To Assess the potential of sustainable urban agriculture: a case of Nagpur, Maharashtra

Abstract

Increasing urbanization has given rise to a reduction in land for agriculture and forests leading to a lengthening of urban food supply chain. Urban agriculture is one of the many ways to achieve household food security and self sustainability. It has various environmental, economic, social and health benefits that can be brought to urban population with the help and involvement of local government as well as private organizations. Urban agriculture increases availability and access to healthy food and acts as a support system for urban food security. It also provides an opportunity to secondary livelihood. This study attempts to assess the potential of sustainable urban agriculture and is limited to one component of urban agriculture which is urban and peri-urban horticulture and crop production. The city of Nagpur (area under Nagpur Municipal Corporation) is selected as the case area for this study. It is the 15th largest city in India with a total area of 225.08 sq.km and a population of 2.4 million. The study is supported by a field visit which includes expert opinions and primary surveys. A temporal analysis is performed to understand the trend of urbanization and reduction in urban agriculture activities in the city using supervised classification method in ERDAS imagine. Two essential resources for urban agriculture viz. Land and water are identified through primary survey and literature review. Land suitability analysis is done by choosing parameters through literature review. These parameters are ranked by assigning weights using analytical hierarchy rocess. The outcome of land suitability analysis is used for identifying two wards with minimum and maximum available suitable area for urban agriculture. Furthermore, possible types of urban agriculture in each category of land are identified. The ultimate goal of the study is incorporating urban agriculture in city planning. Interventions proposed are at two levels viz. City and neighbourhood with local government bodies having a vital role. Other recommendations given are integration of solid waste management and waste water treatment technologies with urban agriculture, incorporating organic farming practices in home gardens.