The Role of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture in Enhancing Food Security and Climate Change Resilience in East and West African Cities

Abstract

This!research!report!is!a!synthesis!of!both!peer1reviewed!and!grey!literature!on! Urban! and! Peri1Urban!Agriculture!and!Forestry! (UPAF)! in! eight!East!and!West! African!Cities.!The!research!is!premised!on!the!understanding!that!considerable! research! on! UPAF! in! Africa! has! been! conducted! since! the! 1990s! but! not! synthesized!to!garner!knowledge!on!its!role!in!building!resilience!in!urban!areas.! Evidence! suggests! that! UPAF! has! transitioned! from! a! coping! measure! to! now! enhancing! resilience!as!well!as!adaptation! to!and!mitigation!of! climate! change.! This! research! provides! knowledge! and! information! with! respect! to! how!UPAF! can! contribute! towards! food! security,! improving! urban! livelihoods! and! enhancing!ecosystem!services!as!well!as!its!limitations.!!Evidence!suggests!that! the! strategies! for! climate! change!mitigation!and!adaptation!must!be! integrated! into! a! multi1sector! approach,! but! the! role! of! UPAF! in! sustaining! eco1system! services! has! not! been! given! adequate! attention.! The! research! analyzed! secondary! data! combined!with! selected! field! and! ground! verification! visits! in! two!of!the!eight!cities!in!order!to!draw!generalizations!from!micro1!to!meso1scale! ecosystem!service!provision!through!UPAF!in!African!cities.!The!focus!areas!are:! supporting! ecosystems! services;! provisioning! services;! and! regulatory! ecosystem!services.!!