Effects of stakeholders’ perception of urban agriculture on the governance of urban agriculture in the wards of Daraja Mbili and Lemala in Arusha City, Tanzania

Abstract

Actors’ perception of urban agriculture can affect the way urban agricultural decisions are made and implemented either positively or negatively, with or without the actors being aware of it. The way actors perceive urban agriculture is influenced by actors’  interests, limited or unlimited information about urban agriculture, policy and legal frameworks. This study used a case-study design to examine the effects of actors’ diverse perception of urban agriculture on the governance of urban agriculture.  Purposefully selected 60 respondents participated in-depth interviews in the wards of Daraja Mbili and Lemala. Farmers and agricultural officers perceived urban agriculture positively because their livelihoods and professional interests were related and relied on the practice of urban agriculture. Urban planners and agricultural officers perceived  agriculture positively and negatively depending on the way agricultural activities affected the environment or were compatible with non-agricultural activities. The implementation of policy and enforcement of bylaws relating to urban agriculture was not successful because urban planners and environmental officers were skeptical about the value of urban agriculture. Doing urban agriculture in the environmentally sensitive areas was against environmental bylaws, but the area was encroached upon by the farmers who had no alternative land for farming. Land use hurdles for doing urban agriculture were rarely addressed by urban planners who had no evidence of the benefits of urban agriculture to city authority compared with revenue and employment opportunities from real estate developments. We conclude that the farmers’ and non-farmers positive and negative perception of urban agriculture stem from their interests, limited or unlimited information about urban agriculture. Government officials’ perception of urban agriculture is influenced by their carrier and work obligations. Despite the presence of policy acknowledging urban agriculture and environmental bylaws for regulating urban agriculture, actors cannot really govern urban agriculture if they perceive it negatively.