Entrepreneurial Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture refers to food production practices that have the purpose of generating income. These agricultural practices primarily occur in urban and peri-urban areas as a subsistence and risk-buffering strategy by poor segments of society.
UPA can be seen as a pathway to food security, directly through production of food, and indirectly by selling through the market. UPA is also evolving in contexts not only characterized by poverty but also by innovation, which in some cases creates high-value products by creating unique market opportunities. Thus, entrepreneurial UPA can be used as a deliberate strategy that is actively pursued by people from different socio-economic classes. UPA can be considered a form of Agriprenuerhsip, however, has a specific focus on agricultural practices and business strategies in urban and peri-urban settings.
The unit of Rural Development at the Department of Urban and Rural studies engages with the concept of Entrepreneurial UPA with projects such as What’s to eat? Women, children and the urban food environment: the case of Addis Ababa, and Entrepreneurship as empowerment: Gendered opportunities and challenges in entrepreneurial UPA in Rwanda. The first project looks at aspects of nutrition in the context of urbanization, whilst the second investigates urban agricultural as part of integrated urban planning practices. Both projects reflect upon gendered opportunities and women’s empowerment in relation to agricultural activities.
Contact:
Johanna Bergman Lodin, Researcher, Department of Urban and Rural Development.
Email: johanna.bergman.lodin@slu.se
Katarina Pettersson, Researcher, Department of Urban and Rural Development.
Email: katarina.pettersson@slu.se
Andrew Gallagher
Coordinator for Food and Cities
andrew.gallagher@slu.se
SLU Future Food
futurefood@slu.se
SLU Urban Futures
urbanfutures@slu.se
www.slu.se/urbanfutures
SLU Alnarp
SLU Urban Futures
Enheten för samverkan och utveckling
Box 190
234 22 Lomma