Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture and Forestry (UPAF) can be defined as the growing of trees, food and other agricultural products (herbs, pot plants, fuel, fodder) within the urban build-up area and in the peri-urban areas. UPAF includes urban horticulture, livestock, (agro-) forestry and aquaculture as well as related processing and marketing activities. Urban and peri-urban agriculture form part of the overall food system within a given city-region. Depending on urban development patterns, local cultural, political and socio-economic context, and agro-environmental conditions, UPAF has taken different shapes and forms in different cities. It takes place in a wide variety of areas (rooftops, backyards, public open spaces, flood-zones and peri-urban agricultural areas) and in different forms (backyard gardening for home production; commercial livestock production in peri-urban areas; agroforestry on steep slopes; rice production in lower-lying valley bottoms etc.). Its location may change with urban growth over time. It is expected that the various forms of UPAF contribute to a varying degree to climate change adaptation and mitigation. However, little to no analysis has yet taken place in order to better understand which specific UPAF models are best suited for which city configurations and which UPAF models have more or less potential climate change impacts.

This paper, Report on the (most relevant) potential impacts of Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture and Forestry (UPA/F) on climate change adaptation, mitigation and other co-developmental benefits identifies potential impacts of UPAF on climate change adaptation, mitigation and other (co)developmental benefits and sets out the required arrangements for different UPAF types/measures in different city zones.

Further reading:

Project homepage: Monitoring impacts of urban and peri-urban agriculture and forestry on climate change adaptation and mitigation

Publications:

• Report on needs and requirements of (city)governments and international organisations (such as the World Bank, DFID and UN-HABITAT) for the monitoring of UPAF impacts and the use of such data in climate change programmes and strategies
• A First Framework for Monitoring the Impacts of Urban Agriculture on Climate Change
• Monitoring the Climate Change Impacts of Urban Agriculture in Rosario, Argentina
• Surface Temperature Variations in the Kesbewa Urban Council Area, Sri Lanka