Urban Agriculture and Nutrition. Empirical Evidence from a Sample of Developing Countries Alberto Zezza and Luca Tasciotti Food and Agriculture Organization 24/09/2009
Urban Agriculture and Nutrition. Empirical Evidence from a
Sample of Developing Countries
Alberto Zezza and Luca Tasciotti
Food and Agriculture Organization
24/09/2009
What is urban agriculture?
Urban agriculture is the production of agriculture commodities, both plant and
animal, in urban areas.
Questions about urban agriculture
• Why is it important?
• Who consumes the output?
• Who is engaged in it?
• Where is it practiced?
• Is there is a relationship between urban agriculture and nutrition?
Satisfying the food needs of urban populations
Source: UN, Urbanization prospects.
By 2015, 53 cities in the world are expected to have a population of 5 million
or more. To feed a city of this size, 6 000 tonnes of food must be imported every day.
Why is urban agriculture important?
• There is a relationship between urban agriculture and nutrition.
• Direct access to cheaper/more diverse food if markets are inefficient.
• Source of additional income.
Who are the urban farmers?Percentage of urban households engaged in urban agriculture
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Ghana1998
Madagasc
ar 1998
Mala
wi 20 04
Nigeria
2004
Banglade sh 2
000In
donesia 2
000Nepal 1
996Pakis ta
n 20 01
Vietn
am 1
998Ecuador 1
995G
uatem
ala 2
000
Nicaragua 2
0 01Panam
a 2003
Albania
2005
Bulgaria
2001
Notes: different bars corresponds to different expenditure quintiles
Types of land used for urban
agriculture• Backyards.
• Community gardens.
• Unused public and private spaces.
• Roadsides.
• Streamsides and floodplains.
• Wetlands.
• Underdeveloped steep slopes.
Examples of land used for urban
agriculture
Examples of land used for urban
agriculture
Examples of land used for urban
agriculture
Examples of land used for urban
agriculture
Existing literature on urban
agriculture
• The amount of quantitative work on urban agriculture is limited.
• Studies based on survey data exist for several large cities, but most of the data is still qualitative.
Countries analyzed
Countries in the dataset
Madagascar
Malawi
IndonesiaNigeria
Ghana
Albania
Bulgaria
Pakistan
Nepal
Bangladesh
Vietnam
Ecuador
Panama
Nicaragua
Guatemala
Urban agriculture and nutrition
We build two measures of dietary diversity:
1) Food group index (from 1 to 13).
2) Food count index (how many types of foods are consumed by each household).
Urban agriculture and nutrition0
10
20
30
40
7 8 9 10 11 12logpcexp
hhs engaged in agriculture quadratric fit for ag. hhs
hhs not engaged in agriculture quadratic fit for non ag. hhs
Albania
Relationship between the food count index and the log of per capita expenditure
Urban agriculture and nutrition0
20
40
60
80
100
11 12 13 14 15 16logpcexp
hhs engaged in agriculture quadratic fit for ag. hhs
hhs not engaged in agriculture quadratic fit for non ag. hhs
Madagascar
Relationship between the food count index and the log of per capita expenditure
Urban agriculture and nutrition
• Statistical models
* 1. food group index (1st model);
2. food count index (2nd model).
εααα
ααααα
ααα
++++
++++++
+++=
dummyalgeographicsharelabourfemaleeducation
educationageheadageheadsizehouseholdlandown
percapitaeagriculturpmeasurediversitydietary
___2^
2^___
exp)log(_*__
1098
76543
210
Urban agriculture and nutrition
• The results of the regressions show that people involved in urban agriculture have
greater dietary diversity (in 12 out of
15 countries)
• Urban agriculture increases the number
of food consumed in each household,
specifically by 6% in Guatemala, by 11% in Panama and by 36% in Albania.
Urban agriculture and calories consumption
• 3rd model
εααα
αααα
αααα
++++
+++++
+++=
dummyalgeographicsharelabourfemaleeducation
educationageheadageheadsizehousehold
landownpercapitaeagriculturpcaloriesdailycapitaper
___2^
2^___
exp)log(____
1098
7654
3210
Urban agriculture and calories consumption
• Households involved in urban agriculture consume more calories.
• This increased consumption of
calories is associated with a higher
consumption of fruits, vegetables, dairy products and the local staple food.
Conclusions
Urban agriculture:
• involves between about 10% to 70% of urban
households;
• is an activity in which the poor are
disproportionately represented;
• is not a primary source of income, although...;
• increases the dietary diversity;
• increases the number of per capita daily calories.
Percentage of total household income
coming from urban agriculture
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Gha
na19
98
Mad
agasc
ar 1
998
Mal
awi 2
004N
iger
ia 2
004
Bangl
adesh
200
0In
dones
ia 2
000
Nep
al 1
996
Pakis
tan
2001
Vietn
am 1
998
Alban
ia 2
005
Bulga
ria 2
001
Ecuad
or 1
995
Gua
tem
ala
2000
Nic
arag
ua 2
001Pan
ama
2003
Notes: different bars corresponds to different expenditure quintiles
Percentage of urban agricultural
production sold
0
20
40
60
80
Ghana 1998Madagasca
r 1993
Ma law i 2004
N igeria 2004
Bangladesh 2000
Nepa l 1996
V ietnam 1998
Alban ia 2005
Bu lga ria 2001
Ecuador 1
995Guatemala 200
0N ica ra
gua 2001Pana
ma 2003
Notes: different bars corresponds to different expenditure quintiles
Food groups division
MiscellaneousFood group 13
EggsFood group 12
BeveragesFood group 11
Oil and fatsFood group 10
Milk and milk productsFood group 9
Fish and shellfishFood group 8
Meat and PoultryFood group 7
Sugar, syrup and sweetsFood group 6
FruitsFood group 5
VegetablesFood group 4
Nuts, seeds and legumes Food group 3
Starchy, roots, tubers and legumesFood group 2
Cereals and grain productsFood group 1
Food itemsFood groups
47 (82)10.8Panama 2003
27 (61)9.4Nicaragua 2001
51 (88)10.4Guatemala 2000
40 (80)9.8Ecuador 1995
Latin America
27 (56)10Bulgaria 2001
11 (74)10.7Albania 2005
Eastern Europe
11 (20)11.1Vietnam 1998
42 (83)10.4Pakistan 2001
32 (54)10.1Nepal 1996
17 (37)10.2Indonesia 2000
27 (63)10.5Bangladesh 2000
Asia
21(122)8.9Nigeria 2004
19 (53)9.9Malawi 2004
40 (116)11Madagascar 1998
26 (79)10.5Ghana 1998
Africa
Food count index (max)Food group indexCountry and year
Urban agriculture and dietary diversity
5.43***0.59***Panama 2003
1.21***0.11**Nicaragua 2000
2.98***0.18***Guatemala 2000
2.30***0.37***Ecuador 1995
0.85**0.29***Bulgaria 2001
4.05***-0.05Albania 2001
0.70***0.04Vietnam 1998
0.37*0.03Pakistan 2001
1.82***0.20**Nepal 2000
0.58**0.16*Indonesia 2000
1.64***0.42***Bangladesh 2000
-2.39***0.24***Nigeria 2004
0.33-0.1Malawi 2004
12.01***-0.08Madagascar 1993
-0.350.23***Ghana 1998
Coefficient of p_onfarm(2nd model)
Coefficient of p_onfarm
(1st model)
Country & year
Urban agriculture and calories consumption
Dairy & eggs
Fruits & veg.
Meat
Staple
Cereals
Calories
Variable
1024***024
-16*18***7***123***
-9*9***2**-66**
40129***-37***712***
-72***-22-9***-122
-137*212***89***28
Nicaragua 2000Guatemala 2000Bangladesh 2000Malawi 2004
Notes: effects of urban agriculture on calories consumption and on the consumption
of food aggregates