Benefits of Urban Agriculture Development

In Vietnam, the urbanisation process is very fast. Buffer zones between cities and rural areas are facing many challenges. Specifically, population expands rapidly while technical and social infrastructure and transport system of urban zones fail to meet the demand; urbanisation is shrinking farming areas in the suburbs and erasing traditional villages; and livelihood gaps between residents of urban and rural areas are widening.

 

These pose a series of challenges needed to be addressed, that is, agricultural land planning and use; technical - technological infrastructure construction investment; crop restructuring planning; solutions to agricultural product market; human resources development and training; and technology transfer.

 

Urban agriculture will speed up the industrialisation and modernisation of agriculture and rural areas, enhance the competitiveness of agricultural products, and satisfy material and cultural demands of urban and rural residents.

 

The well-planned and well-managed development of urban agriculture will create sources of fresh and safe foods for local demands. Countryside people moving to live in cities can produce foods for their own daily needs.

 

Urban agriculture - if properly cared and planned with specific strategies - will take advantage of urban land and redundant labour to create jobs and incomes for local residents in the process of urbanisation.

 

Urban agriculture will facilitate the deployment of scientific and technological services in production. Urban agriculture will supply vegetations, flowers and foods to urban zones.

 

Urban agriculture will improve soil and regenerate nutrients for soil by reusing organic wastes from urban activities, thus helping manage natural resources sustainably and reduce urban environmental pollution.

 

Featured by localised production and supply, urban agriculture requires little expense for harvesting, packaging, transporting and conserving. Product quality is ensured while vehicles needed to transport agricultural products are reduced.

 

Urban agriculture helps create urban landscapes and improve public health. It forms landscapes and green belts for cities.

 

Risks of urban agriculture and suburbs to human health and environment are primarily resulted from the wrong use of agricultural materials (plant protection products, nitrogenous fertilisers, phosphorus fertilisers, organic matters containing hazardous residues such as heavy metals, pathogenic micro-organisms, radioactive substances, etc.) that contaminate drinking water, transmit micro-organisms in soil and water and pollute the air.

 

Cattle ranching may infect animal diseases to humans in urban areas if farming practices and farming spaces are not appropriate. Aquaculture in suburban areas with chemical abuses can also harm natural water and soil environment.

 

To develop urban agriculture sustainably, develop the economy and protect the environment, the following issues must be done. It is necessary to review land and shift crops and livestock for higher economic value; use land towards intensive concentrated farming; research and apply technical advances and new technologies; study on breeding, reproduction, commercialisation, processing, preservation and transportation of products; build trading centres and wholesale markets to promote trade and popularise products; consolidate activities of farming extension systems and organisations; help farmers to access technical progress; ensure breeding, scientific, technological services for modern agriculture; ensure output markets for agricultural products; manufacture high-quality localised crops and livestock; increase investment capital; diversify investment forms and accelerate technical application to production, processing, preservation, transportation and consumption of products; introduce sustainable urban agriculture development policies; create jobs and increase incomes, etc.