Urban Agriculture magazine • number 22 • June 2009 45 www.ruaf.org Previousst udi esshowe dthat periu rbanag ricul- tureinHy derabadplay sanimportantr oleinthelivelihoodsofadiversegroupofpeoplefromdifferentcastes,religionsandsocialclasses(Buechler&Devi,2002).Theselivelihoodactivitiesaresubjecttotransitionandareinfluencedbytheconstant growt hofthecity, withresultingeffectslikeincreas- ingpollution,growthofurbanpoverty,foodinsecurityandmalnutrition. Agricultural Biodiversity Str engthening Li velihoods in Periurban Hyderabad, India In periurban Hyderaba d, India, leafy vegetables are increasingly grown along the Musi River and sold in urban markets. This agricu ltural biodiversity can significantly help urban and periurban farmers become more resilient to the impacts of such changes. Johanna Jacobi Axel W. Drescher Priyanie H. Amerasinghe Philipp Weckenbrock Duri ng a fieldstud y in2007 (i ncooper at io nwi ththe InternationalWaterManagementInstitute(IWMI)andtheUniversityofFreiburg,Germany(IPG/APT)),arapidappraisalofvegeta ble scul tivate dwith was tewaterirriga tio nwas carriedout 1 .Alargenumberofvegetablevarietiesappearedtoflourishinthevegetablegardens,unexpectedlyalsointhosewherewastewaterwasusedforirrigation.Eventhoughparagras s,af odderplant,andricewerethedominantcr opsintheperiurbanfringes,thevegetablegardensplayedanimportantrolebysupportingthelivelihoodsofsmall-scalefa rmers , man yofwhomwerewomen(Buechler &Dev i, 2002).Spinach(Spinacia oleracea)wasgrownonnearlyonethirdoftheareaundervegetablecultivation.Otherimpor- tantcropsinclu dedamaranth(Amaranthus tricolor)androselle(Hibiscus acetosella var . sabdariffa).Theseleafyvege- tables-traditionallyinhighdemand-haveashortgrowingseasonandfetchhighmarketpricesduetotheirusageintr adit ional di shes. In2008, thest udywa sexte ndedtocomparecropdiversityindifferentirrigationsystemsandtoexploreits rol einthe liv eli hoo dsofsmallh olderfarming groups.Thisphaseofthestudyusedthehomegardenmodel,whichisbasedonthesustainablelivelihoodsapproach,astheoreticalbackground(Drescheret al.,2006;Drescher1998).GISmappingwasc arriedouttocapturer ichnessandabun- dance ofvarietiesandtheextentofvegetable cultiv ation; andsemi-structuredinterviewswereconductedwithvege- tablefarmers.Nosignif icantdiff erenceswere foun dinthebiodiv ersit yindices(Shannon-indexorSimpson-index)ofgardensthatusedgroundwatercomparedtothosethatusedwastewaterforirrigation.Cropdiversityplayedanimportantroleinbothsys temsinstreng the ningthe re sili enceofsma llho lde rs , allowingthemtospreadriskssuchasyieldlossordecreasingdemandforacertainvegetable.Perennialcropsandinter- cr opping wer ecommonamo ngfarme rswho ownedthe cultivatedlandanddisposedofawell,butmorethan70perce nt of theinte rvieweeswere inaninsecure situation concerninglandtenure.Therefore,fast-growingleafyvege- table swerecultivated, mostly withwastewa terirrigatio n.Thesefarmerswereexposedtopollutantslikepesticidesandindust rialeffluents, andfluctu atingpricesoffood ,seeds ,pest ic ide sandfe rt iliser. Onlyonethirdwere nati ve of Hyderabad. Theev aluatedmonthlyincomefr omvegetables(inSeptember2008)perpersonwasINR1617.20 2 . Onaverage, 4.8peoplewerefarmingperacre,sothecultivationwasveryint ensive. Almosthal fofthe par tic ipants hadsec ondary sourcesofincomebesidesvegetablecultivation,forexampleWoman harvesting spinach (Spinacea oleracea) Photo: J. Jacobi
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