How Rooftop Gardening Strengthens Food Security and Urban Resilience in Post-Pandemic Dhaka
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25034/ijcua.2026.v10n1-12Keywords:
Rooftop Gardening, Urban Agriculture, Urban Resilience, Social Resilience, Women's EmpowermentAbstract
Dense South Asian cities experienced severe food insecurity, income loss, and psychological strain during COVID-19, yet household-level evidence on rooftop gardening as crisis adaptation remains limited. This study investigates how the pandemic shaped rooftop gardening adoption and socio-economic resilience in Mohammadpur, Dhaka. A quantitative cross-sectional survey of 150 households compared 90 gardening adopters with 60 non-adopters, using descriptive statistics, t-tests, chi-square tests, and exploratory logistic regression. Findings show that 59.33% of households experienced pandemic-related income loss, while adopters reported higher peak stress than non-adopters but significantly lower current stress. Female respondents were 3.6 times more likely to adopt gardening, and households with full rooftop access were approximately 25 times more likely to garden than those without access. Food worry, gender, peak stress, and rooftop access emerged as key predictors, while 83.33% of respondents remained unaware of government or non-government urban agriculture initiatives. The findings demonstrate that rooftop gardening can reduce household food concerns, support mental wellbeing, strengthen women’s food-related agency, and improve resource efficiency in dense neighbourhoods. By linking community microagriculture with urban economic resilience, the study offers practical guidance for inclusive planning, urban food governance, and sustainable urban management.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Shahriar Iqbal Raj, Tasneem Tarannum Shafi, Md Rifat Mahmud
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