Factors Associated with Vegetable Diversification among Small-Scale and Minority Urban Gardeners in Maryland, USA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54536/ajsde.v4i2.5549Keywords:
Community Gardening, Crop Biodiversity, Home Gardening, Local Produce, Multivariate AnalysisAbstract
Vegetable diversification within urban gardening systems can improve dietary diversity, provide economic opportunities through surplus sales, and enhance urban biodiversity conservation. Researchers have examined the impacts of diversification; however, understanding of the extent to which individual, household, and project support-related factors affect vegetable diversification among small-scale and minority urban gardeners is limited. The objective of this study was to assess the factors influencing vegetable diversification among small and minority urban gardeners participating in an urban gardening project in Maryland, USA. Using a cross-sectional study design, this study collected data from 74 urban gardeners belonging to Asian American immigrant communities across Baltimore City, Baltimore County, Howard County, and Montgomery County. The Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression technique was applied to assess the association between vegetable diversification and factors at individual, household, and project-support levels. The multivariate results revealed that only household-level factors, particularly the involvement of gardeners in community gardening ( β^ = -6.09, p<0.01) and family size ( β^ = -0.86, p<0.05), were significantly associated with reduced vegetable diversification. The study suggested that home gardening should be prioritized, and extension support services should be provided to households with larger family sizes in order to promote vegetable diversification through the urban gardening initiative. Future studies should incorporate broader socio-economic and environmental variables, including cultural preferences and market access, to provide a better understanding of the dynamic factors influencing vegetable diversification among small-scale and minority urban gardeners.
Downloads
References
Aguilar-Støen, M., Moe, S. R., & Camargo-Ricalde, S. L. (2009). Home gardens sustain crop diversity and improve farm resilience in Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, Mexico. Human Ecology, 37(1), 55–77. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10745-008-9197-y
Alam, M. J., Begum, I. A., Mastura, T., Kishore, A., Woodhill, J., Chatterjee, K., & Jackson, T. (2023). Agricultural diversification and intra-household dietary diversity: Panel data analysis of farm households in Bangladesh. PLOS ONE, 18(6), e0287321. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287321
Algert, S. J., Baameur, A., Diekmann, L. O., Gray, L., & Ortiz, D. (2016). Vegetable output, cost savings, and nutritional value of low-income families’ home gardens in San Jose, CA. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 11(3), 328–336. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2015.1128866
Altieri, M. A., Salazar-Rojas, A., Nicholls, C. I., & Giacomelli, A. (2025). Unleashing the potential of urban agroecology to reach biodiversity conservation, food security and climate resilience. Agriculture, 15(9), 909. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15090909
Andrade, C. (2021). The inconvenient truth about convenience and purposive samples. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 43(1), 86–88. https://doi.org/10.1177/0253717620977000
Bailkey, M., & Nasr, J. (1999). From brownfields to greenfields: Producing food in North American cities. Community Food Security News. Fall, 2000, 6. https://foodsecurity.org/uploads/BrownfieldsArticle-CFSNewsFallWinter1999.pdf
Beavers, A. W., Atkinson, A., & Alaimo, K. (2020). How gardening and a gardener support program in Detroit influence participants’ diet, food security, and food values. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 15(2), 149–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/19320248.2019.1587332
Blair, D., Giesecke, C. C., & Sherman, S. (1991). A dietary, social and economic evaluation of the Philadelphia urban gardening project. Journal of Nutrition Education, 23(4), 161–167. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-3182(12)81191-5
Chavas, J., & Di Falco, S. (2012). On the role of risk versus economies of scope in farm diversification with an application to Ethiopian farms. Journal of Agricultural Economics, 63(1), 25–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1477-9552.2011.00319.x
Clucas, B., Parker, I. D., & Feldpausch-Parker, A. M. (2018). A systematic review of the relationship between urban agriculture and biodiversity. Urban Ecosystems, 21(4), 635–643. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11252-018-0748-8
Drake, L., & Lawson, L. J. (2015). Results of a US and Canada community garden survey: Shared challenges in garden management amid diverse geographical and organizational contexts. Agriculture and Human Values, 32(2), 241–254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-014-9558-7
Fitz-Koch, S., Nordqvist, M., Carter, S., & Hunter, E. (2018). Entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector: A literature review and future research opportunities. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 42(1), 129–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1042258717732958
Galluzzi, G., Eyzaguirre, P., & Negri, V. (2010). Home gardens: Neglected hotspots of agro-biodiversity and cultural diversity. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19(13), 3635–3654. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9919-5
Grebitus, C. (2021). Small-scale urban agriculture: Drivers of growing produce at home and in community gardens in Detroit. PLOS ONE, 16(9), e0256913. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0256913
Gurung, D., Karki, L. B., Bhandari, P. B., & Ojha, S. (2025). Promoting community gardening among small-scale ethnic minority producers: A case of Maryland. American Journal of Environmental Economics, 4(1), 94–103. https://doi.org/10.54536/ajee.v4i1.4232
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2019). Multivariate data analysis (7th ed.). Cengage Learning EMEA.
Hodgson, K., Campbell, M. C., & Bailkey, M. (2011). Urban agriculture: Growing healthy, sustainable places. American Planning Association. https://growingfoodconnections.org/gfc-reader-entry/urban-agriculture-growing-healthy-sustainable-places/
Karki, L. B., & Bhandari, P. (2023). Risk mitigation practices in urban gardening: A case of small minority producers in Maryland. Global Journal of Agricultural Research, 11(2), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.37745/gjar.2013/vol11n21731
Lancaster, N. A., & Torres, A. P. (2019). Investigating the drivers of farm diversification among U.S. fruit and vegetable operations. Sustainability, 11(12), 3380. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123380
Lithourgidis, A. S., Dordas, C. A., Damalas, C. A., & Vlachostergios, D. N. 0. (2011). Annual intercrops: An alternative pathway for sustainable agriculture. Australian Journal of Crop Science, 5(4), 396–410. http://dx.doi.org/10.53550/EEC.2022.v28i08s.037
Lovell, S. T. (2010). Multifunctional urban agriculture for sustainable land use planning in the United States. Sustainability, 2(8), 2499–2522. https://doi.org/10.3390/su2082499
McNamara, K. T., & Weiss, C. (2005). Farm household income and on-and off-farm diversification. Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 37(1), 37–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S1074070800007082
Meraner, M., Pölling, B., & Finger, R. (2018). Diversification in peri-urban agriculture: A case study in the Ruhr metropolitan region. Journal of Land Use Science, 13(3), 284–300. https://doi.org/10.1080/1747423X.2018.1529830
Mishra, A. K., & El-Osta, H. S. (2002). Risk management through enterprise diversification: A farm-level analysis. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23504767_Risk_
Management_Through_Enterprise_Diversification_A_Farm-Level_Analysis
Obisesan, A., & Awolala, D. (2021). Crop diversification, productivity and dietary diversity: A gender perspective. Review of Agricultural and Applied Economics (RAAE), 24(1), 98–108. http://dx.doi.org/10.15414/raae.2021.24.01.98-108
Philpott, S. M., Egerer, M. H., Bichier, P., Cohen, H., Cohen, R., Liere, H., Jha, S., & Lin, B. B. (2020). Gardener demographics, experience, and motivations drive differences in plant species richness and composition in urban gardens. Ecology and Society, 25(4), art8. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-11666-250408
Pope, R. D., & Prescott, R. (1980). Diversification in relation to farm size and other socioeconomic characteristics. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 62(3), 554–559. https://doi.org/10.2307/1240214
Rodriguez, J. M., Molnar, J. J., Fazio, R. A., Sydnor, E., & Lowe, M. J. (2009). Barriers to adoption of sustainable agriculture practices: Change agent perspectives. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 24(1), 60–71. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170508002421
Taylor, J. R., & Lovell, S. T. (2015). Urban home gardens in the Global North: A mixed methods study of ethnic and migrant home gardens in Chicago, IL. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 30(1), 22–32. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170514000180
Thomas, J., Swamikannu, N., Vijaya Kumari, R., & Padmanabhan, J. (2025). Urban sprawl and farming practices: Examining farm diversification and its intensity in Hyderabad’s peri-urban areas. CABI Agriculture and Bioscience. https://doi.org/10.1079/ab.2025.0032
Thomas, M., Dawson, J. C., Goldringer, I., & Bonneuil, C. (2011). Seed exchanges, a key to analyze crop diversity dynamics in farmer-led on-farm conservation. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 58(3), 321–338. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-011-9662-0
United Nations. (2022). World population prospects 2022: Summary of results. https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/sites/www.un.org.development.desa.pd/files/undesa_pd_2022_wpp_key-messages.pdf
Valliant, J. C. D., Farmer, J. R., Dickinson, S. L., Bruce, A. B., & Robinson, J. M. (2017). Family as a catalyst in farms’ diversifying agricultural products: A mixed methods analysis of diversified and non-diversified farms in Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. Journal of Rural Studies, 55, 303–315. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2017.08.017
Vekariya, D. J., Vekariya, S. B., & Nagani, C. M. (2022). Factors affecting crop diversification. Gujarat Journal of Extension Education, 34(1), 46–49. https://doi.org/10.56572/gjoee.2022.34.1.0009
Vitiello, D., & Wolf-Powers, L. (2014). Growing food to grow cities? The potential of agriculture for economic and community development in the urban United States. Community Development Journal, 49(4), 508–523. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bst087
Wang, X., & Cheng, Z. (2020). Cross-sectional studies. Chest, 158(1), S65–S71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chest.2020.03.012
Wooldridge, J. M. (2016). Introductory econometrics: A modern approach (6th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Zepeda, L., & Leviten-Reid, C. (2004). Consumers’ views on local food. Journal of Food Distribution Research, 35(3), 1–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.27554
Zezza, A., & Tasciotti, L. (2010). Urban agriculture, poverty, and food security: Empirical evidence from a sample of developing countries. Food Policy, 35(4), 265–273. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2010.04.007
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Sahil Ojha, Lila B. Karki, Prem B. Bhandari, Stephan L. Tubene, Dipendra Gurung
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
