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Dear Colleagues I would like to take up the point raised by Andrew MacMillan earlier, that, given DFID's firm commitment to smallholder based agriculture as a way of reducing poverty and food insecurity, (as per Alex Duncan's introduction) we should explore ways of making this commitment effective, based on our knowledge. In this context I want to raise the issue of urban and peri-urban agriculture in relation to both poverty reduction and improved food security. Urban and peri-urban farmers employ a mix of livelihood strategies just as rural farmers do, but they have better access to markets because of their location. In fact, many poor farmers move to such areas in order to make the most of the market and those who are there already use farming as part of their survival strategy. I believe the time has come for a more balanced look at livelihood strategies of the poor, both urban and rural, with respect to agriculture and other "off-farm" economic activity. Given that there are large proportions of the poor living in urban areas and that they do in fact engage in farming along with trading, small business and (often casual) employment, I believe a sustained research and development programme -- such as my programme is trying to initiate in the CGIAR -- is needed to explore both the constraints and opportunities that this phenomenon represents. Going back to the old Von Theunen model of central places, agriculture plays a role in servicing cities, with the most perishable commodities being produced nearer to towns and staples further away. Urban farmers in poor countries instinctively know this, and, like their counterparts in Europe before the days of refrigeration, grow vegetables in cities and bring in livestock on the hoof. Our data show that urban farmers -- who have been shown to represent about a third of the urban populations in East Africa -- mostly earn a living from other activities as well, but (for example in Kampala 2003) for about one third of the peri-urban farmers it is their main source of income, and about half that again for farmers in the inner urban areas, mainly densely built slums. What does this mean? 1. We should know more about these livelihood and farming systems, so that their contribution to household and overall urban food security can be enhanced. 2. We should assess the risks and benefits -- mainly to health -- that are involved. 3. We should use this knowledge to enhance urban policies that complement agriculture policies, or are an intrinsic part of them In doing this we should be responding to an initiative that farmers themselves are taking. And by the way, there are associations of urban farmers who would like to benefit from better policy support that addresses such issues. I refer in this particularly to the town where I live, Nairobi. Diana Lee-Smith Sub-Saharan Africa Coordinator Urban Harvest (formerly SIUPA) International Potato Centre (CIP) P O Box 25171 Nairobi 00603 Kenya CIP is a Future Harvest Centre supported by the CGIAR Tel: 254 20 630743 ext. 4942 Fax 254 20 631499 Mob: 254 722 677 526 E-mail <address removed> www.cipotato.org/urbanharvest ============================================================= To send a reply to this message that goes to all list members, make sure that you send your reply to <address removed> To unsubscribe from this list, send an email to "<address removed>", with the message body: unsubscribe growth-and-poverty <your-email-address>
Please visit dfid-agriculture-consultation.nri.org.