Does urban agriculture contribute to food security, and how might this be achieved?

Mead, Bethan R ORCID: 0000-0002-9294-517X, Duncombe, Tracey, Gillespie, Rebecca, Pugh, Nina and Hardman, Charlotte A ORCID: 0000-0002-0744-6019 (2024) Does urban agriculture contribute to food security, and how might this be achieved? The Proceedings of the Nutrition Society. pp. 1-21.

Text Urban agriculture and food security_AA.docx - Author Accepted Manuscript Available under License Creative Commons Attribution. Download (100kB)

Abstract

Food system challenges exacerbate inequalities in access to fresh healthy food and threaten food security. Lack of food security, referred to as food insecurity, is associated with poorer physical and mental health outcomes and has been identified as a key challenge to address by calls for food system transformation. Increasing food production through urban agriculture, the production of fruit and vegetables in urban areas, has been identified as a potentially effective contributor to food system transformation, but the effect of this on household or UK-level food security is unclear. This paper reviews international evidence of urban agriculture's impact on food security. While findings are mixed, available evidence suggests that urban agriculture makes a modest, yet positive, contribution to food security by facilitating the availability of and access to fresh fruit and vegetables to food insecure households. In the UK, studies have shown this to be particularly beneficial during times of food system disruption. Capitalising on such benefits to improve food security requires government investment and support at both the national and local level, therefore increasing access to land for food growing, reducing costs of related resources, and collaboration with existing community groups to enhance sharing of skills and expertise, are identified as avenues for exploration that may help to achieve this. This review also highlights opportunities for future research in this field that may strengthen the quality of the evidence supporting urban agriculture's impact on food security.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	food security, food systems, urban agriculture
Divisions:	Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	27 Mar 2024 15:12
Last Modified:	12 Apr 2024 16:32
DOI:	10.1017/s0029665124002209
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3179990