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URBAN AGRICULTURE & HOMEGARDENING
GROWING A FUTURE
AUROVILLE 2015
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DISCLAIMER
This survey is a first attempt to make visible the various home garden projects at Auroville. It does not claim to have recorded 100% of the vegetable home gardens currently established in Auroville. Fruit trees or banana plantations were not considered in this survey as this was beyond the project’s scope. Aurovilians that have a vegetable garden and are not captured in this report are invited to send an email to: [email protected].
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We would like to thank all the Aurovilians that supported this initiative by sharing information and more importantly their passion for vegetable gardening. A thank you to all the committed organic farmers in Auroville that have supported individual gardeners with technical advice, seeds and other input materials in the past and that inspired many to take up cultivation of a little vegetable plot. This paper has been made possible through the dedicated work of Katt Grant, Segar Duraikannu, Vimal Bhojraj and Martin Scherfler. A special thank you to Krishna from Solitude Farm, Tomas from Annapurna farm, and Riccardo from Auroville Urban Farming City Center, that encouraged this initiative.
Project Execution by
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Today there are around 47 home vegetable gardens in Auroville. They are distributed over 39 communities and make up a total cultivated area of about 11,627m2 (2.87 acres). The majority of home gardens, in terms of square meters, are currently situated in the green belt area. Although small and medium sized vegetable gardens within the city area and in some outside laying communities are bigger in terms of numbers. Not all of the home gardens are organically cultivated.
From the Aurovilians interviewed, the motivation for gardening varies between an interest in trying it out and learning new things, to the fact that they always did it and that it became a lifestyle choice. Many gardeners felt inspired to take up vegetable gardening by initiatives started in the past by some of Auroville’s organic farmers and other individuals.
Home gardeners expressed that they would like to see more Aurovilians starting vegetable gardens, having a support of people that can help in setting up gardens, a platform to exchange experience and growing techniques and to have an increased gift economy of sharing surplus, seeds, seedlings and other garden input materials.
At the end of this report urban agriculture case studies from around the world are presented as an attempt to start a conversation around opportunities and to provide multiple right answers for future urban farming initiatives in Auroville. The questions that we would like to ask include: Can we double the area of home vegetable gardens by 2020 and have an area of 25,000m2 under organic cultivation? What do we need to put in place to achieve this?
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CONTENTS GROWING IN SIZE ........................................................................................................................................ 5
GROWING WHERE, HOW & WHAT .............................................................................................................. 6
GROWING (IN) KIND .................................................................................................................................... 7
GROWING PEOPLE ....................................................................................................................................... 8
GROWING CONNECTEDNESS ....................................................................................................................... 9
GROWING MOTIVATION ............................................................................................................................ 10
GROWING FUTURE .................................................................................................................................... 11
GROWING IN NUMBERS ............................................................................................................................ 13
GROWING SUSTAINABLY ........................................................................................................................... 15
GROWING AS IN SCALING .......................................................................................................................... 16
INDIVIDUAL URBAN AGRICULTURE CASE STUDIES .................................................................................... 18
COMMUNITY URBAN AGRICULTURE CASE STUDIES .................................................................................. 20
INCOME GENERATING URBAN AGRICULTURE CASE STUDIES ................................................................... 22
RECOMMENDATIONS/LEARNINGS ............................................................................................................ 23
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................. 25
DIFFERENT OPERATIONAL MODELS FOR AUROVILLE ............................................................................ 26
LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Growth medium/technology used .................................................................................................. 6
Table 2 Location of vegetable gardens ........................................................................................................ 6
Table 3 Top vegetable crops ........................................................................................................................ 6
Table 4 Source of seeds ............................................................................................................................... 9
Table 5 Source of compost .......................................................................................................................... 9
Table 6 List of the communities currently participating in home gardens in Auroville ............................. 13
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LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1 Number of home gardens by size, Auroville 2015 ......................................................................... 5
Figure 2 Area of home gardens in m2 by category, Auroville 2015 .............................................................. 5
Figure 3 Length of time gardens haven been in operation .......................................................................... 5
Figure 4 Surplus production ......................................................................................................................... 7
Figure 5 Garden work .................................................................................................................................. 8
Figure 6 Reasons for having a home garden .............................................................................................. 10
Figure 7 Havana, Cuba: food consumption ................................................................................................ 18
Figure 8Auroville: food consumption ........................................................................................................ 18
Figure 9 Amount spend on food (USD) per day per person in the U.S. ..................................................... 19
Figure 10 Case study behaviour changes after starting a community garden project .............................. 21
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GROWING IN SIZE
The total number of home vegetable gardens in Auroville was found to be 47, making an accumulative total area of cultivated land of 11,627m2 (or 2.87 acres). Figure 1 indicates the distribution in numbers of three different sizes of vegetable gardens: a) Small – 15 m2 or less, b) Medium – between 15 and 50 m2 c) Large – greater than 50 m2. It was found that there is an equal distribution in terms of numbers between the three size typologies. Small gardens may also include small initiatives on balconies and terraces.
Figure 1 Number of home gardens by size, Auroville 2015
14 15 18
47
small medium large total
‘We are all interested in the Future, because that’s where we will spend the rest of our lives.’
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Although each size category has similar number of gardens, the ‘large’ garden size category makes up the vast majority of the total vegetable home garden area as shown in Figure 2. Many of the larger vegetable gardens are situated in the green belt area, making up 8,784m2 of the ‘large’ category.
Figure 2 Area of home gardens in m2 by category, Auroville 2015
The survey results indicate that about one third of the vegetable gardens (13 gardens) have been started in the last year only. Roughly another third (16 gardens) have been set-‐up in the last three years, whereas the other third (18 gardens) have been there for more than 3 years. The new addition of 29 home gardens in the last three years (8,957m2) is a truly positive sign for the future of urban gardening in Auroville. (See Figure 3 below).
Figure 3 Length of time gardens haven been in operation
118 482
11,027 11,627
small medium large total
28%
34%
38%
< 1 year 1 to 3 years > 3 years
‘We are all interested in the Future, because that where we will spend the rest of our lives.’
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GROWING WHERE, HOW & WHAT
The majority of the vegetable home gardens use soil as a growing media. There are a couple projects using hydroponic systems and aquaponics systems, adding a healthy diversity and experimentation to the home gardening landscape of Auroville (see Table 1). The majority (86%) of vegetable gardens in Auroville are located on the ground around the buildings. Balcony gardening and rooftop gardening are still small in number, accounting for 7 gardens only.
Table 1 Growth medium/technology used Technology soil 45 96% hydroponics 1 2% aquaponics 1 2%
Table 2 Location of vegetable gardens Location* ground 44 86% balcony 4 8% rooftop 3 6%
* as some gardeners have gardens on the ground and rooftop/balcony gardens, the total number of the garden location and the total number of vegetable gardens in Auroville differ.
The main five crops cultivated, in terms of the number of gardeners listing these vegetables in their top crop, are shown in table 3 below.
Table 3 Top vegetable crops Vegetable tomato 32 long beans 19 lettuce 15 brinjal 13 basil 12
‘Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.’
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GROWING (IN) KIND More than 70% of gardeners said that they give away their surplus production as a gift to friends and neighbours (as Figure 4 shows). This indicates a vibrant gift or in-‐kind economy around home vegetable gardening. 10% of gardeners are selling their surplus vegetables and 13% are giving it in-‐kind and selling it. The selling of surplus production is primarily done through Foodlink, and one gardener sells from home.
Figure 4 Surplus production
77%
10%
13%
give sell both
‘Growing food was the first
activity that gave us enough
prosperity to stay in one place, form complex social groups, tell
our stories, and build our cities.’
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GROWING PEOPLE
The majority of people do the garden work themselves as they enjoy working with the soil and observing the growth. About 45% have gardeners that help in the vegetable garden and only two people do not do any work in the gardens themselves (see Figure 5).
Figure 5 Garden work
51%
4%
45%
self pay for work both
‘We may have all come on
different ships, but we’re in the
same boat now.’
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GROWING CONNECTEDNESS
Auroville vegetable gardeners get their inputs from various sources, connecting with the Auroville Botanical Gardens and existing Auroville farms. The majority of gardeners get their seeds from Botanical Gardens and a good number of gardeners produce their own seeds for cultivation, while the rest of seeds come from a variety of sources (see Table 4). More than half the gardeners also make their own compost, whereas the others get it from different sources as shown in Table 5.
Table 4 Source of seeds Seeds from: Number Botanical 34 Own 14 Overseas 11 Friends 9 Solitude 7 Pondy 6 Pebble 4 Buddha garden 4
Table 5 Source of compost Compost from: Number
Own 29
Village 10
Baraka 5
Matrimandir 4
‘The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.’
‘Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.’
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GROWING MOTIVATION When asked the question of why they have started a vegetable garden, the answers fitted into three main categories as shown in Figure 6: a) Lifestyle – have been brought up with a garden, and always had one, b) Research & experimentation – enjoy trying something new and making a model that other people can use, c) Inspired – something or someone inspired them to start a garden.
Figure 6 Reasons for having a home garden
The lifestyle group doesn’t have much room for growth – if you have been brought up gardening, you already have a garden. The people with the skills and dedication to research and experiment are only a few. The group that has the most potential for growth is the group of people who get inspired. They usually lack the skills and knowledge to start their own garden and this is where more support should be in place to enable the people who are inspired to start a home vegetable garden.
47%
11%
42%
lifestyle research & experimentaoon inspired*
‘The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.’
*gardens have been inspired from Solitude, Auroville Urban Farming City Centre, Pebbles Garden, and Buddha Garden
‘The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.’
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GROWING FUTURE
What do I want to see in Auroville for urban/ home garden food production in the near future?
The following three main points came up:
1. Would be nice for everyone to have a home vegetable garden
2. For gardeners to grow different things and share the surplus under a gift economy
3. Promote and have help to set up the vegetable gardens
‘Doing nothing is hard, you never know when you’re done.’
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Other suggestions received: -‐ Give seeds to free store and have a
community collective seed bank, and have a place to exchange seedlings and surplus produce
-‐ Grow hardy varieties that are easy to maintain – success provides encouragement to people
-‐ Information available to everyone on when to plant what and have advice on dealing with diseases
-‐ Need to deal with the logistics of overstocking of some produce and what to do with the surplus
-‐ Schools need to concentrate on vegetable rather than ornamental gardens and use the space productively, share produce and knowledge between schools, and mobilise the kids who can then take knowledge to build gardens at home
-‐ Have gardens scattered all through Auroville with edible landscapes everywhere and make use of the sunlight on rooftops for gardens
-‐ There is space available to grow much more, we need to know who is involved to share tips and ideas and knowledge between the existing community
-‐ Urban gardening should be encouraged through friends and the community – needs to start from the inside
-‐ Need to teach people what to do with local vegetables so people can grow their gardens more efficiently using local varieties
-‐ Want home gardens to be an important factor in the Auroville development plans and have mandatory rainwater collection in building plans
-‐ For Auroville to have a vibrant culture of urban food production, beautifully and elegantly integrated in our built environment, supplying 25% of our fruit and vegetable demand
-‐ For people to start understanding that urban agriculture is an essential part of human habitat, we can be self-‐sustainable with food if we make smart decisions with our infrastructure
‘Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re right.’
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GROWING IN NUMBERS
Table 6 List of the communities currently participating in home gardens in Auroville
No. Community Name 1 Adventure Vimal & Paula 2 African Pavilion Eric 3 Anusuya Aikya 4 Aurodam Gillian 5 Auromodele Vikram 6 Azhagu-‐bhoomi Balu 7 Baraka Gabi 8 Center Field Aha Kindergarten, Joy Guest House, Nandanam
School 9 Citadines Luigi 10 Dana Claudine, Isabelle, Taranti 11 Deepanam School Kristen 12 Evergreen Bastiaan, Tamar & Amir 13 Existence Forest Jeremy 14 Fertile Johnny 15 Gaia Maya 16 Gaia's Garden Rene 17 Grace Jinhee & Michael
‘Growing your own food feeds not just the body, but also the heart and soul.’
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18 International House Bogi 19 La Maison Des Jeunes Riccardo 20 Madhuca Anadamayi, Matilde & Mark 21 Maitreye Akash & Monica 22 Mitra Usha 23 Nursery John 24 Prarthna Tejaswini & Rishi 25 Reve Greg & Mamota, Aurosylle & Sukrit 26 Ritam Michael 27 Samasti Kumar 28 Samriddhi Biggie, Shona 29 Solar Kitchen Solar Kitchen 30 Sri ma Daniel 31 Sukhavati Rakhal 32 Surrender Martin, Prasad & Tomoko, Sara 33 Swayam Isha 34 Tibetan Pavilion Kalsang & Namgyal 35 TLC school Isabelle 36 Transition Samata 37 Udumbu Jessaminj 38 Udyogam Naturellement 39 Verite Dhanya
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GROWING SUSTAINABLY Urban agriculture presents the unique opportunity to make use of vacant land and rooftop spaces to produce healthy, pesticide-‐free food. The food is local -‐ people have access to fresh produce that has no transportation emissions linked to it. To be more sustainable human settlements can close the resource loop as locally as possible. Urban agriculture invites us to close some of these loops -‐ it gets people to use kitchen waste as an input back into their gardens through composting, recycling this 'waste' as nutrients back into their food.
Urban agriculture will contribute to an increased plant and animal biodiversity in urban and semi-‐urban areas, providing shelter and food for pollinators and birds. Often urban agriculture methods are intensive, and produce high yields per unit of space. If properly managed urban agriculture can conserve water by using water efficient irrigation technologies, it can contribute to better storm water management by providing better water percolation surfaces, and it may use grey water from residential homes contributing to an efficient use of water. Multi-‐cropping, a practice common in urban agriculture reduces the soil depletion that is common in monocrops.
There are many beneficial aspects of urban agriculture, and it is a big part of growing cities sustainably in the future.
‘Growing food is a philosophy – it’s my way of life.’
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GROWING AS IN SCALING Global food supply is threatened from environmental degradation, climate change, the dependence on food imports and urban development trends. Local food and sustainable agriculture movements are occurring around the world due to the increasing threat on food security and also address various issues such as availability of healthy and organic food, diversity of choice, health and wellbeing, education and community wellbeing and vibrancy.
This section presents global case studies, separating them into three operational models – do it yourself (individual), do it together (community), and do it for others (income generating), shown below – to understand the different operating models for urban garden projects. It is an attempt to start a conversation around opportunities and to provide multiple right answers for future urban farming initiatives in Auroville.
Do it for others
Do it together Do it yourself
‘I try to convince my friends by showing them, telling them, and giving them my fresh food.’
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Urban agriculture has many homes -‐ it can be found on rooftops and balconies, in public parks, empty plots, in backyards and school yards. Different farming methods are used including small plot intensive (SPIN) farming, permaculture, natural farming, biodynamic farming and hydroponic and aquaponic systems, to name a few. It can be done alone as an individual practice either out of necessity or out of passion and conviction; it can be done in collaboration, creating intentional communities around healthy food production and a peer learning environment based on an in-‐kind or gift economy model; it can also be structured as an income generating project providing a fair livelihood.
Auroville has a lot of potential to expand the individual urban/home vegetable gardens as there is plenty of potential garden space available in its community set-‐ups. Community gardens have a huge education potential and could be a great knowledge resource where more experienced growers can support others with less experience. Additional income generation or at least cost savings through home vegetable gardening can add an extra incentive. But not every project in urban agriculture may have the aim to be financial self-‐sustaining or profit making, some may just do if for the joy of doing it.
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INDIVIDUAL URBAN AGRICULTURE CASE STUDIES There are many examples of individual urban agriculture models – the ones analysed in the case studies include:
• home terrace/rooftop gardening; • sharing backyards for vegetable production; and • small plot intensive farming in urban places.
The case study of Havana, Cuba shows that it is possible for the majority of a cities’ food consumption (57% in this case)1 to be produced within a city. This can be seen in Figure 7 below, showing a comparison with Auroville in Figure 8.
1 Quirk, V. (May, 2012). Urban agriculture: What Cuba can teach us. Arch Daily. Retrieved from, http://www.archdaily.com/237526/urban-‐agriculture-‐part-‐i-‐what-‐cuba-‐can-‐teach-‐us/
57%
43%
Internal food consumed External food consumed
15%
85%
Internal food consumed External food consumed Figure 7Auroville: food consumption Figure 8 Havana, Cuba: food consumption
‘People need to start understanding that urban agriculture is an essential part of the human habitat.’
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8
2
U.S. average Urban Homestead example
Small plot intensive (SPIN) farming methods have the potential for a
sustainable income from the production. Using these methods and depending on the amount of land, it is also possible to produce enough for the majority of a family’s vegetable diet, decreasing reliance on the outside food system. SPIN methods can greatly reduce food costs within a household, to less than $2 per day per person in the U.S.2, as shown in Figure 9 from the Californian case study. The Urban Homestead in California is able to grow 90 percent of their families’ vegetable diet in their yard. Through sharing of backyards and making use of empty terrace and rooftop space, it is possible to produce vegetables throughout urban areas, and when done by many people this can greatly reduce the reliance on food imports from outside the city.
2 http://urbanhomestead.org/about
‘We are all interested in the Future, because that where we will spend the rest of our lives.’
Figure 9 Amount spend on food (USD) per day per person in the U.S.
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COMMUNITY URBAN AGRICULTURE CASE STUDIES Community gardens are any piece of land gardened by a group of people, using individual or shared plots on either public or private land. The case studies looked at include community gardens in the following spaces:
• city terraces; • schools; • unused plots of land in the city centre; and • city parks.
Community gardens are a great way for people to engage with other interested gardeners and for knowledge to be shared between fellow gardeners. This is shown in Mumbai’s Urban Leaves community garden project that has over 500 volunteers learning in the community gardens, taking these skills to start their own projects3. Community gardens have been used in a very educational manner – in the urban garden in New York’s Battery Park, many educational workshops are held to educate people on having and starting home vegetable gardens. Gardens in schools are a great way to reconnect kids with where their food comes from, and hopefully pass on this knowledge and enthusiasm to parents, which has been working successfully in the Edible Schoolyard Network throughout the U.S.
3 Gokhale, O. (Oct, 2014). Mumbai: Organic is the way to grow for these organic farmers. Hindustan Times. Retrieved from, http://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai/mumbai-‐organic-‐is-‐the-‐way-‐to-‐grow-‐for-‐these-‐urban-‐farmers/article1-‐1277564.aspx
‘We already have gardens – now all we need to do is use the space productively to make food.’
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A community based participatory research project on community gardens showed that the frequency of vegetable intake of ‘several times a day’ increased 67 percentage points when people got involved in a community garden. The frequency of worrying about running out of food after their involvement in a garden dropped 28 percentage points4, as shown in figure 10 below.
Figure 10 Case study behaviour changes after starting a community garden project
4 J Community Health. (Aug, 2012). Impact of a community gardening project. Retrieved from, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22194063
18%
85%
31%
3%
before aver before aver
individuals consuming vegetables several omes per day
individuals worrying about being low on food
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INCOME GENERATING URBAN AGRICULTURE CASE STUDIES Income generating urban agriculture is when someone is earning money from the vegetable production of an urban garden -‐ there are overlaps with the above two categories, but the case studies looked at here are run like businesses rather than gaining some extra money on the side. The case studies looked at include the following:
• homeowners paying someone to start and maintain a vegetable garden for them (and these people running a business from it); and • small plot farms being run as a business within the city boundaries, including on vacant land and using greenhouses.
The financial sustainability of these businesses is not always certain; people paid to start gardens can be sustainable if there is high enough demand, the greenhouse in the city of Singapore is profitable due to its large production levels, but the examples of using small plots of land in the U.S. cities of Detroit and in Texas are sometimes a financial struggle, depending on the amount of land, volunteers, and the structure of the business.
‘The future depends on what we do in the present.’
‘Gardens are a step forwards in consciousness and self-‐sufficiency.’
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RECOMMENDATIONS/LEARNINGS
1. Creating a platform that matches up people who don’t have land and want to garden, with people who have excess space and no desire to garden, can create an efficient use of the yard space in Auroville. For those in apartments, terrace and rooftop gardening is a great way to make use of this mostly empty space.
2. The recently released land-‐use plan of Auroville has indicated land within the cities master plan
area that is valuable land for food-‐production and that should be earmarked for urban agriculture initiatives. Initiating projects on some of these plots will be good way to increase the culture of urban food production in Auroville and to make it an essential part of any future urban planning exercise.
3. Workshops will be needed to further build urban farming capacity and skills of Aurovillians.
Awareness campaigns to create a broad understanding of the benefits of urban farming may greatly help in mobilizing the community. Auroville Urban Farming City Centre is similar to the urban garden in New York’s Battery Park from the aspect of its central location, and has the potential to be a main educational space. This could be enhanced by putting on urban gardening workshops for people to come and learn the basic skills to build and maintain their own home gardens.
4. The potential seasonal surplus issue of certain vegetables and fruits needs to be addressed by new modes of management of the supply and demand chain. Farming and urban farming should not be seen as a competition but rather as complementary approaches that both aim at healthy organic food production for the community and environmental well-‐being.
‘The future depends on what we do in the present.’
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5. Community gardens, while being used as an educational space, could also be used as a place for seed exchange, providing access to local and organic seeds for people starting their own gardens.
6. Incorporating vegetable gardens and cooking classes more holistically into the Auroville school curriculums would provide children with the knowledge to be able to start their own gardens at home and provide children with a connection to their food as well as healthy eating habits. There is a lot of potential in expanding the school gardens and incorporating cooking classes to teach recipes for local food, which a lot of Aurovillians are unfamiliar with. All of this knowledge could be brought home to encourage parents to get on board with home vegetable gardens and cooking more with local foods.
7. There are people in Auroville who want the benefits of fresh home-‐grown produce but are not motivated or don’t have the time to do the work. People with yards can pay someone to start and maintain their vegetable garden to get around this problem. People could also be paid to start up a community garden if there is a lack of interest, ensuring that there is a space for others to come and learn the required skills to start their own gardens. People could also start a community style garden as a business, selling produce for a profit, but still being a place volunteers can learn the required skills of gardening.
8. If there is a lack of initiative in starting community and home gardens, but there is a demand for the benefits, paying others could be a good way to start. Once Aurovillians are more comfortable and familiar with the idea, more people are likely to take up the work themselves especially when educational places are set up that provide easy access for them to learn the required skills.
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CONCLUSION In Auroville, approximately 10 to 15% of the food consumed is produced from Auroville Farms. It seems that logistical issues and cultural food norms may be adding to this low figure. Firstly, there are strong seasonal variations in local food production due to climatic conditions and natural restraints on the variety of crops that can be grown in Auroville. During the main harvesting season there is often a surplus of vegetables and crops from Auroville farms that do not find a market in Auroville. This may be due to the fact that Auroville food processing units and restaurants work closely with food suppliers from outside, so they do not have to deal with seasonal variation both in terms of quantity and variety of vegetables available. There may be the need to improve communication and coordination among various stakeholders in the food value chain to address the seasonal surplus issue of Auroville farms. Secondly, many Aurovilians do not know how to prepare local vegetable varieties such as gourds and rather demand vegetables known to their cooking culture, which adds to the food demanded from outside of Auroville.
The number of home vegetable gardens in Auroville is growing, as shown by the increase in numbers in the last three years. When asked what people want for the future of home vegetable gardens in Auroville, many stated the need for more help to set up gardens and for knowledge on growing gardens in the local area to be available. If more support is provided for the movement, then it will be easy for the people who get inspired to have a garden to be mobilised to start and maintain one. Support can be provided in different ways, as shown in the various case studies analysed.
‘If you impose a garden on people, it won’t happen – it has to come from the inside.’
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DIFFERENT OPERATIONAL MODELS FOR AUROVILLE There are various methods that home gardening can be done, including do it yourself farming, paying someone to do the work, and through community farming, to suite the different motives and inclinations of Aurovilians. This can be done on various spaces, including sharing backyards, on rooftops and terraces, in schoolyards, and on currently unused Auroville land. One of the challenges will be the availability of water on some sites and the fencing of land if this is required.
Community gardens haven’t been successful in Auroville so far because they have been formed in very small communities where there hasn’t been enough interest to maintain them. If a community garden is made for the whole of Auroville, attracting only the people who are truly committed, then maintenance should be less of an issue. Community gardens are a huge resource potential for urban farming education -‐ they are a place where new gardeners can learn from experienced gardeners.
Community gardens are important for creating a community sense and an educational space in all the case studies looked at. Using central locations to put on workshops has also been a key educational element; there is the possibility for Auroville Urban Farming City Centre to use its central location to do the same. People still need help in starting up their home gardens, so having some trained people to help with the starting process will fill this gap. The use of community gardens, providing workshops, and having help with starting gardens, together can provide the support needed to carry the momentum of the urban agriculture movement in Auroville. There are some logistical issues that need to be looked at on dealing with the surplus of some produce, and cultural food norms that need to be overcome as well. But once this support is in place, individuals will be able to seek out the skills and help they require to have their own gardens, whether they are in their own backyard or someone else’s, on their rooftop or terrace, as part of a community garden, or on other unused land in Auroville.
