Quality seedling systems for sustainable urban agriculture: evidence from four rapidly urbanizing cities in Africa and Asia

Rapid urbanization is placing increasing pressure on cities to deliver affordable, nutritious, and resilient food systems, yet vegetable seedling systems remain a neglected component of urban agriculture. This study assessed urban and peri urban vegetable seedling systems in four rapidly growing cities Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Nairobi (Kenya), Dhaka (Bangladesh), and Metro Manila (Philippines) to identify key constraints, opportunities, best practices, and policy lessons. Using a comparative multi city case study approach, data were collected from 154 stakeholders, including urban farmers, nursery operators, seedling suppliers, agro input dealers, and government officers, complemented by secondary literature. Across the four cities, urban vegetable production was dominated by small scale, intensive systems cultivating predominantly leafy vegetables, while seedling systems remained underdeveloped, characterized by informal nursery operations, weak quality assurance, open field propagation, limited technical capacity, and fragmented market linkages. These constraints contributed to widespread reliance on direct seeding and low-quality planting material despite strong demand for quality seedlings. Comparative analysis identified opportunities to strengthen commercial and community nursery enterprises through improved propagation technologies, certification systems, digital marketing, commercialization of indigenous vegetable seedlings, and stronger public private partnerships. The study suggests that integrating seedling enterprises into urban food system strategies, supported by improved financing, extension, and quality assurance, could substantially enhance the productivity, resilience, and sustainability of urban vegetable production. As one of the first cross continental assessments of urban vegetable seedling systems in low and middle income countries, the study fills an important evidence gap and positions seedling systems as a critical, yet overlooked, component of resilient and nutrition sensitive urban food systems.