Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) has many links to improving the local environment and meeting sustainability goals. For example, citizens recycle waste by composting kitchen waste, reuse greywater from their homes for watering, and reuse waste by using old containers and discarded paint cans as pots. Gardens are rich with a variety of flowers, fruits, vegetables, leaf matter, and soil that attract an array of insects, birds, and small animals, providing a haven for biodiversity. Rooftop and backyard gardens also cool down homes: residents report lower indoor temperatures directly under their gardens and this improves liveability, especially during the hot summer months.

Urban agriculture contributes to several benefits like better physical health, improved mental wellbeing, closer communities; all of which improve quality of life. For some, their gardens were a means to bond with family and spend time with their loved ones. For others, it was a space where they could learn more about nature, plants, and insects, and value the process of food growing. Gardening also serves as a respite from chaotic city routines and a way to connect with like-minded individuals and enable lifelong friendships.

Women have largely been at the forefront of urban agriculture, from maintaining gardens, growing fresh herbs, vegetables and microgreens or ensuring a nutritional diet for the family. For some, gardening is a passion and hobby, while for others gardening armed them with an identity where they ventured beyond their households to set up urban farming enterprises. Though women outnumber men in urban farming, a significant proportion of men are involved as well which offer both men and women to carve new possibilities of growing food in the city.

Availability and accessibility to cultivable land continues to be a pressing challenge in urbanising areas. Despite this, citizens adapt to growing on balconies, terraces, rooftops, and empty plots. Citizens in informal settlements also engage in food growing, livestock and poultry rearing, often within the limited space available, from narrow lanes, footpaths or parapet walls to old containers.

Diverse forms of urban and peri-urban agriculture have led to multiple models of income generating activities for city dwellers, most prominently for the urban poor. In Tanzania, urban and peri-urban agriculture is a key livelihood for several people and includes food growing and livestock rearing. Having a dynamic supply chain, urban and peri-urban agriculture offers livelihood and employment opportunities across seed shops, farmers, transporters, wholesalers, retail sellers and consumers. Whereas in India, UPA has captured the growing service sector economy. Across the megacities of India - Pune, Bengaluru and Chennai - social enterprises are offering mali or gardening services to city-dwellers. These malis tend to be migrants from rural areas who already possess farming skills. To cater to the growing demand of fresh food in cities, several firms have also ventured into aquaponics, hydroponics and other tech-driven models, which offer various operation and maintenance jobs for technically-skilled youngsters in the city. Finally, several cooperatives and community farms in and around the city are providing fresh fruits, vegetables and dairy products to urban consumers, employing people throughout the supply chain.

Urban farmers grow ornamentals, microgreens, herbs, vegetables, and fruits. Many of them meet their daily vegetable needs like tomatoes, chillies, beans, okra, brinjal, and gourds, from their gardens. Since these were organically home-grown, it provides fresh, healthy, and nutritional diets. Growing local and native plants has also led to a revival of forgotten flavours and food-recipes, reviving local food cultures. During the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns, these food gardens became major sources of fresh herbs, fruits and vegetables for many households, including the urban poor.