Urban agriculture and peri-urban agriculture are two different terms, but often used in combination as urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA). UPA refers to farming practices in geographies around human settlements. While urban agriculture comprises farming areas within the bounds of a city, peri-urban agriculture includes farming in places on the fringes of urban areas. Urban agriculture is also called intra-urban agriculture and popularly termed as urban farming or urban gardening. When used in combination, it refers to crop cultivation, animal husbandry, fisheries, and forestry on small plots of land in and around urban centers.

UPA includes a variety of livelihoods, ranging from subsistence production (small vegetable patches) and food processing and distribution at household levels to more commercialised farming at larger scales. UPA emerges in different locations like balconies, backyards, empty spaces, and terraces, and under varying socio-economic conditions and land tenure systems (owned, borrowed, encroached, collectives, and so on). Even though practiced on a micro scale, diversity is one of the main attributes of UPA as it can be adapted to a wide range of urban situations involving diverse stakeholders. UPA is practiced with many different approaches that include ground-level farming or open farming, rooftop farming, vertical farming, greenhouses, hydroponics, and other technologies. The type of plants grown in UPA largely includes food crops for local consumption, especially perishables, and less of staples. Although practiced mainly for subsistence, UPA is also emerging as an entrepreneurial opportunity in and around urbanising areas.

We hope these glimpses, through videos and pictures from our project sites in India and Tanzania, will help you appreciate the diversity of UPA.