The future for urban agriculture: Is it time to rewrite the rules of agriculture?

Urban agriculture has the potential to improve local food security and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

However, there is an urgent need for better information about who practices it, where it takes place and levels of productivity.

In the Global North, high-tech Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is attracting major investment and further expansion of the sector seems assured.

In the Global South, urban agriculture often takes place in informal settlements and receives little in the way of state funding or encouragement. This needs to change.

Policies for urban agriculture need to be context specific. There is a strong argument to be made
for redirecting perverse subsidies which cause environmental damage to activities which can increase food security and help to tackle climate change. Urban agriculture is a prime candidate.

Pye-Smith, Charlie; Thornton, Philip; Wollenberg, Eva; Loboguerrero, Ana Maria; Campbell, Bruce M.