Document(s) 3 of 11

Over the last 16 years, 11 of which have been at the helm of urban research programs, my work with IDRC has enabled me to meet and learn much from academic researchers, agricultural producers, extension agents, activists, local and national government officials, and senior officers of bilateral and multilateral development agencies. With different expertise and mandates, they all have been grappling with a late 20th century phenomenon for which, in most cases, there is still no clear home, within either their profession or their working environment.

This period in urban history is turning them into true pioneers. To all of them I owe my thanks, having gained first-hand insights into the growth of urban agriculture (UA) worldwide, into the diversity of people engaged and the sheer ingenuity of systems at work, and into the tangible benefits it brings to producers large and small, as well as to others. I have also gained an understanding of the gravity of the constraints and risks that poor producers face and the impact that pro-UA policies can have on a developing-country city.

IDRC owes much to researchers around the world who, over the years, have ably led benchmarking projects and have given life to knowledge networks. With uncommon steadfastness they nurtured teams, advanced the field of research, and collaborated at various levels with policy exercises. Their intellectual integrity and constructive collegiality have already instilled important changes in the attitudes and behaviour of many actors in their cities, countries, or regions. Their respect for the perceptions and responsibilities of other urban actors, their disposition to effectively relate with current policies or to propose new policies for positive changes have made them key artisans of new communities of practice. They include Diana Lee Smith and Davinder Lamba, Camillus Sawio, Gertrude Atukunda and Daniel Maxwell, Joe Nasr, Shingirayi Mushamba and Takawira Mubvami, Safietou Fall and Seydou Niang, Murad Bino, Pay Dreschel, Abdou Fall and Paule Moustier, Lilia Chauca and Julio Moscoso, Mildred Delphin Regis, Pedro Juan del Rosario and Maria Caridad Cruz, Marielle Dubbelling and Alain Santandreu. Henk de Zeeuw, coordinator of the International Network of Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF), Jac Smit, President of The Urban Agriculture Network, Michael Levenston of City Farmer, David Satterthwaite, formerly Director of the Human Settlements Programme at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London, and Gordon Prain, Coordinator of CGIAR's Urban Harvest, continue to be valued as collaborators and networkers.

Other people have been extremely influential in bringing the results of UA research by IDRC and others to bear on policy agendas and programs of work of several agencies. These include Ulrich Sabell-Koschella at GTZ, Timothy Aldington, Florence Egal, Rachel Nugent, Axel Drescher, Olivio Argenti, Henri Carsalade, and Louise Fresco at FAO, Robert Work, Frank Hartvelt and Jonas Rabinovitch at UNDP, Joep Bijlmer at DGIS, and Yves Cabannes, Paul Taylor, Dinesh Metah, Chris Radford, Jochen Eigen, Naison Mutizwa, Don Okpala, Christine Auclair, and Lars Reutersward at UNCHS/UN-HABITAT.

Over the years, the Centre has counted on the talent and dedication of an ever-changing team of scientists to sustain, increase, and reinvent IDRC's programing in development research on UA. The Cities Feeding People (CFP) program and its achievements owe very much to the programing work of Luis Navarro, Ola Smith, Naser Faruqui, Denise Deby, Saidou Koala, Carlos Sere, Stephen Tyler, Wardie Leppan, Bertha Mo, Réal Lavergne, Mark Redwood, Brenda-Lee Wilson, Ana Amelia Boischio, and Kristina Taboulchanas. Liliane Castets-Poupart, Wendy Storey, and Karen Trebert supported this team. Many interns over the years have helped CFP to advance its research agenda, whose contributions are recorded in the CFP Reports series. Finally, without the institutional and political support of Anne Whyte, Caroline Pestieau, Rohinton Medhora, David Brooks, Joachim Voss, Peter Cooper, and Jean Lebel, CFP would not have achieved as much as it did by 2005. As IDRC's representative on CGIAR, Joachim Voss's advocacy over the years was critical to the eventual launch of the consortium-wide initiative, Urban Harvest.

The final text of this book bears the craftmanship of Bob Stanley. His patience in working and re-working my drafts has earned him a new friend. I wish to thank also the IDRC Communications team, particularly Bill Carman, Kevin Conway, Louise Guénette, and Michelle Hibler, for their genuine interest, preparation of subsidiary case studies, useful reviews, and sound guidance during the development of this manuscript.

This book is dedicated to all the people who are farming the cities of today so that our children and their children can live better in our first urban century.

L.J.A.M.

Document(s) 3 of 11