Roof top farming a solution to food security and climate change adaptationfor cities

Abstract

Two distinct phenomena shape our planet: more than half of the world's human population is urbanised (World Watch Institute 2007); and global warming induced climate change is a grave threat. Modern cities, in ecological terms, have become parasitic energy and resource 'sinks,' consuming 75% of the world's resources on only 2% of the global land area (TFPC 1999). In this way cities 'short-circuit' the natural ecological cycle, harming both the nutrient source and sink. As the rate of urbanisation increases over time, food production sites should be increasingly located near main consumption centres. Roof top farming is one such solution to meet growing demand of safe and healthy food, improving air quality, heat influx, reduced corridors for local flora and fauna. Urban agriculture is gaining relevance all over the world due to its ability to provide direct benefits (food) but also some indirect ecosystem services at a macro level (conservation of biodiversity). This paper presents a survey of roof top farming in South Delhi, India and their importance from ecosystem services, food security and climate change perspective. The paper shows the way forward to popularise roof top farming in cities through outreach programmes, capacity development and policy interventions.