Farming for Biodiversity

CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER/CIDADES SEM FOME

Sao Paulo, Brésil
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An Overview Of Our Solution

Urbanization is an ongoing and autonomous worldwide trend creating an ever-growing number of urban consumers while rapidly declining the number of farmers and pushing out agriculture from metropolitan areas. This process will increase in coming years, especially in developing countries where between 80% and 90% of population growth will be in cities. Environmental pollution, health problems, the construction of illegal settlements and malnutrition only represent part of future urban challenges. CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER transforms unused public and private plots of land into useful community gardens. Our sustainable agrarian projects based on organic agriculture improve the precarious situation of the people living in the favelas (slums) in the East Area of the Brazilian metropolis Sao Paulo and create green spaces in a densely populated urban environment.
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Urban
Urban
Additional Information
  • Population Impacted:
  • Continent: South America
General Information

Organization type

Other
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Urban Built Environment
Urban/Built Environment

Population impacted

More than 10.000 people.
Challenge

Size of agricultural area

5,0 hectares

Production quantity

150.000kg a year

People employed

115 people
Solution

Describe your solution

CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER aims to transform unused public and private plots of land into useful community gardens. Our projects, based on organic agriculture, create green spaces in an urban context and a longer useful life to sanitary landfills by transforming organic waste into compost. Community gardens lead to sustainable land use practices on areas that would otherwise have become clandestine waste and debris dumps, plus generating a favorable setting for illegal and disorderly occupations of homes and the transformation of peri-urban spaces into ghettos and shanty towns. The implementation of various community gardens with different vegetables, fruits, flowers and herbs instead of unused land thus has a positive impact on biodiversity. Furthermore, we use traditional seeds so that the farmers do not have to buy new crops after each harvest and that there is no need for chemicals. Our projects provide a sustainable alternative in connection with the production of food in disadvantaged communities in order to attenuate the situation of those groups at risk, thus contributing to improving social, environmental and economic relevant issues. Additionally, we also implement school gardens projects in order to raise awareness for healthy food, respect for environment and sustainable agricultural practices.
Implementation

Describe your implementation

After having identified unused public or private areas, a usage authorization gets obtained. Then the concerned area gets cleaned and prepared for the planting. In a second step, inhabitants with agricultural interests get identified. Afterwards, the participants benefit from several workshops and training concerning growing and sale of agricultural products. This approach ensures a proper implementation of the community gardens. As a next step, the responsibility for the areas is handed over to the participants and the beneficiaries of the project start cultivating different vegetables. The growing of the community gardens is used for their personal need but also for selling them to nearby residents. All our projects have a participatory approach, as the local residents and local organizations are extensively involved. CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER promotes the expansion of green areas and a beautification of the landscape in a densely populated urban area. The precarious situation of the people living in the favelas (slums) in the East Area of the megacity can be greatly improved. Moreover, transforming unused lands into gardens prevents the construction of further illegal settlements. With regard to the population’s health, community gardens reduce the prevalence of diseases largely associated with low organic resistance stemming from an unbalanced diet. Additionally, agricultural land use prevents ponding and the spreading of dengue fever. A key factor for our success is the favorable climate for farming, including the high level of rainfall in Sao Paulo. An obstacle, on the other hand, is that urban farmers are often very poor and do not have any savings to invest into gardens. Therefore, they almost always depend on external financial aid, which is why CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER needs financial support.

External connections

The project establishes centers of community gardens in the Eastern part of the city of São Paulo, in partnership with the local authorities, the public sector entities and nonprofit organizations. One of our key partners is the energy distributor of Sao Paulo Eletropaulo, which provides the areas for our community garden projects. STÄDTE OHNE HUNGER Deutschland e.V. represents the booster club with its seat in Berlin, Germany. It supports CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER financially and ideologically. The aim is a worldwide awareness rising of urban agriculture. Other stakeholders: IAF – InterAmerican Foundation, Rotary International Foundation, Antenna Foundation, Itaú Bank, Caixa Econômica Federal Bank, Embassies of Switzerland, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, São Paulo City Hall.
Results

What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?

According to the UN, half of humanity lives in cities & a further increase is to be expected. This creates an evergrowing # of urban consumers while rapidly declining the number of farmers. Moreover, 95% of future urban expansion is expected to take place in developing countries. The rapid urbanization often results in insufficient infrastructure and sanitation. This in turn leads to environmental pollution & health problems. Besides, also social challenges persist: the widening gap between rich & poor, the construction of illegal settlements, unemployment & malnutrition. These problems also become apparent in the city of São Paulo (Brazil), where rapid urbanization started in the year 1960. Nowadays, greater São Paulo is home to the world’s fifth-largest urban population with 19.385.332 inhabitants. Our projects contribute a solution to the disappearance of green spaces, social segregation & malnutrition, as especially low-income households do not have access to fresh food.

Describe the context in which you are operating

The city’s East Side, given the housing concentration and the non-existence of job- generating programs for its economically
active population (PEA), stands out as grim sprawl of poverty and violence in the municipal context.
Though located in the metropolitan region, poor social conditions, precarious road access and low economic activity
keep it segregated from the rest of the metropolis. Some 3.3 million people (33% of the city’s population) live in the
East Side, a region characterized by a 0.478 average HDI, an 11 percent child mortality rate and an undesirable crime
rate of 76.3 cases per year for every 100 thousand inhabitants. The population is formed mostly of migrants from
Brazil’s poorer northeastern states in search of job opportunity and better living conditions. As the most of the area’s
workforce is unemployed, the distribution of food baskets by the city is often the only source of nourishment for
many families.

How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?

To date CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER has started up 25 community gardens and thus created new green areas in the city of Sao Paulo, 115 people have become community gardeners. This means that along with their families some 650 people benefit from the project by having their livelihood guaranteed. CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER has organized 48 professional qualification courses, which includes training and workshop about organic farming. Around 1,000 people have qualified in sustainable agriculture or commerce. The School Garden Project is to give children in deprived regions of São Paulo access to healthy food and to prevent malnutrition. Furthermore, parents and teachers get involved and educate the children about respect for the environment and healthy food. CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER has to date started and built 38 gardens in public schools and institutions. Up to now the project has reached 14,506 children. The School Garden Project has improved the diet of several thousand children.

Language(s)

Which language(s) are spoken in the area where your solution is implemented?

Social/Community

To attend the Local Commission for the preparation of a work plan of the productive activities to boost local development through the mobilization of economic, political and social support to form a network of collaboration, dissemination of knowledge and promoting local development. The promotion of social inclusion of local communities goes through processes of learning about systems of associations and cooperatives, fair trade adn the strengthening of local communities.

Water

Urban gardens lead to increased soil permeability with the subsequent reduction in the volume of drainable water volumes and larger subterranean water reserves given the higher infiltration of rainwater. Compared to monoculture, small-scale community gardens based on organic farming do not pollute groundwater with chemicals. Furthermore, only little water is required and it is used in an efficient way.

Food Security/Nutrition

Thanks to urban agriculture local residents as well as the participants have access to fresh and locally produced food.

Economic/Sustainable Development

The projects improve the financial situation of low-income households by the sale of the agricultural products. The aim is to help people help themselves..

Climate

The implementation of agricultural land use instead of unused areas has a positive effect on the microclimate: for instance,gardens counteract high temperatures (up to 3 or 4 degrees cooler).

Sustainability

During the first year, CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER offers training and workshops for the participants concerning organic
farming. Moreover, the participants get financial support during the first year of the project. Afterwards, the
beneficiaries are able to work independently without any assistance required. CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER enables
the farmers the access to the market by doing advertisement in restaurants, communities and local fruits and vegetable
markets.

Return on investment

The implementation of a community garden, whereby up to 10 families can benefit, costs 10’000 dollars. Four harvests per year, each of an average value of 833 dollars per month, allow a return on investment after one year.

Entrant Banner Image

logo CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER
Replication and Scale

How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?

The RUAF-Foundation, the FAO, city authorities and civil society organizations recognize urban agriculture increasingly for its capacity to strengthen the resilience of the urban food system, enhance access of the urban poor to nutritious food, generate (self-) employment and income, help the city to adapt to climate change and reduce its ecological foot print. In Sao Paulo, there exist a great demand and still very little supply for organic products. Thus, potential markets exist, while unemployment remains a problem. Moreover, many urban areas are not used yet and could be transformed into community gardens. Food production in community gardens rely on very low-cost inputs such as tree trimmings or domestic organic waste, adding economic value to what constitutes an environmental liability for local governments. In order to extend our projects and to contribute to supply the demand for organic products, CITIES WITHOUT HUNGER needs financial supports.
Overview