{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T21:39:29Z","timestamp":1791409169512,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":91,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"20","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,17]],"date-time":"2025-10-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760659200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Urban gardening, particularly through food-producing green spaces, is increasingly recognized as a key strategy for addressing the complex challenges of climate change, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, and social inequity in African cities. This systematic review synthesizes evidence from 47 peer-reviewed studies across sub-Saharan Africa between 2000\u20132025 to analyze how urban home gardens, rooftop farms, and agroforestry systems contribute to sustainable urban development. The protocol follows PRISMA guidelines and focuses on (i) plant species selection for ecological resilience, (ii) integration of modern technologies in urban gardens, and (iii) socio-economic benefits to communities. The findings emphasize the ecological multifunctionality of urban gardens, which support services such as pollination, soil fertility, and microclimate regulation. Biodiversity services are shaped by both ecological and socio-economic factors, highlighting the importance of mechanisms such as polyculture, shared labour and management of urban gardens, pollinator activity and socio-economic status, reflected in sub-Saharan urban gardens. Socioeconomically, urban gardening plays a crucial role in enhancing household food security, income generation, and psychosocial resilience, particularly benefiting women and low-income communities. However, barriers exist, including insecure land tenure, water scarcity, weak technical support, and limited policy integration. Although technologies such as climate-smart practices and digital tools for irrigation are emerging, their adoption remains uneven. Research gaps include regional underrepresentation, a lack of longitudinal data, and limited focus on governance and gender dynamics. To unlock urban gardening\u2019s full potential, future research and policy must adopt participatory, equity-driven approaches that bridge ecological knowledge with socio-political realities.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants14203187","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,17]],"date-time":"2025-10-17T07:33:50Z","timestamp":1760686430000},"page":"3187","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["Greening African Cities for Sustainability: A Systematic Review of Urban Gardening\u2019s Role in Biodiversity and Socio-Economic Resilience"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4886-492X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Philisiwe Felicity","family":"Mhlanga","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8189-0695","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Nik\u00e9 Susan","family":"Wesch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Moteng Elizabeth","family":"Moseri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3620-2742","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Frank Harald","family":"Neumann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nomali Ziphorah","family":"Ngobese","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit for Environmental Sciences and Management, Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, North-West University, Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"241","DOI":"10.1016\/j.habitatint.2015.11.018","article-title":"The Trends, Promises and Challenges of Urbanisation in the World","volume":"54","author":"Zhang","year":"2016","journal-title":"Habitat Int."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"264","DOI":"10.1890\/070147","article-title":"The Changing Landscape: Ecosystem Responses to Urbanization and Pollution across Climatic and Societal Gradients","volume":"6","author":"Grimm","year":"2008","journal-title":"Front. 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