Urban Agricultural Practices, Challenges, and Opportunities: The Case of Ambo and Waliso Towns, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

The study was conducted in the towns of Ambo and Waliso with the main objective of
assessing the types, technology use practices, contributions of urban agriculture to
agriculture household livelihoods, and challenges faced by urban agriculture
producers. It focused on all types of urban agricultural practices and related activities
carried out in cities. The study used descriptive methods with qualitative survey data.
Agricultural production is heavily reliant on improved agricultural technology use by
agriculture households, and the gap is influenced in part by the level and types of
appropriate technology used. Improved agricultural technologies entail the use of
various breeds, varieties, and practices that necessitate knowledge and skill in
application and management practices. Producers in urban agriculture have adopted
and used various agricultural technologies to some extent, but the adoption of these
technologies has not been completely optimal. Introducing new dairy and poultry
technologies should be supported by continues training or technical assistance on how
to manage and use the technology. Producers' deviation from using improved
agricultural technologies was found to be partly due to low awareness, a lack of
proper agriculture technologies, and agriculture households lack of financial capacity
to use improved agricultural technologies in accordance with recommendations. The
study result revealed that urban agriculture has played a significant role in improving
the livelihoods of urban agriculture households. It has provided households with
additional income, a fresh food source, and employment opportunities for youth and
women. Lack of feed supply, problems with appropriate dairy cows and poultry
chickens, high prices of agriculture inputs, insufficient modern agriculture facilities
and tools, absence of training and experience sharing visits with proper technology
use, unavailability of credit services, poor technical support from agricultural offices
and respective organizations, problems with selling places and linkages were the
major challenges to urban agriculture in Ambo and Waliso towns. The study findings
would help in addressing the need for genuine urban agricultural development
interventions, appropriate technology generation, and cost-effective methods to boost
urban agricultural productivity and contribute to household livelihood improvement.