The organisation of urban agriculture in Cape Town, South Africa: A social capital perspective

ABSTRACT

This article explores urban agriculture in Cape Town and its organisational forms. Based on a literature review of peer-reviewed articles and grey literature, it examines the state of linkages among urban farmers and various supporting organisations of urban agriculture. Moreover, it examines the coordination of activities among key supporting organisations. By analysing the roles of state and non-state actors and linkages, the article discusses implications for the development of urban agriculture. This article suggests that a lack of effective coordination of initiatives among supporting actors presents a significant pitfall in the development of urban agriculture. Furthermore, the failure of farmers to self-organise is identified as equally detrimental. Therefore, it calls for improved synergies between state and non-state actors involved to ensure that the gains of urban agriculture are enhanced.

KEYWORDS:

• Urban agriculture
• policy
• linkages
• organisation
• Cape Town

Acknowledgment

The researcher expresses his gratitude to the German Federal Ministry for Agriculture and Food (BLE) and the German Federal Agency for Food and Agriculture (BLE). They finance the multilateral action-research project UFISAMO between Germany, Mozambique and South Africa. UFISAMO stands for “Urban Agriculture for Food Security and Income Generation in South Africa and Mozambique”. The researcher is part of the UFISAMO team.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Tinashe Paul Kanosvamhira http://orcid.org/0000-0002-6745-1151