Rooftop Farming: An Alternative To Conventional Farming For Urban Sustainability

In ecological terms, modern cities consume 75% of world resources with 2% of global land area and have become a parasite and a resource sink. Unmanaged planning and rapid development often result in the destruction of natural resources and loss of greenery. Pokhara is rapidly urbanizing into a megacity in Nepal and climate change caused by global warming is a great menace here. To support the rising requirement of quality food for the skyrocketing population, the main consumption centre should be mobilized for food production. Rooftop gardens are gaining relevance as they have the potential to meet the growing demand for food in cities and enhance the ecosystem along with the conservation of biodiversity. Thus, the addition of greenery element such as a green roof is becoming a trend to solve this problem in Pokhara. Establishment of green roofs in Pokhara city is arousing the interest of the government and public due to their demonstrated environmental benefits. The objective of this research is to inspect the existing practice and obstacles in rooftop farming that is faced by pr actitioners. Nagdhungha and Birauta are the areas of research here. Two practitioners are interviewed and sixty nonpractitioners are surveyed. The result shows that rooftop farming can benefit the environment by greatly reducing carbon in the atmosphere and can assist urban areas by reducing stormwater management cost. Furthermore, the paper demonstrates that the willingness to practice rooftop farming is high among urban dwellers and for future scope, some recommendations are provided in this research.