This has not only led to a rise in the demand for organic food, but has also ushered in an era of urban organic gardening throughout the world. From major developed cities in the United States to developing countries like Vietnam, urban gardens are providing a space for people to grow their own healthy, organic food in a sustainable way for their personal consumption.

What does an urban farm consist of? Simply put, urban farming is growing or producing food in a city or heavily populated town or municipality. It could be anywhere, ranging from a small pot of vegetables to utilising unused office space to grow a variety of produce at work! When growing their produce, gardeners use alternatives to synthetic pesticides, and that is where neem-based natural pesticides and fertilizers come in! These gardeners utilize a more natural, regenerative and sustainable approach leading to increased freshness and quality of food, and to improve the quality of their food supply.

While many urban gardens are small, individual ventures, there are also large-scale urban farms that are tackling the problem of available farmland in urban areas. Instead of using the land, they have used technology to innovate large-scale farming processes and become a viable resource of fresh produce for the surrounding urban area. For example, BrightFarms has utilized a commercial rooftop by building a glass greenhouse covering 15,000 square feet in Brooklyn, New York. They are able to sell over 500 pounds of fresh produce daily and provide their crops to local supermarkets the very day they are picked!

Organizations are working to bring together communities of urban gardeners, such as Urban Organic Gardener, a community dedicated to providing urban gardeners resources and seeds for their gardens. Due to technology’s amazing connecting ability, this movement has become a global community in emphasizing sustainable food production and reducing the environmental footprint of traditional farms.

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One of the top agricultural producers in the United States, California produces almost 50% of the fruits, nuts, and vegetables in the US and almost all almonds, artichokes, raisins, olives, and pistachios. The 76,000 farms in this region are vital in strengthening US food security, which makes it necessary to develop and implement sustainable production strategies.

One of the best solutions for this is healthy soil. Why? Because when soil is healthy, it stores more carbon. If there is more carbon in the soil, it means that plants are receiving more carbon and are growing healthier, stronger, and filled with more nutrients!

Therefore, the California Healthy Soils Initiative will work to make agricultural land – over a quarter of California’s land – healthy again! Starting this summer, the Initiative will provide grants to farmers who are working to make their practices more sustainable. This is achieved through composting, organic fertilizer, or cover crops! Under this initiative, over 12 million tons of compostable waste that California typically designates to landfills will be used in a sustainable way. Famers will also be incentivized to increase their yields, reduce water use, and protect the planet through the grants provided in the program. Neem can also play an integral part in this initiative. When neem cake is used as a fertilizer, it increases soil health, fertility, carbon content, and nutrient content, providing a natural and sustainable way to nourish the soil!

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In India, fertilizer for farming is subsidized by the government. However, farmers were over-utilizing the common fertilizer, urea. Urea is a nitrogen-based fertilizer in the shape of a small, white pellet. This was draining the government’s funds for the fertilizer, making it scarce, and creating an overabundance of nitrogen in the ground. What the government has done is coat these white pellets in neem oil. The neem slows the release of the nitrogen, making the fertilizer more effective and requiring fewer quantities.

With so much neem in demand, there has been a gap in the collection of the neem fruit and seeds, which is used to make the oil. The Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers and Chemicals have created a project to empower women through neem. The project has been awarded the Golden Peacock Award for Corporate Social Responsibility and the SKOCH Blue Economy Platinum Sustainability that’s clean maids Award for its work and support of these rural women. In the first year, 2015-2016, the project supported 100,000 women and is now spread out in 1,200 groups across 4,000 villages and supports 125,000 women! The United Nations deemed the project as a viable Rural Income Generating Activity, and with the demand of neem oil and neem cake high in India and surrounding areas, this program will continue to give women financial independence, allowing women to pursue their dreams!

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