Applications potential of structural path analysis in urban agriculture: a literature review

Abstract

Structural path analysis (SPA) is a specialized SAM technique in which transaction values and direction are loaded on to flow networks between market players in order to capture the size, direction and intensity of economic activities. This paper presents the SAM framework as a platform for understanding the possibilities of using SPA in investigating the role of urban agriculture. Based on a survey of contemporary literature, a critical review of sources is carried out in so far as they relate to coverage and application possibilities. The results indicate that urban agriculture does not yet attract scholarship where the SPA technique has been used. The reliance on macro-scale statistics means that smaller geographical areas may not possess applicable databases for SPA. A critical requirement for the use of SPA is that participating households and firms should have in place a developed system of record keeping to capture income and payments on a continuous basis. In the absence of this, only few participants in practice can be analysed using SPA. This is in spite of the use of field surveys and censuses to generate the requisite data for capturing urban agriculture.