Urban agriculture can be defined as the growing of plants and the raising of animals for food and other uses within and around cities and towns,
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and related activities such as the production and delivery of inputs, and the processing and marketing of products. Urban Agriculture is located within or on the fringe of a city and comprises of a variety of production systems, ranging from subsistence production and processing at household level to fully commercialised agriculture.
Having reviewed the literature, Mougeot (2000) concludes that the most important distinguishing character of urban agriculture is not so much its location - or any other of aforementioned criteria - but the fact that it is an integral part of the urban economic, social and ecological system.
urban agriculture uses urban resources (land, labour, urban organic wastes, water), produces for urban citizens, is strongly influenced by urban conditions (policies, competition for land, urban markets and prices) and impacts the urban system (effects on urban food security and poverty, ecological and health impacts).
Growing urban poverty, hunger and lack of formal employment, as well as the special opportunities that a city provides for farmers (including the growing urban demand for food, herbs and plants, proximity to markets and availability of cheap resources such as urban organic wastes and wastewater) have stimulated the development of a diversity of agricultural production systems in and around cities, often specialised in perishable products, such as green leafy vegetables, milk, eggs and meat, taking advantage of vacant open spaces in and around cities.
Although some forms of urban and peri-urban agriculture are based on temporary use of vacant lands, urban agriculture as such is a permanent feature of many cities in developing as well as developed countries.