Empowering the Urban Poor: Using Urban Gardens to Enter the Food Value Chain - Jardin Pro Pauvre

Detailed project description:

The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences (FSA) at the University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC) in Benin, established in 1970, focuses on agricultural education and research. Through the NICHE-BEN-176 project, it developed the Food Security Institute (ISA), which offers a Master's program in Food and Nutritional Security (SAN) and emphasizes community gardens. The FSA supports private sector development related to food security, managing numerous undergraduate and graduate programs and providing professional training, including for urban planners.

Given rapid urbanization, poor urban residents in low- and middle-income countries face increasing food and nutritional insecurity. Urban agriculture (UA) is promoted by the UN as a solution to empower the urban poor to produce fresh food and benefit from surplus production. However, political support for UA is limited, with unclear policies and inadequate planning capacities. This TMT program aims to build capacity for developing community gardens in urban and peri-urban areas by training university staff and local officials in effective urban planning and garden management.