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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Urban Microfarming in Central Southern Africa: A Case Study of Lusaka, Zambia |
Author: | Drescher, A.W. |
Year: | 1996 |
Periodical: | African Urban Quarterly (ISSN 0747-6108) |
Volume: | 11 |
Issue: | 2-3 |
Period: | May-August |
Pages: | 229-248 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs., ills., maps |
Geographic terms: | Zambia Central Africa |
Subjects: | urban agriculture Urbanization and Migration Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment Development and Technology Agriculture, Agronomy, Forestry food production food security Income generation Lusaka (Zambia) |
Abstract: | The term 'urban microfarming' encompasses urban crop production, home gardening, horticulture (both vegetables and fruit), and livestock keeping. In 1992-1993 a survey on urban microfarming, with special emphasis on home gardens, was carried out in Zambia. Components of the research programme were a home garden survey, a wet season cropping survey, a compound survey on agricultural activities, and a market survey. The present article focuses on vegetable production in small urban houseplots in Lusaka and staple food production in the fields. Production of staple foods prevails in the wet season; vegetable production prevails in the dry season. Both activities depend largely on access to resources such as water and land. Access to these is lowest in the high-density, low-income compounds of Lusaka. Within the high and medium-density squatter quarters, vulnerability in terms of food security differs. Dry season cultivation is not practised by the most vulnerable households. The walking distance to sources of water is much further in the high-density areas, making microfarming there more difficult. Garden size decreases with increasing population density. Women are the major actors in urban microfarming but face many obstacles with respect to income generation and access to resources and markets. There is an urgent need for appropriate support for urban agriculture in the future. Bibliogr., sum. in English and French. |