, for
example has the most extensive gardening network in all of North America (Davidson et al
1999a). Vancouver’s City Farmer claims to be Canada’s first office devoted to urban agriculture
(City Farmer: Canada’ s self -styled office of urban agriculture 1997).

There has been rampant official promotion or management of urban agriculture in a variety of
forms. As it is, by laws have been revised, statements have been publicized, ordinances declared,
ministerial resolutions passed, master plans reviewed and resourc es availed all in the spirit of
tolerating urban agriculture as either an interim or permanent land use in cities. For example, in
cities of Philippines, Indonesia and Cuba presidents and mayors have called on urban citizens to
become self -reliant in food security (Mougoet 2000); Sofia in Bulgaria and Shanghai in China
have designed master plans to accommodate urban agriculture. Yoveva et al(2000), in Sofia of
Bulgaria by laws have been revised to allow specific production systems in specific zones and
state agencies have been authorized to promote appropriate practices in such areas. Altieri et al
(1999), legally organized groups of urban farmers are entitled to credit and technical assistance
in Cuba. The Cuban Ministry of Agriculture has create an Urban Agriculture office for Havana
and the Phillipino legislation enabled the Cagayan de Oro City government to establish the City

Agriculture office, now responsible for all urban agriculture matters. Also, organized groups
have been using undeveloped public a rable land for fixed periods of time in Lima of Peru and
Calcutta of India and urban agriculture has been tolerated as an interim or permanent land use in
public housing schemes in Havana where some 19 ministerial resolutions now protect urban
areas under agricultural production. Similarly, in Cagayan under agricultural production.
Potutan et al (2000), similarly, in Cayagan de Oro, the City Council has issued an initial
ordinance allowing urban farmers to use parts of idle land and open spaces. Since the 1970s non –
governmental organizations have been actively taking part in urban agricultural activities
(Mougeot, 2000). In many urban areas non –governmental organizations have been seeking the
collaboration of governmental actors to upscale local urban agri culture interventions as in the
case of CEARAH – Periferia in metro Fortaleza of Brazil, CARE Haiti in Port -au-Prince of Haiti,
Funat in Havana of Cuba, REDE in Lima of Peru. In addition, bi and multilateral organizations
are playing a pivotal role in shapi ng urban agriculture activities. In the case, Swedish
International Development Agency (SIDA) funded an East African workshop to inform policy
research into rural -urban food production and is currently considering urban agriculture as a part
of a new urban environmental management programme in South East Asia, United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) have been providing technical training and feasibility studies on several production
systems.

In Chicago, residents have established hundreds of community gardens, 34 of which are part of
the American Community Gardening Association, and around a dozen small farms where

produce is sold to the public 81. Chicago also has about 14,000 empty lo ts that could be farmed
to create a local food source and jobs for community members 82. The new code would define
community gardens and commercial gardens as two distinct uses allowed in separate areas.
“Community gardens” describe neighbor -based developm ent that provide space for members of
the community to grow plants for beautification, education, recreation, community distribution,
or personal use. Community gardens would be allowed in virtually every part of the city except
manufacturing districts 83. The new amendments to Chicago’s zoning code would also allow for
urban farming and community gardens on sites owned and managed by public or civic entities,
non-profit organizations, or other community -based organizations. Chicago is actively working
together to achieve the missions defined in its “Eat Local, Live Healthy” plan by minimizing
legal hurdles for urban gardens.

Ayaga et al (2005), studies confirm the importance of urban agriculture as a strategy that
contributes to food security by increasi ng access to and availability of food in urban settings.
Existence of in depth information on the practice with regard to contribution to food security, low
income groups, few employment opportunities for many justifies the need for the study. Specific
activities during production, processing and marketing will be looked at in detail in order to
establish and ascertain the practice of urban agriculture by unemployed and low income earning
residents of Materera, Seke. Such important information on urban agri culture is critical in such
situations where clear policy on urban agriculture does not exist since findings are necessary in
order to inform the sort of policy that could promote urban agriculture as a viable contribution of
future poverty and food securi ty and unemployment reduction strategies.

FAO (1996), despite limited support and heavy losses, urban agriculture is generating products
valued in the tens of millions of USD, year in and year out, in major Less Developed Countries
urban centers. Urban a griculture is comparatively affordable, a noteworthy source of income and
savings and is more profitable than rural based production. Stevenson et al (1996), the up and
downstream effects of urban agriculture in the local economy are largely unknown and c ould be
considerable. Low income urban agriculture effectively contributes in several ways to reduce food
insecurity by improving food intake of households and by raising children’s nutritional status this
relationship could be gender mediated.

A review of existing bibliography on urban agriculture experiences in Zimbabwe shows that most
production system in is the family vegetable gardens. The main produce grown is vegetables thus
squash, beans, tomatoes, lettuce, onions to mention a few. The second fair ly well developed
activity is the breeding or raising of small livestock that is chickens, pigs and rabbits which are
fed with the vegetal production residues. Family units mainly carry out this activity. Urban
agriculture usually engages shorter -cycle, h igher -value market crops and uses multi -cropping and
integrated farming techniques located where space and water are scarce. It uses both vertical and
horizontal space to its best advantage. Most of the production is intensive using simple
technologies. Ur ban agriculture uses, reuses natural resources and urban wastes to produce crops
and livestock. The principal feature of urban farming is the reuse of waste. The processes are
typical of agriculture with similar inputs and steps, but the design is to use b oth human and animal

wastes as fertilizer and water sources for growing vegetation. In the near idealized model, external
inputs still exist, however, such as pesticides (UNDP 1996).

There is few data on which to base a sound judgment about input use, cos ts, manpower
requirements, output and the importance of urban food production with the respect to the diet and
income of the family. This is because past research, which focused on specific towns and cities,
did not use a common methodological approach tha t would allow aggregation and comparative
analysis. On plot production for self -consumption requires few resources at the individual family
level. A hundred square meters intensively cultivated can supply the vegetables needed for a family
of five persons. The labor required to maintain an urban garden ranges from 1 to 1, 5 working days
per week. Costs are low because one can use materials that are already available to households,
even garbage.

Mouget et al (2000), in response to the water crisis some urb an residents use boreholes (Hubli –
Dhaward of India), portable public water supply (La Paz of Bolivia; Mutare of Zimbabwe), streams
or rivers and sewage water for irrigation (Mexico City). Nugent (2000), lack of attention to other
serious factors of product ion like security of produce and requisite skills might mean that urban
agriculture is a residual activity within imperfect markets and is often conducted opportunistically
and with relatively little investment. Moreover, urban agriculture produce is eithe r for the market
or household subsistence. Bryld (2003),some urban high -income residents use agriculture as a
strategy of further accumulation through the production of high yields crops close to the market,
while some middle and low income households use urban cultivation as means of consolidation,

securing the family well -being. Rigg (1998), the majority of urban residents are, however, engaged
in cultivation as a means of survival. Having the opportunity of growing food or keeping poultry,
therefore, bec omes a critical component in the ability of staying alive in the urban environment,
despite the fact that it is illegal in most African countries. Sedze (2006), with a suffering population
unable to feed their families, Zimbabwe’s government has turned a b lind eye to the uncontrolled
growth of urban agriculture in urban centres, for instance, in 1990, gardens covered 8% of land in
the city, by 1994, 16% of land, and by 2001, urban agriculture pervaded 25% of urban area.
According to ENDA -Zimbabwe (1996), a local non -governmental organization, the primary
explanation for this extraordinary growth is the governments 1993 decision to relax by -laws
concerning urban agriculture in an attempt to alleviate poverty. Although this is an improvement
over policies tha t prohibited urban agriculture, Zimbabwes government should continue to modify
their approach and adopt policies that legitimize urban agriculture. Mushayavanhu (2002), it were
the delegates to the Urban Councils Association of Zimbabwes 61st Annual Confer ence comprising
the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, representatives of Urban
Councils, Councillors and regional, international and local development partners that strongly
urged local authorities to promote urban agricultur e in their cities, develop appropriate incentives
and other policies necessary for its growth. For example, the department of Housing and
Community services under Council has set aside officers to facilitate the payment of an annual
$10 levy for urban cult ivation and the inspection of the whole process ( Minutes of Full Council
Meeting 110 of 13 June 2003). As if that is not enough, AGRITEX of Chitungwiza has deployed
extension officers specifically for urban agricultural activities. Non -governmental organi sations
like Caritas Internationalis, Practical Action and Environment Africa have chipped in to

complement government effort in the area of inputs, implements, levies, irrigation, trainings and
marketing of produces (Minutes of Full Council Meeting 142 o f 9 November 2009).

One can safely say, urban agriculture has become a world wide phenomenon. The United Nations
Development Programme (1996) observes that one in three of the worlds urban residents grow
food, and urban areas provide around 15% of global food production. On a similar note, Mbiba
(1995) posits that the nature, increase and prevalence of urban agriculture have been seen to depend
on national and urban economic collapse, land ownership and land availability in the cities in the
form of , pub lic open spaces or home space, urban management regimes, climatic conditions and
the food security situation. The decaying national and urban economies seem to be the umbrella
factor while drought and food availability or access to food seems to have acted as trigger factors
in the rise of urban agriculture in the cities of Zimbabwe and many other cities in Africa.

Building blocks of urban agriculture
There are six building blocks of urban agriculture these are economic activities, food or non -food
categories of products and subcategories, intra urban and peri -urban character of location, types of
areas where it is practiced, types of production systems , product destination and production scale.

Urban common dimensions

Types of economic activities
Maxwell (1995), most definitions refer to the production phase of agriculture, recent definitions
add processing and trade to production and stress interact ions between there. Besides being sound,

commodity analysis affords an integrated approach which is particularly relevant to where
differently from most rural agriculture, production and marketing and also processing tend to be
more inter related in time a nd space, thanks to greater geographic proximity and quicker resource
flow. Mbida (1994), this is achieved by small and dispersed units, which makes up an extensive
and decentralized supply system within immediate reach of a massive consumption market. In
urban agriculture, economies of scale through co -operative efforts may further enhance the
benefits of unit based vertical integration.

Types of areas where urban agriculture is practiced
Where exactly urban agriculture taking place is of great essence to this study location. Freeman
(1991), notes that there are many areas where urban agriculture practiced and these respective to
residence thus on plot or off plot, development status of site (built up vs. open space), modality of
tenure or usufruct of site (cession, lease, sharing, authorized or unauthorized through personal
agreement, customary law or commercial transaction), the official land use category of the sector
where urban agriculture is practiced (residential, industrial, institutional etc.)

Destination
Most definitions embrace agricultural production for both self -consumption and some trade (sale,
barter, gifts). Both destinations are usually found to be targeted to varying degrees by the producers
or households studied. Urban agriculture pro duces can be for consumption to greater extent and
surplus for market the economic performance of urban agriculture and its comparative advantages
over other supply sources, both at the producer and consumer level. On the self -consumption plane
relatively more attention must be given to the economies of assets and the fungibility of

supplemental food self -consumption afforded by urban agriculture to households. GTZ (1999), in
Accra Ghana, little attention was paid to the asset value of small livestock, a st udy in Cairo, a city
thrice as densely peopled as Accra and with only 3 percent of its precipitation revealed that nearly
30 percent of low income households in informal housing had livestock worth on average nearly
a full month of income.

Post productio n and marketing activities

Agriculture conducted in urban areas exists largely for the daily needs of consumers within cities
and towns. Outputs are oriented to urban market rather than national. Rogerson et al (1993) notes
that, generally, the observatio ns are that households consume up to 90 percent of their production.
The balance is marketed for cash of exchanged through social obligations. Most family vegetable
gardens are for self -consumption. Although output is not large, it affords diversification and a
supplement to the basic diet. Peri -urban agriculture generally is the major source of most fresh
vegetables consumed in cities. Most is practiced on intensive commercial basis with high levels of
input use and under irrigation. In the case of Kampala in Uganda, Nairobi in Kenya, to some extent
Harare in Zimbabwe and several cities in South Africa, peri -urban agriculture is highly integrated
with production of high value export horticultural crops.

Theoretical framework

The popularity of urban agric ulture has increased considerably in the last few years as concerns
about the environment have combined with increased interest in health and community -building
issues, giving rise to support for food systems in metro areas as an integral part of a sustain able
development path for cities Urban Agriculture can be defined as the growing of plants and the
raising of animals for food and other uses within and around cities and towns, and related activities
such as the production and delivery of inputs, processi ng and marketing of products (van
Veenhuizen, 2006). The development of urban agriculture is strongly influenced by the dynamics
of the urban social, economic, political, ecological and spatial systems with which it is connected.
Urban agriculture adapts t o new economic and spatial conditions.

A major feature of urban agriculture is the diversity of the socio -economic profiles of actors
involved, and their varying income and livelihood strategies, (de Zeeuw, 2004). UPA can be seen
as a form of urban shifti ng cultivation. Many different ways to classify UA have been discussed.
The livelihoods approach allows for a dynamic analysis of urban households that practice urban
agriculture by highlighting their strategies and identifying external influences and (nee ds for)
linkages with urban and national institutions. Linking this understanding of urban agriculture
livelihoods to the urban food system and to other multiple urban functions may further assist in
developing a strategic perspective for urban agriculture and subsequent action planning and policy
development.

Within more localized characterization, it would be useful to characterize urban farming typologies
in further research supporting urban farmers and in policy development. Moustier and Danso
(2006) and Bailkey and Smit (2006) suggest differentiating according to the reasons for
involvement in urban agriculture, its social and economic impact (at the household and city level),
intensity of production, and its relation to SUD.

Table 1. Range of Farming Systems in Seke, Materera and other cities in Zimbabwe

FARMING SYSTEMS PRODUCT LOCATION OR TECHNIQUE
Horticulture Vegetables, fruit, herbs, beverages,
compost. Home sites, parks, right -of-way,
containers, rooftops, hydroponics,
wetlands, greenhouses, shallow bed
techniques, layered horticulture.
Floriculture Flowers, house plants Ornamental horticulture, rooftops,
containers greenhouses right -of-way.
Animal husbandry Milk, eggs, meat, manure, hides and fur. In the peri -urban zone.
Agro forestry Fuel, fruits and nuts, compost, building
material Street trees, home sites, steep slopes,
green belts, wetlands, orchards, forest
parks, hedgerows.
Mycoculture Mushrooms,compost Sheds.
Vermaculture Compost, worms fo r fish feed Sheds, trays, wetlands
Apiculture Honey, pollination,wax Beehives, rights -of-way, home sites
Landscape gardening,arboriculture Grounds design and upkeep,
ornamentation, lawns, gardens Yards, parks, play fields, commercial
frontage, road sides, lawn and garden
equipment
Beverage crops cultivation Grapes (wine), hibiscus, palm tea,coffe,
sugar cane, herbed tea, banana (beer). Steep slopes, beverage processing
Sources : Modified from Row ntree 1987 and UNDP 1996
There is not much of protected environments and hydroponics in the majority of cities in
Zimbabwe. A review of existing bibliography on urban agriculture experiences in Zimbabwe
shows that most production system in is the family vegetable gardens. The main produce grown is
vegetables thus tomatoes, squash, beans, lettuce, onions and many more. The second fairly well
developed activity is the breeding or raising of small livestock like chickens , pigs and rabbits
which are fed with the vegetal production res idues. Family units mainly carry out this
activity.Urban agriculture usually engages shorter -cycle, hogher -value market crops and uses
multi -cropping and integrated farming techniques located where space and water are scarce. It uses
both vertical and hori zontal space to its best advantage. Most of the production is intensive using
simple technologies. Urban agriculture uses, reuses natural resources, and urban waters to produce
crops and livestock.The principal feature of urban farming is the reuse of wast e. The processes are
typical of agriculture with similar inputs and steps but the design is to use both human and animal
wastes as fertiliser and water sources for growing vegetation. In this near idealized model, external
inputs still exist, however such as pesticides (UNDP 1996). There is few data on which to base a

sound judgement about input use, costs, manpower requirements, output and the importance of
urban food production with respect to the diet and income of the family. This is because past
resear ch, which focused on specific towns and cities, did not use a common methodological
approach that would allow aggregation and comparative analysis. On -plot production for self –
consumption requires few resources at the individual family level. A hundred squ are metres
intensively cultivated can supply the vegetables needed for a family of five persons. The labor
required to maintain an urban garden ranges from 1 to 1.5 working days per week. Costs are low
because one can use materials that are already availab le to households, even garbage.

Agriculture conducted in urban areas exists largely for the daily needs of consumers within cities
and towns. Outputs are oriented to urban markets rather than national. Rogerson et al (1993),
generally, the observations a re that households consume upto 90percent of their production. The
balance is marketed for cash or exchanged through social obligations. Most family vegetable
gardens are for self -consumption. Although output is not large, it affords diversification and a
supplement to the basic diet.

Causes of urban agriculture
There are several factors that drive the urban population to engage in urban agriculture chief among
them is rapid urbanization, growing urban poverty, and increasing urban households, dwind led
employment opportunities to mention a few. Okpala (2002), states that in this new millennium two
of the most significant challenges are rapid urbanization and growing urban poverty. The
combination of these two trends within cities and towns in Africa, Asia and Latin America has
resulted in hiking urban agriculture as to ensure food security.

World Bank (2003), migration of people from rural to urban areas has increased significantly in
the last two decades. Push and pull factors including limited liv elihood options have been

suggested as reasons for this migration (Bunting et al, 2002).Griggs (1995), further supports that
rapid rural -urban migration especially in developing countries has implications on food security
and on the strategies of urban cit izens to achieve it, with urban agriculture becoming a major option
to be able to satisfy their food and nutritional requirements. In Tanzania’s high density suburbs
rapid urbanization has greatly increased household size that resulted in nearly half of th e residents
in high density suburbs getting involved in urban agriculture (http: // cabstract plus. org/ abstracts
16 July 2009).The involvement of Tanzania in urban agriculture is helping the families to provide
nutritional meals and this reduces malnutri tion and death rate as a result of hunger.

Ever increasing economic hardships are associated with high cost of food in cities especially in
developing countries (Elliot, 1994). In Zimbabwe, the growth and geographical spread of urban
agriculture in the n ineties was largely attributed to the harsh effects of the Economic Structural
Adjustment Programme (ESAP) manifested by the erosion of basic wages, escalating prices of
basic commodities and the widening of the gap between rich and poor households, result ing in
90% of the urban dwellers engaging in urban agriculture as a strategy for poverty alleviation
(Mbiba, 2000). The Sunday mail (2009:14) highlighted that urban agriculture has always been
practiced in Harare, but it became rampant in 2007 -2008 when mo st residents were failing to meet
the high cost of maize meal and other basic commodities due to hyperinflation that eventually
resulted to economic meltdown.

Moreover, in the urban areas employment opportunities have dwindled, salaries have been
depress ed and the cost of living has drastically increased due to various factors such as Economic
Adjustment Programmes (ESAP), that many developing governments embarked upon in the 1990s
(Logie et al, 1993). UNDP (2003), furthermore the dual home system which e ncourages wives to
stay in rural homes, seeing their husbands occasionally is gradually ending partly due to the HIV
and AIDS advocacy messages that encourage spouses to live together. This has disrupted
cultivation on pieces of land in the rural areas tha t have in the past supplementing family incomes.
Thus, rural -urban migration, in a way has contributed to food shortages nationally and even at
household level ( Armar – Klemesu, 2002). Mechanisms such as food relief and food for work have
been mainly devis ed to assist the rural communities but no similar mechanisms are in place for the
urban poor. World Bank (2002), inorder to avert hunger and improve their livelihoods the majority
of urban poor residents now rely heavily on urban agriculture.

Urban pov erty in third world country cities is rampant (Mikesell, 1992). Research done by ENDA –
Zimbabwe in 1994, indicated that 90% of urban cultivators in Zimbabwe engage in urban
cultivation as a strategy for poverty alleviation, households saved money by consumi ng their
produce rather than by purchasing it (Okpala, 2002).Agriculture is the oldest and largest industry
in communal areas of developing world and have turned to be part of their cultural traits (Mikesell,
1992), as a result , some urban population from rural areas needs to continue their rural life style
by growing traditional crops through traditional techniques they learnt from their ancestors
(Mikesell, 1992).

Urban agriculture is one of the main activities urban residents are undertaking in an effort to ensure
food security and alleviate poverty (MDP, 2003). Urban agriculture has been demonstrated to
contribute to food security of many urban residents in Easter n and Southern Africa. City case
studies in the region by Mlozi et al, 1992, show a considerable degree of self -sufficiency in cereal,
fresh vegetables and small livestock production (MDP, 2003). Though urban agriculture has
shown potential to alleviate ur ban poverty the urbanization process sets a big challenge. Feeding
the urban poor will therefore become one of the major challenges which most governments in
developing countries will have to deal with. Agriculture is an important activity in southern Afr ica
in terms of food security, economic activity and water use. Irrigated agriculture plays a
disproportionately important role because it is generally two to three times more productive than
rain-fed agriculture. While water for irrigated agriculture is fast becoming limited, most urban
utilities generate a lot of wastewater from their treatments plants which they have problems in
managing. Example of urban authorities failing to manage their wastewater is apparent in Harare.
Wastewater reuse for agricult ural purposes could play an important role in enhancing food security
and the livelihoods of the urban poor in Southern Africa especially in terms of it being a cheap and
reliable resource.

Several factors cause urban agriculture mostly in cities and to wns of developing countries where
it is derived by high urbanization creating food insecurity, urban poverty and economic hardships
(Mikesell, 1992).

Contributions to urban food security and nutrition

The contribution of urban agriculture to food security and healthy nutrition is probably its most
important asset. Food production in the city is in many cases a response of the urban poor to
inadequate, unreliable and irregular access to food, and the lack of purchasing power. Most cities
in developing count ries are not able to generate sufficient formal or informal income opportunities
for the rapidly growing population. The World Bank (2000), estimates that approximately 50
percent of the poor live in urban areas in 1988 it was 28 percent meaning to say the urban dwellers
are becoming poorer each and every day.

In urban settings, lack of incomes translates more directly into lack of food than in a rural setting
cash is needed. The costs of supplying and distributing food from rural areas to the urban areas or
to import food for the cities are rising continuously, and it is expected that urban food insecurity
will increase (Argenti, 2000). Tevera (1996), states food prices in Harare, for example rose to
534 percent between 1991 and 1992 due to the removal o f subsidies and price controls, spurring
poor urban consumers to get access to food outside of market channels through home production
or bartering.

Urban agriculture may improve both food intake that is improved access to a cheap source of
proteins and t he quality of the food may improve thus poor urban families involved in farming eat
more fresh vegetables than other families in the same income category. Bowyer -Bower et al
(1996), in Harare60 percent of food consumed by low income groups was self -produce d. Maxwell
et al (1998), in Kampala children aged five years or less in low -income farming households were
found to be significantly better off nutritionally less stunted than counterparts in non -farming

households. Urban producers obtained 40 to 60 percen t or more of their household food needs
from their own urban garden. In addition to production for their own consumption needs, large
amounts of food are produced for other categories of the population. According to UNDP (1996),
it is estimated that 200 mi llion urban residents provide food for the market and 800 million urban
dwellers are actively engaged in urban agriculture. These urban farmers produce substantial
amounts of food for urban consumers. A global estimate data of 1993 is that 15 to 20 percent of
the world’s food is produced in urban areas (Margaret Armar – Klemesu 2000).

Urban agriculture to a larger extent complements rural agriculture and increases the efficiency of
that national food system in that it provides products that rural agricultur e cannot supply easily.
These products include perishable products, products that require rapid delivery upon harvest that
can substitute from food imports and can release rural lands for export production of commodities.

Three policy perspectives on urba n agriculture
There are three policies that are associated with urban agriculture, they are helpful in designing
alternative policy scenarios for the development of intra -and peri -urban agriculture. Firstly there
is the economic perspective this one is related to market oriented types of urban agriculture.
Activities usually involve small -scale family -based enterprises and sometimes larger scale
entrepreneurial farms run by private investors or producer association. The activities not only
include food production for ins tance irrigated vegetable production, stall fed dairy production but

also non -food products like flowers, aromatic herbs and medical herbs. These types of urban
agriculture have more pronounced economic impact and higher profits.

Moreso, there is the soc ial perspective which is mainly but not exclusively associated with
subsistence oriented types of urban agriculture that form part of the livelihood strategies of urban
low income households with a focus on producing food and medicinal plants for home
consumption.

In addition according to a school of thought, the family expenses on food and medicines are
reduced and some cash is generated from sales of surpluses. These households seek out multiple
additional income sources for their survival examples incl ude home gardening, community
gardening, institutional gardens at schools and hospitals and open field farming at micro scale with
low levels of investment. These systems show little direct profitability but have important social
impacts such as enhanced f ood security, poverty alleviation, social inclusion, HIV -AIDS
mitigation and community development.

Lastly, there is an ecological perspective which deals with types of urban agriculture that have a
multi -functional character. Besides provision of food a nd generating income they play a role in
environmental management for example through recycling via decentralized composting and reuse
of organic wastes and wastewater. They can also provide other services demanded by urban
citizens, urban greening, improv ement of the urban climate, keeping buffer zones and flood plains

free from construction, provision of opportunities for leisure and recreational activities to name a
few.

Social impacts of urban agriculture
Urban agriculture in both developed and devel oping countries offers varied positive social impacts
(Mushamba, 1998). It may function as an important strategy for poverty alleviation and social
integration. A number of municipalities and non -governmental organizations (NGOs) have
initiated urban agric ulture projects involving disadvantaged groups such as urban young
unemployed people, recent immigrants without jobs, disabled people, women or elderly people
without a pension, with the aim to integrate them into urban network and to provide them with a
decent livelihood (Barooah, 1993).

The participants in the project may feel enriched by the possibility of working constructively,
building their community, working together and in addition producing food and other products for
consumption and for sale. In Cape Town South Africa, micro -organic vegetable gardening was
established in 1997 among the urban poor on 5000 square meters with support from the University
of Western Cape. Within four years, the project had employed one hundred and fifty five workers.
They have improved community health and are successfully marketing high quality organic market
produce locally and to an organic market in Cape Town (Small quoted in Okpala, 2000).

Mbiba (1995), in most cities and towns of developing countries, vacant land is often used as
informal dumpsi te and is a source of crime, when these zones are turned into productive green

spaces it enhances passively or actively the neighbors to enjoy the green area . Furthermore Moll
et al (1997), the cost effectiveness of urban greening in managing storm water in Atlanta Georgia
Metropolis USA, saved about US$1 billion in 1997, the savings in home cooling costs were found
to be in the range of US$4 to 5 million a year.

In more developed cities, urban agriculture may be undertaken for the physical and psychologi cal
relaxation it provides, as well as the recreational opportunities for citizens (Mbiba, 1995).

Economic impacts of urban agriculture
Urban agriculture is a dynamic phenomenon that serves various economic functions. It contributes
to local economic and micro enterprise development, poverty alleviation, food security,
employment creation and several others. Growing your own food saves household expenditures
on food, poor people in poor countries generally spend a substantial part of their income 50 to 70
percent on food. Growing the relatively expensive vegetables therefore saves money as well as on
bartering of produce, selling produce fresh or processed brings in cash.

Bolding (2003) outlined that urban agriculture arises most of the time as a survival alternative of
poorer residence that come from rural areas and live in cities that are food insecure. A survey in
Danan c, Western Cote d’lvoire, found that refugees who had engaged in small scale, mostly
organic farming for three to five years had attained better nutritional health status than the long
term residence of the town (Mbiba, 2002).

Furthermore in Malawi urban agriculture was studied based on a sample formed of poor families,
where urban agriculture was shown as a feeding complementation mainly supplying fresh products
to the market and ensuring food security ( Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. USDA. Gov/afsic of
July 2009).

Not all urban agriculture is subsistence oriented, also market oriented forms of agriculture exist
(Bolding 2003). Findings done in Accra Ghana 2003 by the International Food Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI) outlined that urban agriculture contributes to food security and nutrition of cities
as a whole and of households that are engaged in farming in urban areas (Swamingthan, 1999)
Furthermore global estimates are that in 2003 about 15 -20 % of the world’s food was produced in
urban areas supporting the cities and household economies (Maxwell, 1998).

Urban agriculture systems perform a lot of functions that goes beyond simply from producing food
stuffs, but is a source of employment in the production, processing and marketi ng (Bolding, 2003).
Worldwide about 200 million people in urban cities are employed in urban agriculture and related
enterprises, contributing to the food supply of 800 million urban dwellers (Hardin, 1972).More so,
urban agriculture stimulates the develop ment of related micro and small enterprises, especially
micro -enterprises involved in food processing, packaging and marketing activities like processing
of yoghurt, cheese preparation of snacks and mealie meal (Mbiba, 2000).

Urban agriculture is a cruci al activity that provides various economic impacts such as employment
creation, ensuring food security, supporting agro -related enterprises amongst others. However
attempts to accommodate urban agriculture as a new fact of life give rise to some negative
economic impacts. In urban areas substantial farming takes place closer to rivers, on hill slopes
and valleys, a situation that results in siltation of rivers and dams that reserve water for urban use
(Molden, 2007). In Zimbabwe, The Herald of 22 May 2007 r eported that Zimbabwe police have
outlawed urban agriculture and crops of those who did not heed would be slashed and they risk
arrest. Mr. Veterai, police spokesperson stated that urban agriculture was causing land degradation
and siltation of rivers in H arare which he said was affecting the cities drinking water, increasing
water purification costs.

Brown (1993), outlined that urban agriculture disturbs urban infrastructure like roads, electrical
and telephone cables, affecting costs of urban management leading to increased costs of
infrastructure maintenance. More so the activity obscure transport that increase
road accidents.

In most researches, literature on economic impacts of urban agriculture both positive and negative,
were covered with enough examples from both developing and developed countries. Coverage on
the need to fully tape the benefits of urban agriculture through provision of support services by
government and non -governmental organizations remains a gap that this research tries to fulfill.

Besides the economic benefits for the urban agricultural producers, urban agriculture stimulates
the development of relate d micro -enterprises the production of necessary agricultural inputs and
the processing, packaging and marketing of outputs. The activities rendered by these enterprises
may owe their existence in part or wholly to urban agriculture. Other services may also be rendered
by independent families and groups for instance animal health services, book keeping and
transportation.

Input production and delivery may include activities like the collection and composting of urban
wastes, production of organic pesticid es, fabrication of tools, delivery of water, buying and
bringing of chemicals like fertilizers. Transformation of foodstuffs may include the making of
yoghurt from milk, chickens and eggs this might be done at household level to sell at the farm gate
or in a local shop or market and a larger units to sell in supermarkets or even for export.

Problems associated with urban agriculture

According to Chaney et al (1983), urban agriculture if nor practiced properly it can indeed be both
unsanitary and pollutin g to cite one well -known example vegetable irrigation with untreated
wastewater from Chilean peri -urban farms resulted in a few cases of cholera in 1992 because the
vegetables were not cooked. In, Nairobi for example it is illegal to grow crops above a cer tain
height, Lusaka, Kampala and other cities once banned maize cultivation, which was believed to
spread malaria most North American cities ban poultry production. Sterret et al (1983), noted that

it is vital for supporters of urban agriculture to confron t these potential problems because they can
also reinforce biases. The main problems that may arise from urban agriculture occur because of
its close proximity to heavily populated areas sharing the same air, water and soil. Food production
in polluted env ironment may cause contamination, livestock rearing and use of chemicals and
waste in urban agriculture can contaminate the soil and water used by city residents.

Urban and peri urban agriculture is one of the several tools for making productive use of u rban
open spaces, treating and recovering urban waste, integrating the disadvantaged into the urban
system (Okpala, 2002). However there are several negative social impacts of urban agriculture
(Armer, 2000). In India, livestock keeping is a tradition hand ed down from generation to
generation. Buffaloes, cattle, pigs and chickens are kept in towns and cities to contribute to
household livelihoods. In and around the cities there are large and small dairies, about twenty
enterprises keep between ten and twent y buffaloes and cross bred cows. Scavenging pigs, owned
by quiet distinct communities in the city often result in traffic chaos that in some serious cases
claim human lives. Dung from the pigs, cattle and buffaloes litter the streets producing an
unbearabl e odor smell (Foeken and Mwangi, 2000).

Public health concerns stem from the handling and application of untreated or improperly treated
wastes to food crops, the exposure of crops to air, water or land pollution including possible
contamination from hea vy metals, and unsafe disposal of vegetable and animal wastes. Though
the benefits of using wastewater can be considerable from the economic point of view, there are

also environmental and health risks involved. Mitigating these risks and maximizing benefi ts
requires holistic approaches that involve all stakeholders.

Vacant land used informally for urban agriculture has in many cities become a source of crime.
The foliage of plants particularly maize have become hiding places for thieves and robbers dur ing
the night (Mbiba, 1995). The Herald 01 February 2010, reported that one person was murdered
and eight others escaped death from thieves in one night in Kuwadzana 2 high density residential
area, near Kuwadzana shopping center.

The Sunday mail of Novem ber 14, 2010 posed a heading, Urban Farming Clashes, Land Fights on
the Increase. The Harare metropolitan resident minister comrade David Karimanzira said that
beneath the hive of activity by urban farmers are numerous disputes to do with land boundaries.
He further highlighted that they always received reports of disputes over farming land in Harare,
and the increase in urban areas could be that more and more youth are turning to urban agriculture
to supplement their meager earnings, and they subsequently clash with some elders who claim to
have farmed on the pieces of land for decades.

Irrigation with municipal wastewater is practiced in many urban and peri -urban areas of This
practice has become a significant source of the food security and household cash in urban areas.
Dreshler (1994), reported that 40 percent households in Lusaka, Za mbia relied on urban agriculture
to grow food for home consumption and sale. In Nairobi, Kenya, Lee – Smith (1991), reported that

29 percent of households in the urban areas grew crops and 17 percent raised livestock with total
value of US$17 million. Farm ing in ponds fertilized with urban wastewater or sewage often results
in outbreak of diseases (Okpala, 2002). In China, India and Vietnam, aquaculture with wastewater
does benefit millions of people. The wastewater fishponds in Calcutta cover about 2500 he ctares,
the fish pond effluent is used to irrigate vegetables and rice in paddy fields and outbreak of
parasites like tapeworms and hookworms became a health problem to most urban dwellers
(Okpala, 2002).

There has been a lot of literature and researches on the positive and negative impacts of urban
agriculture, however little researches were done on the impacts of support services like financial
assistance, training and motivating activities like field days and others to urban agriculture, a gap
which th is research tries to cover.

Local food challenges and limitations
Food obtained from urban agriculture alone will not solve issues of poverty, but they can have an
import ant role to play in regard, if only because they can ensure a supply of fresh local food at
affordable prices (Power, 1999). According to Rodriguez (1999), for urban agriculture projects to
function they do require a lot of hard physical work, and commitme nt to them has to be more than
ideological. In Cuba the government took what was, for them, the fairly radical step of allowing
them to be run in some cases as private businesses in order to take into account the need for
individual incentive. One of the s kewed outcomes of this approach is that urban farmers earn more

than doctors or professors in Cuba, but it does mean that level of food production in the city are
consistently high.

Jolly (2000), believes that projects which can clearly demonstrate that the outcomes were broader
than merely food production. For instance training, job creation, work with disaffected youth that
such projects brought justifiable benefits to the community on a variety of levels and could justify
a level of subsidy to make the m sustainable. Basing on research findings it almost impossible for
such projects to sustain themselves from produce sales.

According to Jolly(2000), despite the apparent benefits of a more localized food economy, there
is the risk that urban agriculture could create a two -tiered urban food system, where the only more
affluent could afford to have locally grown fresh produce, while everyone else would have to make
do with cheaper, lower quality mass -produced imported food. This concerns is reflected in a r ecent
report published by New castle University looking at broad issues of land uses and sustainability,
which also questions whether preoccupation with local sourcing might deny the opportunity to
taste and enjoy a wide variety of food cultures, although this diversity should not be offered at the
expense of strengthening the local economy (Hinrichs, 2003).

Even acknowledging the likely environmental and other social benefits of a more localized food
chain, complementing what can realistically be achieve d at a local level in terms of actual food
production, it is necessary to take ‘into account the extent to which our existing highly centralized

food production and distribution infrastructure and ingrained patterns of food purchasing behavior
could adapt to such a reality. A local food economy would no doubt necessitate a much higher
proportion of the population to be living on the land. Would sufficiently large numbers of people
would be willing to work on the land to achieve adequate levels of food produ ction. It might also
prove difficult for enough local food to be grown without a certain level of chemical input (Fairlie,
2007).

Strategies for sustainable urban agriculture
Sustainable urban agriculture refers to a form of agriculture aimed at meet ing the needs of the
present urban generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own
needs (Harrison and Hester 1995).

Sustainable urban agriculture integrates three main goals which are environmental health,
economic pr ofitability and social equity. Reaching sustainable agriculture is the responsibility of
all stakeholders in the urban system such as farmers, policy makers, researchers, retailers and
consumers and others (Mikesell, 1992).

Implementation of waste management strategy that promote sorting, recycling and reuse attains to
sustainable urban agriculture and development (Hardin, 1972). In Mexico City,
Mexico,’Sambradores Urbanos project’ was initiated by women as a mechanism for tr ansforming
nearly 12000 tonnes of waste produced in the city per day into fertile soils, clean food and as a
source of income. A well -established composite area has been built to decompose the waste which
would be used for organic fertilizer in their garde ns. (http:// www. City farmer. Info, 8 July 2009).

Recent years has seen progress towards recognition of the need for policies to sustainable urban
agriculture (Barrow, 1994). The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) initiated in 26 countries both
developed and developing, has shown a growing reduction in dangerous pesticides use. Across the
world, use of DDT has been discouraged due to its effects on non -targeted land and marine species
(Elliot, 1994).

Sustainable urban agriculture policy has been integrat ed with the agricultural development policy
in states of Santa Cathrina, Panama and Rio Grande do sull in Brazil to curb urban land
degradation and surface water reservoirs siltation by promoting zero tillage that enhance minimum
disturbance of the soil (Bolding, 2003). There are several strategies underway in some countries
to attain sustainable urban agriculture that includes the adoption of waste is food strategy, setting
up of protocols for reduction of use of pesticides that are decadal to land and marine species and
water sources.

Literature concerning the need for sustainable urban agriculture has received enough attention
through researches as evidenced by a wide range of literature. However the need to support urban
agriculture through trainin g, financial aid and motivational activities like field days, has received
little attention by researchers, a gap which this research tries to close.

Summary
This chapter covered work done by other researchers concerning urban agriculture particularly on
the causes of urban agriculture, social impacts and economic impacts of urban agriculture,
problems associated with urban agriculture and also strategies for sustainable urban agriculture.

CHAPTER 3

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.0 Introduction

This chapter explains the research design, research methods to be employed during data collection
as well as their merits and demerits, targeted population, ethical considerations and data analysis
procedures. The aim is to give a clear explanation on how data would be obtained and justification
on the selected methodology. Sanders et al (2009), posit methodology as the theoretical aspect of
how the study will be undertaken including the philosophical assumptions upon which the research
is based on and the implications of these for the method or methods adopted. The research will be
collecting responses from people involved in urban agriculture in Seke Matererera be it poultry,
gardening to mention a few.

Rapid urbanization has produced a large group of urban poor, proliferating concerns like food
insecurity and malnutrition in the developing world. Thys et al (2005), rural dwellers moving to
cities often bring their agricultural practices with them for food security and livelihood reasons.
This transfor mation of agriculture from a traditional rural industry to an urban and peri -urban
phenomenon has led to significant displays of livelihood change.

This study seeks to embed a specific phenomenon of urban agriculture in a more general
circumstance but due to changes both in temporal sense and also socio -economic validity there is
need for an interpretative framework of actions and events. The emphasis in this study is to provide
some degree of context for socio -economic impacts of urban agriculture and ass ess ways that
maybe adopted to enhance urban communities through various agricultural activities for
sustainable urban agriculture in Matererera, Seke. In utilizing the term urban agriculture the
researcher explicitly acknowledges both the nature of and th e role of urban agriculture as a process
and set of practices that revolve around production and distribution of food for household
consumption or possible trade more commercialized agriculture. It takes place in different
locations and under varying socio – economic conditions and political regimes. The diversity of
urban agriculture is one of its main attributes, as it can be adapted to a wide range of urban
situations and to the needs of diverse stakeholders.

Sanders et al (2009), states that there are different approaches about the way in which knowledge
is developed. Fisher (2004), two major schools of philosophy have evolved and dominated
literature on the research process and these are positivism and interpretive philosophy. This study
adopts a posit ivism philosophy presenting urban agriculture as a phenomena that can be explored
measured and understood as tool for community development. This study involves a literature
search in terms of urban agriculture phenomena and the relevance of adopting other strategies for
sustainable urban agriculture.

Rubin and Rubin (2012) researchers who use quantitative tools, techniques that emphasize
measuring and counting, are called positivists and those who prefer the qualitative tools of

observation, questioning and descriptive are called naturalists. Positivists and naturalists are
different especially in their assumptions about what is important to study, what can be known,
what research tools and designs are appropriate, and what standards should be used to jud ge the
quality of the research. Bryman (2009), asserts positivism is the epistemological position that
advocates the application of natural science techniques to the study of social reality and beyond.
In essence positivists assume that reality is fixed, d irectly measurable, and knowable and that there
is just one truth, one external reality. In contrast, naturalistic researchers assume that reality
constantly changes and can be known only indirectly, through the interpretations of people, they
accept the p ossibility that there are multiple versions of reality.

Moreso, Creswell (2009), the different types of data needed for research are most easily understood
using the descriptive terms that is quantitative and qualitative. They differ in the type of
inform ation collected, the questions and information required, the data that is meant to be
addressed, and the methods used to analyse the data .The latter further asserts quantitative research
methods as characterised by the collection of information which can be analysed using the results
of which are typically presented using statistics, tables and graphs. The main focus of the
quantitative research method is to test already determined hypotheses and produce results that are
general. Using statistical methods, the results of quantitative analysis can confirm or oppose
hypotheses about the impact of a problem and following need of the affected population.

3.1 Sampling techniques

Primary data was collected from Seke Matererera. Seke Matererera is a peri urban to the capital
city thus Harare, and it lies in natural regions 11A of the agro ecological zones of Zimbabwe, one
of the nine districts in Mashonaland East Province, the area is rich in wetlands. Urban agriculture
has managed to provide food for many families and a little cash for other basic needs as excess is
sold. The research was not able to interview all people involved in urban agriculture but only a
few participants were selected in order to get depth information, the researcher used probability
procedures to make up the sample. A sample is a group of people, objects or items that are taken
from a larger population for measurement. The purpose of sampling is to draw a con clusion from
a portion of the population. The procedures followed in systematic sampling involved the
preparation of the sampling frame which according to Cohen and Manion (1994), refers to the list
of all the units of analysis. The researcher listed all t he households in the population of 200 by
their numbers and to come up with the sample the formula (K = N/n = interval size) was used
where:
K=interval
N= Total population
n = number of elements in the sample
Therefore K= 200/100 = 2.
As a result the researcher took every second number from the list until the sample size was 100.

As the research required the researcher to gather substantial information, sampling enabled the
researcher to reduce the time and costs spend on the research. This made it p ossible for the
researcher to complete the research within the required time period. More so the researcher

managed to practically attend to the respondents such that detailed information was collected
which helped in reaching to a conclusion. In this rese arch, the researcher discovered that sampling
would not allow generalization of the findings to the whole population if not properly drawn,
inadequacy of the samples, chances of bias are high and difficulty of getting the representative
sample. However, to overcome this problem the researcher decided to use a standard measure.

Several authors describe urban agriculture systems unsystematically with localized definitions
and descriptions so that comparisons between cities cannot be made. A consistent typol ogy and
research approach is lacking. The primary research method of the assessment will be the case
study methodology. The multi -faceted dynamics of how urban agriculture intertwines with its
context thus requiring multiple sources of interpretation would benefit from the case study
method. The ability of the case study methodology is to accommodate combined strategies be it
quantitative to name a few is another essential aspect. Within this primary case study
methodology there are multiple secondary metho ds that can create combined strategies to receive
and interpret data regarding urban agriculture and community enrichment. These include
quantitative, historical interpretive, qualitative and descriptive survey.

Cooper et al, (2005) defined a research d esign as the plan and structure of investigation of
information so as to obtain answers to research questions. It is the overall pattern of the project
that stipulates what information is to be collected, when and from which sources and procedures.
Burns e t al (2003), research design is defined as “a blueprint for conducting a study with maximum

control over the factors that may interfere with the validity of the findings”. There are various
research designs that can be employed in a research which include historical design, descriptive
design, exploratory research and the researcher employed a descriptive research design in this
study. The research design constitutes the overall plan for obtaining answers to the questions being
studied and handling various challenges to the validity of the study evidence. This design was
chosen because of its appropriateness to the topic under study.

Scientific measurement is the key to quantitative research because quantitative data is numeric,
the collection and analysis of data from representative samples is more commonly used. In its
simplest terms, the more representative the sample is, the more likely that a quantitative analysis
will be accurate and precise and reflect a picture of the impact of the problem when gene ralized
to the whole affected population. Larger sample sizes tend to be used for collecting quantitative
information, so as to gather as representative a picture as possible. It has the advantages that it
provides an opportunity for uncomplicated data ana lysis, the data is verifiable and data is
comparable between different populations that are located in different locations. Its
disadvantages are that there can sometimes be gaps in information, it is labor intensive and if
there is limited participation b y the affected population it might compromise the results.

Moreover, Central Africa Correspondence College, (2009) defined descriptive research design as
all types of field and library studies as well as comparative studies. It is a rendering of present
circumstances and relationships. Mc Nabb, (2010) also referred descriptive research as involving
gathering data that describe events and tabulates, depicts and describes the data. It often uses visual
aids such as graphs and charts to aid the reader. It all ows the researcher to collect data in which

techniques such as comparisons, measurement, classification and evaluation can be employed.
This means human judgment can be used by the researcher to reach conclusions on the research
findings. The researcher ad opted descriptive research design in a way to provide analysis and
interpretation of the research findings. According to a school of thought descriptive survey methods
comprises of three aspects that is observational, case study and survey. Observational is when one
is viewing and recording the participants, case study as an in depth study of an individual or group
of individuals, survey brief interview or discussion with an individual about specific topic.
Descriptive survey design was used to conduct the r esearch as the project is both qualitative and
quantitative in nature. The research is qualitative in the sense that it intensely studies the farmers
and municipal authorities concerning the causes of urban agriculture, socio -economic impacts and
strategie s that can be adopted to obtain sustainable urban agriculture.

The researcher has adopted a descriptive research design because it gives an opportunity to ask
questions such as who, why and how and these were answered. This enabled the researcher to
gather detailed information through interviews and observations that were done. This research
design allowed the researcher to observe respondents in a completely natural and unchanged
environment in which the studied respondents were unaware so they acted naturally like they
normally do in everyday situation. The researche r hence managed to collect enough analysable
data. The researcher managed to collect a large amount of data for the detailed study and she found
it easy to start the research as this design is used to describe or the data collected was descriptive
in natur e. Through using descriptive research design the researcher managed to identify further
area of study.

Descriptive research design required the researcher to present high level of knowledge and skills
of analysing data collected from various sources whic h had resulted in the researcher taking too
long to complete the research. However to overcome this problem the researcher showed up high
level of understanding and had acquired better skills required through reading so as to make
detailed analysis needed to complete the research. The researcher also applied sampling in a way
to reduce the time spent on the research.

In this research, the researcher managed to use both primary and secondary data sources. Primary
data is defined as information gathered to address a specific issue or problem at hand. It is the raw
data that is collected by the researcher from the field using different data collection methods. The
researcher managed to collect primary data using questionnaires and interviews done to the peopl e
that are involved in urban agriculture in Materera Seke. In collecting primary data, the researcher
has managed to have a room to understand the views of the respondents and this means the
researcher had enough access to first -hand information that was a ssumed to be reliable and up to
date. The researcher managed to employ judgmental skills on information that was given by the
respondents which appeared to be so crucial and of relevance to the research.Although the
researcher tried to employ sampling as a way of saving time, the process of collecting primary data
appeared to be expensive and time consuming for the researcher as the researcher had to travel
from the municipality and Matererera area where some information had to be collected. In a way
to ove rcome this problem the researcher managed to budget enough funds which sustained primary

data collection process and time schedules were drafted before the process in a way to plan and
ensure proper time management.

Secondary data, this is the data that already exist and that was collected for other purposes than
what the researcher is intending to use it. It helped the researcher in coming up with a historical
background of the work done as it provided an existing literature around the topic studied. The
researcher acquired secondary data from written reports, books and journals. The researcher was
able to spend less time and incurred lower costs in carrying out data collection process as there
was no need for data processing. This made it easier and poss ible for the researcher to extract the
existing data sets. The researcher found that secondary data was not reliable due to out -datedness
and it could not address the research questions at hand because the data was collected for another
purpose different t o what the researcher was looking for. However, in a way to overcome this
problem the researcher focused on information collected that was relevant to the study.

The researcher collected data by administering questionnaires with open ended and pre -coded
questions, interviews, and observations. According to CACC (ibid) a questionnaire is a document
normally distributed through the post to be filled out by the respon dent himself in his own time. It
is a document containing questions designed to solicit information appropriate for analysis. The
researcher had distributed the questionnaires to the targeted subjects at Seke District Council
constituted of district heads and people that are involved in urban agriculture in a way to enhance
the quality of the data obtained and also to ensure that this data is in a form that can be objectively

analysed. Self -completion of questionnaires by the respondents allowed them to res pond at the
time convenient to them. This allowed the respondents to give thoughtful answers and to look up
for records where necessary. In so doing it was so easy for the researcher to administer and collect
the required data. More so there was no effect of the researcher's presence, thus respondents
completed the questionnaires as to their feel. By using questionnaires, the researcher did not
require additional labour to help in distributing questionnaires thus making it easy for her and to
enjoy low cost s of distribution.

In collecting data through open -ended questions, respondents were allowed to a variety of response
options which made them free to say what they like. By using questionnaires, the researcher could
not get an opportunity to probe respon dents to elaborate on answers given. This means that the
data collected was limited in some way as the researcher feel he could have acquired more detailed
information if he was present during the time when the respondents where completing the
questionnair es. The researcher discovered that open ended questions asked, took respondents more
time to answer and were tougher to analyse.By administering questionnaires, the researcher was
not present to help respondents answer the questions when they encountered p roblems in
understanding the questions thus affecting validity of the information collected. However, to
overcome this problem the researcher employed a pilot study which was satisfactorily responded
to, so as to ensure that respondents would not face diff iculties in answering the questions due to
ambiguity or anything that would hinder completion of questionnaires by respondents. The
researcher also constructed easy and straight forward questions which did not need the researcher
to explain further for the respondents to encode the intended meaning.

An interview is a conversation between the researcher and the respondents in which the researcher
take down the response. The use of interviews in research marks a move away from seeing human
subjects as simpl y manipulable and data somehow between humans, often through conversation
(Kvale, 1996). By conducting interviews which were often flexible, the researcher managed to
acquire more in -depth data which made the researcher to draw up an effective conclusion. The
researcher managed to persuade respondents for answers thus allowing him to collect further
detailed information. The researcher also enjoyed interviewer observations in which some issues
which were expressed through gestures by respondents were record ed making it possible for the
researcher to apply human judgment on some research findings.

Due to personal conduct between the researcher and the respondents there was a higher rate of
return for the questions asked by the researcher. The researcher als o had an opportunity to clarify
questions and he managed to judge adequacy of honesty of the replies given by the respondents.
This enhanced validity of the information supplied by the respondents. The researcher encountered
difficulties in conducting int erviews because it was expensive and time consuming. This is so
because the researcher had to travel from one place to another in search of information and this
means fewer subjects were sampled. In addition conducting the interviews effectively required t he
researcher to practise and be highly skilled. This is so because there was need to listen to one as
he or she gave a respond and be ready to follow -up immediately as the respondent further
explained. However to overcome these problems the researcher had made thorough preparations

for the interviews by gathering information on how best he can conduct interviews by watching
television interviews to appreciate the skills needed. The researcher also kindly asked for
cooperation from the respondents so as to make the interviews easy and organized.

This is a situation whereby the researcher looks at naturally occurring behaviours of respondents
in their natural contexts (Mc Nabb, 2010). It involves looking and listening upon the behaviour of
respondents in co ntexts that are contrived to be realistic. Observations can either be participative
or non -participative. This is a more qualitative observation in which the researcher becomes part
of the group in carrying out the activity which may be a decision making m eeting by management
or board of directors. This is a situation whereby the researcher watches and records activities as
they occur. This is a more quantitative observation research technique. Observations allowed the
researcher to gather current informati on which helped in raising the validity of the study. In
addition the researcher had managed to record data as the activities occur thus making it possible
for the researcher to record all pertinent aspects. Observations also made it possible for the
resea rcher to determine how respondents interact with technology in various stages of policy
design and implementation. The researcher incurred some shortcomings by using observations as
data collection instrument. This is because data collected using observati ons was not detailed
enough to generalize the findings to the whole population thus yielding a wealth of invaluable
information. Observations required the researcher to directly observe the behaviour of the subjects
hence it tended to be a complicated proc ess. However to overcome this problem the researcher had
consider other data collected by different research instruments so as to reach to desirable findings.
The researcher used triangulation to refute the criticism of observations.

Reliability and Validity
Kumar (2005) validity implies the correct application of procedures in the research process to find
answers to questions raised by the study and reliability refers to the quality of a measurement
procedure that provides repeatabil ity and accuracy. It was of paramount importance for the
researcher to ensure that the data collected was significant to the topic under study. The researcher
ensured reliability and validity of the instruments by doing a thorough review of the literature
before designing the research instruments. Thus this helped to collect relevant data for the topic
under study. In addition, to maximize the reliability and validity of the study, the researcher
conducted a pilot survey. The questionnaire was modified on t he language which seemed a bit
confusing, based on the pilot survey, the final version of the questionnaire was completed after
consideration by the researcher. The questions were formulated in simple and concise language
for clarity and ease of understand ing. Clear instructions were also given to the respondents

Data presentation and analysis
According to Aakker, (1998) data analysis consist of applying statistical techniques to a database
in order to make inference about variables or study. Data from various respondents was grouped
and synthesized to come up with critical analysis of the findings. The researcher used descriptive
statistical techniques in which graphs, tables and pie charts were used for data presentation.

Summary

This chapter conce ntrated on the research design, population, sampling, sources of data, data
collection instruments, ethical considerations and data analysis. The next chapter deals with data
presentation, interpretation and analysis.

CHAPTER FOUR
DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

4.0 Introduction
The preceding chapter gave a detailed synopsis of how data for the research was to be gathered.
This chapter presents an analysis and interprets the collected data. The discussion compares the
results obtained with the literature review. The findings are analyzed, presented and interpreted in
the confines of the following objectives; an assessment of the socio -economic impacts of urban
agriculture, causes of urban agriculture, determine viability of urban agriculture and explore
strategies that can to be adopted to enhance urban agriculture in Materera, Seke. The findings were
postulated by respondents under this study by aid of to the research questionnaires which were
conducted by the researcher.

4.1 Response rate
Bryman and Bell, (2007), assert, res ponse rate as the percentage of a sample that does not agree to
participate in a study. Generically the response rate is perceived as an essential indicator of the
research quality, (Rea and Parker, 2007). Wheat, (2004), infers, on average, the response ra te of a
research study should be in the 50 to 70 % range and further asserts that the concepts and methods
applied to gather data are highly credible and a vivid impression of occurrences on the ground.

This is fairly a high response rate and therefore portrays varied opinions from the respondents and
thus a fair representation. The remaining sixteen (16) questionnaires respondents did not return the

questionnaires either because they did not complete them in time, lost them or simply chose not to
answer them.

4.2 General Demographic Information
4.2.1 Gender Distribution
An illustration of the gender distribution is shown in fig 4.1 below. The researcher found it
necessary to analyze the gender composition of the urban farmers because gender dispensat ion of
urban farmers has a direct impact on urban agriculture productivity. The pie chart in fig 4.1
illustrates more female urban farmers who constitute sixty -two percent (62%) of the target
population as compared to males who constitute thirty -eight perc ent (38%) of the targeted
population

Fig 4.1 Gender Distribution of urban farmers in Materera, Seke.
Source: Primary data
Females constitute a greater percentage more than men in urban agriculture this is due to the fact
that women a re the ones that are mostly hands on when it comes to domestic chores, diet and health
of the family. Men are family heads breadwinners but women make sure that all ingredients that
are necessary to make a dish are available and by them being involved in u rban agriculture that is

around the house makes them grow crops that can feed their families without expenses. During the
interviews the researcher observed that men do not take urban agriculture seriously and they spend
most of their time in search of bet ter jobs that is far away from home, unlike women who are
always at home as there are also caregivers to children, elderly and the sick.

FAO, (2011), analysis of the structure of the agricultural population and in specific the number of
male and female f armers at national and sub -national levels offers insight into the availability of
agricultural labor offers insight into the availability of agricultural labor and can reflect the gender
specific impact on migration trends, civil conflicts and the HIV/AID S pandemic on the farm labor
force. These developments need to be taken into consideration by agricultural planners and policy
makers as they may lead to shortages of male or female labor in urban areas and to an overall
decline in agricultural production and productivity.

ZIMSTAT, (2012), in its census findings observe females as the major contributors in urban
agriculture production but more often than not their efforts are under -reported largely due to the
fact that results of their productivity are rec orded at household level where males are the
recognized heads of the house. Hence, women’s empowerment and promotion of gender equality
are key to achieving Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs), (UNECOSOC, 2014).

4.2.2 Household head

From the sampled households 55 percent were two parent headed families whilst 27 percent were
female headed as husbands were away in search of greener pastures in foreign countries or
deceased and divorced, 18 were child headed families with no parents to look after children.
Only a few cases were of single male headed families which are rare as men tend to remarry after
death of spouse or divorce.

Fig 4.2 Shows household heads of urban farmers in Seke, Materera.
Source : Primary Source
According to analyzed data in Ghana female headed households make 33percent of the overall
households in urban agriculture and 27 percent of those in rural areas. Poverty rates among
female headed househo lds are lower than those of their male counterparts and this is particularly
true within households in a severe poverty condition.

4.2.3 Age Distribution of the urban farmers
Analysis of the age statistics revealed that 75 percent of the respondents w ere aged between 25
and 55 years only 10 percent were 24 years and below, 15 percent were 56 years and fig 4.3 shows
the statistics

Fig 4.3 shows the age frequency in urban agricultu re.

Age group Frequency Percentage
1. 24 and below 7 8.33
2. 25-35 years 20 23.81
3. 36-45 years 18 21.43
4. 46-55 years 17 20.24
5. 56 and above 13 15.48
Total 75 100.0

4.2.4 Marital status
The study found out that 57 percent of the respondents were married, whilst 18 percent were
widowed, 18 percent divorced and only 7 percent were single. This is shown in the graph below
thus fig 4.4

Fig 4.4 Shows marital status of urban farmers in Seke, Materera.
Source : Primary Source
From the sampled households 60 percent were two parent headed families whilst 40 percent were
female headed as husbands were away in search of greener pastures in foreign countries or
deceased and divorced. Only a few cases were of single male headed families which are rare as
men tend to remarry after death of spouse or divorce.

4.2.5 Educational Level
Other measures of a nonfinancial nature have been used in other studies, for example, a studies by
Mumba et al (2011) in Zambia and also by Cain, Anwar Rowlinson (2007) in the Punjab region
of Pakistan indicated that education levels, dairy cow herd size a nd distance to the market
significantly affected the profitability of small -scale dairy farmers. Increases in education levels,
cow herd size and a unit decreases in the distance to the market led to increases in the profitability
of small -scale dairy ente rprises.

An analysis of the farmer’s level of education was necessary in the study because literacy level is
the most important aspect that affects urban agricultural productivity the world over. Figure 4.
Shows that majority 54 percent of the respondents attained ordinary level, 27 percent tertiary level
and 19 percent primary level. The Agricultural Research and Extension (AREX) by and large
coordinates agricultural activities in the rural areas. Though this body has continued to stress the
government’s laws against the urban agriculture on ground that it promotes environmental
degradation, it has met with resistance (Mabeza and Mawere, 2012). Urban agriculture continue
playing a pivotal role in ensuring secure household food security and sustainable deve lopment in
the communal areas in many parts of the country like Materera, Seke communal area.

One study on urban agriculture that was conducted in Norton, Harare revealed that about 78.5
percent of the respondents reported to know what urban agriculture is but on further probing it was
found out that urban agriculture to them was growing maize, veg etables sweet potatoes and more.
Also the majority 96.6 percent of respondents felt that keeping chickens was not a form of urban

agriculture. Therefore, this statistics above clearly shows that education is important in agriculture
as it is more of a cour se that requires general knowledge in order to know seasons when and where
to plant crops and which livestock to rear on that small piece of land.

Fig: 4.5 Academic qualificati ons of urban farmers
Source: Primary Source

4.2.6 Distribution of wealth status
The sampled households were discerned into three wealth categories that is well -off, average and
worse off. Looking at how pathetic the economic situation of Zimbabwe is thes e days, many people
fall under the worse of category of wealth status. The three groups were calculated as follows
firstly the well -off are those that are involved in many agricultural activities for example poultry,
farming has another source of income do ing agriculture as a leisure practice, the worse off group
were those that depend on agricultural produce for their day to day living and have no other source
of income that can substitute agriculture. 20 families out of 84 families that were sampled are w ell
off and 24 families’ worse off meaning to say 40 families are on average under wealth status
category. The table below shows the statistics

Number of households Percentage of wealth status
1. Well off 17 22.67
2. Average 20 26.67
3. Worse -off 38 50.66
Totals 75 100

Fig: 4.6 Wealth status of urban farmers
Source: Primary Source

Household size
Mbiba(2006), based on a study of small -holder dairy farmers in Zimbabwe, the size of the
household was found to be one of the most important determinants of viability in that it
determined the labour investment for the enterprise and also influenced milk production for both
home and market consumption .

The level of food self -sufficient in urban areas depends on the family size that needs to be
supported. From the study as presented in table 4. Is correlated to urban agriculture as shown by
an increase in number of respondents from household size 2 to 6. The highest percentage 28percent
represents a family size of 6 members , 4 percent for a family size of 2 members. However a slight
decrease of respondents was realized for a family size with 7 members by 17 percent.

4.3 Crop production
Major crops grown in Materera, Seke are sugar beans, groundnuts, sweet potatoes, maize,
cowpeas, vegetables such as green beans, leafy vegetables, onions, tomatoes and carrots are also
part of major crops grown in the area as part of livelihood activity. T obacco production has also
increased in the area, particularly because of the attractive prices that often arise at the auction
floors during the selling season.

In most parts of Zimbabwe maize is the major crop grown the reason being that it is Zimbabwe ’s
staple food. Maize constitutes the largest portion of single cultivated crop thus about 97 percent as
evidenced from the sampled population used in this study, as the previous year most of them
concentrated on maize production. It is estimated that abou t 60 percent of Materera land is used
for maize production.

Fig 4.7 Shows crop production in Seke, Materera.
Source : Primary data

4.4 Garden production
Materera, Seke is well known of good quality leafy vegetables, tomatoes and onions. The results
from the sampled population shows that perennial covo which is also known as viscose is mostly
grown by many households as it can be grown throughout the year. Another advantage of perennial
covo is that it is grown through out the year and it is cost effective as one seed produces many
plants (suckers), it does not require fertilizer to grow manure can do the job without any expenses
incurred. Figure 4. 7 Shows the different types of horticultural crops the households had g rown
and the proportion of households who had grown it.

Fig 4.7 Shows garden production by urban farmers in Seke, Materera

4.5 Livestock Ownership
Urban agriculture is not centered on farming only it also includes livestock production. From the
sampled population a percentage of livestock ownership was obtained. Using the ranking method
the mostly held types of livestock in order of decreasing importance are poultry, cattle, goats t hen
pigs. The proportion of farmers owing the first three types of livestock is significant. Many farmers
have ventured into poultry business of raising broilers from day old to six weeks and roadrunners
and they sale the produces by the end of time.

4.6 Time engaged into urban agriculture
From the study, it was found out that most urban farmers (65%) engage in urban agriculture as
part time and only 35% of the sampled farmers are fulltime cultivators as shown in the table below:

Frequency Percenta ges Valid Percentage Cumulative
Percent
Full Time 29 38.67 38.67 38.67
Party Time 46 61.33 61.33 61.33
Totals 75 100.0 100.0 100.0

Shows the percentage of time given to urban agriculture by farmers in Materera, Seke.

Fig 4.7 Time given to urban agriculture in Materera, Seke.
Source: Primary source

4.7 Destination of the urban agricultural produce
An analysis of the urban agricultural produces destination revea led that 60percent is for
consumption 28 percent for sale and 12 percent supply for both domestic consumption for sale as
shown by the bar graph in fig 4.8

Fig 4.8 shows the destinat ion of agricultural produces
`Source: Primary source

4.8 Land Tenure
‘Communal’ lands still cover about 16.3 million ha (about 42 per cent of total land area of
Zimbabwe) yet are home to about 5.6 million people or 75 per cent of all Zimbabwe’s rura l
dwellers (CSO 2004: 16). From the sampled residential areas, the study revealed that most urban
farmers 63 percent owned less than 1 hectare, 29 percent had between 2 to 5 hectares and at least
3 percent had more than 11 hectares as shown by the bar graph in figure 4.

Fig 4.8 shows the hectares where urban agriculture is practiced in Materera, Seke
Source: Primary source
Zimbabwe’s communal areas comprise about 42% of the whole count ry and support 70% of the
country’s population (Makombe et al, 2001). Small -scale farmers have usufruct rights to land,
thus while the land is not privately owned and cannot be sold or leased, it can be borrowed.

4.9 Major causes of urban agriculture
Results from the interview and the questionnaire had similarities that employment, food security,
supplementing income and available markets are some causes of urban agriculture. However
respondents from the questionnaires showed that food security is the ma jor cause of urban

agriculture 46 percent, were as employment 33 percent supplementing income and marketing had
11 percent and 10 percent respectively as shown below:

Fig 4.9 shows major sources of urban agriculture
Source: Primary source

From the statistics presented above it clearly shows that most people engage in urban agriculture
as a form of employment as the unemployment rate of Zimbabwe keeps on skyrocketing, people
requires as source of income to them going in this hard economic ti mes. 33percnet food supplying
as food is now expensive for every tom and jill to access so Materera residence thought of urban
agriculture as a source of food security at household level. Having 11 percent of supplementing
income in engaging in agriculture reveals the aspect of depressed incomes which are no longer
able to cater for one’s welfare and the issue that many people are earning salaries that are under
the poverty datum line enhances urban agriculture in Materera, Seke.

4.1.1 Land ownership
Triangulation of all the three instruments found out that majority of the urban farmers do illegally
own the land they cultivate. From the observations done most farming was done along roads, near
rivers and on open spaces. Analysis of the results from the questionnaires showed that 73% illegal
own the land and only 27% legally own the land they cultivate as shown in figure

Fig 4.10 Shows land ownership status of urban farmers in Seke, Materera.
Source: Primary source
Statistics on the positive social impacts of urban agriculture from the questionnaires revealed that
47% of the respondents suggested psyc hological relaxation, 33% physical strength and 20%
leisure. However results from the interviews found out that urban agriculture causes disputes over
land as the urban farmers fight for ownership of the limited urban space for cultivating which is
however illegal. Furthermore cases of rape and robbery in the maize fields were mentioned by the
Seke district administrator during the interview. During the observation odorously smelling
dumpsites were identified.The study showed that 51% of the respondents sug gested food security
as the major economic benefit of urban agriculture, employment 29%, and marketing 20% as
shown in table 4..To supplement results from the questionnaire findings from the interview showed
that some residents of Seke earn a living from u rban agriculture through selling their produces like

maize to the Chitungwiza Grain Marketing Board, some sale vegetables and dressed and undressed
chickens at Chikwanha marketing area. However the pollution of water sources that supply Seke
town like Hara va dam with the use of inorganic fertilizers in farming increases water purification
costs that strain the Chitungwiza town council's budget. However from the assessment, the positive
economic impacts of urban agriculture, greatly out way the negative impa cts of urban agriculture.

A Chi -square test was used to test the relationship between residential area and the socio -economic
impacts of urban agriculture.Using frequencies in table 4.3 and 4.4.The critical value was 11.1 and
the Chi -square tested value was greater (11.3) than the critical value. Its significance is that the
Null (Ho) hypothesis is rejected and accept the Alternate (H1) hypothesis that there is a
relationship between residential area and the socio -economic impacts of urban agriculture. Th e
calculation of the Chi -square test is shown in the appendices

4.1.2Support from local authorities
Support services from the government and private sector do increases the socio -economic benefits
of urban agriculture. However the study revealed that 40% of the respondents received nothing as
support from the local government authorities, 24% of the respondents received inputs, 31%,
marketing area, only 3% received financial support and 0%, received training as indicated below.
Furthermore findings from the interview done to the Seke District Councilor revealed that since
the land for urban agriculture has no title deeds and the activity being temporary to most urban
farmers, it is difficult for them to offer financial support, however some cheap fertiliz ers and seeds

through the Grain Marketing Board were accessible to urban farmers as well as the legalized
marketing area in Chikwanha area.

Fig 4.11 shows support from local authorit ies to urban agriculture in Seke, Materera.
4.1.3 Strategies to enhance sustainable urban agriculture
Seke District Council alludes the need for government to revise the 2004 Urban agricultural policy
that illegalize urban agriculture since it is an altern ative food generating activity to most urban
dwellers. A shift of policy distribution so as to favor equally the urban farmers like the communal

farmers when distributing inputs was suggested. The 2007 to 2008 farm mechanization program
by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was highlighted to have more attention to communal farmers
than urban farmers. More so, the study revealed that the use of litter as manure had the highest
respondents (26%), good application of fertilizers 22%, and avoiding stream bank cultiv ation 19%
and ploughing far from the road had the least respondents constituting 6% as shown in table 4.

What are some of the strategies that can be adopted for sustainable urban
agriculture
Valid Frequency Percent Valid
Percent Cumulative
Percent
Ploughing away from
rivers 18 24 24 24
Good application of
fertilisers 10 13.34
13.34 13.34
Zero tillage 8 10.67 10.67 10.67
Avoiding ploughing
on slopes 11 14.67 14.67 14.67
Use of litter as
manure 23 30.67 30.67 30.67
Ploughing far from
roads 5 6.67 6.67 6.67
TOTALS 75 100 100 100

4.1.4 Legal status of urban agriculture in Materera Seke.
The study found out that nationwide, in all towns and cities, urban agriculture is not
legalized as supported by the 2004 agricultural policy, it is regarded as a temporary
activity due to inner city development as well as urban sprawl. It was revealed tha t
some farms around Seke particularly Hwedzenge, Chidzere are peri -urban farms
targeting Seke development.

4.1.5 Acquisition of land for urban agriculture
The research study found out that no proper land provision is done in Materera Seke,
the urban far mers allocate themselves on open spaces where no infrastructure
development is underway and also bellow the pillions of electricity lines where
construction is not allowed by authorities. Interview by the Seke town planner
highlighted that urban agricultur e is not integrated into urban planning but the
council allow the activity on open spaces not ready for development especially
during rainy season when construction is hampered by rains.

From the observation done during the study the researcher found out that 90% of the
urban farmers grow maize as well as vegetables. Due to higher competition for land
maize crops where grown on small pieces of land approximately less than a hector,

whereas vegetables are grown as backyard farming where they rely on domestic
piped water for watering their beds. Few pieces of land had sweet potatoes, nuts,
sugar cane, bananas and beans probably for their own consumption. A few are
involved in poultry farming and they are mostly business minded than consumption
and this makes urban farmers generate an income from urban agriculture.

Summary
This chapter has focused on the presentation, analysis and discussion of the research
findings. Analysis of data was done in percentages, some statistical tests were used
like Pearson’s product moment and the Chi -square to show the relationship between
residential area and causes of urban agriculture. It outlined the main research
findings which had resulted in the researcher coming up with conclusions and
recommendations hence the next chapter deals with summary of the research
findings, conclusions and recommendations.

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Introduction

This chapter summarized the research findings and outlined major conclusions drawn from the
research as well as the suggested recommendations.

5.2 Discussion of results

From the analysis done on the demographic aspects of the urban farmers, women constitutes a
larger percentage in urban agriculture. This situation agrees well with Okpala (2002), who
outlines that in Zimbabwe the majority of urban farmers thus 90 percent are women. Many
women have a cultural feminine role that regards them as chief caretakers of children. They bear
the task of ensuring food availability on the table for the family and as a result to ensure food
security, they mostl y engage in urban agriculture as the immediate source of food. However,
men in most societies are regarded as breadwinners that is to have a monthly salary that is able to
cater for the household hence they look for employment in industries rather than eng aging in
urban agriculture.

Mbida (2000), states that rapid urbanization and increasing number of urban households have
implications on food security as a result urban agriculture is an important means of augmenting
declining purchasing power of their fo od earnings. From the analysis of the findings the more the
family size increases the more they engage in urban agriculture as a strategy to increase family
food supply. The Pearson’s product moment co -efficient correlation calculated on the
relationship b etween family size and engaging in urban agriculture showed a positive
relationship.

Analysis of the destination of produces revealed that urban agricultural outputs are consumed at
the household level. Bakker (2000), supports that food production in the city is a logic and
understandable response of the urban poor to inadequate, unreliabl e and irregular access to food
and lack of purchasing power. Therefore much of the produces are rarely for sale but for the
family consumption.

Access to prime land locations is fiercely disputed especially the subsistence type of urban
agriculture which often takes place on lands where property rights are in dispute (Bakker, 2000).
The analysis of findings revealed that most urban farmers have no title deeds of the land they
grow their crops .As a result it is regarded as illegal, and situation which dep rive Seke
Matererera urban farmers to access loans as they lack title deeds.

Most urban dwellers engage in urban agriculture chiefly for its economic advantages mostly to
ensure food security and employment especially in the high densities, however in s ome low
density areas the majority opt the social benefits of urban agriculture like leisure. A Chi -square
test applied revealed that there is a relationship between residential area and causes of urban
agriculture. In high densities they view urban agricu lture in terms of its employment provision,
food security and supplementary of incomes where as in low density areas they view urban
agriculture as a leisure activity.

Cultivation of certain crops is determined mostly by the relative importance of the cr op. Maize is
the staple food as a result mostly grown by the urban farmers. However to supplement the staple
crop, sweet potatoes are grown for breakfast as well as beans to get relish. Vegetables are mostly
grown for daily consumption hence are also grown by almost every household. Few families can
afford poultry farming due to high capital injection that is required, there is egg production and
meat which urban farmers sell inorder to earn a living from this type of agriculture.

Urban agriculture have proved to have some negative impacts like promotion of crimes like rape
and robbery in crop foliage, also promotion of water weeds due to poor application of fertilizers
as well as creation of dumpsites due to poor waste management. However use of the ur ban
wastes as manure, avoiding stream bank cultivation and proper use of fertilizers are some
strategies for sustainable urban agriculture.

Planning for urban agriculture
There was a consensus of opinion amongst the people l spoke to that urban agricultu re has
become and is likely to remain, a key land planning commitment for the Zimbabwean
government and for the committees who run the municipalities. The key challenges facing urban
agriculture in Matererera, Seke relates to the extent to which land in th e city can be made
permanently available for food growing. A certain level of economic development in Matererera,
Seke has resulted in increasing pressure for alternative uses for available land within the city, and
in such locations urban agriculture is s een as temporary. This sense of impermanence places
distinct limitations on the capacity of growers to attract investment of time and /or resources.

Another key issue is the extent to which the broader and less tangible benefits of urban
agriculture than food production, employment and economic activity are recognized and taken
into account in the city planning process. It was recognized that there needs to be a more in depth
study into the relative costs and benefits of urban agriculture, from economic an d social.

5.3 Conclusion
“Urban agriculture could play a major role in sustainable city development by creating open
green spaces, increasing the urban habitat diversity and thereby biodiversity in cities, reducing
noise and pollution, closing the energy loops and making cities more habitale.” (Drescher, 2001)
According to Hopkins , we are at a turning point in history where our survival depends on us
moving quickly towards a more sustainable economy, away from consumption and towards
conservation as our main paradigm of development. For instance urban agriculture is impacting
positively on social and economic aspects of human life and this clearly shows that paradigm
shifts are necessary and they are not impossible. Public concerns about the rising price of food,
as well as an increased awareness of the environmental impacts of urban agriculture and the need
to develop increased levels of food security, have led a new level of government and public
interest in the potential for urban agriculture to play a role in creating more sustainable food
chains.

From the study done in Matererera, Seke it has been shown that women constitutes the majority
of the urban farmers mostly in households with large family sizes as well as the women who are

married. Major dri ving forces into urban agriculture include the need for employment, food
security as well as income supplementary especially in high densities where as in low densities
urban agriculture is viewed as leisure activity. Stream bank cultivation, waste product ion and
improper application of fertilizers are some problems caused by urban agriculture.

5.4 Recommendations

Urban agriculture just like any other type of agriculture needs proper management and support
services like training of farmers, provision of inputs for high production and small credit
facilities that can accommodate farmers without title deeds this will enhance socio -economic
benefits of urban agriculture. Moreso, urban agriculture needs to be sustained as an opportunity
to recycle the high quantities of urban waste. There is need to integrate urban agriculture in
urban development and land use planning i norder to enhance legal access to land and use
security.

Urban agriculture need to be accepted as a legitimate form of urban land use with vast socio –
economic benefits and requires review of currently existing and restrictive policies and by laws.
Urban and peri -urban agriculture should be looked at as a strategy for economic growth through
employment creation, poverty reduction, ensuring food security and sustainable urban
development which requires a guaranteed investment by the government and the priva te sector.

Special attention is needed for the strengthening of the linkages between the various types of
enterprises in clusters or chains. The municipality and sectoral organizations can play a crucial
role in stimulating micro -enterprise development re lated to urban agriculture. In some countries
like Ecuador the municipality of Quito has provided marketplaces for urban farmers. The organic
refuse left after a market day is collected by a women’s group who compost the refuse to use in
their own farms, a true win -win situation, Zimbabwe municipality should look into this to help
urban farmers.

Child work and child labor can be reduced by supporting household’s incomes and the adoption
of time -saving technologies in agriculture. Higher paying employment a nd social protection
mechanisms in urban areas can effectively reduce children’s time in productive activities. More
so, time saving technologies can reduce the demand of children’s time in productive activities.

Moreover the issue of low education in ur ban farmers needs to be addressed. A more in -depth
understanding of women and men differences is needed, such as the different constraints that
men and women face for not studying, sometimes they end up applying wrong chemicals to
plants and this affects p roduction. Adult education should be promoted in Zimbabwe.

Similarly, promoting women’s participation in farmer organizations and women’s groups are
necessary to develop women’s skills, broaden high participation in non -agricultural self –
employment activi ties as an opportunity to increase urban employment and strengthening
collective action, specifically within women’s groups.

Communication campaigns should be put in place in order to address the gender disparities in
domestic work allocation within hous eholds. With support from civil society groups, attitudes
towards men and female roles need to be challenged and changed.

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