The World Urban Forum is taking place down in my home town this week. That I suppose was what provided at least part of the impetus for the United Nations Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN) to issue a statement on the Nutrition Security of Urban Populations. Not to be outdone, FAO has a publication out too, Growing Greener Cities in Africa, touted as the “first status report on urban and peri-urban horticulture in Africa.” A cursory glance doesn’t reveal much on diversity in these documents, but this is an issue that’s always intrigued me. Could cities act as magnets for crop inter- and intraspecific diversity? After all, they have lots of micro-niches, and have been attracting people from all over for decades, who could have come with their seeds. Is it possible that varieties could still be grown in cities after they’ve disappeared in their native areas? Or at any rate that crop diversity in a city is higher than in the surrounding countryside? Sometime ago we did a small survey of sweet potato diversity in Nairobi roadside verges that seemed to suggest that the menu of varieties was at least somewhat different from what was available in nearby rural areas. Should write that up one day. Anybody know of similar studies?
Not similar studies, no, but places like Birmingham in England, which has a large number of allotment gardens tended by families originally from outside the UK, boasts lots of exotic fruit and veg.
Wow, what a nice posting have you in favor of urban agriculture, I like it , Thank you so much for posting it!