Urban Agriculture : Towards Sustainable CitiesSITI NOR AISHAH FATIMAH BINTI AHMAD HAZLI

ANIS FADHILAH BINTI MAT WAHI

IntroductionAccording to Berita Harian newspaper (21

August 2013) on news entitled “Penduduk Malaysia Kini 28.3 juta”, Chief of Statistician who is Datuk Wan Ramlah Wan Abdul Raof. Nor Mohamed said that the proportion of urban population increased to 71% in 2010 from 62% in 2000. So this growing population has created a number of question over how to deal with sustainability in terms of transportation demand, housing needs, recreational interest and the most important food supply.

... urban poverty tends to be fuelled by people migrating towards the cities in an attempt to escape the deprivations associated with rural livelihoods. Partly due to the rural decline, the world is urbanizing at a fast pace and it will not be long before a greater part of developing country populations is living in large cities. Therefore, urban food security and its related problems should also be placed high on the agenda in the years to come.

Jacques DioufFAO Director-General(FAO: The State of Food Insecurity 2006)

Food Security in MalaysiaFood security exists when all people, at all times, have

physical, social and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food which meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life. Household food security is the application of this concept to the family level, with individuals within households as the focus of concern.

Food insecurity exists when people do not have adequate physical, social or economic access to food as defined above.

Factors affecting food security in Malaysia :I. Climate ChangeII. Rise of oil priceIII. Increase of food priceIV. Agriculture land is decreasing

DefinitionUrban agriculture is defined as an activity producing, processing

and marketing foods and agricultural products in urban and suburban areas using intensive production methods and also reuse the natural resources and urban waste to produce a diversity of crops and livestock. ( JPBD )

Urban agriculture concept has been around since model of development of Machu Picchu in Peru around year 1450, which is designed to create a productive urban farm by placing agriculture in and around the city

Urban agriculture is an industry that produces, processes and markets food and fuel, largely in response to the daily demand of consumers within a town, city, or metropolis, on land and water dispersed throughout the urban and peri-urban area, applying intensive production methods, using and reusing natural resources and urban wastes, to yield a diversity of crops and livestock (Smit et al. 1996)

Modes of Urban Agriculture Subsistence oriented urban agriculture- Self consumption, health expenditure, income from selling surplus Market-Oriented urban agriculture- Produce food for market, larger scale entrepreneurial enterprises Multifunctional urban agriculture- recreation, education

Types of Urban Agriculture Institutional farms and gardens Commercial farms Community gardens Community Farms

Examples of Successful Urban Agriculture Done Differently Around the World Food Field, Detroit, Michigan

Food Field, an urban farm built on a unique site, offers a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) service that provides more nutritious food and economic opportunities for the neighborhood. Noah Link and Alex Bryan created Peck Produce, LCC in 2011 in order to convert the old site of an elementary school in Detroit into a revitalized farm. 

FARM:shop and FARM:London, London, United Kingdom The self-proclaimed first “urban farming hub,” Dalston's FARM:

shop offers small scale farming, workspaces, and a cafe for residents of the neighborhood. Opened in 2011 by the eco-social design practice Something & Son LLP, FARM: shop is a unique example of urban agriculture. Inside the once-neglected storefront, the space now includes small-scale aquaponic fish farming, high-tech indoor allotment, and a polytunnel. FARM:shop even has a rooftop chicken coop and café

Sky Greens, Singapore In a small country where locally grown vegetables make up only seven

percent of consumption, Sky Greens’ vertical farming provides both an efficient and environmentally sound solution. Jack Ng founded Sky Greens, the world’s first low-carbon hydraulic water-driven urban vertical farm that reduces the amount of energy and land needed for traditional farming techniques. Within a greenhouse, the three storeys-high vertical systems are able to produce five to ten times more per unit area compared to conventional farms. The greenhouse and low-carbon hydraulic system allows lettuces and cabbages to be grown year-round using less energy and water

The Distributed Urban Farming Initiative, Bryan, Texas The Distributed Urban Farming Initiative (DUFi) has started to

transform vacant lots in Bryan, Texas, demonstrating how urban farming can educate and inspire as much as it can produce healthy food to enjoy. The goal to sustaining the project is community, not only to build gardens in otherwise empty spaces, but also to inspire Bryan residents to eat healthy food and drive entrepreneurship and tourism.

Sharing Backyards, throughout Canada, The United States and New Zealand

Sharing Backyards offers a solution for people who lack land but want to grow their own food locally by linking them with people who have unused yard space. Through the initiative's website, those with unused property can post their approximate location, and those looking for space to grow food locally can search locations nearby at no cost.

SOCIAL Urban agriculture serves as a strategy to encourage social interaction

between the local population. For example, some urban farming project in Amsterdam targeting disadvantaged groups such as orphans, the disabled, women, migrants without jobs, and senior citizens with the aim to encourage social interaction and create a more friendly environment.

In Montreal, Canada, the participation of disadvantaged groups in urban agriculture is concerned with the government's emphasis on helping people with disabilities.

Urban agriculture help to increase self-motivation project participants with the ability to form their own communities and work as a team to produce food products either for personal use or for sale.

Urban agriculture also provide recreational space and agricultural education opportunities for students.

Impacts of Urban Agriculture

ECONOMY The high dependence on food imports food crisis affecting the National

event. Urban agriculture became the main medium in issues dealing with food supply consistent. The value of food imports increase of RM12.69 million (RM20.03 billion to RM 23:37 (2007)

High reliance on food imports have a significant impact on the country in the event of a global food crisis .

Urban agriculture become an important medium for continuous supply of local food , reducing urban poverty and improve the management of the urban environment .

Either grow their own food production or breeding help save households to buy food . Based on the Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security ( RUAF ) poor people in poor countries generally spend most of their income ( 50 % - 70 %) of the food .

Urban agriculture creates jobs and sale of agricultural products ( fresh or processed ) as a source of income for urban residents .

ENVIRONMENT

Urban agriculture plays an important role in the management of the urban environment by providing an alternative to waste disposal problem by making it to productive resources through composting.

Compost can be used for planting and used as a natural fertilizer. Urban agriculture to increase green space in urban areas.

Increase the aesthetic value or beautify the city, and more importantly, the green area to help cool the temperature of the urban area naturally.

Water pollution can be reduced when recycled water for food production. In addition rain water can be stored or transmitted to planting through harvesting rainwater for watering plants, cleaning crops or livestock and promote economically rain.

IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES

1. Legal Requirements

2. Availability Of Land

3. Suitability Of Location

4. Soil Contaminant

5. Water availability

6. Climate Change

Legal Restrictions

Legal restrictions and economic impediments to accessing land and resources (such as reasonably priced water) are among the most common problems confronted by urban agriculture.

Lack of security of tenure also acts as a preventive for farming due to the uncertainty in the use length of the land.

Urban agriculture has been criticized by those who believe that industrial farm production can produce food at larger volumes more efficiently.

Availability of Land

A major argument is whether urban farming alone - farming very intensively on small land areas - could replace land extensive production in rural areas which produce the bulk of our food products. Yet hunger persists in both urban and rural areas (see more on food security), despite a subsidized industrial agriculture. The degree to which urban agriculture can address these food needs systemically is undetermined, though there are indications in some communities that it is an important source of food.

Other opponents argue that localized food production and the introduction of common resources and common lands into the urban areas would produce a tragedy of the commons. Though, as referenced earlier, many urban farms and community gardens are managed privately or through other civil society organizations.

Suitability of Location

The use of waste water for irrigation without careful treatment and monitoring can result in the spread of diseases among the population.

Cultivation on contaminated land also represents a health hazard for the consumers.

The practice of cultivating along roadsides facilitates the distribution of products to local markets, but it is also a risky practice since it exposes food to car pollution.

Agriculture and urbanization are considered to be incompatible activities, competing for the access and use of limited land. In reality, in urban areas there is important available space for agriculture use such as public and private vacant lots, and areas not suited for built-up uses (steep slopes and flood plains).

Soil Contaminants

Several contaminants can be found in urban soils, and lead is the most prevalent. While there is concern about plants taking up lead from soils, research suggests that they actually take up very little. Even in roots, there is still a relatively small amount of lead compared to, for example, what we're exposed to from drinking water.

Direct ingestion of soil containing lead is a bigger threat than plant uptake. Soils can be directly ingested when children play in and eat soil, soil adheres to crops after they're harvested, or soil particles blow in the air. Practices such as washing food well before eating and covering soils with mulch can help decrease these risks.

Water Availability

Finding reliable and safe water sources can be difficult for urban farmers. Technologies such as drip irrigation that precisely deliver water where and when it's needed can help conserve water. Reusing rainwater and wastewater can provide additional water, but those sources must be monitored for contaminants, and perhaps treated.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Changes in atmospheric and climate conditions in cities compared to rural areas can also be obstacles for urban growers.

For example, temperatures and vapor pressure deficits (the

difference between saturated and actual vapor pressure at a specific temperature) are often higher in cities. Extreme temperatures during the day and higher nighttime temperatures can inhibit photosynthesis in plants and decrease yields. Likewise, when vapor pressure deficits are higher, plants have to use more water creating moisture stress and reducing photosynthesis.

urban conditions with higher temperatures, ozone, and carbon dioxide are similar to the changes expected elsewhere with climate change. Urban gardens, then, provide a natural laboratory for studying how these climatic and atmospheric changes will affect plants and crop yields in the future

ConclusionAll in all, prospects for urban agriculture are good in

many parts of the world. However, it is crucial that planners start recognising the importance of urban agriculture in the rich mix of activities that characterise modern cities. As the world urbanised, greater local food self-reliance, using nutrients accumulating in our cities, must be regarded as an important aspect of sustainable urban development. Together with initiatives on energy efficiency, high resource productivity and policies for containing sprawl, urban agriculture has an important contribution to make towards shaping the cities of the future.

ReferencesRene Van Veehuizen (2006). Cities Farming for The

Future : Urban Agriculture for Green and Productive Cities. RUAF Foundation.

Holland Bars Planning Group, (2002). Southeast False Creek Urban Agriculture Strategy. Vancouver, Canada.

Jabatan Perancangan Bandar & DesaUrban Agriculture for Sustainable Poverty alleviation

and Food Security , FAO Position Paper.Resources Centre on Urban Agriculture & Food

Security.L.C.Y. Wong ,Food Security and Growth : Malaysia’s

Strategic approach and Future Adjustments.