What is urban agriculture and rural agriculture?
Sept. 13, 2023
It may be that when we decide to rent an urban garden to supply our own vegetables, we ask ourselves: What are the differences between urban farmers and professional farmers?
We assume that...
Agriculture has 2 fields of expression: rural and urban.
Publish your garden for free today
Rural agriculture is itself considered to be the most professional, with higher economies of scale, higher volume and ultimately responsible for a large part of the food supply.
Urban agriculture has been considered more of a leisure activity, but in some areas the situation is changing: including the economic motive given the rising price of fresh produce or the search for that original taste in the vegetables or fruit we eat.
Urban agriculture is integrated into the local economy and the ecological system itself, and a distinction can be made between intra-urban and peri-urban agriculture.
Peri-urban agriculture can be said to be the prelude to rural agriculture, where we can find small producers, who apart from having a few gardens to rent, have their production for their own consumption or to pay for business expenses.
Urban agriculture can be seen as an agricultural, socio-economic sector operated by urbanites, who produce, process and distribute their products largely for their own urban market.
An important role is played here by the so-called consumer groups that organise themselves for distribution at a local level, organising baskets and collections of garden produce.
A common denominator may be the small area on which it is developed, especially intra-urban agriculture, and therefore low economies of scale, higher production costs and labour-intensive.
It also has major limitations of not using chemical pesticides, given the proximity to people's homes.
In return, this results in a shortening of the product value chain:
Production - Processing - Distribution and Consumption.
In urban agriculture we find products with higher added value, as they are freshly harvested, environmentally friendly as they have a minimal impact on the carbon footprint, and are a way to fight pollution in big cities.
Thus, rural and urban agriculture complement each other, each finding its audience and its place. This makes us think that the urban orchard plays a very important role.
What are you waiting for to start connecting with nature from your rental garden?
Latest posts
