Urban Agroecology

What makes urban agriculture different?

Farming isn’t easy, wherever it is done. All farmers face problems of some sort: weather, pests, financing, access to water, land and seeds. But, urban farmers face these and other problems, such as greater proximity to neighbors, greater regulation by local government bodies, toxic soils and neighboring buildings and trees that block access to sunshine. In addition, the problems faced by rural farmers are often faced to a greater degree by urban farmers. For example, access to land is more difficult and water costs are greater in urban areas.

So, what makes urban agriculture different is that the constraints are different. For some urban farmers, water costs may be a critical issue and special attention must be paid to water sources and irrigation methods. For another urban farmer, especially non-commercial growers, access to land may be difficult due to high land prices, so consideration must be given to ways to obtain land for growing food or to alternative food production activities that best utilize individual resources.

One purpose of this website is to identify the constraints facing urban food producers and how they can be addressed.