DIARY AND EVENTS

organic wastes. Other benefits include urban greening, buffer zones free of construction, improved urban climate, storm water storage, and spaces for leisure activities. The success of such a system will depend on the adoption of agro-ecological production methods and linking with waste management and ecosanitation. Urban agriculture also needs to be included in the planning of parks, reserves and general city or town planning strategies.

Governmental and municipal institutions must accept that urban agriculture is an urban land use issue and should create a conducive policy environment to enable this, and landuse plans must include it. Programmes should be implemented to enhance the economic viability and productivity of urban agriculture by training and technical advice to establish urban farmer organisations, and to facilitate credible and affordable credit facilities for farmers. Measures to reduce the risk of environmental issues by urban agriculture should be inclusively developed. These strategies should be developed with a multistakeholder approach.

Urban agriculture could become a dynamic economic sector if policies and programmes created an empowering framework, which would lead to the optimal development of social, economic and ecological benefits for the urban community and the city. Urban agriculture will only be sustainable if its contributions are related to a city which is sustainable and resilient; it will then become the food basket of the city.