AFRICANVEG-FULL-ART.qxd:Layout 1 9/6/09 13:13 Page 1 ‘This is a timely book. The need for African cities to “feed themselves” is more in Urban Agriculture in Urban Vegetables African Indigenous relevant than ever, with current food price hikes impacting on the urban poor. By bringing together a unique collection of expertise in horticulture and urban agriculture, this publication demonstrates the adaptive capacity and nutritional importance of African indigenous vegetables for urban food systems and makes a compelling case for development and policy action in support of safe urban agriculture and better use of these important crops.’ Gordon Prain, Global Coordinator, Urban Harvest, www.uharvest.org ‘The editors and contributors of African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture skilfully illustrate how farmers are maintaining the diversity of our global food basket and increasing the availability of fresh vegetables widely consumed by the urban poor. Policy-makers should take note.’ Jim Gockowski, Senior Scientist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture There has been growing research and policy effort around urban agriculture in Africa over the last two decades, but never has it been integrated with work African Indigenous on under-researched crops such as indigenous vegetables. These species have multiple advantages, including low input requirements, adaptability to regional environments, high nutritional value and marked biodiversity, cultural Vegetables in Urban and local food security significance. Yet they are overlooked in the modern world, where recent emphasis has been directed to growing a limited range of exotic crops, both for internal markets and for export to developed-country markets. Agriculture This book provides evidence that, in spite of this neglect, indigenous vegetables are still widely used, cultivated and marketed in many African cities. It goes on to consider their potential to contribute to income generation and poverty alleviation of the growing numbers and Drescher Pasquini Edited by Shackleton, Edited by Charlie M. Shackleton, of urban dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa, while promoting urban greening and sustainability. Based on critical analysis of the debates, it presents a multidisciplinary analysis of the Margaret W. Pasquini and Axel W. Drescher realities and future opportunities. Charlie Shackleton is Professor and Head of Department in the Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University, South Africa. Margaret Pasquini is a geographer working as a research officer at CAZS Natural Resources, Bangor University, UK. Axel Drescher is Professor at the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Germany. Cover photographs Top left: Corchorus spp. leaves, Mali (courtesy of IER, Mali, Darwin Initiative project, 2006); top right: urban plot with African indigenous vegetables, Benin (courtesy of INRAB, Benin, Darwin Initiative project, 2008); bottom: African indigenous vegetables at a market in Kampala, Uganda (Photo courtesy of NACRRI, Uganda, IndigenoVeg project, 2006) www.earthscan.co.uk ISBN 978-1-84407-715-1 Earthscan strives to minimize its impact on the environment Agriculture and Food / Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation / Development / Cities and Infrastructure 9 781844 077151 African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture Edited by Charlie M. Shackleton, Margaret W. Pasquini and Axel W. Drescher London • Sterling, VA First published by Earthscan in the UK and USA in 2009 Selection and editorial matter © Charlie M. Shackleton, Margaret W. Pasquini and Axel W. Drescher, 2009 Chapters 1 to 9 © individual authors, 2009 All rights reserved ISBN: 978-1-84407-715-1 Typeset by MapSet Ltd, Gateshead, UK Cover design by Grounded Design For a full list of publications please contact: Earthscan Dunstan House 14a St Cross St London, EC1N 8XA, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7841 1930 Fax: +44 (0)20 7242 1474 Email: [email protected] Web: www.earthscan.co.uk 22883 Quicksilver Drive, Sterling, VA 20166-2012, USA Earthscan publishes in association with the International Institute for Environment and Development A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data African indigenous vegetables in urban agriculture / edited by C.M. Shackleton, M. Pasquini and A.W. Drescher. — 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-84407-715-1 (pbk.) 1. Vegetables—Africa. 2. Endemic plants—Africa. 3. Urban agriculture—Africa. I. Shackleton, C. M. (Charles Michael) II. Pasquini, M. (Margaret) III. Drescher, Axel W. SB323.A35A37 2009 635.096—dc22 2008052631 At Earthscan we strive to minimize our environmental impacts and carbon footprint through reducing waste, recycling and offsetting our CO2 emissions, including those created through publication of this book. For more details of our environmental policy, see www.earthscan.co.uk. This book was printed in the UK by CPI Antony Rowe. The paper used is FSC certified. Contents List of Figures, Tables, Boxes and Plates ix List of Contributors xv Preface xxi List of Acronyms and Abbreviations xxvii 1 Urban Food Systems and African Indigenous Vegetables: Defining the Spaces and Places for African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture 1 Bianca Ambrose-Oji Urban food systems and trends in vegetable production in urban and peri-urban areas 1 Defining urban agriculture and characterizing productive spaces for vegetables along the rural–urban continuum 7 African indigenous vegetables and exotic crops in urban agriculture 9 Spatial variation in urban and peri-urban vegetable production 13 Matrix of spaces and places in urban and peri-urban agriculture for the production of African indigenous vegetables 17 Urban and peri-urban agriculture in the process of urbanization and urban planning 22 Conclusions: Future prospects 25 2 Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in African Cities 35 Andreas de Neergaard, Axel W. Drescher and Christophe Kouamé Introduction 35 Extent of urban farming 36 Urban crops 38 Location, tenure and farming practices 39 Production systems 46 Priority areas for research 58 3 Biodiversity of African Vegetables 65 Patrick Maundu, Enoch Achigan-Dako and Yasuyuki Morimoto Africa’s flora and vegetables 65 Defining the terms 66 vi AFRICAN INDIGENOUS VEGETABLES IN URBAN AGRICULTURE Diversity of African indigenous vegetables 67 Regional diversity of vegetables 73 A selection of important African indigenous vegetables 79 Research and development gaps 98 Conclusions 101 4 Nutritional Contributions of Important African Indigenous Vegetables 105 Ray-Yu Yang and Gudrun B. Keding Introduction 105 Consumption of African indigenous vegetables 106 Nutrient content 115 Future work 135 5 Production and Harvesting Systems for African Indigenous Vegetables 145 Mel O. Oluoch, Germain N. Pichop, Drissa Silué, Mary O. Abukutsa-Onyango, Meissa Diouf and Charlie M. Shackleton Introduction 145 Production systems 148 Home gardens 150 Arable fields 154 Yields of selected African indigenous vegetables 159 Contribution to livelihood and food security 169 Conclusions and recommendations 170 6 The Production of African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture: A Comparative Analysis of Case Studies from Benin, Kenya and South Africa 177 Margaret W. Pasquini, Françoise Assogba-Komlan, Ineke Vorster, Charlie M. Shackleton and Mary O. Abukutsa-Onyango Introduction 177 Survey methodology 179 Survey locations 181 The producer profile 184 Access to cultivable land resources 192 Diversity of African indigenous vegetables 196 Production practices 197 Reasons for production 208 Principal features of indigenous vegetable farming systems in Benin, Kenya and South Africa 211 Research and development for the promotion of African indigenous vegetables: Opportunities and constraints 216 Conclusions 219 CONTENTS vii 7 Marketing of African Indigenous Vegetables along Urban and Peri-Urban Supply Chains in Sub-Saharan Africa 225 Katinka Weinberger and Germain N. Pichop Introduction 225 African indigenous vegetables supply chains in sub-Saharan Africa 228 Market size 234 Discussion and policy implications 240 Future research needs 242 8 Integration of Urban Agriculture into Spatial Planning 245 Wakuru Magigi and Axel W. Drescher Introduction 245 Spatial planning approaches 248 The policy and legal frameworks of different countries with respect to urban agriculture 248 Land-use (spatial) planning processes 251 The case of Dar es Salaam: A look at special land-use planning processes in Goba, Ubungo Darajani and Chang’ombe ‘A’ 253 Policy and planning implications 264 Options to reduce barriers to integrating urban agriculture within spatial planning 266 Conclusions 267 9 African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture: Recurring Themes and Policy Lessons for the Future 271 Charlie M. Shackleton, Margaret W. Pasquini and Axel W. Drescher Introduction 271 Considering recurring themes and policy lessons 273 Areas for policy intervention 278 Starting the policy change process 282 Conclusions 283 Index 285 List of Figures, Tables, Boxes and Plates Figures 4.1 Vegetable consumption per capita and day in sub-Saharan Africa 110 4.2 Vegetable consumption by rural–urban area 111 4.3 Percentage of households consuming vegetables 112 4.4 Availability calendar for traditional vegetables in Kenya 113 4.5 Prevalence of pre-school children (<5 years) with vitamin A deficiency (VAD) in Africa and selected