Farmer’s Weekly – 02 August 2019

by invitation

Urban agriculture has

a major role to play

in providing healthy,

affordable and accessible

food to poor urban

households in South

Africa, according to

Prof Juaneé Cilliers,

chair of the Urban

and Regional Planning

Unit for Environmental

Sciences and

Management at North-

West University.

The views expressed in our weekly
opinion piece do not necessarily
reflect those of Farmer’s Weekly.

Email Prof Juaneé Cilliers at
[email protected], or
phone her on 018 299 2486.

How urban agriculture can

contribute to food security

Worldwide, an average of three

babies are born every second. This

means that the global population grows

by about 162 600 people per day, roughly

equivalent to the population of George

(157 000) or Midrand (173 000). At the same

time, spatial change is at a peak within the

urban landscape, with 65% of South Africa’s

population currently residing in cities.

Our growing cities are also increasingly

expensive living places characterised by

urban sprawl and amplified travel distances,

growing carbon footprints, increased energy

consumption, and complicated distribution

networks. All this leads to higher food prices

and greater food wastage, neither of which

are beneficial to the urban poor. Recent data

from Statistics South Africa suggests that

70% of urban households in South Africa

live in conditions of food insecurity.

BRINGING GREEN SPACES

TO URBAN AREAS

The world’s growing cities host more people,

but less nature. Green spaces in cities have

been susceptible to urban development

pressures, evident in the depletion of green

spaces and the associated downward

spiral of living conditions. In the search for

“inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

cities”, one of the UN’s Sustainable

Development Goals, the interrelated role of

nature as a catalyst to reach the objectives

of sustainability, is emphasised. There is

consensus that we need to reclaim nature

in cities in order to mitigate the challenges

associated with these growing urban

sprawls, while capitalising on the range of

ecosystem services provided by nature.

Cities, which were once viewed as places

where nature ends and urbanisation begins,

are today considered as a central nexus in

the relationship between people and nature.

It is within these contemporary cities that

we need to find sustainable future solutions

as a matter of urgency, because the challenge

of sustaining life as we know it is becoming

more complicated by the day. Growing

cities, increasing populations and escalating

poverty levels mean that we cannot continue

with a business-as-usual attitude.

One of the most important conservation

issues of the 21st century is where and how

food is produced in order to feed a growing

and fast-urbanising population. Traditional

agricultural practices have been widely

criticised for their negative environmental

impact. This includes deforestation, threats

to wild species, the destruction of habitats

and biodiversity, pollution of water, air and

soil, high water consumption and water

quality degradation, as well as greenhouse

gas emission and climate change.

Growing cities place further pressures on

agricultural practices. With urban sprawl

comes prolonged distribution networks,

complex food supply chains, more costly

processing and packaging, and ultimately,

more expensive produce, greater food

waste and increased food insecurity.

Despite these negatives, agriculture remains

one of the most important frontiers for

conservation at the moment due to the

industry’s deep connections with the

global economy, human societies and

biodiversity. Our challenge lies in finding

ways to best utilise space, energy and

logistics in order to sustain an increasing

urban population. In short, we need to

rethink our cities, but we also need to

rethink traditional agricultural practices.

SMART CITIES: EASIER ACCESSIBILITY

AND GREATER CHOICE

The concept of smart cities is increasingly

recognised as part of the discourse on

sustainable cities. To most people, a ‘smart

city’ is one that is technology-driven and

futuristic, where real-time intelligence

informs decision-making and anticipates

and mitigates a range of societal problems.

From a spatial planning perspective, a

smart city implies accessibility and choice.

Accessibility refers to better structured

networks and connections between

communities and their host cities, while

choice refers to a range of housing

6 farmer’sweekly 2 August 2019

urban agriculture

has the potential

to adapt rapidly to

changing conditions

and demands