Benefits

The benefits associated with urban agriculture are numerous and varied and result in an increase in the well being of individuals, communities and the environment.

It is becoming recognised that producing food in towns and cities can have a wide range of benefits for both people and the environment. Urban agriculture increases city dwellers’ access to fresh produce, improves diet and health, creates jobs, stimulates industries, increases biodiversity and provides training, education and therapeutic opportunities for a wide range of people of different ages and backgrounds.

Furthermore it offers waste recycling services, relives pressure of countryside conversion to agriculture and reduces the need for packaging, transport and other oil based commodities. Cities are major consumers of food, requiring a huge amount of land and other natural resources to sustain them. Urban agriculture helps cities become producers as well as consumers of agricultural products contributing to their long term sustainability and the health of their residents.

The City Harvest website groups the benefits of urban agriculture into five categories of current political and social interest: