Urban agriculture in Valdivia city, Chile. A new small enterprise alternative

Abstract

Urban agricultural small enterprises are understood as the agriculture carried out within the city or on its peripheries. Horticultural cultivation is most frequently found in densely inhabited areas. 
This study purports to economically, productively and commercially characterize a group of enterprises devoted to urban agriculture as well as to define the jobs they can create in the city of Valdivia. 
A "Snowball" poll was applied to identify the urban farmers of the city. The poll identified a total of 22 small enterprises that met the requirements and hypotheses used in this research. 
According to the classification carried out by CORFO (2000), all of the urban agricultural enterprises under study are defined as small enterprises since none of them generates net annual sales over 2.400 UF. 
Productively speaking, there is an important percentage of urban farmers (46%) who are dedicated to the production of ornamental plants and shrubs and to a lesser extent to tree fruit growing (4%). Fifty nine of urban farmers control chemically pests and plant diseases. 
Regarding the marketing channels used by urban agricultors, 100% of these farmers reach the final consumer. 
It appears that urban agriculture is an important source of employment in Valdivia city apart from offering part-time jobs in summer time.