How good is urban agriculture at slowing climate change?

A great question and this literature review, which includes 274 peer- reviewed and grey literature, has your answer.

There are lots of way to raise money for urban agriculture endeavors in your neighborhood, I like this way more than this.

The Great Green Wall gets creative

 

Africa's Great Green Wall has thankfully received more attention as of late. Branding is always helpful for selling products and programs, it's wonderful to see what these students created, like the poster above, to publicize the campaign.

-As many of you know, China is attempting their own green wall, affectionately called "the Green Wall of China", to hold back desertification. And they've done a lot, 66 billion trees planted since 1978. The problem? Fast-growing and thirsty, non-native species were planted making things worse! And they were all cuttings, meaning they are all dying at the same time. Encroaching deserts threaten 400 million people in total with poor agricultural land, water shortages and air pollution from giant sandstorms. Officials are even worried about civil unrest. If you have a chance, read the story.

-Aquaponics and marijuana are two of the hottest trends in agriculture. What happens when you combine the two? I'm predicting really big things for this Hamilton, Ontario outfit.

-Building owners in Geelong, an hour long drive south from Melbourne, Australia, have a chance to win $10,000 for their green roof. If you live there, throw your hat in the ring!

-A design competition in Italy has yielded some fantastic renderings and further interest from local cities to make a combination pre-school/urban farm.

-Two weeks ago France banned supermarket waste, this means companies must find other ways to dispose of their food. Hopefully they won't dispose of it, but it becomes another revenue stream if they sell it to supermarkets, which exist in Denmark, which only sell second hand food.

The Great Green Wall starts to grow

After historic climate change talks people are encouraged good things, actionable steps, will actually be taken by governments around the world. One such vital initiative is the Great Green Wall.

Ten countries are offering more degraded and deforested land and France has offered over 5 billion dollars to help its former colonies with environmentally friendly projects, including the Wall. That's a huge deal! The project has languished due to lack of investment and under the threat of extremism. Experts worry if real economic opportunities aren't created, in addition to the Wall, the trees will end up being used by those living near it.

-Speaking of desertification in Africa, there's a new greenhouse which just hit the market which uses could be a boon for dry lands. Work is being done in the USA as well, California in particular, in an attempt to solve a problem which knows no bounds. The City of Los Angeles has partnered with private industry and several non-profits to craft design solutions and a digital tool which helps cities in dry climates become self-sufficient in terms of water while delivering additional benefits, including improving performance in energy, the environment, and public health. The initiative is called the Drylands Resilience Initiative.

-Outside Atlanta a partnership with Georgia Tech university is developing the highway of the future. Some features? Use the right-of-way along the roadside to farm biofuel plants like sunflowers, corn and canola, combining sound barriers with solar panels, incorporating hog manure as a binding agent in lieu of asphalt, and creating living billboards made of plant material.

Green walls fighting poverty...and terrorism

I've profiled Africa's green wall spanning the edges of the Sahara to prevent rapid desertification.
It is wonderful that governments have banded together to tackle this, creating the Panafrican Agency of the Great Green Wall. Of course it's benefit, ecologically, is undisputed, I hadn't considered how important it is to other parts of life. Naturally planting trees means having natural resources and mitigating poverty. Forbes further connects the dots by pointing out more natural resources decreases the need to literally fight over dwindling supplies by joining one surging industry, extremism.

-Here's the wonderfully curious case of Cleveland State University. They were all set, it seemed, to get rid of their $250,000 green roof over leaking concerns. And now? Another $100,000 to improve the roof! Talk about student power!

-On a sad note a high school in Hawaii had over 1000 fish stolen from their aquaponics tank! Hopefully they get back up and running soon!

What's a tree worth?

Green roof enthusiasts, here's an annual conference I wasn't aware of that I would recommend checking out...next year. It's called the  International Conference on Building Envelope Systems and Technologies. This year it's in Aachen, Germany and unfortunately there's only two days left.

For those willing (and able) to trade time (if you help with a few things around the farm) for education you can get free accommodations, meals and a permaculture design certificate in Africa. Where in Africa? I have no clue. Contact them and find out!

-The next trend in urban agriculture could be mobile fresh markets. Here's a handy-dandy financial snapshot of the markets already up and running across North America.

-What is a tree worth? A few organizations have tried to put a price tag on them over the years. In a world where almost everything needs to be (it seems) justified economically, this is an interesting attempt by TD Bank to give us an idea. $700? That seems a little low.

The European Commission set to support green infrastructure

So much good news from the GILA world over the last week!

-The European Commission adopted a, new, long term, strategy to encourage green infrastructure projects including identifying possible projects, expanding the knowledge base of innovative, green infrastructure supporting technologies and most importantly, financing through the European Investment Bank.

-If you're at work and can listen to a podcast, without getting in trouble, give a listen to Will Allen's latest interview.

-A 7.5 million euro German/African partnership, UrbanFoodPlus, has been created to boost the productivity of urban farming in Africa. Although there will be a range of project groups focusing on different elements of food production across the continent, initially grower, seller, and government officials will be interviewed in Burkina Faso and Ghana to understand their current realities.

-What do you get when you combine martial arts and urban agriculture? Boston's own Green Dragons of course!

-There are very few vertical gardens anywhere around the world. If you are in Singapore or stopping through, one is actually open to the public!

Three Urban Agriculture Internships

A few urban agriculture internships to pass along...touch up that resume!

-Save the Children is looking for a permaculture consultant in Somalia, applications due February 28.

-Check out Idealist for a 2-8 month urban agriculture internship in Cape Town, South Africa.

-Turning state side, in Boston (Roxbury, actually) City Natives has a six month spring/summer urban agriculture internship available. 

Urban Agriculture summits in late February - Liberia + Morocco

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems (RAFS) (which used to be known as the American Journal of Alternative Agriculture) is seeking papers for a special issue focusing on sustainable urban agriculture production systems as well as the social/economic underpinnings of these systems in North America and abroad. If you have something to share, February 28 is the deadline.

-The second annual Peri and Urban Agriculture Conference kicks off in Liberia on February 14.
One of a precious few in Africa, if you are nearby it looks like a great opportunity.  Later in the month (February 27) Morocco is hosting its own international urban agriculture symposium.

Online aquaponics course + urban agriculture in Africa

If you would like to learn about aquaponics, but can't make it to or are far away from, the reputable learning centers, there is a new Aquaponics Gardening course online. You can go at your own pace and it's taught by some of the best in the business.

-Over the last couple of weeks I have seen a slew of fantastic articles and reports about urban agriculture in Africa. First an incredible urban rooftop agriculture program which focuses on skills transfer and environmental education. Next came the release of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation's (FAO) status report on urban farming in Africa. Here's the online presentation.
In addition there is a report from the front lines of the urban agriculture movement in Cameroon. Lastly is your opportunity to be part of the movement, if you are so inclined, by volunteering for a permaculture project in Mozambique.

The Great Green Wall begins to grow

Cleaning out the old bookmarks folder so I wanted to do a quick update post on Africa’s great green wall. Green infrastructure so big, it becomes green geoengineering. 

Two weeks ago Senegal put shovels in the ground, kilometer 1 of a 7,775 km long journey east. The green belt will be 15 km wide, hopefully slowing the powerful Sahara. No idea how long this will take to complete, but China is trying something about two thirds as long to fight back the Gobi desert and that should be done by 2050.  Quite stunningly the Chinese government estimates it could take 300 years to reclaim the lost land!

Before you get married, you must plant a tree

-Not sure what this statement means, but it appears the Gill Tract saga at UC Berkeley has entered a different stage. Does anyone know where one can get an objective summary of what happened in Berkeley and what it means for all stakeholders?

-It’s the best when press releases are issued which include the names and contact information for your elected officials. Last week Sioux Falls began a discussion on urban agriculture husbandry, while St. Paul launched a new website to “encourage the increased consumption, production and distribution of healthy, sustainable and locally grown food.

Minnesota has a ton of fantastic initiatives growing strong, like the Minnesota Food Association, a “small business incubator teaching immigrant and minority persons how to operate financially viable farms. A member of the National Immigrant Farming Initiative, the MFA is just one of many such programs thriving across the USA. 

-If you want some interesting banter and a few urban agriculture yucks while doing your household errands, listen to last week’s Science Friday talk on NPR. From rooftops to abandoned lots, there’s much to be eaten in your city, wherever you are.

-Naturally you are wondering about today's title. Across the world people understand the importance of trees and in different places, different things are being done to preserve the tree canopy. From the Great Green Wall in the Sahara, to an interesting idea in the Philippines where before getting a marriage license one city would like to mandate that the couple must first plant a tree.

Toronto Urban Food and Agriculture Learning Centre opened to the public

Earlier this week the Applied Research Center released "The Color of Food" survey, a look at the food system to "map out the race, gender and class of workers along the supply chain."

-Botswana hopes to reel in Western companies to become a high tech hub and Suzanne Labarre gives us the whole scoop on what is planned. It looks like a big gamble, but, as the first of it's kind in Botswana and Africa, I think the government has a good chance of attracting high profile, long term tenants.

Here's a little more on the green roof collapse at the Aquascape Inc. building in Illinois.

And lastly, on February 1 the Toronto Urban Food and Agriculture Learning Centre opened to the public. Lots of materials to browse through for urban agriculture wonks. The trial period is 3 months long, let's hope it's much much longer.

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Background and overview

FoodShare Toronto and MetroAg – Alliance for Urban Agriculture are opening to the public the Toronto Urban Food and Agriculture Learning Centre (TUFALC). The aim is to provide information to all researchers, practitioners, advocates and others interested in urban food and agriculture matters in greater Toronto, as well as across North America and worldwide. The intent includes the future development of a digital library that builds on the existing collections of publications, books, articles, periodicals, unpublished papers (including conference, seminar and workshop reports), computer files, photos, and recordings.

The TUFALC consists of two separate but related collections housed in the same room within the building occupied by FoodShare at 90 Croatia Street (entrance on Brock Avenue, just south of Bloor Street West, close to the Dufferin Subway Station). Half of the collection comes from FoodShare, and contains primarily published materials pertaining to local and general interest in the areas of growing and managing personal and community gardens and other food-security issues. The other portion is the Jac Smit Library of Urban Agriculture, which was gathered by The Urban Agriculture Network, a US-based non-profit organization. This collection, which was moved to Toronto in 2009, consists of over 4000 individual records, both published and unpublished, dealing with all aspects of urban agriculture. The time period covered is the 1970s to the 2000s.

The FoodShare collection is organized by a simple subject-based cataloguing system with an available legend, while the bulk of the Jac Smit collection is indexed in a database, with some of the more recent materials not yet catalogued. Library attendants are available during public hours to help visitors locate items in both collections.

Current status and Short-term schedule

Starting Tuesday February 1st, the TUFALC is open to the public on a limited trial capacity. The planned public hours are 2 full days and 1 half day per week. Visitors can browse the collection during the following hours:

Tuesdays: 9:30am - 12:30pm and 1pm - 4pm
Wednesdays: 9:30am - 12:30pm
Fridays: 9:30am - 12:30pm and 1pm - 4pm

During this trial period, it is best to confirm any planned visit 1-2 days in advance by emailing toronto.ufalc@gmail.com . Questions and feedback can also be sent to this address.

For the time being, the TUFALC is a reference collection, and does not circulate. Visitors who wish to use materials off-site may speak with the library attendants to discuss options, including limited scanning and copying. We will also be using this trial period to seek feedback from users to guide future circulation policies and other potential adjustments in the learning centre.

This trial period is expected to last three months.

New Zealand is down with foraging

If you're hungry for some foraged fods in the Land of the Long White Cloud check out the Wild Foods Festival on March 12,
where you can sample things like wasp larvae ice cream, and, in general...wait for it, because I can't resist...get your grub on!
Also, while you're at it you can check out this map of urban foraging for New Zealand. And if you can use it, I'm jealous.
What about stateside? Check out Urban Edibles for similar maps and Fallen Fruit started off the same way, but in the last couple of years has expanded to include WAY more than fruit!

A mainstream org embraces a rising movement when the US Green Building Council sponsors a talk on urban agriculture and edible landscapes in St. Louis on March 9. Some might argue if the USGBC is mainstream, but with the size of their workforce, they can't be considered small timers anymore.

Alex Rochas delivers this funky 1,500 foot edible green roof/rooftop garden in Los Angeles.



Looking for a great blog? Behold Danielle Nierenberg's Nourishing the Planet, it's there I read about one of Malawi's new permaculture miracle workers
.

Short video on how to build a staple of permaculture gardens, the herb spiral.

"Cash for grass" or "rip your strip" + the latest from Africa

For many of those on this side of the continent, Las Vegas' cash for grass program is a brand new idea. Hmmm...there are a few cities which have had issues with droughts over the last decade (I'm looking at you, Atlanta), I wonder how a similar program would work elsewhere? This article does a really nice job rounding up the water conservation problems and programs around the US.



Speaking of roundup, lots of info from the plateau continent in the last few weeks, including some rainwater recovery programs in Tunisia, sponsored by
International Development Research Center (IDRC-CANADA) and urban agriculture developments in Morocco.
Further down south there are a couple from Kenya. Run by an Italian NGO and Nairobi based grassroots initiative, the first story features the farm in a sack. Next up is a broader article about the urban farming movement across Africa, but starting off in Nairobi.

Okay, back to the...is there a nickname for North America? Edible geographygoes for the gusto with links galore and a preview of the USDA's Food Atlas. Bring a life vest before you decide to dive into this data.

Kongjian Yu in Harvard Design Magazine details how future cities "will be new garden cities.. emitting low or no net carbon, productive and conservation-minded. Rainwater will no longer be discharged from municipal pipes but will be retained in local ponds and supplement groundwater. Green spaces will be full of crops and fruit trees, instead of ornamental flowers and fruitless trees. Rice and broomcorn will ripen in the fields of communities and schools. In the harvest season, animals and humans will take pleasure together. Architectural surfaces will support photosynthesis. The roofs will be fish-raising ponds, with the functions of heat preservation, energy saving, and food production. Cellars will be great mushroom factories.” Sign me up.
Don't forget to check out the rest of the magazine'ssynopsis.

It's all about the visual + living architecture in Africa

I've had people ask before, what's the best permaculture website? Well, wouldn't you know it someone asked a similar question at permaculture tv, which, is a dynamite site in it's own right. The truth is, there's so much good information out there, aren't the interwebs wonderful?

Speaking of good websites, for those more visually inclined try Spezify, you can do a visual web search on your favorite living architecture topics.

For some great videos, check out Urban Omnibus on how the East New York Farmers market got up and running, a great primer for anyone interested in starting their own. And over at How Stuff Works to spy Stephen Brooks as he makes a nice salad from his urban foraging wanderings...in LA.
Seriously, there's rosemary growing between the sidewalk cracks?

Now we'll jet over to the Africa. A story from Zimbabwe which puts struggle in perspective.

The City of Johannesburg is putting it's weight behind a permaculture training institute to help combat the socio-economic impact of HIV.

Rwanda is starting an urban agriculture program to ensure food security. I'll do my best to keep up to date on all of these new projects, so many wonderful things happening all around the world.