July 2016 Vol. 4 No.7

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Alaba DE

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Original Research Article

Urban Faming for Sustainable City, Lokoja – Nigeria

Dare E. Alaba

Department of Social Sciences Education, Faculty of Education, Kogi State University, Nigeria

E-mail: exceldare@yahoo.com

Accepted June 21, 2016

Abstract

Sustainable city (eco-city) is design with consideration of environmental impact inhabited by people dedicated to minimization of required input of energy, food, water and air pollution-C02, methane. This paper focused on urban farming, urban farming practices in Lokoja. Rice is currently grown at the flood plain of Niger River, where it form a confluence with Benue River. Characterized by flat terrains and rich alluvia soils. The crop is cultivated in October/November and harvested in May at the onset of the raining season. Methods of irrigations include channel irrigation, and water pump irrigations system. The aim of the study was to determine impact of urban farming on city sustainability, problems and challenges of urban farming. Three hundred and fifty questionnaire were administered using stratified random sampling technique. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. Correlation coefficients were used in analyzing fallow period and soil characteristics. Findings from the study revealed that urban farming creates employment opportunity for the urban labour, also the proximity of the farms to the urban market-Lokoja International Market reduce cost of transporting farm produce and energy input to the environment. There is no significant difference in the soil characteristics and years of fallow.
The author advocates:
• Land reform to achieve food security, security of tenure and ease of access to land, equity and stability.
• Renewable energy sources such as wind turbines, solar panels, or bio-gas created from sewage.
• Improved public transportation and increase in pedestrialization to reduce car emission were recommended toward achieving a sustainable city. Farm input should be made available for farmers at subsidize rate.

Keywords: Sustainable City, Urban Farming, Renewable Energy