Agricultural production has historically been integral to the central African Copperbelt’s urban growth. None the less, urban agriculture has rarely received attention in the otherwise rich Copperbelt historiography. Government and mine officials, as well as social scientists, have persistently framed urban agriculture as an informal, subsistence and feminised activity. Growing maize or vegetables has, in such views, been interpreted as a sign of rurality that is ‘out of place’ in urban areas, at best a response to poverty and crisis or a practice engaged in only by ‘thrifty housewives’. Such narratives have distorted a proper understanding of urban agriculture. Drawing on new archival sources and oral history, this article presents a different view. It compares the Zambian and the Congolese Copperbelt from 1950 until 2000 to re-evaluate urban agriculture as a normal part of everyday life, an activity central to urban livelihood, identity and belonging. Growing crops has evolved over time in response to socio-economic change, but it has always been vital to the urban life of the diverse Copperbelt population. Considering agricultural production thus contributes to debates on urbanism in central Africa and beyond.

中文翻译：

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作物和铜：中非铜带的农业与城市主义，1950–2000年

农业生产历来是中非铜带城市发展不可或缺的一部分。即便如此，城市农业在原本丰富的铜带史学中也很少受到关注。政府和矿山官员以及社会科学家一直将都市农业定为非正式，自给自足和女性化的活动。在这种观点下，种植玉米或蔬菜被解释为城市地区农村不合时宜的标志，充其量是对贫困和危机的回应或仅由“节俭家庭主妇”从事的做法。这些叙述扭曲了对都市农业的正确理解。利用新的档案资源和口述历史，本文提出了不同的观点。它对1950年至2000年期间的赞比亚和刚果铜带进行了比较，以重新评估城市农业作为日常生活的一部分，这是城市生计，身份和归属感的核心活动。随着社会经济的变化，农作物的生长随着时间的推移而发展，但对铜带多样化的城市生活一直至关重要。因此，考虑农业生产有助于在中部非洲及其他地区就城市主义进行辩论。