Continuity under change: Towards a spatiotemporal understanding of market-oriented urban and peri-urban agriculture – Insights from Kenya. (October 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Follmann, Alexander; Willkomm, Maximilian; Nduru, Gilbert; Owuor, George; Dannenberg, Peter
• Is Part Of: Applied geography. Volume 135(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-10
• Subjects: Urban and peri-urban agriculture -- Urban growth -- Continuity under change -- Land use and land cover analysis -- RapidEye -- Irrigation; Geography -- Periodicals; Human geography -- Periodicals; Human ecology -- Periodicals; 910
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apgeog.2021.102528
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0143-6228

Abstract

Abstract: Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) operates in an ambiguous relation to rapid urban growth. While urban expansion constrains farmers' access to land and resources, resulting in a replacement of UPA, proximity to expanding urban economies creates new market opportunities leading to enduring UPA. While the literature on UPA in the Global South is burgeoning, little attention has been paid to market-oriented forms of UPA under rapid urban growth. In this paper, we analyse the spatiotemporal dynamics of UPA and market-oriented farmer's responses to changing socio-spatial circumstances in two rapidly growing Kenyan cities: Nyeri and Nakuru. By conceptualizing UPA's enduring existence as continuity under change, we develop a spatiotemporal understanding of market-oriented UPA that goes beyond a dominant dichotomous view on replacement versus persistence. Based on a mixed-methods approach combining geospatial analysis with quantitative and qualitative interviews, our findings show that the continued existence of market-oriented agriculture in the city is connected to highly dynamic processes of commercialization, specialization, and intensification. We conclude that market-oriented farmers are not inevitably pushed out of the city, but rather that they are – under certain conditions – able to actively respond to the pressures as well as opportunities that emerge during rapid urban growth. Highlights: Urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) is under pressure by urban growth. Persistence of market-oriented UPA is (re)conceptualized as continuity under change . Interplay of locational and socio-economic factors affect market-oriented UPA transformations. Irrigation and crop choice are important factors for persistence/replacement. Intensification and commercialization of market-oriented UPA emerges as key for continuity.