Last updated: March 2025
According to the FAO, in 2022, 16.6 million Peruvians faced moderate or severe food insecurity, representing an increase of 1.5 million compared to the previous year (3). This situation was exacerbated by the health crisis, inflation, and job losses, leaving three out of ten Peruvians in poverty in 2021. The situation was particularly critical in Metropolitan Lima and Callao, with 14% of families reporting difficulties in acquiring protein-rich foods due to their precarious economic situation (2). In response to this food crisis, the Municipality of Lima implemented the "Lima te Cuida" (Lima Takes Care of You) initiative, in which residents from vulnerable areas got training to create urban gardens and produce organic compost to help the community kitchens in these areas become self-sustainable (1, 2). An example of this initiative is the community garden in A.H. Villa Mosha in San Juan de Lurigancho, where a community garden has been built, and community members have been trained in small-scale planting, cultivation, care, and harvesting of various foods (2). This initiative has been supported by the MUSA project "Mujeres Unidas por la Seguridad Alimentaria y Ambiental" (Women United for Food and Environmental Security) as part of the project "Alimentando a Lima desde Adentro" (ALDA) (Feeding Lima from within), which has had an impact in eight districts of Lima to strengthen food security (3). In addition to promoting urban agriculture, the project seeks to influence public policy through training and development of proposals to promote urban agriculture at the local level (4).
Families from Villa Mosha gathered at the community garden
Peruvian Government
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Community gardens and allotments
- Community gardens
Key challenges
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
- Inclusive governance
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Environmental education
- Environmental and climate justice
- Sense of community and community engagement
- Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
- Economic development: agriculture
- Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
- Sustainable production
- Food scarcity / security
Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)
- Land use and Socio-economic change
- Agriculture/ crop production
- Limited economic opportunities and local livelihoods
- Resource Scarcity and Competition
- Food insecurity due to disruptions in food production and distribution
Key priorities
Social Justice and community
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Creation of areas for food production (community gardens, allotments), Transformation of previously derelict areas, Transformation of vacant land into green spaces, Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Protection of agroecology approaches (agroforestry & silvopastoral systems), Sustainable use of natural resources to improve livelihoods and food security (eg. community- based wildlife or forest management), Educational and awareness raising programs, Strategy, plan or policy development, Community-based programs (e.g. "Green Your Laneway Program")
Project objectives
- Train residents of vulnerable areas on how to implement an organic garden and produce organic compost (1,2)
- Benefit families in the human settlement by providing them with nutritious food (1)
- Support community kitchens in the area (1)
- Promote food self-sufficiency in the community (1,2)
- Connect and strengthen women farmers and women from community kitchens as a way to access fresh, nutritious food to address the food crisis (2)
As part of the MUSA project, the following objectives are pursued (3):
-Build political influence
-Train communities on issues related to urban agriculture, healthy eating, other innovative solutions and entrepreneurship
-Increase families' food, economic, and environmental security in poverty and vulnerable situations, particularly women and girls in urban and peri-urban areas of Metropolitan Lima.
As the project is also part of the Training Cycle on Political Advocacy and the Development of Public Policies in Urban Agriculture developed by MOOCICC, the following objective is pursued: Empower women and young people to promote agroecology and a healthy environment through local public proposals (4)
Implementation activities
To implement the organic garden, residents were trained in small-scale planting, cultivating, caring, and harvesting various foods (1). Recycled materials such as raised beds, tyres, and buckets were used (1). Practical workshops on organic agriculture and composting have been conducted (1, 5), and the district expects to conduct training in propagation techniques so that communities can be sustainable in this regard and not depend on the provision of seeds by external agents (5). On the other hand, efforts have been made to involve communities in citizen participation processes (2, 4), such as the Training Cycle on Political Advocacy and the Development of Public Policies in Urban Agriculture, which worked on the advocacy action plan for Lima with the contribution of ideas and proposals from the different communities of the different districts, in this case, San Juan de Lurigancho (4). As part of the MUSA project, equipment has been provided, and field training has been established so that urban agriculture promoters can share their knowledge and experiences through practical learning (3). Gardener-to-gardener training supports this training to promote urban agriculture in the city (2). Additionally, the MUSA Project supports food preservation and processing initiatives, entrepreneurship training, and agroecological fairs (3).
Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts
Yes
Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities
Low-income neighborhoods, Informal settlements or slums
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
- Marginalized groups: Women, Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed), Homeless people & people living in informal settlements
Governance
Management set-up
- Government-led
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Deliberative decision-making processes (e.g., consensus building, deliberative polling)
- Dissemination of information and education
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
- Co-management/Joint management
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
Municipality of Lima: Driving agent of the strategy as part of its Lima te Cuida initiative (1)
Plataforma de Agricultura Urbana en Lima (PAUL): a platform that, through its programme, Mujeres Unidas por la Seguridad Alimentaria y Ambiental (MUSA), has supported the development of this garden. This project has developed strategies to strengthen food security in Lima by focusing on capacity-building (2, 3)
Movimiento Ciudadano frente al Cambio Climático (MOCICC): a citizen organisation that involves communities in governance and citizen participation (4)
Communitarian soups: main beneficiaries of the garden (1, 2, 3, 5)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(The project is based on Ordinance 1629-2012-MML, which states that the promotion of urban agriculture is one of the guidelines of the environmental policy of the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima (2))
Type of enablers
Capacity-building projects, Governance innovations (such as public private partnerships)
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Provision of goods
- Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Achieved increased green space area
- Increased number of species present
- Achieved increased number of species present
Economic impacts
- Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
- Achieved increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved access to urban green space
- Achieved improved access to urban green space
- Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Expected increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
- Increased access to healthy/affordable food
- Achieved increased access to healthy/affordable food
- Education
- Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
- Expected increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
- Other
Type of reported impacts
Presence of formal monitoring system
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
Yes
Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs
Unknown
References
1.
Municipalidad Metropolitana de Lima (2020). Primera cosecha de biohuerto implementado en A.H. Villa Mosha beneficiará a ollas comunes de la zona. Accessed on August 20, 2024, [Source link];
2.
de Sotomayor Cotrado, V. (2023). MANUAL PARA LA INCIDENCIA POLÍTICA Y ELABORACIÓN DE POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS. Accessed on August 20, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Agricultura en Lima (n.d.). Proyecto Mujeres Unidas por la Seguridad Alimentaria y Ambiental (MUSA). Accessed on August 20, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Comunicación MOCICC (2023). Agricultura Urbana ¡Ahora! O cómo la incidencia política y la elaboración de políticas públicas no solo es necesaria sino urgente en Lima. Accessed on August 20, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Lima's Municipality (2020). 5-vecinos-de-la-molina-aplican-agricultura-urbana_0.pdf. Accessed on August 20, 2024, [Source link];
6.
Sáenz, J. (2024). SJL, el distrito más poblado del Perú: ¿cuántos habitantes tiene a 57 años de su creación?. Accessed on August 20, 2024, [Source link];
7.
Instituto Nacional de Estad (2020). Planos estratificados de Lima Metropolitana a Nivel de Manzanas 2020. Accessed on August 20, 2024, [Source link];
8.
Radio Nacional Perú (2021). Implementa huertos urbanos con material reutilizable en zonas vulnerables. Accessed on August 20, 2024, [Source link];
Biohuerto Villa Mosha
Radio Nacional Perú
Information about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.