Sustainable consumption

In 2017, the city of Jakarta initiated a peri-urban farming program under its Urban Agriculture Program that aimed to achieve sustainable agricultural production, rural economic sustainability and long-term environmental sustainability (1,4).
South Jakarta is one of the five administrative units that form Jakarta is a prosperous city with more than 2.2 mils. inhabitants. Industrial production as well as urbanization developed quickly in the city, leading to a steep increase in population. Meanwhile, the city experiences a reduction in agricultural land converted into settlements and industrial land, as well as soil deterioration. The city needs agricultural land for production and to establish food security. Furthermore, it needs to improve air pollution as well as oxygen provisioning. As such a solution had to be found (1).
To implement the program a total of 12 communities in the South Kebayoran Lama subdistrict of South Jakarta participated in implementing and operating urban farms. One of these communities has been the Kebayoran Lama Selatan Urban Village managed by Seruni Indah Farmers Group (Kelompok Tani Seruni Indah) which is a very successful example of sustainable organic urban farming supporting more than 3500 residents. The engagement consisted in using vacant and private yard land for horticultural crops (vegetables, fruits and ornamental plants), spices, medicines, herbs etc. through hydroponic and conventional practices that could benefit the community and the general public. 15 gardens have been implemented with funding provided by the Indonesian government (3, 7).

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and its partners collaborated in 2018 to develop an ecosystem restoration project in the Rohingya Camps of Ukhiya, near Cox's Bazar. The main objective of this project was to mitigate the increased risk of landslides, slope instability, and flooding caused by flash floods and the vicinity of the Bakkhali River. The intervention included the planting of quickly growing native trees, shrubs, and grass species. Additionally, the project encompassed other measures such as vegetable cultivation on stream beds, biological soil stabilization methods, and plant-based wastewater treatments. To ensure the sustainability of the project, a network of future practitioners from the Bangladeshi and Rohingya communities was created. Moreover, environmental education and awareness activities were undertaken to complement the efforts of the project, with a particular focus on engaging young people from both the host and refugee communities to maximize its impact. The area where the project was implemented has been significantly affected by land and forest degradation over the last few decades, which has been exacerbated since the arrival of Rohingya refugees in 2017. Therefore, the project also involved other stakeholders such as the International Center for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Danish Refugee Council, the World Food Programme, the International Organization for Migration, and the Bangladesh government, each contributing in various capacities to achieve the project's objectives. (1,2,3,4)

To address the increasing pressure on urban green spaces, Buku Jalanan Chow Kit, an NGO in Kuala Lumpur initiated a green project where the local community could thrive, learn about the benefits of nature and use their ethnobotanical heritage. The project provided a way to enrich biodiversity and enhance the sustainability and resilience of the local communities (1).
Kuala Lumpur, the Capital and the largest city in Malaysia is home to 1.8 mils. people. Due to its growing population, the city experiences a steep decrease in existing green spaces, increasing urban heat effects and air pollution (4). Furthermore, privatizing public spaces led to a loss in biodiversity throughout the city and severely affected the environment. The current project will focus on creating ~2500 sq ft (~232.2576 sq m) rooftop urban farm, biodiversity garden and playground on an existing building. This space will be a habitat for urban wildlife, as well as a space for food production and recreation (1). The project benefits from funding through the UN's GEF Small Grants Programme and aims to provide a community capacity-building space to engage and host activities to empower the Chow Kit community. (1,2)

Penang is a state located in north-western Peninsular Malaysia with an area of 1,049 km2. It comprises two local authorities, Penang Island and the mainland. The former is further divided into five administrative districts which are further divided into mukims (sub-districts). Two urban mukims located on the island – George Town and Bayan Lepas – are the focus of the proposed nature-based solutions (NBS) climate adaptation programme. The programme was launched in 2022 by UN-Habitat in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment and Water (KASA) of Malaysia, Penang Island City Council (Majlis Bandaraya Pulau Pinang - MBPP), Department of Irrigation and Drainage (Jabatan Pengairan Dan Saliran - JPS) and Think City (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Khazanah Nasional Berhad (the sovereign wealth fund of the Government of Malaysia)). (Ref 1)

The implementation of the project responds to several challenges posed by climate change including heatwaves and flooding (Ref 4). The main goal of the programme is to enhance urban resilience and reduce human and ecosystem health vulnerability to climate change impacts and extreme weather events by implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) such as tree-lined streets, pocket parks, green parking spaces, green facades and rooftops, urban agriculture and blue-green corridors to reduce surface temperatures and stormwater runoff, as well as to increase social resilience and build institutional capacity (Ref 1, 3).

Food safety has come a long way and today it is one of the biggest challenges globally, especially in the developing world. According to the World Bank, Viet Nam is one of the countries prone to food-borne illnesses and food safety is a major concern for the public there (1). Increased droughts, floods and salinization have further enhanced and endangered food supplies. Access to healthy food is not optimal. To solve this issue, some Vietnamese private companies came up with a solution. In 2013, a shoe factory in the city of Dongnai (located around 30 km away from Ho Chi Minh City) established a welfare facility for the factory's employees, called Farming Kindergarten. The building was designed with the idea of serving 700 children of the workers by providing healthy food, as well as environmental education. The design includes a green roof where vegetables are cultivated alongside playgrounds for the children. The roof is designed in such a way that it is the perfect environment where children learn about the importance of agriculture and strengthen their connection with nature (2, 4, 6). The harvests from the garden are distributed to the children's families, contributing to a rather small family budget of Vietnamese workers (the average income of Vietnamese workers is just 180 USD per month) (7).

The International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) Myanmar and its local collaborative organizations developed a community garden at Inn Dein village to ensure access to diverse and safe food amidst the current internal crisis in Myanmar. The community garden is a part of the wider research project “Climate-smart villages as platforms for resilience building, women empowerment, equity, and sustainable food systems”, funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC). The expected outcomes are to benefit over 4,200 internally displaced persons (IDP) (due to COVID-19 and internal conflict) in Inn Dein and the Yangon Monastery Camp in Nyaungshwe. The community garden was established in the close vicinity of the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp. The garden area is about 1.5 acres and rented for three seasons from the owner. Saplings were supplied for agroforestry purposes and a community support fund has also been provided for income generation and livelihood activities. Sprinkler irrigation has been installed to cover the whole land area, and 20 types of crops, including several legumes crops and vegetables such as mustard, radish, carrot, coriander, okras, eggplant and pumpkin are being cultivated. This project is particularly important in the current situation "[because of the lack of opportunities to direct support to IDP camps and the risky situation in food supplies, access to food and nutrition for IDPs is critically important." This project benefits both addressing food insecurity and increasing green space in the neighbourhood of the IDP camps. (Ref 1).

As early as 2010, the then authorities of Malaysia announced plans to transform certain Malaysian cities into green cities. Motivations behind these actions focused on addressing environmental challenges such as carbon emissions, high temperatures, and a reconnection with nature. One of the cities where green ideas were to be implemented was Putrajaya, located 25 km south of Kuala Lumpur (Ref 3). As this is a very complex project, the initiative was being led by the Perbadanan Putrajaya (PPJ), which is a local authority that administers the Federal Territory of Putrajaya and is under the Federal Territories Ministry of Malaysia. In transforming Putrajaya into a green city, PPJ undertook 38% of its area to be developed into parks, lakes, and wetlands while the rest is reserved for government offices, commercial and residential development, public utilities, and amenities (Ref 1). Green actions involved the creation of a wetland (the largest constructed freshwater in Southeast Asia), the implementation of an Urban Farming Programme and Rooftop Farming programmes, as well as large-scale tree planting (Ref 2, 3). PPJ aims to transform Putrajaya into a green city by 2025 including Putrajaya Inter-Parks Ride, Pedestrian Walkways and Bicycle Lanes. Putrajaya’s efforts in the implementation of these green initiatives have received numerous awards & recognitions (Ref 3).

In Senegal, urban flooding in the rainy season causes major damage to public and private infrastructure, and poses considerable social, economic and health-related risks to the human population, in particular the poorest. Poor drainage systems mean that rainwater floods the whole neighbourhood, paralysing transport, and economic activities and posing health and safety risks due to stagnation and contamination (e.g. increase in water-borne diseases). To respond to such emergencies, in 2015 several stakeholders (Senegalese government, local authorities in Dakar and the local community) initiated a project that aimed to build resilience to flooding in informal settlements of Dakar. The project consisted of building resilience to floods by focusing on 3 fields: 1) infrastructure (floodwater evacuation, solid waste management, urban gardening and greening); 2) policy (district flood contingency plans and national policy advice); and 3) capacity building (training and awareness building for beneficiaries and key stakeholders, with a special focus on empowering women). The project was concluded in 2017 however its benefits are still felt today by the inhabitants of Greater Dakar. (1,2,3)

In order to promote Urban and Periurban Agriculture and Forestry (UPAF) as a municipal strategy to deal with negative climate change effects, Bobo-Dioulasso local authorities have identified, using a participatory approach, city greenways as experimentation sites for local climate solutions. The intervention consists in transforming vacant land belonging to the city into green corridors (greenways) through market gardens and forestry, retaining the benefits of urban agriculture. Urban agriculture, when planned and managed properly, can contribute to climate change mitigation efforts by lowering the ecological footprint associated with food production. At the same time, urban agriculture can enhance climate change adaptation efforts by increasing vegetation cover and reducing surface water run-off, while at the same time conserving biodiversity. (1,2,3,4)

Rising temperatures, longer dry spells, more intense heavy rainfall and sea-level rise, make Tanzania the 26th most vulnerable country to climate risks. Dodoma, the country's capital, is a city with a rapid rate of urbanisation and uneven population growth. The near-central business district, peri-urban and urban parts of the city, have grown very fast as a result of intensified urban planning and surveying of land. A way of addressing these stringent issues was developed by ICLEI, an international NGO, which focused on the relationship between nature and urban planning and initiated an intervention in the form of a community farm in Dodoma.
This project aims to develop, 15 km from Dodoma's city centre, a community farm that will focus on producing enough food for the inhabitants of the city and its surroundings. The farm is the first in a project that will try to establish foodways. Foodways include customs of food production, preservation, preparation, presentation, gathering, marketing (both buying and selling), uses of food products other than for eating and food folklore.”The project dates back to the beginning of 2020, and it is still ongoing. (1,2,3)