Quality of Vegetables and Pests Control in African Urban Cities

Urban farming or Urban gardening (Urban Agriculture) is the practice of farming in a city environment. This practice of food production takes place on rooftops, in backyards, in community gardens and in vacant public spaces in industrial countries (JOB S Ebenezer, 2010). In the industrialized world, urban farming largely disappeared in this century in spite of the recent development of the green roof movement, but in the developing world it has persisted and since the 1970's has shown signs of increase (Nelson., 1996). Today, in the developing world especially in African countries, more and more people are migrating from rural to urban settings adding to the increase in global population in urban cities. Such growing urbanization has increased the demand for quantity and quality food production and consumption in the cities. The contribution of urban agriculture to these cities has the potential to improve livelihoods and provide economic growth and stability to the population (Nugent, 1997; Garnett, 1996). Also, organic practices can be further promoted in urban agriculture by transforming nutrient rich waste from landfills into organic fertilizer and returning it to the land (Nancy Simovic, 1998). In Cote d’Ivoire, migration from rural areas brings into the urban areas many persons with very little formal education. This may result in unemployment and under-employment of a sizable number of people. Urban agriculture may be a way to occupy the inner city youth, and new migrants. Urban agriculture has the potential for creating micro-enterprises that can be owned and operated by the community members with little initial investment capital. Horticulture is a vital economic sector for most African countries. Cote d’Ivoire fruits and vegetables export to EU (European Union) countries are estimated to over 360, 000 tons. In 2007, Burkina Faso exported more than 925, 000 tons of fresh green beans. In Mali tomatoes production was over 17,000 tons and okra reached 8,600 tons. Despite the economic potential, the horticultural sector including urban agriculture is confronted to pests’ attacks and phytosanitary problems. It needs to comply with the pesticides regulations and the quality control (traceability) standards which are now required by most industrials and export countries. Hence, the importance of the present initiative to study the problematic of “The Quality of Vegetables and the Pests Control in African Urban Farming”.