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The performance of traditional African vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in Gauteng, South Africa

Thesis (PhD (Landscape Architecture))--University of Pretoria, 2024.

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Other Authors: Breed, Christina
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: University of Pretoria 2024
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access_status_str Open Access
author2 Breed, Christina
author_browse Breed, Christina
author_facet Breed, Christina
collection Thesis
dc_rights_str_mv © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria.
description Thesis (PhD (Landscape Architecture))--University of Pretoria, 2024.
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institution University of Pretoria (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:38:35.948Z
license_str Other — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
publishDate 2024
publishDateRange 2024
publishDateSort 2024
publisher University of Pretoria
publisherStr University of Pretoria
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source_str UPSpace — University of Pretoria Institutional Repository
spelling oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/95517 The performance of traditional African vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in Gauteng, South Africa Breed, Christina karen.botes@up.ac.za Botes, Karen UCTD Household-scale Food production Vertical Edible Green infrastructure Living wall systems African vegetables South Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Thesis (PhD (Landscape Architecture))--University of Pretoria, 2024. Urban agriculture can potentially lower global carbon emissions and create climate-resilient livelihoods and food security. As part of this quest for sustainable development, living wall systems (LWSs) with traditional African vegetables (TAV) can provide biophilic value and ecosystem services. This research analyses the performance of outdoor modular LWSs with TAV to improve household food security in South African (SA) urban environments. The pragmatic study entails three integrated focus areas: the contribution of urban small-scale food production to household food security and interrelated SDGs, the performance of outdoor modular LWSs as edible green infrastructure, and the performance of TAV crops in modular LWSs for household food security. Data capturing involved a three-pronged mixed-method methodology. Local experts provided insight into local LWS typologies and TAV crops through questionnaires. The six-month experimental study of two selected LWSs and nine TAV crops included variables of minimum and maximum daily temperatures, relative humidity, precipitation, soil temperature, water content and electrical conductivity, leaf biomass yield and plant stress. The researcher monitored fresh and dry biomass yields with a calibrated laboratory balance as the first performance indicator. Plant stress, the second performance indicator, was measured by chlorophyll fluorescence analysis. Data were statistically analysed. The research guides the technical characteristics of outdoor modular LWSs as edible green infrastructure in SA urban environments for performance improvement. It contributes to the revival of neglected crops by identifying TAV species suitable for utilisation in LWSs to improve household food security. The results favour locally produced outdoor modular LWSs with limited, robust, lightweight, recycled components entailing uncomplicated assembly. The study identifies seven TAV species suitable for household food production in LWSs. These include Asystasia gangetica (creeping foxglove), Coleus amboinicus (Indian borage), Corchorus confusus (jute plant), Dicliptera clinopodia (pink ribbons), Mentha aquatica (water mint), Portulacaria afra prostrata (dwarf elephant’s food) and Vigna unguiculata (black-eyed pea). Coleus amboinicus (Indian borage) and Portulacaria afra prostrata (dwarf elephant’s food) produced statistically significantly higher yields than the other crops. Selected compact TAV crops tolerating sunny, dry conditions can contribute to household food production in SA cities with a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical (Cwa) Köppen-Geiger climate classification. Innovation Africa University Capacity Development Program Grant Architecture PhD (Landscape Architecture) Unrestricted Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology SDG-01:No poverty SDG-02:Zero Hunger SDG-11:Sustainable cities and communities SDG-12:Responsible consumption and production SDG-13:Climate action 2024-04-15T11:03:23Z 2024-04-15T11:03:23Z 2024-04 2024-02 Thesis * A2024 http://hdl.handle.net/2263/95517 DOI: https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.25578045.v1 https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.25578045.v1. en © 2022 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. application/pdf University of Pretoria
spellingShingle UCTD
Household-scale
Food production
Vertical
Edible
Green infrastructure
Living wall systems
African vegetables
South Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
The performance of traditional African vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in Gauteng, South Africa
title The performance of traditional African vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in Gauteng, South Africa
title_full The performance of traditional African vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in Gauteng, South Africa
title_fullStr The performance of traditional African vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in Gauteng, South Africa
title_full_unstemmed The performance of traditional African vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in Gauteng, South Africa
title_short The performance of traditional African vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in Gauteng, South Africa
title_sort performance of traditional african vegetables in urban outdoor modular living wall systems for food security in gauteng south africa
topic UCTD
Household-scale
Food production
Vertical
Edible
Green infrastructure
Living wall systems
African vegetables
South Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
url http://hdl.handle.net/2263/95517
https://doi.org/10.25403/UPresearchdata.25578045.v1.