WATCH: Urban farming helps Joburg’s poorest households survive – now it needs bigger investment

By Blessings Masuku and Colleta Gandidzanwa

Urban agriculture, where plants and livestock are farmed within city limits, is increasingly recognised and promoted as a solution to food insecurity and a way to green cities so that they adapt to climate change.

It includes farming plants upwards (vertical systems), on roofs (green roofs), in the garden and in communal areas.

As interdisciplinary scholars, our research interests span the boundaries of agriculture, economics, geography, and urban studies. Most of our projects look at the point where climate, health, food systems, water, energy and Indigenous knowledge systems overlap.

In a recent paper we examined how home and community gardening can strengthen household food security while promoting urban greening as a pathway to climate resilience.

We interviewed 40 gardeners from Alexandra township, in Johannesburg, South Africa.