The structural food crisis in the city of El Alto has had an especially negative impact on the lives of the poorest families. Urban agriculture is one of the alternative strategies initiated to improve their food security, but also to enhance the social inclusion of the women involved, who have more time available than the men and who can develop additional skills through this activity.

Kirkuk is located in the northeast of Iraq, along the Khasa River, about 250 kilometres northeast of the capital Baghdad. After the toppling of Saddam Hussein

Since the end of the war that raged from 1989 to 2003, Liberia has suffered from chronic food insecurity, due to the destruction of its agricultural sector and basic socio-economic infrastructure. Urban agriculture provides a strategy to help reduce urban poverty, improve food security and enhance urban waste management in Monrovia and other Liberian cities.

Natural hazards, civil conflicts, wars and economic crises continue to generate unstable and unsafe conditions, placing immense pressures on communities and local livelihoods. These emergency scenarios often result in people fleeing their homes to

The urban poor are particularly vulnerable in times of crisis due to their heavy reliance on the cash economy, job losses and wage reductions in urban based industries, and no agricultural production to fallback on. Prioritizing investments in cities can help to mitigate impacts in the short run and reduce risks in the future.

Use of wastewater in urban agriculture is critical to farmers

Scarcity of water is one of the main problems in Lima, and there is increasing competition for the use of water, for human consumption, agriculture, industry, and green areas. The use of alternative sources is urgently required.

Agriculture in and around Indian cities is under pressure due to rapid urbanisation and associated land use change, and couples with pressure on already scarce water resources. The major beneficiaries of UA in the larger cities are low-income communiies that make use of the available resources - vacant land, river banks and wastewater - to supplement their meagre incomes.

As safe water sources become scarcer and more polluted, the use of wastewater in urban agriculture may produce many benefits but may also lead to crop and soil contamination and endanger farmers and consumers. To effectively manage wastewater use in agriculture, it is important to understand how stakeholders feel impacted by the practice.

Many studies have pointed out the health risks associated with inappropriate use of untreated wastewater or polluted water for both consumers and farmers in urban vegetable production in Burkina Faso. But this is a reality in daily life, and at this point understanding farmers' strategies is critical for implementing measures to make irrigation practices safer.

Pages