India: Urban agriculture: Towards an inclusive approach to make Delhi an ‘edible city’
Home food gardening has primarily remained an elitist practice in Delhi and only a section of the society has the resources and support system to set up these gardens.
By Anita Pinheiro, Ankit Saxena, Mariam Fatima
Down To Earth
12 July 2022
Excerpt:
The vacant spaces in the built environment become a potential resource for urban farming practices with a focus on making ways to make it equally accessible to all practitioners.
Enhanced interaction between the authorities and community about farming initiatives should be the way forward. The objective is to promote more participation from the people with regular awareness campaigns about best practices and the benefits of engagement.
The city’s land use and planning policies should also incorporate farming practices and focus on reclaiming extra land around public spaces, pathways, parking lots and vacant plots for better utilisation as cultivable green spaces.
These initiatives also reduce the burden of limited access to expensive land and rentals in the city, promoting further participation from people and allowing sustainable revitalisation of vacant land.
