Environmental impacts were measured in 55 sites, representing a full range of Harare's environmental features. Illegal plots are used mainly to grow staple food crops such as maize and groundnuts, or to graze animals. Illegal cultivation has increased soil impoverishment and erosion and ecological diversity on cultivated plots has also been reduced. It is feared that sedimentation of soil washed from sloping plots might cause silting of drains and increase risks of flooding in the future. The report concludes that urban agriculture in Harare is extensive and its growth is a fairly recent feature.
Cultivators use few pesticides and other inputs.
Most depend on rainfall, their own labour and a little fertiliser. They come from all income levels but most are from low-income groups. They started their plots because of the need for food although most of them knew it was illegal. Some 75 percent of their produce is consumed within the household. The remainder is sold to supplement cash income and many cultivators would like to extend cash crop production.