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Where Do I Allocate My Urban Allotment Gardens? Development of a Site Selection Tool for Three Cities in Benin

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  • B. G. J. S. Sonneveld

    (Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    Amsterdam Centre for World Food Studies, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • M. D. Houessou

    (Athena Institute, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands
    Laboratoire d’Etude sur la Pauvreté et la Performance de l’Agriculture (LEPPA), Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, 03 BP 2819 R.P. Cotonou, Benin
    Centre d’Actions pour l’Environnement et le Développement Durable, BP 660 Abomey-Calavi, Benin)

  • G. J. M. van den Boom

    (Amsterdam Centre for World Food Studies, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1085, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

  • A. Aoudji

    (Laboratoire d’Etude sur la Pauvreté et la Performance de l’Agriculture (LEPPA), Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Abomey-Calavi, 03 BP 2819 R.P. Cotonou, Benin)

Abstract

In the context of rapid urbanization, poorer residents in cities across low- and middle-income countries increasingly experience food and nutrition deficiencies. The United Nations has highlighted urban agriculture (UA) as a viable solution to food insecurity, by empowering the urban poor to produce their own fresh foods and make some profit from surplus production. Despite its potential role in reducing poverty and food insecurity, there appears to be little political will to support urban agriculture. This is seen in unclear political mandates that are sustained by information gaps on selection criteria for UA sites. The research reported here addresses this issue in the form of a decision-making support tool that assesses the suitability of cadastral units and informal plots for allotment gardens in urban and peri-urban areas. The tool was developed and tested for three rapidly expanding cities in Benin, a low-income country in West Africa, based on an ordered logit model that relates a set of 300 expert assessments on site suitability to georeferenced information on biophysical and socio-economic characteristics. Soil, land use, groundwater depth, vicinity to market and women’s safety were significant factors in the assessment. Scaled up across all cadastral units and informal sites, the tool generated detailed baseline maps on site suitability and availability of areas. Its capacity to support policymakers in selecting appropriate sites comes to the fore by reporting changes in site suitability under scenarios of improved soil fertility and enhanced safety for women.

Suggested Citation

  • B. G. J. S. Sonneveld & M. D. Houessou & G. J. M. van den Boom & A. Aoudji, 2021. "Where Do I Allocate My Urban Allotment Gardens? Development of a Site Selection Tool for Three Cities in Benin," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-22, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:3:p:318-:d:520555
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Yu, Dan & Xie, Ping & Dong, Xiaohua & Su, Bob & Hu, Xiaonong & Wang, Kai & Xu, Shijin, 2018. "The development of land use planning scenarios based on land suitability and its influences on eco-hydrological responses in the upstream of the Huaihe River basin," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 373(C), pages 53-67.
    2. Mawuna Donald Houessou & Mirte van de Louw & Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld, 2020. "What Constraints the Expansion of Urban Agriculture in Benin?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Headey, Derek D. & Ruel, Marie T., 2020. "The COVID-19 nutrition crisis: What to expect and how to protect," IFPRI book chapters, in: COVID-19 and global food security, chapter 8, pages 38-41, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Mawuna Donald Houessou & Annemijn Cassee & Ben G. J. S. Sonneveld, 2021. "The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Security in Rural and Urban Settlements in Benin: Do Allotment Gardens Soften the Blow?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-18, June.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ustaoglu, E. & Sisman, S. & Aydınoglu, A.C., 2021. "Determining agricultural suitable land in peri-urban geography using GIS and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 455(C).
    2. Ada Górna & Krzysztof Górny, 2021. "Singapore vs. the ‘Singapore of Africa’—Different Approaches to Managing Urban Agriculture," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-28, September.
    3. Chabi Simin Najib Dafia & Fei Chen & Peter Davis Sumo, 2022. "Guideline and Strategies of Textile Industry on the Sustainable Development of Benin," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-18, October.
    4. Hua Zheng & Min Guo & Qian Wang & Qinghai Zhang & Noriko Akita, 2023. "A Bibliometric Analysis of Current Knowledge Structure and Research Progress Related to Urban Community Garden Systems," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-34, January.
    5. Anita Kwartnik-Pruc & Gabriela Droj, 2023. "The Role of Allotments and Community Gardens and the Challenges Facing Their Development in Urban Environments—A Literature Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-26, January.

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