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Rooftop Gardening as a Strategy of Urban Agriculture for Food
Security: The Case of Dhaka City, Bangladesh
Khandaker M. Shariful Islam
Dept of Public Administration, The University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Keywords: urban agriculture, home gardening, rooftop gardening
Abstract
Urban population in the cities of developing countries are growing rapidly
which also means the number of low-income consumers is increasing. Because of
this, food insecurity in these cities is increasing. Urban agriculture (UA) contributes
to food security by increasing the supply of food and by enhancing the quality of
perishable foods reaching urban consumers. The exploration of local socio-economic
and institutional conditions that might promote and hinder urban agriculture is
needed to implement policies that effectively integrate agriculture into the urban
environment. This study aims to identify the potential for and barriers to UA with
reference to rooftop gardening (RTG) and to explore strategies to promote food
security in Dhaka.
INTRODUCTION
Dhaka is the largest and fastest growing city of Bangladesh. Rapid population
growth in Dhaka has created severe pressure on the land of the already overcrowded
country. Agricultural lands have given way to housing developments and roads in an
agriculturally based economy like Bangladesh. With rapid and unplanned urbanization,
incidence of urban poverty and food insecurity has been also increasing alarmingly in
Dhaka (Choguill 1995).
Rooftop gardening can be an effective method in ensuring food supply and
satisfying nutritional needs of the inhabitants (Helen Keller International and Institute of
Public Health Nutrition 1985). Rooftop gardening, although is being practiced in the city
in many form for years in the past, there have been hardly any concerted effort on part of
the Government, community organizations and as well the general citizens to integrate it
to urban agriculture. Proper understanding of the problems and prospects associated with
the adoption of policies will contribute, to a great extent, to increased food supply in the
city. The proposed study is an effort in this direction. It identifies the long-term policy
measures for rooftop gardening that can become the basis for a sustainable approach for
urban agriculture.
The key objective of the paper is to identify and explore the necessary strategies to
stimulate urban agricultural growth in the city of Dhaka through examining the areas for
development and re-development of rooftop gardening (RTG). Therefore the specific
priority objectives are to investigate the existing urban agricultural policies and practice
in the city with a particular reference to rooftop gardening; to identify the potential areas
where policy interventions are required for promoting rooftop gardening to meet the
needs of Dhaka and to suggest measures which leads to the formulation and successful
implementation of the policies with regard to rooftop gardening.
METHODS AND MATERIALS
The pertinent information on the subject was collected from various primary as
well as secondary sources. The feasibility of rooftop gardening (RTG) was explored
through a questionnaire survey of the owner’s of households and a survey of occupants
and responsible authorities of selected public and commercial buildings. Moreover, a
focus group discussion was also organized where stakeholders were invited to discuss the
prospects and problems of rooftop gardening in the city. For example, NGO people (on
providing micro credit), City Corporation Departments (on changing zoning regulation),
land and house owners (on leasing and allowing tenant to gardening) and general public
Proc. IC on Urban Horticulture
Eds: R. Junge-Berberovic et al.
Acta Hort 643, ISHS 2004
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(on their overall reaction) were asked to express their opinion.
RESULTS
Urban Food Security Situation in the Context of Dhaka
As in other cities in the developing countries poverty is also widespread and
rapidly growing in Dhaka. A large migration of poor population to Dhaka has contributed
to rapid growth of poverty in the city. Several floods and cyclonic storms caused damage
to crops and low per acre yield is further aggravated by these natural calamities resulting
in shortage of domestic food supply, causing recurrent food storage and thereby causing
higher incidence of poverty (Alamgir 1978).
With a GNP of $220 per capita many Bangladeshi live below the absolute poverty
line and recent estimates place 86% of the urban population in this category. According to
Balbo et al. (2000), in Dhaka 54% of the households live below the poverty level. If the
situation does not improve, Dhaka will be home to almost 2 million ‘very poor’ residents
by 2005. Between 1975 and 2000, the demand of cereals increased in Dhaka from 294
thousand tonnes to 2407 thousand tones (Balbo et al. 2000). As the population is growing
so is the physical expansion of the city. Rich agricultural land in the Savar and Tongi
corridors is likely to be converted to urban uses in the near future. On the other hand, it
was estimated that the food requirement gap in Bangladesh will reach at 8 million tones in
the year 2000. “The urbanization trends in the future will exacerbate the gravity of the
problem” (Asaduzzaman 1994). The challenging task that the Government faces is to
achieve a higher growth rate in food production (Ali 1989).
Urban Agriculture in Dhaka
Dhaka’s land use pattern shows that agricultural use is still the highest as
compared to other land uses in the city. 61% of the land in Greater Dhaka is nonurban
land, used as rural or semi rural agriculture while the rest is devoted to urban use. This is
due to the fact that the city is spreading at a growing rate in the agricultural lands.
There is already some food produced in the city areas in Bangladesh. In 1983/84,
the urban poor may have produced about 25,000 tones of rice, 180 tonnes of beef and
mutton, nearly 100,000 chicken and 19,000 tonnes of milk (Asaduzzaman 1989).
In exploring the UA activities in Dhaka Remenyi (2000) found that, inner city
Urban Agriculture favors production activities that require a minimum of land and a
maximum of the most readily available resources, labor. In the heart of residential and
business district Dhaka, where land has its highest cost, Urban Agriculture tends to be
synonymous with opportunistic planting of trees or annuals, plants that use little or no
land such as vines and hanging cucurbits grown from roof gardens or hanging pots,
various branches of high valued horticulture, including vegetables, flowers, herbs, and
potted shrubs, economically useful tree varieties that provide fruit, nuts, flowers, borders
and shade, and small scale livestock production built on exploitation of ‘free’ organic
waste and/or forage gathered using cut and carry methods common amongst the landless
in rural village situations. In the peri-urban ‘lower rent zones’, broad-acre cropping is
more common (Remenyi 2000).
Although UA has been in the city for many years and it has contributed to
additional income of the households, it is still no more than a “sideline subsistence
activity”. However, this is not unique to Dhaka and similar findings are reported in other
studies of food security. For the poor of the city, “ the potential in Urban Agriculture yet
to be exploited as a strategy of poverty alleviation (Remenyi 2000).
Government and City Policy
The Government of Bangladesh does not have any specific policy provision or
legislation that promotes urban agriculture in general or rooftop garden in particular.
There is no specific city policy that promotes urban agriculture in Dhaka. Until recently
the official master plan of Dhaka has included a provision that “Three areas of high
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quality agricultural land within the catchment area of Dhaka will be conserved and
promoted as areas of high intensity food production”. At the same time there are no
policies that particularly restrict agriculture in the urban areas. The absence of regulatory
mechanisms can be seen as an opportunity for the promotion of RTG in the City of
Dhaka.
NGO Supports and Initiatives
NGOs have had a significant impact in the development activities in many sectors
in the past. NGOs have appreciable impact in development particularly in rural areas. The
role of the NGOs, particularly, Grameen Bank, Bangladesh Rural Advancement
Committee (BRAC) and PROSHIKA are well known.
It is until very recently that the microfinance provider NGOs have started targeting
the urban poor. BRAC has initiated an urban credit program for slum dwellers in 1997
which is targeted at women, especially recent arrivals (Remenyi 2000). Provisions of
microfinance for urban agriculture from other prominent NGOs such as ASA, SafeSave,
Credit and Development Forum (CDF) are found extremely limited (Remenyi 2000).
As part of the vitamin A deficiency prevention program USAID/Bangladesh
currently supports an extensive home gardening program undertaken by the Helen Keller
International (HKI) that covers 25% of the country together with other programs such as
nutrition education and health worker training. This program has increased the production
and consumption of fruits and vegetables in the working areas (Talukder et al. 2000). This
initiative in the rural areas of Bangladesh could easily be replicated to the urban areas.
Survey Results on the Current Practice of Rooftop Gardening
To find out the current state of UA and RTG, questionnaire survey on the RTG of
residential buildings was carried out.
1. Current Use of Residential Rooftops in Dhaka Presently the rooftops of the
residential buildings are being used for various purposes: for drying (88%) and washing
(45%) clothes, as playground for children (97%), for entertaining guests (20%), for cool
air during the summer (64%), to sunbathe in the winter (33%). On most of the roofs, some
form of pleasure garden exists (78%), sometimes there are fruit gardens (12%), and,less
often, vegetable garden as well (8%).
2. Fruits and Vegetables Produced About 60 varieties of fruits and vegetables are
produced in Bangladesh. Not all types can be produced on the rooftop. The types and mix
are chosen in the city depending upon individual household food preferences, availability
of seeds types that can be grown on the rooftop, climate and availability of soils. In the
food garden the following fruits and vegetables are commonly grown; Guava, Lemon,
Papaya, Grapes, Green Chili, Pumpkin, Squash, Onion, Garlic, Coriander leaves, Tomato,
Mushroom, Leafy vegetables (e.g., Callaloo, Jute Leaf and Red Amaranthus), and other
(e.g., Cucumber, Flat bean, Bitter ground, Ribbed ground, Ladies finger, Amaranthus,
Dhudi, Cowpea and Brinjal). Some families also cultivate spices and plants used for
medicinal purposes.
3. Owners’ Determination to RTG All the owners interviewed enjoy gardening. About
68% of the residents spend 50-80 Canadian $ per annum. Many of them have plans to
initiate food gardening (65%) in the future. Only less than 5% of house owners are
willing to allow tenants to RTG. They also do not want to increase rent to allow their
tenants to RTG as they might lose the tenant if rent is increased.
4. Leasing Although many roofs are currently being underutilized the owners seem to be
reluctant to allow outsiders in the roofs. They worry that this may hamper their privacy.
5. Manpower Availability Manpower does not seem to be a problem, since one or two
persons are available in every house. In most of the cases (90%) someone in the family is
available to look after the garden. Moreover, more than 50% of the family interviewed
has members who have claimed to have knowledge about and experience in agriculture
and gardening.
6. Materials for Gardening According to 95% of interviewed, obtaining gardening
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materials (such as soil, seeds etc.) is not a problem. They are easily available in the local
market and in the nurseries.
7. Water Supply Water access is becoming a serious problem in Dhaka. However, most
of the respondents stated that water is not a problem for those who can pay for it. Those
who own buildings can also afford water. In 98% cases they have access to water on the
roofs, and there are already water pipes installed on the roofs for other purposes (such as
cloth washing etc.).
8. Suitability of the Rooftops Every house owner thinks that their roofs are suitable for
gardening and do not require improvement work. In 75% cases shedding from the next
building were not perceived as a problem. More than 75% also did not identify any
physical barriers.
9. Assistance Required Most owners (75%) are reluctant to take any outside help sources
(75%). Less than 15 % respondens sought partial help (from nurseries and friends).
However, about 40% owners are willing to join Rooftop Gardeners Association if formed
in the future.
10. Problems Identified The possibility of burglary seems to be a main problem. Other
anticipated problems include attack of the gardens by insects, birds and monkeys.
DISCUSSION
In a workshop the questionnaire findings and the survey results were shared with
government and city officials, NGO representatives and individuals who have experience
in urban Agriculture. The issues such as the city’s attitude toward future initiatives of
RTG and financial and managerial matters were discussed in a focus group discussion.
The findings are summarized as follows:
• It seemed that only a few of the participants were aware of the benefits of UA and RTG.
• In the initial discussion, most of the participants were not really interested. However,
after a briefing about the advantages that UA (and RTG) can offer, they all felt that it
would bring benefits for Dhaka’s residents as well.
• If there is a “revolution”, the Government and the City officials mentioned that they
would have no reservation in integrating UA in the urban development policy agenda.
They are also willing to revise relevant laws if necessary.
• However, the city officials pointed out that such new program would create an extra
burden on their regular administrative tasks.
• The participants mentioned financing as a major concern. Unless some sort of
arrangement for financing is made the poor cannot be involved. Also, some middle
class families require financial assistance for the initial few years.
• The Government and city officials think that at this moment they do not have funding
available to support UA projects. However, they mentioned that some form of financial
assistance might be available from the international donors.
• The NGO representatives expressed their interest supporting RTG projects in the near
future. They think that there are many NGOs who will be willing to provide
informational, financial and managerial help to the gardeners.
• The NGO representatives also promised other participants that they would explore the
possibilities of how the poor can be involved in RTG.
• A representative from the association attended the discussion that feels that the
Government and NGO support is crucial for the sustainability of RTG projects.
• All the participants think that putting fences and employing guards can tackle the
problems of burglary.
• The participants concluded that hands-on training would help promote RTG. It is
mentioned that the formulation of a manual from where the farmers can obtain the
necessary information will be helpful.
• All the participants expressed the need for integrating UA in the national educational
curriculum.
• They stated that some demonstration projects would also encourage citizens in UA.
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Potential Areas for RTG in Dhaka
• Lack of strict land use and physical planning laws and the reluctance to enforce the
existing laws can be seen as an opportunity for RTG initiatives for the poor. The laws
can be easily tuned in line with the practice.
• Most of the rooftops of Dhaka are flat which are suitable for gardening.
• Most of the buildings are suitable for RTG as rooftops are easily accessible.
• Large number of government and commercial office building roofs that are not
currently under any use can be used for gardening.
• The immigrants in Dhaka are remarkable for their innovation and adaptation. Many of
them have first hand experience in agriculture.
• Dhaka’s climate is suitable for RTG.
• In Dhaka not too much irrigation is required for growing plants.
• There already exists network of pipelines for water supply to the rooftop for almost
every buildings surveyed. Currently Dhaka’s water supply authority (WASA) does not
have regulation restricting supply of water in the roof or garden. Even WASA has an
advertisement on the national television that shows how to use water properly for
gardening purposes.
• There is an extensive NGO net working within the country from where a range of
assistance is available for initiating new projects for RTG.
• The gardeners can easily buy their materials from the nearby adjacent markets of the
city. The existence of huge number of nurseries in the city will ensure the supply of
plants in time.
• Most of the owners of the residential buildings are willing to initiate RTG. This
indicates that a possibility of economic return will make them interested in renting out
or leasing out rooftops for gardening purposes.
Constraints of RTG in Dhaka
Some major constraints that have been found from the interview, survey and
relevant literature search include:
• The lack of finance is one of the critical factors that constraint the innovative projects in
RTG in Dhaka. Lack of the provision for credit specially prevents the poor from leasing
RTG and initiate food gardening.
• As has been expressed by the majority of the respondents burglary is the main concern.
The possibility of theft is apprehended due to the ongoing food shortage in the city.
• Good quality of seeds is not available during the harvesting season because of huge
demand.
• Many of the city residents do not have training in agriculture. Starting gardening
without proper training may lead to frustrating outcomes, which might result in
reluctance of the people in initiating new projects.
• There is no authority to take care of gardens in the commercial and public office
buildings especially at night. The guards and caretaker (often known as Mali) are some
times part-time staff.
• There are several constraints due to the present conditions of buildings. For example,
some buildings are old, especially in the old part of the city.
• Dhaka is situated in an active seismic zone. Many experts express their concerns about
possibility of building collapse as a large number of 3-5 storied brick buildings are built
with very little seismic resistance. Moreover, many of these are founded on recent loose
fills, with a possibility of ground failures during earthquake.
• Even some new buildings are not suitable for RTG. There have been several cases of
buildings collapsing the city in recent years. These happened due to the noncompliance
with the building construction regulation. In the city some buildings exceeded the limit
of number of stories allowed to build on specified building foundation and structures.
• Shadow of taller buildings on smaller ones is one of the barriers for RTG although this
is not unique to Dhaka.
• Although supply of water is not an issue for those who can afford it, there is a shortage