Multifunctionality benefits of small-scale urban agriculture

Due to the scarcity of land, small-scale agriculture farming is more suitable in the urban context. But there are significant knowledge gaps that remain regarding small-scale urban food production systems, especially, in developing countries. Hence, this study was carried out to investigate the farmers’ perception of the multifunctional benefits of small-scale urban agriculture activities in Sri Lanka and the factors determining (demographic, farm management, and economic) those perceptions. A perception survey was conducted for 402 small-scale farmers in Colombo District, Sri Lanka. Ordinal regression was applied to uncover farmers' perceptions of the social, economic, and environmental benefits of urban agriculture. Demographic data, farm management, and economic data were used as independent variables. According to the results, farmers have a positive perception of all three benefit categories, social, economic, and environmental, but it is comparatively higher for the environmental benefits followed by social benefits. Moreover, the study found the farmer’s age, education level, farm size, urban agriculture type, farming involvement, number of crops, and main family income as statistically significant factors that affect their perception of the three categories of benefits but in different ways.