Community Gardening & Urban Farming

Neighbour farming is a part of agriculture where crops or animals are grown by people for food and raw materials. It is a source of livelihood and contributes to the health and economy of the nation. It also creates job opportunities for people living in poverty in developing countries. 60% of the world's working poor work in the agricultural sector. They play an important role in sustaining and driving the economy. In India, agriculture plays a vital role in generating employment.

In the last few previous years even though people have succumbed to their own lives most of them are trying to find time for their gardening and farming. A lot of them are shifting to a healthy lifestyle by growing their vegetables and fruits which are free from hazardous fertilizers. This shift in lifestyle has increased the number of community gardens around the world and the demand for urban farm products.

What is urban farming?

It is the method of growing, cultivating, and distributing food in and around urban areas. It is much more extensive than gardening and has the potential to improve the urban environment quality. They make healthy and green products much more accessible to the people and also provide unique techniques for urban communities to learn about farming.

Since urban areas are cities and towns with a large amount of human settlement and infrastructure, this can give rise to several environmental issues. Urban farming can help reduce these environmental issues and improve air quality, support biodiversity, and control urban heat impacts.

What is community gardening?

This type of gardening takes place in a particular piece of land that is gardened and maintained by a group of people. It can be a community plot or it can be an individuals plot. Since nowadays everyone is occupied with their life schedules and there are no plots for gardening, there are several organizations that provide opportunities and plots for individuals whole are interested in community gardening. Community gardening not only helps to produce fresh farm products but also helps the residents of the community to come together, work together, share similar interests, and improve individual’s physical and mental well-being.

(Source: PlanRadar)

Since community gardens are a part of sharing economy, it makes it possible for people to enjoy gardening even if they don’t own a piece of land. It can also make a place or town look much more beautiful with its greenery and also can give rise to a cleaner environment. The best way to start a community garden is by talking to your neighbours with similar interests.

Benefits of urban farming and community gardening on the environment:

Farming and gardening are always better ways to rebuild the environment. These activities not just help the environment but also the individuals and the whole ecological system. It helps us to reduce the negative impacts on the environment such as pollution, deforestation, and other destructions caused by mankind by promoting a sustainable environment. The environment gets an opportunity to rebuild itself.

Urban farming and community gardening in India:

In India, urban farming is done under the government, private agencies, communities, or a group of individuals. Urban farming is mainly carried out in cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, and Chennai. It is also highly beneficial if the city chosen by them is the right one. Or else they will have to spend a lot of money on farming and its requirements.

Community gardens are seen both in rural and urban areas in India. The idea of community gardening came up in the 19th century when the workers were given the right to grow their vegetables. It is this idea that triggered the idea of community gardening all around the world. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, New Delhi are some of the cities that practice community gardening in India.

Difference between urban farming and community gardening:

1. In urban farming, a few people are engaged in farming, but they spend more time working. They make use of larger plots for cultivation. Whereas in community gardening several people are working but the time engaged in farming is less as compared to urban farming. They work on smaller plots.

2. Urban farming is more business-oriented and technology-oriented. Their primary objective is to maximize their cultivation and sell them. On the other hand, community gardening is done by communities for their usage, they are not business-oriented.

3. Community gardening is more socially oriented. They aim to cultivate their own natural and organic farm products. They work as a community and not as individuals and they make use of their backyard and other small plots in the community.

Urban farming and community gardening today:

Since everyone is looking for a sustainable way of living nowadays, everyone has begun to get themselves included in sustainable activities like community gardening and more. Everyone prefers their farm-made organic products rather than vegetables and fruits that come with preservatives and other hazardous substances.

(Source: Greenroofs.com)

Some countries promote these farming techniques for their own survival needs and then other countries do this to push their technological boundaries. Countries like Argentina, South Korea, Netherlands, Ghana are in front of urban farming. In Argentina, there’s a city named Rosario which had to face an economic crisis in 2001. It was urban farming that pulled the city out of the crisis. Today, Rosario is known for its urban farming techniques and is the most successful urban development initiative in history.

New York is a city with numerous numbers of community gardens. Their community gardening program is considered to be the best in the country. There are over 550 community gardens in New York. These areas for gardening include city property, school gardens, daycares, and public housing.

In the coming days, there will be a lot of people engaging themselves in these activities for their neighbour’s well-being as well as others. These activities were initially practised only in countries that had an agrarian population, but now it is practised neighbours all around the world by several communities. Since both these farming techniques don’t need to use large plots they make sure to give more yield from small plots which is an important reason why people all around the world choose to do urban farming and community gardening. India is an agrarian economy with several numbers of people who engage themselves in farming activities. So, both urban farming and community gardening has a long-term future in India.

Community gardening or urban farming, both are better ways that help individuals to build a sustainable and safe environment. Nowadays a lot of them are finding themselves time to indulge in activities like these. There are even celebrities who find themselves time for gardening and agriculture, they are indeed a motivation for all others.

“The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the civilization and perfection of human beings."

-Masanobu Fukuoka

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Author - Aleesha A Vithayathil

Content Writer at Escribo.