LET’S GROW LOCAL: EXPLORING THE 'LOCALNESS’ OF SINGAPORE’S URBAN FARMS

Abstract

Urban agriculture (UA) has gained traction in urban cities to counter food security and ethical issues found in the globalised food system. UA initiatives provide an alternative food network for urban communities through local food production. This localisation emphasises on a spatial aspect of UA as a ‘local’ food system. Singapore’s urban farms provide a unique context where traditional and new forms of agriculture constitute the UA landscape. Focusing on Singapore’s context, this thesis seeks to investigate 1) the global-local networks and processes that establish urban farms as a ‘local’ food system, 2) the state’s role in shaping urban farms through its policies, and 3) the relationships between farmers and the community that constitute the ‘local’ production system. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with Singapore’s urban farmers, and analysed using directed content analysis. The results revealed that Singapore’s food production landscape is shaped by the state. Its global ambitions for Singapore has resulted in Singapore’s susceptibility to transnational networks, undermining the ‘localness’ of urban farms as an ‘alternative’. Next, I contend that the intended personal relationships built from ‘local’ food production are limited by economic and socio-structural constraints. Yet, urban farms provide placemaking opportunities for farmers and community through engaging with farm spaces, contributing to UA’s ‘localness’. Thus, Singapore’s urban farms are constituted by these interacting actors and their networks at various scales, establishing UA as a ‘local’ production system and defining the way it relates to the community as an alternative food system.