Urban Agriculture Land Conservation: Recommendations for Kansas City

Access to affordable farmland is one of the greatest challenges facing farmers today. Farmers and gardeners in urban areas face some similar barriers to rural farmers when it comes to finding and protecting land to grow food. However, urban growers face other unique and more complex challenges than their rural counterparts. This research discusses the value urban agriculture brings to cities and makes the case for why the Kansas City metropolitan region, and cities across the United States, should invest in permanent protection of land for urban agriculture. To overcome challenges such as expensive land and other costs, conflicting values around land use in urban areas, proximity to neighbors, and restrictive zoning codes, many cities around the country have created coalitions, organizations, programs, and policies to address equitable and permanent land access for urban agriculture. This research focuses on Community Land Trusts as a possible solution to hold and ensure affordable access to land for urban food production, both for urban farm businesses and community gardens. Throughout interviews and research, other models emerged such as conservation easements, Agrarian Commons, and specific funds and programs to support individual land ownership for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) growers. Each of these strategies could play a role in Kansas City's work to protect land for urban agriculture.