Subsistence Urban Agriculture: Key Externalities and Way Forward

Abstract

In the past few decades, urban areas have surpassed rural areas in food insecurity and poverty rates in the Asia Pacific. As a result, many of the urban poor have started to grow their own food as a way to feed their families and use the income saved to cover non-food household needs. However, in most cities, their efforts are not recognized in policies or supported. This policy brief identifies public health and food security implications of this lack of public oversight on urban farming. Policy recommendations on managing the negative externalities of urban agriculture and best practices for getting urban agriculture on the policy agenda are discussed.