Urban Gardens as a Strategy to Confront the Food Emergency Crisis in Argentina. Analysis Based on Capacities, Barriers and Future Policy Uncertainties

FRANCISCO TOMATIS; ANA MARIA BONET; ULISES RENO; OUIAM FATIHA BOUKHARTA; LUIS MANUEL NAVAS GRACIA

Crisis Gardening: A Global Perspective

Taylor and Francis/CRL Press

Lugar: Abingdon ; Año: 2025; p. 22 - 34

Argentina presents an unfavourable socioeconomic context characterized bypoverty, inflation and a national declaration of food emergency. This chapter examines themultifaceted capacities of urban gardens to address these challenges in the country,addressing not only the nutritional dimension but also their contributions to economic, social,urban, and environmental aspects. In Argentina, there are have been public policies thatencourage, directly or indirectly, urban agriculture and urban gardenings practices to face thementioned circumstances. The Argentine Plan Against Hunger (PACH) and the ProHuertaProgram are examples of policies at national level, while the Urban Agriculture Program(PAU) in Rosario is an outstanding policy at the local level. In this sense, its maincharacteristics are presented and, looking for the future, synergies are proposed for its greaterintegration and consolidation in the national territory. However, numbers of barriers need tobe overcome for a greater development of urban gardens in Argentina, considering that thereare responsibilities at different levels. Currently, a political change is taking place in thecountry where the existence and future forms of public policies at the national level thatsupport urban gardens are uncertain, despite their recognition as strategies that confront crisiscontexts.