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Argentina: Lessons on urban agriculture and crisis management from Argentina

Rasario’s Urban Agriculture Program gives low-income residents access to underutilized and abandoned public and private land to cultivate food.

By Anne Maassen
Urban Innovation & Finance Associate, WRI Ross Center For Sustainable Cities
By Madeleine Galvin
Research Assistant, WRI Ross Center For Sustainable Cities
World Economic Forum
June 23, 2021
(Must see. Mike)

Excerpt:

To establish urban farming as a source of livelihood, the municipality also created spaces throughout the city for several permanent and pop-up markets, where urban farmers could sell locally grown produce and homemade goods like pickled vegetables, sauces, syrups, organic cosmetics and preserved fruit and jams.

“Consumers benefit because our produce is fresher and more affordable, since it doesn’t have to travel 500, 600 kilometers,” said Marisa Fogante, owner of two small agribusinesses selling in Rosario’s markets. “There is a virtuous circle where local producers grow produce that they can sell here, and consumers can easily access these foods by foot or on a bike.”

Today, almost 300 urban farmers have temporary ownership of public and private land. About 65% are women who grow produce and sell it in Rosario’s markets.

The municipality has also expanded urban agriculture into public spaces, schools, marketplaces and a variety of social programs, especially those for youth and elders, establishing a culture around food production. Vegetable Garden Parks in low-income communities have become critical locations to carry out other social programs, including those for education and youth development. For example, municipality staff trained more than 2,400 families and 40 schools on agroecological production, which have since started their own vegetable gardens.

Read the complete article here.