Urban farming benefits the economy, environment, and well-being of those active in the industry, as well as residents who enjoy its products. It plays a role in programs and projects that target health and nutrition, the environment, enterprise development, income generation, water and sanitation, youth and women, and food production and supply. The current and potential roles of urban farming differ from country to country. In countries that must export agricultural products to earn foreign exchange, urban farming can feed the cities while rural farmers concentrate on exports. In countries with a fragile ecology, the intensive production technology of urban farming and its capacity to absorb urban …show more content…
Because daily food intake does not depend on their unstable daily income, poor families gain control over the quantity, quality, and stability of their diet.
• Urban farming provides the poor with control over the nutritional balance of the family diet. More expensive food items such as fruit, vegetables, and meat can be supplied through home production. This improved nutritional balance reduces protein and energy malnutrition as well as deficiencies of essential micronutrients and vitamins
• Urban farming provides fresher food. Food from outside the city — especially perishables like fruit, vegetables, and fish — loses part of its nutritional value during transit and …show more content…
Urban farming has the potential to enhance the nutritional status of urban residents in general, and the urban poor in particular, by directly improving food security and nutritional adequacy. For the poorest with unstable incomes, daily dietary intake varies depending on that day‟s income and prices in the market. They may thus suffer from hunger for part of the year. Many studies show that low-income urban dwellers spend a very high share of their income on food and yet face nutritional deficiencies due to poor diet, poor sanitary environment, and high rates of