The Social, Economic and Health Impacts of Urban Agriculture in Zambia

Urban agriculture practices are on the rise among the Southern Africa populations bringing with it positive and negative impacts. Nevertheless, the impacts of urban agriculture over Southern Africa cannot be equated to an individual country due to varying characteristics of each nation such as: national policies, geographic location, context of urban agriculture and the socio-economic and political conditions of the area. As a result, this paper, focusses on one nation only, in particular, Zambia. Agriculture in Zambia is vital for economic growth and poverty reduction, mostly focusing on rural areas rather than urban locations. Therefore, there is not sufficient knowledge on the impacts that urban agriculture brings to its urban populations. In this regard, this paper investigates the benefits of urban agriculture in Zambia, with a specific focus on the social, health and economic impacts on the Zambian urban population.