Urban Agriculture in Africa: What Has Been Learned?

Abstract

Urban agriculture is prevalent in Cameroon, the first country examined in this book of case studies, yet its role in urban life was little studied until the 1990s. At that time researchers began to look at some aspects of this complex phenomenon, such as the role of traditional leafy vegetables in the diet and incomes of the urban poor (Gockowski & Ndoumbé 1999). Following their attendance at a regional stakeholder meeting organized by Urban Harvest in late 2000, scientists from different institutions came together in 2001 to move forward work they were pursuing independently on different topics related to urban agriculture in Yaoundé. This interdisciplinary collaboration produced the original empirical studies contained in this chapter and the two that follow, which aim at a deeper understanding of some of the complexities of urban farming in the country and indicate directions for further work, both in research and the development of public policy.