Abstract:
In Ethiopia, urban agriculture is omnipresent as before. Very recently there has been a
sizable expansion of it both in outskirts of the cities and in the backyards and vacant
space of urban dwellers. The impact that urban agriculture plays in the socio-economic
contribution to the urban dwellers helps to realize its relevance in urban poverty
alleviation. Thus, the purpose of this research is to assess household practice, Challenges
and Opportunities of urban agriculture in three kebeles of Ejere Town and their
perception towards urban farming in improving urban livelihoods. Data were collected
based on household survey using a structured questionnaire on 121 urban farmer
households which were equivalently and randomly selected from three kebeles of Ejere
Town. Both Primary and secondary data collection were employed when primary data
included questionnaire, focus group discussions, key informant interview and field
observation while secondary data collected from both published and unpublished written
material. Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data analysis were employed to
analyse the data to be collected. Statistical Package for social science (SPSS) and excel
speared sheet function were used to analyze and summarize the data collected.
The findings revealed that Cultivating vegetable crops and rearing cattle were the most
common agricultural activities by the urban crop producers and livestock owners,
respectively. Urban farmers in study area (69.4 %) also experience mixed farming.
Participation of the youth is relatively low in the sector, leaving it for adults over 41
years old. Many urban farmers (90.1%) engaged in Cow’s milk and poultry production
while 31.5% are involved in vegetable crop production. Limited access to land; limited
farm extension services; lack of veterinary services; lack of access to farm credit;
shortage of improved seed and animal breeds are some of the constraints of study area.
Participations of women and uneducated people in the sector are also widely observed
