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Introduction Many approaches and efforts have been made and continuously taking place in Palestine to handle appropriate applications toward achieving a sustainable and realistic city planning (UNDP, 1999). However, city planning in Palestine is rarely addressed the urban and peri-urban
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Introduction Many approaches and efforts have been made and continuously taking place in Palestine to handle appropriate applications toward achieving a sustainable and realistic city planning (UNDP, 1999). However, city planning in Palestine is rarely addressed the urban and peri-urban agriculture and its vital role and impact on the city environment. Recently, many international development agencies and research institutes have begun to emphasise the need for innovative and integrated strategies in urban land use mapping and planning, taking into account environmental and social questions with a special mention in order to stimulating small scale economic activities by the urban population in the area of food production within the city boundary (Shukla, V., 1996). The latter is known as urban agriculture which considered as one of the most effective mitigation approach against urban poverty, food insecurity, and environmental challenges (FAO, 2000). The term urban agriculture can be defined in its simplist meaning as the growing of plants and the raising of animals within and around cities and distinguished from rural agriculture by its abilities to be integrated into the urban economic and ecological system. Such integration is including: (i) the use of urban residents as labors, (ii) the use of typical urban resources
Scope and significant: The rapid urbanization that is taking place goes together with a rapid increase in urban poverty and urban food insecurity. By 2020 the developing countries of Africa, Asia, and Latin America will be home to some 75% of all urban dwellers, and to eight of the anticipated nine mega- cities with populations in excess of 20 million. It is expected that by 2020, 85% of the poor in Latin America, and about 40-45% of the poor in Africa and Asia will be concentrated in towns and cities (IDRC, 1999). By 2025, Nablus city population is projected to reach 261900 inhabitants (Nablus Municipality population projection, 2006) and expected to have great difficulties to cope with this development or to create sufficient formal employment opportunities mainly for the poor. Therefore, using urban agriculture as a tool for the city planning will provide: 1- acomplementary strategy to reduce urban poverty and food insecurity. 2-enhancement on the aspect of environmental management . 3 - enhancement on the aspect of urban food security (UNCED - Agenda 21).
The aspect of food security and insecurity conditions: Based on the World Bank poverty threshold (for West Bank) of 2.3 US$ per person per day where Nablus households fall well below the poverty line in their cash income and therefore they are unable to meet either basic or food needs. (ICRC report, 2006 & OCHA report 2005). The enhancement of urban agriculture within the city bounders assumed to improve food security conditions for the city households, taking into consideration the fact that 37.38% of Nablus residents are food insecure, 11.24% vulnerable, 21.24% are marginally secure, while only 30.14% are food secure (FAO report,2007) The contribution of urban agriculture to food security and healthy nutrition is probably its most important asset. Food production in the city is in many cases a response of the urban poor to inadequate, unreliable and irregular access to food, and the lack of purchasing power.
Defenitions of urban and peri-urban agriculture: Urban agriculture was addressed by UNDP in 1996 as an activity that produces processes, and markets food and other products, on land and water in urban and peri-urban areas, applying intensive production methods, and (re) using natural resources and urban wastes, to yield a diversity of crops and livestock". Accounting for the broader needs of the urban population, FAOCOAG (1999) states that: "Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture are agriculture practices within and around cities which compete for resources (land, water, and energy, labor) that could also serve other purposes to satisfy the requirements of the urban population. Important sectors of Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture include horticulture, livestock, fodder and milk production, aquaculture, and forestry." A more integrated definition is given by Mougeot (1999): "Urban Agriculture is an industry located within (intra-urban) or on the fringe (peri-urban) of a town, an urban centre, a city or metropolis, which grows
Urban Agriculture dimentions: The report 31, publised by CFP in 2002, indentified the dimentions of urban agriculture by: (i) types of actors involved, (ii) types of location, (iii) types of products grown, (iv) types of economic activities, (v) product destination/ degree of market orientation and (vi) scale of production and technology used. Types of actors involved: Large part of the people involved in urban agriculture is the urban poor. Contrary to general belief they are often not recent immigrants from rural areas since the urban farmer needs time to get access to urban land, water and other productive resources (Mbiba, 1994). However, 1,032 inhabitatnt from Nablus city are invloved in agriculture (PCBS, labour force survey 2006). People involved in urban agriculture could be governemntal officals, school teachers as well as poor and rich people who are seeking a good investment for their capital (Maxwell et al., 1998). Women constitute an important part of urban farmers, since agriculture and related processing and selling activities, among others, can often be more easily combined with their other tasks in the household. It is however more difficult to combine it with urban jobs that require travelling to the town centre, industrial areas or to the houses of the rich (Ganapathi, 1983).
Types of location: Urban agriculture may take place in locations inside the cities (intraurban) or in the peri-urban areas. The activities may take place on the homestead (on-plot) or on land away from the residence (off-plot), on private land (owned, leased) or on public land (parks, conservation areas, along roads, streams and railways), or semi-public land (schoolyards, grounds of schools and hospitals) (Moustier, 1998). Nablus city however offer a wide range of of location types within the city bounderies; within the pre-urban areas, as well as the rural areas surrounding the city. The sattlite image for the city and its eastern parts is shown in figure 2-2. Figure 2-2: Possible urban agriculture intervention locations: Source : Google Earth (2007).
Types of products grown: Urban agriculture includes food products, from different types of crops (grains, root crops, vegetables, mushrooms, fruits) and animals (poultry, rabbits, goats, sheep, cattle, cows, etc.) as well as non-food products (like aromatic and medicinal herbs, ornamental plants, tree products, etc.) or combinations of these. Often the more perishable and relatively high- valued vegetables and animal products and by-products are favored (www.fao.org). Production units in urban agriculture in general tend to be more specialised than rural enterprises, and exchanges are taking place across production units (Mbiba, 1994). However, Nablus City is diversified by the various types of agriculture products grown such as cereals, olive, rain fed vegetables. Figure 2-3: Urban agriculture between: (i) Haifa & Yafa Streets. (ii) Rujeeb and AlQuds Sreet.
