Local consultants in Cairo, Bamako, Accra, Manila and Calcutta investigated the technologies used, the products made and the markets covered by micro and small enterprises recovering urban solid waste materials. This research aims at documenting successful composting activities and deals specifically with the type and scale of technology used, financial and economic aspects and the marketing and application of compost. Since not much is known about the use of compost in urban agriculture and as a means to broaden the marketing opportunities for compost, an inventory study on this topic was started. Behind these official stories, lies the fact that urban agriculture does not fit into people's perception of what a city should be. Whatever official reasons there are to ban urban agriculture, it is impossible to deny its growing importance in the expanding cities of the South.
Urban agriculture is practised in many cities, often at a considerable scale.
It provides many people with the necessary starch, vitamins and minerals. All over the world cities are growing because of urban migration and natural growth. The increase of the population is often so fast that the delivery of basic services, such as water supply, sanitation and waste removal cannot keep up. Unemployment, growing poverty and deterioration of the environment are related problems to urban expansion. With an increasing population and often a more Western way of living, the amounts of waste generated are consequently growing.