AGRIBUSINESS: Urban agriculture and food security.

AGRIBUSINESS: Urban agriculture and food security. Urban agriculture is simply the growing of plants and the raising of animals within and around cities. The most striking feature of urban agriculture that sets it apart from from rural agriculture, is that it is integrated into the urban economic and ecological system. Urban agriculture can be aptly termed city farming or city agriculture. Urban agriculture usually takes place in locations within the cities that is intra-urban or around the city termed peri-urban areas. The capacity /intensity of activities depends on space. as the venture can be practiced within living quarters such as on a on-plot of land or on land away from the residence (off-plot), on land owned or leased and on public space such as parks, conservation areas, along roads,,sidewalks streams ,alleys or semi-public land like schools, and hospitals. AGRIBUSINESS: Urban agriculture and food security. Urban agriculture includes agricultural activities as well as related processing and marketing activities and affiliated agribusiness ventures. Read here The ever growing population has brought with it a demand for more food to ensure food security.The rapid urbanization has put pressure on the land as more structures for houses,companies and stores are competing for available land ,thus urban agriculture is the key to ensure food security. By 2020 the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America will be home to some 75% of all urban dwellers, and to eight of the anticipated nine mega-cities with populations in excess of 20 million. It is expected that by 2020, 85% of the poor in Latin America, and about 40-45% of the poor in Africa and Asia will be concentrated in towns and cities. Urban agriculture may improve both food intake by providing improved access to a cheap source of proteins and the quality of the food may improve as families involved in urban farming eat more fresh vegetables than other families.The contribution of urban agriculture to food security and healthy nutrition is an important asset to urbanization. Urban farmers produce substantial amounts of food for urban consumers aside from producting for their own consumption needs, large amounts of food are also produced for other categories of the population for sale. According to UNDP 1996; FAO 1999 , 200 million urban residents provide food for the market and 800 million urban dwellers are actively engaged in urban agriculture in one way or another. The international development research center(1998) shows that urban agriculture to a large extent complements rural agriculture and increases the efficiency of the national food system because it provides products that rural agriculture cannot supply easily such as perishable products, that require rapid delivery upon harvest. Food that can substitute for food imports and can release rural lands for export production of commodities are also added advantage of urban agriculture. Urban agriculture is as an important strategy for poverty alleviation and social integration as 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. This is the case of former convicts that have returned to their communities to practice urban agriculture and keep youths out of drugs. see Benefits of urban agriculture is not limited to food security but encompasses the environment,as its eco-friendly.Farmers use wastewater for irrigating their farms when they lack access to other sources of water or because of its high price. The use of fresh (untreated) wastewater has the additional advantage for urban farmers because it contains a lot of nutrients. Technologies such as hydroponics , drip irrigation, zero farming substantially reduce water needs and health risks and are of value in the urban environment and can be found in many cities. Urban agriculture impact the green effect and cleaning of the city by turning derelict open spaces into green zones and maintaining buffer and reserve zones free of housing, with positive impacts on the micro-climate.