Urban Agriculture

Led by John Stone, Manager of Research & Engagement for the Global Innoversity Program in Metro Food at MSU http://globalinnoversity.org. This self-paced learning experience increases awareness of metropolitan agriculture and is designed to build a network of collaborators. The course is open to anyone and participants will earn a certificate of completion.

More than half of the world’s population is living in cities, and each day 200,000 more people are added to the world food demand. Urbanization is an ongoing and autonomous worldwide trend. Cities are becoming mega-cities with millions of inhabitants. Urbanization creates an ever growing number of urban consumers while rapidly declining the number of farmers and pushing out agriculture from metropolitan areas. The problem will only increase in coming years, especially in developing countries where 80-90% of the population growth will be in cities. The rapid urban development has placed agriculture in an urban context and under urban pressure.

Participants are invited to bring perspectives and experiences in their own metropolitan region to the course to help build a robust framework of metropolitan agriculture.