Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture as Green Infrastructure (UP-AGrI) in India - Primary Survey Dataset

The Global South is urbanising at an unprecedented rate: by 2050, urban areas are expected to increase by 2.5-3 billion people, 90% of whom will be in Asia and Africa. The reality of this ‘urban century’ is twofold. On the one hand, it is marked by growing inequality, increasing demands for urban services, and spreading of ‘mega-city problems’ such as congestion, shrinking green spaces, a proliferation of informal settlements, and increasing greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, urban areas are hailed as sites of tremendous opportunity, to improve well-being and enable sustainable development, by leapfrogging unsustainable trajectories. Green infrastructure or nature-based solutions are identified as one of the key ways of achieving the triple goals of sustainable development, human well-being, and climate action through fostering biodiversity, maintaining air quality, regulating water resources, providing food and nutrition, improving public health, and building psychosocial values that improve non-material well-being. Recognising the challenges of sustainable urbanisation and focussing on food growing as a key space to examine solutions, the Urban and peri-urban agriculture as green infrastructure (UP-AGrI) project, examines the implications of agriculture in and around cities on human well-being and urban sustainability. 

Between 2020 and 2021, this survey captured information related to urban agriculture practices, their benefits, and outcomes on sustainability and wellbeing from 441 households across various Indian cities. More specifically, the data obtained includes urban agriculture related information on gender, age, occupation, annual income, motivations, practices, barriers, perceptions, and recommendations.

For more information, visit - https://upagri.wixsite.com/up-agri