Contribution of Home Gardens to Sustainable Development: Perspectives from A Supported Opinion Essay

Mário Santos (), Helena Moreira, João Alexandre Cabral, Ronaldo Gabriel, Andreia Teixeira, Rita Bastos and Alfredo Aires
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Mário Santos: Laboratory of Fluvial and Terrestrial Ecology, Innovation and Development Center, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-911 Vila Real, Portugal
Helena Moreira: CITAB—Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, Institute for Innovation, Capacity Building and Sustainability of Agri-Food Production (Inov4Agro) and Department of Biology and Environment, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
João Alexandre Cabral: Laboratory of Fluvial and Terrestrial Ecology, Innovation and Development Center, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-911 Vila Real, Portugal
Ronaldo Gabriel: CITAB—Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, Institute for Innovation, Capacity Building and Sustainability of Agri-Food Production (Inov4Agro) and Department of Biology and Environment, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal
Andreia Teixeira: Department of Sports, Exercise and Health Sciences, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-911 Vila Real, Portugal
Rita Bastos: Laboratory of Fluvial and Terrestrial Ecology, Innovation and Development Center, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-911 Vila Real, Portugal
Alfredo Aires: CITAB—Centre for the Research and Technology of Agro-Environment and Biological Sciences, Institute for Innovation, Capacity Building and Sustainability of Agri-Food Production (Inov4Agro) and Department of Biology and Environment, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, 5000-801 Vila Real, Portugal

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-26

Abstract: Home gardening has a long history that started when humans became sedentary, being traditionally considered an accessible source of food and medicinal plants to treat common illnesses. With trends towards urbanization and industrialization, particularly in the post-World War II period, the importance of home gardens as important spaces for growing food and medicinal plants reduced and they began to be increasingly seen as decorative and leisure spaces. However, the growing awareness of the negative impacts of agricultural intensification and urbanization for human health, food quality, ecosystem resilience, and biodiversity conservation motivated the emergence of new approaches concerning home gardens. Societies began to question the potential of nearby green infrastructures to human wellbeing, food provisioning, and the conservation of traditional varieties, as well as providers of important services, such as ecological corridors for wild species and carbon sinks. In this context. and to foster adaptive and resilient social–ecological systems, our supported viewpoint intends to be more than an exhaustive set of perceptions, but a reflection of ideas about the important contribution of home gardens to sustainable development. We envision these humble spaces strengthening social and ecological components, by providing a set of diversified and intermingled goods and services for an increasingly urban population.

Keywords: home gardening; health benefits; human wellbeing; food security; food quality; biodiversity; sustainability; ecosystem services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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