In a report from the Food for Cities Program of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), it says, “The riots of hunger in the cities of Haiti, in particular, have served to draw attention to the importance of urban poverty in the world food crisis.”

Urban food chains should be studied differently from their counterparts in rural areas. The unilaterally macrodevelopment model that is being promoted has not really proven to uniformly work. This model does not consider respective local environments and terrain.

As a consequence of the crisis, agriculture now exists in cities as promoted and encouraged by many NGOs. As one observer said, “Urban agriculture enables people not only to feed themselves and diversify their diet, but to earn an income by selling the surplus.” This concept is called market gardening.

The FAO, however, seeks to regulate these crops because of health risks. The manner by which the plants are watered should be checked. The particular problems posed by city sewage seeping into these urban farms are a matter of concern for health officials. Nevertheless, urban farming or ‘city farms’ as they are called are an effective tool of sustainable development.

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Via ADB