Reimagining land use planning: mixed residential–agricultural land use as a pathway to sustaining agriculture in Ghanaian cities

Drawing on scholarly debates in sustainable southern urbanism, this study explores the prospects of reimagining residential land uses in rapidly urbanizing Ghanaian cities to integrate agriculture. It assesses whether mixed residential–agricultural land-use can sustain urban agriculture and if residential landowners will allocate plot space to agriculture. We surveyed 280 landowners across four peri-urban settlements in Kumasi and used parcel-level geospatial data to estimate residentially controlled space that could be potentially available for agriculture. Nearly four out of five landowners were willing to cede their backyards for micro-farming. Geospatial estimates identify 75.65 hectares of available residential area across the settlements, equivalent to ≈0.03 ha per plot (about 23% of an average 0.13 ha plot). These findings highlight the potential of backyard micro-farming as a strategy for sustaining urban agriculture. We argue for urban planning instruments that enable mixed residential–agricultural use and for incentives to translate willingness into productive uptake.