Rooftop Agriculture in the Urban Global South: The Experience of Johannesburg

Urban agriculture is attracting a growing international scholarship. The objective in this article is to examine the organization and contemporary state of rooftop agriculture in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial heart and largest city. Current international scholarship on rooftop agriculture...

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Main Author: Rogerson, Jayne M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Publikon 2025-06-01
Series:Modern Geográfia
Subjects:
Online Access:https://moderngeografia.eu/en/rooftop-agriculture-in-the-urban-global-south-the-experience-of-johannesburg-2/
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author Rogerson, Jayne M.
author_facet Rogerson, Jayne M.
author_sort Rogerson, Jayne M.
collection DOAJ
description Urban agriculture is attracting a growing international scholarship. The objective in this article is to examine the organization and contemporary state of rooftop agriculture in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial heart and largest city. Current international scholarship on rooftop agriculture is overwhelmingly dominated by research on the experience of North American and European cities. Although urban agriculture has generated a considerable literature in the Global South and especially in Africa, only limited work exists on rooftop farming. This study draws together existing material on the South African record of rooftop agriculture. It is shown that Johannesburg hosts the largest cluster of rooftop farms which have been established mainly for social considerations with smaller numbers of projects for commercial reasons or the image-enhancement of businesses. The importance of partnerships for the establishment of projects emerges as a distinctive element of the Johannesburg inner-city experience. The challenges confronting the rooftop farming projects are investigated.
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spelling doaj-art-338f65ed1e9e404bbbf900a0b7d752ea2025-08-20T03:24:14ZengPublikonModern Geográfia2062-16552025-06-0120211910.15170/MG.2025.20.02.01Rooftop Agriculture in the Urban Global South: The Experience of JohannesburgRogerson, Jayne M.0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3494-1311University of Johannesburg, School of Tourism & HospitalityUrban agriculture is attracting a growing international scholarship. The objective in this article is to examine the organization and contemporary state of rooftop agriculture in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial heart and largest city. Current international scholarship on rooftop agriculture is overwhelmingly dominated by research on the experience of North American and European cities. Although urban agriculture has generated a considerable literature in the Global South and especially in Africa, only limited work exists on rooftop farming. This study draws together existing material on the South African record of rooftop agriculture. It is shown that Johannesburg hosts the largest cluster of rooftop farms which have been established mainly for social considerations with smaller numbers of projects for commercial reasons or the image-enhancement of businesses. The importance of partnerships for the establishment of projects emerges as a distinctive element of the Johannesburg inner-city experience. The challenges confronting the rooftop farming projects are investigated.https://moderngeografia.eu/en/rooftop-agriculture-in-the-urban-global-south-the-experience-of-johannesburg-2/urban agriculturerooftop agriculturejohannesburgsouth africa
spellingShingle Rogerson, Jayne M.
Rooftop Agriculture in the Urban Global South: The Experience of Johannesburg
Modern Geográfia
urban agriculture
rooftop agriculture
johannesburg
south africa
title Rooftop Agriculture in the Urban Global South: The Experience of Johannesburg
title_full Rooftop Agriculture in the Urban Global South: The Experience of Johannesburg
title_fullStr Rooftop Agriculture in the Urban Global South: The Experience of Johannesburg
title_full_unstemmed Rooftop Agriculture in the Urban Global South: The Experience of Johannesburg
title_short Rooftop Agriculture in the Urban Global South: The Experience of Johannesburg
title_sort rooftop agriculture in the urban global south the experience of johannesburg
topic urban agriculture
rooftop agriculture
johannesburg
south africa
url https://moderngeografia.eu/en/rooftop-agriculture-in-the-urban-global-south-the-experience-of-johannesburg-2/
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