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Accepted Paper:
Urban agriculture for all? Exploring the differential outcomes of urban agriculture in Indian Cities
Swarnika Sharma
(Indian Institute for Human Settlements)
Maitreyi Koduganti
(Indian Institute for Human Settlements)
Paper short abstract:
Based on 112 in-depth interviews within the middle- and low-income settlements in Bengaluru and Pune, we would like to highlight how they have different visions of urban agriculture, in terms of practice, motivations, barriers and most importantly outcomes.
Paper long abstract:
As Indian cities undergo rapid urbanisation, they are presented with complex challenges of inadequate infrastructure, housing congestion, hunger, malnutrition, pollution, poverty, and growing inequality. Urban agriculture (UA) has been envisioned to address multiple social, economic, and environmental challenges. Urban agriculture has the potential to achieve triple goals of climate action, human wellbeing and sustainable development. However, scant attention is paid to the possibility of differential outcomes of the practice in different sections of the society, particularly middle-income and low-income settlements, that could exacerbate inequality or lead to deleterious and sometimes unintended social effects. To expand this understanding, we conducted 51 and 61 in-depth interviews within the middle- and low-income settlements respectively in the fast-growing Indian cities of Bengaluru and Pune. The results clearly highlight that different income groups hold different visions of urban agriculture, in terms of practice, motivation, barriers and outcomes. Lack of adequate space, time and expertise impede growing activities within middle-income settlements. However, within low-income settlements only lack of 'access' to space emerged as the biggest challenge for growing, highlighting inequalities in terms of land availability and access. Similarly, perceptions around health benefits, cultural significance, resource conservation, and social networks also vary significantly. Overall, we acknowledge that UA holds the potential to achieve the desired triple goals through targeted approaches for different income groups. In addition, we argue that acknowledging these differential outcomes will help UA escape its marginality and contribute to a better reshaping of urban agro-food systems.
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Accepted Paper:
Paper short abstract:
Paper long abstract:
As Indian cities undergo rapid urbanisation, they are presented with complex challenges of inadequate infrastructure, housing congestion, hunger, malnutrition, pollution, poverty, and growing inequality. Urban agriculture (UA) has been envisioned to address multiple social, economic, and environmental challenges. Urban agriculture has the potential to achieve triple goals of climate action, human wellbeing and sustainable development. However, scant attention is paid to the possibility of differential outcomes of the practice in different sections of the society, particularly middle-income and low-income settlements, that could exacerbate inequality or lead to deleterious and sometimes unintended social effects. To expand this understanding, we conducted 51 and 61 in-depth interviews within the middle- and low-income settlements respectively in the fast-growing Indian cities of Bengaluru and Pune. The results clearly highlight that different income groups hold different visions of urban agriculture, in terms of practice, motivation, barriers and outcomes. Lack of adequate space, time and expertise impede growing activities within middle-income settlements. However, within low-income settlements only lack of 'access' to space emerged as the biggest challenge for growing, highlighting inequalities in terms of land availability and access. Similarly, perceptions around health benefits, cultural significance, resource conservation, and social networks also vary significantly. Overall, we acknowledge that UA holds the potential to achieve the desired triple goals through targeted approaches for different income groups. In addition, we argue that acknowledging these differential outcomes will help UA escape its marginality and contribute to a better reshaping of urban agro-food systems.
Just Growing Cities? Examining how sustainability and wellbeing implications of urban agriculture are distributed in the Global South
Session 1 Friday 8 July, 2022, -