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Strategies for Urban Horticulture in Developing Countries
Wilfried H. Schnitzler and Robert Holmer
Institute for Vegetable Science - Technische Universität München
- Germany
1. Introduction
 Supplying the growing
world population with food, particularly in developing countries, without
jeopardizing the natural resources air, water and soil is an overwhelming
challenge. According to the latest estimate of the United Nations, the World's
urban population is expected to increase from 2.76 billion in 1995 to 5.34
billion in the year 2025. At this time more than half (2.72 billion) will
reside in Asian cities (UNFPA, 1996). Due to a high rate of immigration
from rural areas and from neighboring countries suffering political and
social upheavals, urban populations in developing countries have
been growing and still are growing at a markedly higher rate than the population
as a whole, exerting greater pressure on the natural environment than ever
before.
Many cities are booming
besetting them with nearly insurmountable problems, such as creating jobs
for often fairly uneducated migrants from rural areas, proper disposal of
an abundance of refuse from households, commerce and industry and sewage
systems by safe means and sufficient supply of cheap but nutritious food
rich in vitamins and minerals to feed the population of these expanding
urban centers.
International agencies,
national governments and non-government bodies must address the challenge
of those requirements for a better livelihood of the city people.
Production of vegetables
in urban and periurban centers is particularly suited for small-scale farming
due to short crop cycles, high labor input and only small land area required
for effective cultivation. Many vegetable production systems can be considered
as anthropomorphic production environments" (Richter, Schnitzler & Gura,
1995). Vegetables are grown at many elevations, from sea level to highlands,
in almost every kind of soil, under many water regimes from rainfed to nearly
waterlogged to fully irrigated. They are often grown in niches or patches,
places often more related to market and population centers than to a given
agroecological zone.
It is known that consumption
of vegetables is far from being sufficient in almost all developing countries.
Hard data are scarce regarding vegetable consumption. Micronutrient deficiencies,
however, are better documented. Two billion people, mostly women and children,
are deficient in one or more micronutrients (FAO/WHO, 1992; Bellin &
Leitzmann, 1995; Gura, 1995). The importance of urban and periurban vegetable
production to improve vitamin and micronutrient supply, especially for the
urban poor is recognized by international policy-makers and put on a high
political agenda (World Bank 1994; FAO 1996).
2. Suggested Research Activities 
Information on the sociological,
economic, ecological and anthropological factors and constraints affecting
and limiting consumption, production and marketing of vegetables in urban
and periurban areas is only sparse or not available at all. Various technonolgies
for vegetable production are available but have to be modified, adapted
and testet under the special urban environments.
A comprehensive work
programm is therefore needed:
2.1 Analysis of the economic, sociological and anthropological situation
of urban and periurban communities and small and medium-sized horitcultural
enterprises.
Evaluation and prioritization of different socioeconomic and anthropological
constraints for (peri-) urban vegetable production and its impacts on community,
small farm enterprises and city administrations should be conducted by interviews
to obtain clear understanding of actual situations.
The data to be gathered
should comprise of:
- The present land use, land availability and suitability for
vegetable production including a thorough description of the present
cultural practices including infrastructure for regular delivery of
supply
- The economic impact of vegetable production referring to income
level, labor structure (family labor with special attention to gender
and hired labor) and production capital.
- The environmental impact with emphasis on present soil and
fertilizer management, disease and pest control, water management, and
impact to urban development
- The nutrition and health impact, particularly on kind and
quantity of food intake, consumption patterns and eating habits, as
well as the inner and outer quality of vegetables
- The food security impact, with focus on year round availability
of vegetables, access to vegetable supply and kind of vegetables
- The year-round price fluctuations
All location-specific,
socio-economic and anthropological aspects have to be brought into context
with production mangement startegies such as:
- The available germplasm and its agronomic characteristics for desired
vegetables
- Plant nutrition and soil management practices
- Integrated plant protection
- Water management
Envisaged (new) production
technologies, according to the actual local situations of the respective
(peri-)urban communities and small farm enterprises should be developed
through the process of Participatory Technology Development (PTD)
in cooperation with the (peri-) urban farmers and SME-developers. The output
from the PTD should then be utilized as the new existing technology for
the urban horticultural development. A continuous dialogue will be necessary
to formulate policy recommendations by respective government bodies to prepare
the legal grounds for sustainable urban horticulture.
2.2 Crop improvement and seed multiplication
Suitable vegetable crops
according to consumption patterns and environmental conditions have to be
selected for adaptation, evaluation and multiplication. In many instances
it will be necessary to collect genetic material at sites in cooperation
with germplasm units of national and international research centers. Local
varieties with a high degree of adaptation to the respective environment
and with good acceptability by the consumers should be evaluated for possible
defects.
The different vegetable
varieties and breeding lines have to be tested to select the best for specific
local conditions. Data to be taken in the evaluation studies are: year and
season, location, elevation, soil characteristics, climatological data,
farming methods, dates of sowing/planting, time of flowering, time of harvesting,
horticultural characteristics of plants and fruits, insect and disease occurrence,
yield and quality characteristics and other relevant information.
After evaluation, seeds
of the respective varieties have to be propagated. To obtain relevant data
for a possible commercialization of the vegetable seeds the following parameters
should be determined:
- The productivity in terms of seeds per plant
- Harvesting time of seeds
- The storage duration and the optimum conditions for each species
by evaluating seed viability.
2.3 Soil management and plant nutrition
Environmentally friendly
and economically viable fertility management practices under the urban situtation
is essential. This can be done by shifting from inorganic nutrient sources
to stronger reliance on raw and composted wastes, e.g. city refuse, plant
residues and animal manures.
Organic fertilizer production
from city wastes can be particularly rewarding by identifying possible organic
resources for compost production in urban areas. This can be:
- separated organic household garbage from representative model subdivisions
- separated plant organic garbage from public markets
- blood and bone meal from slaughterhouses
- animal manure from (peri-) urban livestock, poultries, piggeries
- plant residues from farmers' fields
- local rock phosphate and lime sources
These tasks should be
done in close cooperation with the responsible city officials.
Different composting
practices appropriate for the local conditions have to be introduced with
chemical analyses of composts for nutrient contents and possible heavy metal
residues.
The interactions of
organic fertilizer applications on changes of physical, chemical and biological
soil properties should be investigated for crop productivity.
2.4 Pest and disease control
This problem area must
have high priority with benefits to pesticide applicators, to the environment
and to the vegetable consumers. The reduction or elimination of applications
of chemical pesticides must be attained by simultaneously achieving sustainable
growth in and quality of production. This should be approached by technical,
economic and ecological surveys of present farmers' practices and analysis
for pesticide residues from vegetables coming from farmers' fields to evaluate
the status-quo for the quality of the marketable products.
An entomological evaluation
in farmers' fields with particular attention to the presence of parasitoids
should be done. After the diagnosis of the actual situations, appropriate
IPM technologies have to be elaborated and tested for both, economic and
technical approaches, namely:
- Use of pesticides not harmful to beneficial insects
- Rearing and release of beneficial insects
- Application of biopesticides
- Use of resistant cultivars in connection with mixed-cropping systems
2.5 Water management
Proper water management
means adequate water amounts at the right time. This includes the delivery
of needed water (irrigation) and removal of excess water (drainage). An
understanding is necessary for water use efficiency: soil profile (water
and root distribution), soil properties (physical, chemical, biological),
amount of soil erosion, leaching of nitrate, climatological data (air and
soil temperatures, rainfall, evaporation, relative humidity, wind speed),
together with economic aspects on yield and quality of vegetables.
Rainy season water management
through raised bed systems may be required under tropical lowland conditions.
Permanent high beds improve the hydraulic conditions of wet soils. The furrows
between high beds act as sink to drain excess water during wet periods.
Raised bed systems can be compared with the usual flat beds including cropping
sequences for such systems (Kleinhenz et al., 1995).
2.6 Marketing technologies and strategies
The potentials and constraints
for urban vegetable consumption and marketing need special attention to
provide new outlets for vegetable products coming from small urban and periurban
farm enterprises. An initial step should be the determination of quality
standards. Quality as an intangible characteristic for many consumers is
perceived by value, prestige pricing, quality packaging and labeling. Commercial
trends, consumer selection criteria, market shares, range of use, perishability,
transportation and seasonal vegetable preferences by the different consumer
groups have to be considered.
In order to develop
a marketing strategy, it is fundamental to examine the market environment
in the target markets and the distribution channels at the level of wholesalers
and retailers as well as to evaluate the consumer attitudes and perceptions
towards new or improved products. This can be approached through (1) identification
of distribution channels, (2) determination of commercial potential, (3)
development of commercial quality standards, (4) consumer selection criteria,
and (5) marketing testing.
3. Summary
According to the latest
estimate of the United Nations, the World's urban population is expected
to increase from 2.76 billion in 1995 to 5.34 billion in the year 2025 at
which time more then half (2.72 billion) will reside in Asian cities. Many
cities are expected to boom in the near future or are already booming besetting
them with nearly insurmountable problems such as employment for often fairly
uneducated migrants from rural areas, proper disposal of an ambundance of
refuse from households, commerce and industry by safe means and sufficient
supply of cheap but nutritious food rich in vitamins and minerals to feed
the population of these expanding urban centers.
Through analysis of
the economic, sociological, and anthropological situtation of urban and
periurban communities and small and medium-sized farm enterprises (SMEs)
in these cities the different factors and constraints affecting and limiting
the potential for vegetable production by SMEs should be evaluated and prioritized.
Production technologies that fit the socio-economic and anthropological
situation in the urban communities need to be developed. This can be in
particular organic fertalizition produced from city waste, suitable plant
protection methods using beneficial organism and biopesticides, as well
as appropriate water management technologies for dry and rainy season. Vegetable
cultivars adapted to the climate of the tropical lowlands and with resistance
to the prevalent diseases should be introduced. Urban agricultural production
resources have to be utilized in a better and more sustainable way. This
will result in year-round supply of clean and affordable vegetables rich
in vitamins and micronutrients for the urban population.
References:
Bellin & Leitzmann,
1995. Die Bedeutung der Mikronährstoffe für die menschliche Entwicklung
- ein Plädoyer für Gemüse. Entwicklung und Ländlicher
Raum 4:7-9
FAO/WHO, 1992; International
conference on nutrition. Rome
FAO, 1996. Food for
consumers - marketing, processing and distribution. Rome.
Gura, 1995. Vegetable
production - a challenge for urban and rural development. Entwicklung und
Ländlicher Raum 4:3-6
Kleinhenz, Schnitzler,
Midmore, 1995. High bed systems for off-season vegetable production in the
tropics and subtropics. Entwicklung und Ländlicher Raum 4:26-28
Richter, Schnitzler
& Gura, 1995. Vegetable Production in periurban areas in the tropics
and subtropics - food, income and quality of life. Proceeding of an international
workshop. German Foundation for International Development, Council for Tropical
and Subtropical Agricultural Research. ZEL, Feldafing, Zschortau.
UNFPA, 1996. The state
of the world population. United Nations, Geneva.
World Bank, 1994. Enriching
lives. Overcoming vitamin and mineral malnutrition in developing countries.
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