Urban gardening in Dhaka: Practices, constraints, and impacts

The production of fruits and vegetables by urban residents can enhance food security and provide various additional benefits, but empirical data to support these claims is limited. This study uses questionnaire-based data from 1320 households in Dhaka, Bangladesh, including 1079 gardeners and 241 non-gardeners, to examine urban gardening practices, challenges, and impacts on fruit and vegetable consumption and income. The analysis distinguishes between rooftop and land-based gardens. Impact is quantified using propensity score matching to address selection bias. The study finds that women manage 83% of urban gardens in the study sample, often with assistance from their spouses. However, they face challenges, including a lack of knowledge, pests and diseases, insufficient gardening inputs, and limited soil. The study finds that rooftop gardeners have 19% more vegetable intake (p = 0.024) and 7% more fruit intake (p = 0.015) than non-gardeners with access to a rooftop. However, no significant impact on fruit and vegetable intake is found for land-based gardeners, likely because they are more oriented toward selling than own consumption. The effect on income was small but significant for both garden types. Gardeners also reported multiple benefits other than food and income, including personal enjoyment, aesthetic value, family cohesion, and social interaction. Raising the productivity of urban gardens by addressing the main challenges through training can enhance the contribution of urban gardening to diets.

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