This report is from a World Bank project to learn more about sustainable global food production. The topic of this extensive research is how urban farming contributes to health, food security, and economic standing in poor neighborhoods and/or poor countries. This research takes the form of case studies of urban agriculture in four cities: Accra, Ghana; Bangalore, India; Lima, Peru, and Nairobi, Kenya. This report seeks to answer several research questions, including, generally speaking, what do residents of selected neighborhoods report eating, what effect do “producers” (people working for urban farms) report their farm has on the surrounding community, and what can be done to better serve these communities. The data-gathering aspect of this research consisted mainly of interviews with people, as well as demographic data obtained from surveys or previous census years if applicable. For each city they tried to find patterns, especially in the responses of producers, in order to see if there were any common factors that are limiting food production in these areas, such as inadequate access to clean water or simply not having enough space. They also found that urban agriculture as a source of employment had a significant effect on communities. While this an organizational report and not from the usual type of publication we’ve been reviewing, it follows much of the same research structure, although it aims to assess a much more complex research topic.

Reference: World Bank, Urban Development and Resilience Unit. (2013). Urban Agriculture: Findings From Four Case Studies. Urban Development Series Knowledge Papers, 18. Retrieved at https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/16273/807590NWP0UDS00Box0379817B00PUBLIC0.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y