Analysis of Constrains Facing Urban Agriculture

The purpose of the study was to identify the constrains affecting urban agriculture in Tehran, Iran. The statistical population of this study consisted of city dwellers within the 22 municipal districts of Tehran out of which 320 individuals were selected as the sample of the study. Cochran’s formula was used to determine the sampling size based on stratified sampling method. A panel of experts confirmed the validity of the questionnaire used in this study. The calculated Cronbach’s alpha for the main sections of the questionnaire was 0.95 and 0.93. Results of the ranking of constrains and challenges revealed that “high start-up costs” and “lack of knowledge among managers and authorities” were among the most important constrains. The results of factor analysis revealed that 7 factors including “education- research”, “infrastructure”, “support”, “regulations and policy making”, “technical”, “financial-economic” and “cultural” explained 67.36 of the variance. Although list of constrains revealed is not perfect, this work paves the way for further research regarding factors influencing urban agriculture. It also provides interesting information for planners about the challenges of urban agriculture development.