getting serious about urban farming

There seems to be an explosion of interest in urban agriculture here in Cape Town and around the world, if the number of newspaper articles and blogs on the topic is anything to go by. While there is lots of information and services in support of vegetable growing, another side of micro-farming about which I have seen relatively little is raising animals for food in the city. I have always assumed that in most municipalities it would be illegal to establish chicken coops in the backyards of suburbia; but according to the blog Urban Chickens, there actually are a few places where it seems to be allowed.

Interest groups are pushing municipalities to allow chickens, but in some cases this strategy has backfired. Many cities simply have not addressed the issue in their by-laws, and some have taken this to mean they can keep small livestock. The city of Waterloo, Ontario, was one of these, but efforts to legalise chickens resulted in the city outlawing a practice that had previously been under the radar.

The obvious objections are smell and noise, but there is nothing stopping people from using smelly manure as compost on their urban gardens; and as far as noise goes, my family has to put up with neighbourhood dogs that cause far more sleepless nights than any flock of chickens could possibly do.

Urban farming goes beyond simply providing healthy food; it can be part of an educational strategy. Projects like the Wild Coast Day Care Facility in Transkei, or Camphill near Atlantis (north of Cape Town), are not in an urban setting, but they improve quality of life and develop skills that can increase resilience in times of stress (financial or otherwise). I am sure there are plenty of urban locations that could provide a similar function without impacting negatively on residential areas. And there are web sites like Hyperlocavore that support the formation of yardsharing groups to ease neighbourhoods into communal gardening efforts to share resources and ideas.

I have written a couple of times about the Riebeek Kasteel Community Garden, which doubles as a weekend soup kitchen for the local children. While it is located in a rural town, it's a great demonstration of how to teach residents about food production with limited resources. I visited the garden again this Saturday, when the children were making and erecting scarecrows. Trees that were planted a while ago have visibly grown, there is now a greenhouse tunnel acting as a nursery for the garden, and colourfully painted stones and tyres mark plants and a pathway. And, while the communal garden has grown, it's the activity beyond the shared space that is really exciting.

will China and the US agree on emissions?

In the buildup to the December Copenhagen UNFCCC talks, perhaps the biggest challenge is getting past the political impasse where developed countries (like the US) want developing countries (like China) to take on greater responsibilities for reducing carbon emissions, while developing countries say that historically high emitters should shoulder the greater burden. Just over a week ago, at climate change talks in Bonn, US Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern had this to say:

I think that the most fundamental issues in this negotiation in general have to do with how to think about, capture and express the actions and the level of the undertakings to be taken by major developing countries as well as the developed countries. We already know the developed countries have already traditionally been in the mode of making commitments and undertakings. Now we are obviously adding the United States to that package. And I think we also need to add, in a different way, in a differentiated way to be sure, the major developing countries. And again I say that in a way that harkens back to my comments in my prepared remarks about the centrality of science here. I am fond of saying, if you do the math you simply cannot be anywhere near where science tells us we need to be… You cannot directionally be where you need to go on the science if you don't have China above all, but also other major developing countries taking real steps. I think how that is captured, how that is understood and expressed, quantified, committed to, etcetera is going to be extremely important.

This simmering debate is already starting to boil over with growing threats of protectionism. Countries like the US say they need to protect their own producers from imports that are cheaper by virtue of the fact that these imports (from developing countries) do not bear the cost of moving to low-carbon production processes.

Chinese economist Hu Angang is offering a more nuanced approach to classifying countries than the current developed / developing binary system - one which he believes could extricate politicians from the blame game and hopefully result in substantial agreement in December.

SA's Joule is shining

Last September there was a flurry of blogging about South Africa's homegrown electric car, the Joule, which is due to be in mass production by 2012. And a prototype was on show at last month's climate change conference. According to the Cape Town based company developing the multi-purpose vehicle, South Africans can look forward to pilot fleets of Joule on their roads and around the globe from 2010 onwards. Kobus Meiring, CEO of Optimal Energy:

Optimal Energy is capitalising on South Africa’s technological prowess, its track record of building premium cars for the export market, the current sea of change in transport technology brought about by climate change, pollution and energy security issues, and the immense progress in battery technology. Optimal Energy aims to place South Africa at the frontline of the renewable energy movement with Joule. This investment helps us to drive the industrialisation process, taking us to the next level.

urban sprout is tops

Congratulations to Urban Sprout for clinching top spot in the green category of the SA Blog Awards - for the second year running! If you haven't seen the blog, I can tell you it's well worth a regular visit. For all those who voted, thanks for your effort. These awards are helping to put South African blogs on the map.

Incidentally, this is the 500th post on Carbon Copy, and this month marks the blog's 5th birthday. Activity in the first few years was rather sparse, but posting has been pretty regular for the past two years; seeing you all drop by is a strong motivator. Hope you've enjoyed the offering. If you have any suggestions for topics, links to interesting news items, or just want to leave a comment, please drop me a line. I always welcome interaction with my readers.

One more thing. Since I am based in South Africa, that tends to be the focus of much of what I write; but I am trying to maintain a perspective that considers other African countries. So if you have any links or thoughts relating to other parts of the continent, those would be particularly welcome. Thanks!