A report from RUAF and CDKN assesses how urban agriculture and forestry is integrated into climate plans in Rosario, Argentina and the below images take us through the journey of Rosario's new climate change adaptation plans.

Situated in the central Santa Fe region, Rosario has 1.3 million inhabitants and is situated on the banks of the River Paraná, 300 km north of Buenos Aires. Its location and port activity have made it an important economic hub, but it is also susceptible to the impacts of climate change and rapid urbanisation and conversion of agricultural land to soya production on the outskirts of the city has resulted in increased food imports to the city.

In 2001 Rosario implemented an urban agriculture programme to contribute to food security and income generation for the urban poor living in marginal settlements of the city (about 12% of the city’s population). In 2013, to contribute to the city's climate change action plan, Rosario also explored the potential of urban and peri-urban agriculture to adapt to and mitigate from climate change. The aims were to reduce food transport and increase food security, raise incomes for the urban poor, improve storm water drainage and reduce the urban heat island.

Images from field visits to Rosario, Argentina

By 2013, municipal support to urban and peri-urban agriculture in the city had achieved:

• 400 gardeners involved in the programme (280 of them producing food for the market and 120 for family consumption)
• 100 unemployed young people receiving job training in urban agriculture
• 4 “garden parks” and other smaller public areas devoted to vegetable production (covering a total area of 22 ha)
• 3 urban agro-industries are producing processed vegetables and cosmetics from medicinal plants
• The total production is about 95 tonnes of vegetables per year and 5 tonnes of aromatic plants per year. The fresh and processed products are sold by the gardeners at five street markets in the city.

To read more about this RUAF and CDKN project, read the full background paper titled Integrating urban agriculture and forestry into climate change action plans: Lessons from Western Province, Sri Lanka and Rosario, Argentina.