Such socio-economic and demographic trends have prompted the government to
explore Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA). The idea is to come up with a Policy
on UPA as it has been recognized through research and various consultative
workshops that it has the potential to contribute to the enhancement of household
food security, improvement in household nutrition, income generation, creation of
employment, poverty alleviation, waste management and beautification and greening
of cities & towns.
MOA has put together a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary taskforce to push
for the development and inclusion of UPA in National Development Planning
processes. The policy statements that indicate commitment to UPA has already been
included in the current National Development Plan. The Taskforce that comprises of
various stakeholders from both central and local government, NGOs and private
sector was set up in 2001, immediately after the first national workshop on UPA was
held. Two more consultative workshops were held in 2003 and 2005 to consolidate
issues on the development of the UPA policy. The UPA initiative has also been
officially launched by the Minister of Agriculture in 2004. It was deemed necessary to
launch the initiative in recognition of the fact that UPA is already in progress. It was
also meant to raise awareness and show stakeholders that MOA is committed to the
UPA initiative.