When is enough, enough? Advocacy, evidence and criticism in the field of urban agriculture in South Africa

Figures & data

Table 1: Selected characteristics of the three types of urban farming in the informal settlements of Atteridgeville (2001; n = 65)

Characteristic	Home gardening (n = 54)	Group-gardening (n = 3)	Crop production on open urban spaces (n = 8)
Gender of participants	89% female	100% female	60% female
Average age of participants (years)	42	57	53
Average size of individual unit (m^2/participant^−1)	26	196	351
Water supply	Irrigated	Irrigated	Rain fed
Choice of crops in order of importance	Swiss chard, maize, onions, other vegetables	Swiss chard, beetroot, tomatoes, carrots and lettuce	Maize, pumpkins, dry beans, melons
Average total monetary value of production (R/annum^−1)	41	211	213
Average monetary value of production per unit of land (Rm^−2/annum^−1)	1.58	1.07	0.61
Average contribution of farming to total household income in cash or kind (%)	0.2	0.7	1.5
Average allocation of gross value of production to home consumption (%)	100	78	100
Average allocation of gross value of production to sales (%)	0	22	0
Source: Van Averbeke (2007:340).

Van Averbeke , W . 2007 . Urban farming in the informal settlements of Atteridgeville, Pretoria, South Africa . Water SA , 33 ( 3 ) : 337 – 42 .

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