African Indigenous Vegetables in Urban Agriculture

About this book

This book provides a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge of the potential and challenges associated with the multiple roles, use, management and livelihood contributions of indigenous vegetables in urban agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.

Indigenous species have multiple advantages, including low input requirements, adaptability to African environments, high nutritional value and marked biodiversity, cultural and local food security significance. This book provides evidence that, in spite of being overlooked, in many African cities indigenous vegetables are still widely used, cultivated and marketed. It goes on to consider their potential to contribute to income generation and poverty alleviation of the growing numbers of urban dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa, whilst promoting urban greening and sustainability.

Contents

Foreword; Defining Urban Agriculture and Indigenous Vegetables; Biodiversity of African Indigenous Vegetables; Urban Agriculture in African Cities; Nutritional Contributions of Important African Indigenous Vegetables; Production and Harvesting Systems for African Indigenous Vegetables; Management of African Indigenous Vegetables Towards Improved Production; Marketing of African Vegetables in Cities; Current Extent of African Vegetables in Urban Agriculture; Integration Of Urban Agriculture Into Spatial Planning - Drawing Lessons from the Dar es Salaam Experience; Integration of IVs and Urban Agriculture: Recurring Themes and Policy Lessons for the Future.

Customer Reviews

Biography

Charlie Shackleton is Head of the Department of Environmental Science, Rhodes University (South Africa).
Margaret Pasquini is a research officer at CAZS Natural Resources, Bangor University (Wales, UK).
Axel Drescher is Professor at the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Sciences at the Department for Physical Geography (IPG), University of Freiburg (Germany).