Urban agriculture in Mexico City

Mexico City and its metropolitan area is one of the main megacities in the world; by 2016 had a population of 21.2 million people and covered an area of 4,979 km(2). This tremendous rate of substitution of natural landscape into urban elements from 1960 till 2016 have gradually altered the local rainfall and temperature patterns of the basin. The increase in maximum and minimum temperatures in the city is not only due to the climate change effects but also to the heat island phenomena. One of the solutions to these problems is to promote urban agriculture contributing also to food security, ecological sanitation, community development, citizen participation, territorial planning, family economy and job creation, among others. Mexico City has 16 counties from which Tlalpan, Milpa Alta, Tlahuac, Xochimilco, Magdalena Contreras, Alvaro Obregon and Cuajimalpa de Morelos are the main areas with crop production. Since 2015, Mexico City government has given more support to urban agriculture through the establishment of 27 projects; eight of them are urban gardens with a production of 95 t of food every year. In spite of Mexico City being the Second Green and Sustainable City of Latin America and the Caribbean, there are still many problems to solve like water supply and the disposal of organic and inorganic waste generated within urban areas. New technologies, especially for rain water harvesting, are mandatory in Mexico City to avoid big flooding and for contribution to urban agriculture production.