Urban agriculture and food security: A critique based on an assessment of urban land constraints

Urban agriculture (UA) is promoted because of its contribution to food security and poverty alleviation. A considerable literature highlights these benefits, but there are also criticisms that they are overstated. We review these divergent perspectives and assess the potential for UA to contribute to urban food security in different regions, based on a low threshold of urban land required to grow the daily vegetable intake for the urban poor. We find that UA is feasible in these terms in high-income countries, but its potential is low, except in the most optimistic scenario, in low-income countries, where it might be most useful. We conclude that UA can only make a limited contribution in achieving urban food security in low-income countries.