Today more than half of the planet’s inhabitants live in cities. The world-wide migration of rural people to cities is particular prominent in Africa and Asia. Some are “pushed” there because of poor security and shortage of food, whereas others are “pulled” to the city for example because of better job opportunities.
Rural dwellers moving to cities, regardless the reasons, often bring agricultural practices with them for food security and livelihood reasons. Practices like keeping pigs, poultry and dairy cows or cultivating fruits and vegetables and collecting firewood can be run within the city or in the periphery and play a variable, and sometime very significant, role for the life in the city. However, there are also downsides related to urban and peri-urban farming. Like threats to the public health from zoonotic diseases in livestock, sanitary issues from cultivation and livestock-keeping and local environmental degradation from pollution and deforestation.