Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Low-Income and Informal Settlements
3. Urban Agriculture (UA)
3.1. Definitions and Benefits
3.2. UA in Low-Income Settlements in South Africa
3.3. Urban Agriculture in eThekwini Municipality
3.4. Pollution and Use of Wastewater
4. Methodology
4.1. Case Studies
4.1.1. Namibia Stop 8
4.1.2. Havelock
4.1.3. Piesang River
4.2. In-Household Surveys
4.3. Framework
5. Results
5.1. Quantitative Results
5.2. Qualitative Results
6. Discussion
7. Conclusions and Recommendations
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. In-Household Survey Schedule
- Name of household head?___________________________________________________________
- If you are not the household head your name?_______________________________________________________________
- What is your age and gender?______________________________________________________________
- What education have you completed?
- Primary
- Secondary
- Tertiary
- Other (what education?)
- How many adults and children (below the age of 16) live in the household including you?_____________________________________________________________________
- What is your occupation?___________________________________________________________________
- Do you work in any other job? If so, what?__________________________________________________________________
- Is your house rental or owned?___________________________________________________________________
- What is your average monthly income?
<R1000 R1001–R1500 R1501–R2000 R2001–R3000 R3001–R4000 R4001–R5000 R5001–R6000 R6001–R7000 R7001–R8000 R8001–R9000 R9001–R10000 R10000 + - Do you have any other assets, such as tv/car/motorbike/fridge/computer?
- How well connected do you feel within the community?
- Not connected at all
- Somewhat connected
- Connected
- Very connected
- 12.
- Is solid waste being collected?
- Yes
- No
- 13.
- How frequently is solid water/garbage collected?
- Daily
- Once a week
- Once every two weeks
- Never
- Other _____________
- 14.
- Are you satisfied with the service?
- Yes
- No
- 15.
- If not satisfied why? (List reasons)
- 16.
- Where does the waste go if it is not collected?
- Street outside house
- open plot near house
- river/stream
- Bins
- Plastic bag outside house
- other_______________
- 17.
- Is the waste segregated within your community?
- Yes
- No
- 18.
- If above is yes, where?
- House
- Communal plot
- Other_________
- 19.
- Do you recycle?
- Yes
- No
- 20.
- If above is yes, list what items you recycle?______________________________________________________
- 21.
- Do you get help from the municipality for recycling for the following:
- Recycling plot
- Training
- Financial support
- Collection of recycling
- Other_______________________
- 22.
- Does it flood outside your house?
- Yes
- No
- 23.
- List which months it floods outside your house_______________________________________
- 24.
- How are you affected by the flooding?
- Transport elsewhere is difficult
- Going to work is affected
- Less income
- Time wasted on cleaning
- Doing daily activities
- Using toilets
- Children cannot go to schools
- Power cut
- Damage to house
- Other _______________________________
- 25.
- How much money is spent on average during/after flooding to repair housing as a result of damage due to rains?________________________________________ Rand
- 26.
- How much working time is lost due to floods?________________________Mins/day
- 27.
- Do you have a vegetable garden in your plot outside your house?
- Yes
- No
- 28.
- Are you interested in vegetable farming?
- Yes
- No
- 29.
- If above is yes, list the names of vegetables/plants that you would grow__________________________________________________________
- 30.
- Where would you get the water from for watering the vegetables/plants
- Your house tap
- Tanker from municipality
- Reuse water from washing clothes/bath/cooking
- Other_______________
- 31.
- Do you have any previous knowledge of farming or the seasonality of plants?
- Yes
- No
- 32.
- How much time would you invest in a vegetable plot?___________________________________mins/day
- 33.
- How much would you be willing to invest in watering a vegetable plot?_____________________________Rands
- 34.
- Would you be willing to participate in community-led farming workshops if they were available for you?
- Yes
- No
- 35.
- How often would you attend such workshops?
- Once a week
- Once a month
- Other __________________________
- 36.
- What type of support do you expect from the municipality for vegetable farming?
- Free water
- Seeds
- Manure
- Training
- Cash award
- Other __________________
- 37.
- Are rats or other pests a problem for you?
- Yes
- No
- 38.
- Do you get water through taps in your house?
- Yes
- No
- 39.
- If above is No answer the following:
- Do you have to fetch water from elsewhere? (Yes/No)
- How far away? (Distance in __-____meters)
- How often do you fetch water daily? (Once, twice, other______)
- Who is responsible for fetching the water? (Women, man, girl child, boy child)
- 40.
- Where do you throw your used water?
- In plot outside house
- Vegetable garden in yard
- Communal vegetable garden plot
- Community open plot
- River/stream
- Other __________________
- 41.
- Do you have a private toilet which you use?
- Yes
- No
- 42.
- If above is yes is it a flush toilet
- Yes
- No
- 43.
- If your house has a private flush toilet list the advantages_________________________________________________________________________
- 44.
- If your house has a private flush toilet, list the disadvantages_______________________________________________________________________
- 45.
- Do you use public toilets?
- Yes
- No
- 46.
- If you use public toilets, what are the advantages?
- Clean
- Good servicing
- Safe to use
- Cheap/Free
- Chance to meet people socially
- Easy walk to toilets
- Can go with family and friends
- Other _________________________
- 47.
- If you use public toilets, what are the disadvantages?
- Not clean
- Not safe to use
- Expensive
- Difficult to walk to the toilets
- Flooded in rains
- Does not work
- Lack of privacy
- Long queue
- No water in toilets
- Other: _____________________
- 48.
- What are the challenges you face around sanitation?
- Safety
- Cleanliness
- Are they serviced?
- Ease of use
- 49.
- Do you have access to electricity in your house?
- Yes
- No
- 50.
- How much do you pay per month?___________________________________ Rands
- 51.
- Are there any problems with electricity?
- Access not in house
- Connection charges high
- Bill is very high
- Do not understand billing system
- Power cuts
- Power supply not reliable with surges damaging appliances
- Not safe in rainy season
- Other ________________
- 52.
- What electric devices do you have?
- Radio
- Television
- Mobile Phone
- Lamps
- Heater
- Other ________________
- 53.
- Who is responsible for paying bills in the household?
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Environmental | Economic | Social | |
---|---|---|---|
Synergy/Opportunities |
|
|
|
Conflict/Challenges |
|
|
|
Havelock | Piesang River | Namibia Stop 8 |
---|---|---|
Current situation: Little to no current farming activities; some traditional medicine plant growing; a co-operative in the past but no longer active; high interest in farming (mainly for own use instead of buying produce, and for selling). | Current situation: Individual and co-operative farming active in the settlement; municipal corporation provided land, households’ (HHs) allocated plots; no committee managing the co-op; 2 large farms: one managed by co-op, the other one by individuals; high interest in farming. | Current situation: Backyards used to grow vegetables among approx. half of participants; high interest in farming. |
Interest in farming: Yes—stronger interest from women groups | Interest in farming: Yes—stronger interest from elder women | Interest in farming: Yes—stronger interest from elder women |
Current crops: some individual fruit trees. | Current crops: different vegetables and fruit trees. | Current crops: different vegetables. |
Skills & training: some residents have farming certificates; interest in learning more about farming. | Skills and training: very good knowledge of vegetable growing; no expressed need for more training. | Skills and training: good knowledge of vegetable growing; interest in learning more about farming. |
Water use: unable to use water from stream due to contamination- environmental threat; water from ablution blocks. | Water use: tank water used (often empty); river water (poor quality). | Water use: tank water used; greywater occasionally used to water plants + greywater reuse project underway; nearby stream (low water level). |
Challenges: lack of adequate land/space; potentially available land close to sewer line; quality of the soil; sufficient water supplies. | Challenges: pollution of the river front which used to be used for vegetable growing; poor water quality from the river & sufficient water supplies. | Challenges: fencing for gardens and area used for farming near the stream to protect crops; sufficient water supplies. |
Dimensions of sustainability of Urban Agriculture: Piesang River, Havelock, Namibia Stop 8 | |||
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Environmental | Economic | Social | |
Synergy/Opportunities |
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Conflict/Challenges |
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Share and Cite
Bisaga, I.; Parikh, P.; Loggia, C. Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5660. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205660
Bisaga I, Parikh P, Loggia C. Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban. Sustainability. 2019; 11(20):5660. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205660
Chicago/Turabian StyleBisaga, Iwona, Priti Parikh, and Claudia Loggia. 2019. "Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban" Sustainability 11, no. 20: 5660. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11205660