Eco-Efficiency Assessment and Food Security Potential of Home Gardening: A Case Study in Padua, Italy

Abstract

Abstract:In the expanding urban agriculture phenomenon in Europe, home gardens are a traditional form that have kept agriculture within cities, even becoming crucial in certain historical periods (e.g., war periods). However, horticultural practices in home gardens can also have negative consequences. The goal of this paper is to assess the eco-efficiency of home gardens as a type of urban agriculture. To do so, a case study in Padua (Italy) was evaluated following life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods. A home garden of 30.6 m 2 and 21 crop cycles were evaluated. The functional unit of the assessment was 1 kg of harvested fresh vegetable at the consumption point, and the ReCiPe method was employed for impact assessment. Environmental assessment indicated that organic fertilization, use of tap water, mineral fertilization and pesticides were the most contributing elements of the entire life cycle. Furthermore, the relevance of garden design and crop selection was a determinant in the eco-efficiency results. The assessed home garden could satisfy the food requirements of between 1 and 2 members of the household. Crop management and design recommendations are provided to improve eco-efficiency and food security potential of home gardens.

How Can Innovation in Urban Agriculture Contribute to Sustainability? A Characterization and Evaluation Study from Five Western European Cities

“…Regarding environmental benefits, an increased environmental resilience due to life-long learning was identified as a strength of the UA experiences in Bologna [56]. Additionally, UA was indicated as a potential urban strategy for food production and self-sufficiency not only at the household level [57] but also at the city level [58]. In recent decades, the reuse of spaces has been highlighted in renewed UA activity where new and unused spaces of the city, such as rooftops and indoor spaces of buildings or their facades [13], including not only residential buildings but also industrial parks [59] or retail parks [60], have been adapted to food growing.…”

“…The enhancement of innovation has been evaluated in some studies [8,40,89], which have highlighted how UA activities need to adapt to the urban environment and to focus on looking for alternative ways to reach consumers in order to avoid the economic competitiveness within the conventional market. Finally, reduced costs due to self-production depend on crop management and the crop species [25,57]. Although no studies have evaluated the diversification of the local economy as a whole, a research study on the business models of professional UA activities has highlighted the diversification of the activities not only in terms of products but also of services [54].…”

“…The main negative aspect within the economic dimension was the high price of urban food products. The price strongly depends on the production costs, whose dependence on the available technologies, products, and climatic conditions [25,57,62] may limit the viability of UA activities. The strong price pressure of the food market was indicated by Pölling et al [54] as a driver for adaptations in UA professional activities (e.g., specialization, diversification, differentiation) but also as a cause for a decreased number of urban farms in the last decades.…”

Revisiting the Sustainability Concept of Urban Food Production from a Stakeholders’ Perspective

“…In the literature, some authors have evaluated the role of UFP in social inclusion [8,64,65], revealing that while UFP can lead to inclusionary activities for migrants, the effectiveness of them depends on the local context and policy. Increased access to affordable food has been demonstrated in the literature, particularly for socially-oriented initiatives where the individuals and the community directly harvest the food [41,[66][67][68].…”

“…Alaimo et al [29], Litt et al [30] and Algert et al [40] quantified the changes in the vegetables and fruit uptake of household members, in terms of number of daily portions, before and after participating in community gardens or having their own home garden. Sanyé-Mengual et al [41] assessed the sustainability potential of home gardens from a food security perspective, where the assessed home garden represented economic savings for the household and satisfied the annual vegetable requirements of between 1 and 2 people.…”