Gardening to reduce hazard: urban agriculture in Tanzania

Urban agriculture is an illegal activity in most African towns and cities, as it is seen to be competing with other, higher value, urban land uses. Despite this, food production occurs throughout the African urban environment and is crucial to the urban economy; providing employment, food security and investment opportunity for a large proportion of the urban population. Urban agriculture also adds value to urban land, bringing unused land into production, reversing degradation and improving the urban landscape. In the context of a rapidly expanding urban population, food production in Dar es Salaam is playing a crucial role in sustaining the city, employing 210000 people. Urban agriculture also has an important role to play in providing a viable land use in the hazard lands of Dar es Salaam, as an alternative to squatter housing which exposes the inhabitants to a substantial risk from flooding. This paper looks at the role that urban agriculture plays in Dar es Salaam and identifies the major actors.