AS URBAN dwellers become more accustomed to the bustle of city life, they find that cultivating their own food can be both difficult and incredibly rewarding. While urban farming is not a new notion — it dates back to the ancient Mesopotamian people who set aside land for growing crops, as well as the American Victory Gardens that were established to cultivate staple foods following World War II — the trend has gained momentum in recent years.
Rooftop gardens, container planting, hydroponics, and even guerrilla gardening are some of the techniques used in urban farming. Research data from the 2017 US Census of Agriculture shows that around 15 per cent of farms are located in the 50 fastest-growing cities of the United States. In many American cities and suburbs, including Washington, Kansas City, Seattle, and Chicago, urban farms and community gardens have become prominent. Globally, food from urban farms is thought to account for about 15 per cent of the total food supply, according to statistics provided by the Environmental Protection Agency. Around 12,500 tonnes of vegetables are grown on rooftops of Bologna, Italy, and Singapore every year, where vertical horticulture is an effective strategy of providing nutritional requirements for more than 72 per cent of the local population.
Many homes, especially those owned by local inhabitants, are furnished with plant containers filled with a variety of food. Growing vegetables, tropical fruits, and ornamental edible flowers has become popular since they can be sold in local markets in addition to being consumed to fulfil the necessities in urban families. People can also depend less on markets because the cost of these everyday necessities is steadily growing. Urban gardening, primarily rooftop farming, reduces the overall temperature of the roofs and the surrounding air, resulting in improvement of the local climate. It mitigates the impact of the island heat effect and retains carbon emissions, which enhances the general quality of the air in cities, towns, and urban areas. Furthermore, the collection of rainwater and stormwater improves the likelihood of construction overflow, soil deterioration, biodiversity loss, and other major catastrophes.
Being an emerging nation in South Asia, Bangladesh is particularly concerned about the issue of population growth. According to a 2010 Global News Programme analysis, Dhaka, the capital city, is predicted to grow at the quickest rate in the world by crossing a population of 20 million by 2025, making it larger than Beijing, Shanghai, or Mexico City. This makes it the most rapidly expanding megacity in the world. Another survey found that between 1976 and 2010, the nation’s arable cropland decreased by 0.26 per cent yearly, for which food security is seriously jeopardised by this rapid rate of reduction. Families with low incomes were found to be spending more than half of their monthly income on food, according to a 2019 survey conducted by the FAO and the Dhaka North Community Federation. Dhaka currently holds 450 thousand rooftops covering more than 4,500 hectares of land. If these roofs are used effectively, they can produce a significant amount of food to meet the necessities of such poor households who are struggling to fulfil their daily food consumption.
Through its urban development programme, the ministry of agriculture is distributing vegetable seeds and seedlings of various kinds approximately among 35,000 households in urban areas in 2019. Additionally, it provided more than 120,000 young trees from multiple species to 5,000 urban low-income households. Such practices are being promoted by the national government since they have the potential to significantly contribute to the nation’s environmental sustainability. About 440 community members across the entire capital city have already received training and tools from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations to help them grow their own vegetables as part of the Dhaka Food System project, amongst which nearly all are women. The majority of people began urban gardening as a hobby during the pandemic lockdown, and they have benefitted considerably from this activity.
Amidst the growing problems of pollution, food scarcity, and poverty, urban farming or vertical agriculture can be a beam of hope for the future since there are immense possibilities for city dwellers to grow fresh foods. In order to meet the demands for both immediate and future food security, urban farming’s potential must be fully realised through meticulous planning and effective implementation. Strong government support and policy development can further take this healthy practice ahead, assisting in the achievement of sustainable development goals for the country.
Ìý
Tasnim Tarannum is a lecturer in the department of management, School of Business and Economics of North South University.
