Urban Agriculture: Does It Have a Role in the Future Economy?

Over the past 12 months, several people have shared with me their insights into urban agriculture. They have asked me what role should professionals in agriculture have in advocating urban agriculture.

So, is urban agriculture a threat to traditional commodity-based primary production, a hyped-up side show, or a viable complement to traditional agriculture, enabling a strategic shift away from reliance on a commodity-based production?

Importantly, is it relevant in a country like Australia where we have become one of the world's most productive and sustainable producers and exporters of agricultural produce?

From a sustainable development perspective, urban agriculture is becoming a mainstream idea in the design and delivery of sustainable urban environments – that is - cities.

Here I explore where urban agriculture is on the sustainable development landscape and pose questions that I believe are now relevant.

Agriculture is Central to Sustainable Development

Rapid urbanisation all over the world poses a serious question about urban sustainability in relation to food – where it comes from, how it gets to people, and what happens to the waste. Urban agriculture can contribute to feeding city dwellers as well as improving metropolitan environments by providing more green space.  

Some of the recent work I have been involved with in my day job includes examining the integral role that agriculture plays in bringing the importance of farming and regional life to the city. This is more important than ever as city communities are becoming more and more dislocated from their sources of food.

Can Urban Planning Become an Enabler in Australia?

Australia is recognised as one of the most urbanised countries in the world, and achieving urban sustainability should be high on the policy and planning agenda. A strong consensus exists among policymakers that urban agriculture could be a tenable way of enhancing urban sustainability, and therefore, it should be a vital part of planning processes and urban design as administered by local and state governments. However, in recent decades, planning appears to have overlooked and failed to realise this opportunity. 

In city region food systems, agriculture in peri-urban areas and rural areas is critical to the supply of food to urban centres, and contributes to employment, livelihoods, nutrition and environmental resilience. This is according to a study from five years ago released by the FAO on Latin America’s experience. The “city region” scale is seen as a sustainable, manageable spatial unit for integrating food production with other ecosystem services and providing social protection for the rural and urban poor.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, per-urban agriculture includes large farming areas that produce cereals, vegetables and root crops, grazing land for goats and sheep, dairy farms, and intensive livestock production units. An area of 22,800 ha of farmland within the bounds of Mexico City is producing 15,000 tonnes of vegetables annually. On the outskirts of Lima, short-cycle vegetables are grown on some 5,000 ha of irrigated land for sale in the city’s markets. Small-scale farming is a source of income for settlers from rural areas and many of Lima’s urban poor. In Argentina, the production of soybean for export has displaced peri-urban production of milk, fruit and vegetables. Despite its role in creating employment and feeding cities, peri-urban agriculture is under increasing pressure from urbanisation in Latin America. This is a trend we are no seeing globally.

To end poverty in all its forms everywhere is the First Sustainable Development Goal. What role is there here for urban agriculture?

As part of the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there is a general consensus that the SDGs should include; eradicating hunger and poverty, increasing agricultural production sustainably and improving food systems, and building sustainable cities that provide food security, economic opportunity and a healthy environment, and to build strong links to peri-urban and rural areas.

The city region food system or urban agriculture offers a point of convergence for achieving all of those (SDG) goals. Empowering individuals and communities to grow more of their own food is a vital strategy to help address and mitigate the major challenges of 21st century urbanisation.

Technology Adoption is Intrinsically Linked to Agricultural Production and Its Sustainability

Vertical farming, a distinct type of urban agriculture, can potentially change the global food production landscape. This is the claim of recent winners of the prestigious Nuffield Scholarship. While the advantages are reasonably self-evident, profitability is still difficult to achieve. Many new businesses in this area suffer once their seed money dries up. One of the Nuffield Scholars argues that there is no place for sentimentality:

“Vertical farming is still farming; therefore, the produce must be sold at the same price levels as products grown in an open field where the light, air, soil and water are almost free. Controlling each and every variable comes at a cost. The high capital and operational costs (electricity and labour) force companies to scale up in order to achieve profitability or focus on higher margin crops”

The possibility of being close to the point of consumption is another huge point in favour of urban agriculture and vertical farms. There is a clear market tendency towards foods with lower carbon miles (or kilometres), as well as organic produce.

While it is hard to predict whether urban farms will feed the world, the necessity for fresh, safe, dependable food will always exist and technology development, transfer and adoption will be central to this. 

For those with concerns about the risks from urban farming, a recent article shows that researchers are exploring this in a similar way to which contaminated site experts investigate land transactions and the risks from previous industrial activity. While important, it is not central to shifting urban agriculture mainstream.

I read a quote from an attendee at a recent forum on urban agriculture and I think it encapsulates a very sound view on the topic:

“Much of our needed expertise is here, and [the questions are] just how to coordinate this better so as to ensure a more expansive focus by government; and how do we lift the profile of these actions into the public, media and government discourse?”

In times of physical (social) isolation it is relatively easy to see the importance of urban spaces being used for food production. It intuitively makes sense.

Is now the right time to make a strategic shift into urban agriculture?

Competition for urban spaces in the long term, along with market forces, and the perception of primary production's role in contributing to sustainable development, will ultimately influence the adoption of urban agriculture in Australia.

Questions for Professionals in Agriculture and Food Production and Policy Makers

• What are the ramifications of moving selected agriculture production into urban and per-urban areas (over and above current planning guidelines)?
• Are there strategic advantages from having an urban production system for particular sectors that enable greater competition in global markets? How is this "decommoditised" approach to production integrated with conventional commodity-focused agricultural production?
• Is there a strategic economic advantage for Australia to become a fast follower in urban agriculture (because it isn't a leader)? Could this version of primary production augment our export revenues in a material way?
• Does an intensive approach to urban agriculture e.g. vertical farming, negate the social and community benefits of a more traditional, non-intensive approach?
• What policy changes should States and the Federal Governments consider given the main stream adoption of sustainable development (and SDGs) in society?

About the Authour

Turlough Guerin is a Non-Executive Director and leader in sustainable business with over 20 years board-level experience in community engagement, primary industries, energy, and heavy industry. Board highlights include the Ag Institute of Agriculture (AIA), Climate Alliance Limited, and Bioregional Australia. He has a PhD in Agriculture, is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia. 

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Opinions are those of the author, photographs and images are courtesy of the AIA and Markus Spiske.