NPR ran a story last week on urban farmers in Africa, based on this report from the United Nations.

The survey — which is the first of its kind — looked at city farming in 31 countries, more than half of Africa’s urban population lives. The authors say that governments need to integrate urban farming into city planning, or else the cities may lose one of their best sources of food.

For inspiration, Africa can look to China and many countries in Latin America, which have incorporated horticulture into their urban planning since the 1960s. Now more than half of Beijing’s vegetable supply comes from the city’s own market gardens, the report notes.

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