Urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry may be suitable strategies to address the triple challenge of climate change mitigation and adaptation, as well as the provision of basic services, including food; to a growing number of urban residents.
The Western Province in Sri Lanka is the most urbanised province in the country. Rapid urban growth has posed a number of problems. Ever increasing vehicle traffic and commercial industries have contributed to increased environmental and air pollution.
The current global urban population is expected to double by 2050, with 90 percent of urban growth taking place in developing countries. Many cities are ill equipped to handle such large-scale expansion. Various cities are starting to recognise urban
agriculture as an integral part of urban planning, upgrading and design. They are including urban agriculture in land use planning, social housing programmes and slum upgrading. This article describes some examples of their strategies.
