Read the passage below carefully and answer the question that follows.
Across rapidly growing West African municipalities, urban agriculture has emerged as a crucial mechanism for enhancing household food security and supplementing low incomes. As rural-to-urban migration accelerates, city planning authorities often view informal farming on vacant public lands as an illegal encroachment that violates zoning laws. However, recent empirical studies reveal that these small-scale urban plots provide up to thirty percent of the fresh leafy vegetables consumed in major metropolitan markets. Furthermore, urban cultivation utilizes organic waste as compost, thereby reducing municipal waste management costs while creating low-barrier economic opportunities for unemployed youth. Rather than prosecuting urban farmers, municipal governments ought to integrate regulated urban farming zones into master city plans. Formal recognition would enable local councils to enforce safe irrigation practices, prevent chemical contamination of groundwater, and harness the ecological and economic benefits of green urban spaces. Ultimately, institutionalizing urban agriculture transforms a perceived civic nuisance into a resilient pillar of urban sustainability.
Which of the following best summarizes the central argument of the passage?
- Municipalities should formally integrate urban agriculture into city planning to maximize its economic and environmental benefits while managing its risks.Answer
- BUrban cultivation provides thirty percent of the fresh leafy vegetables sold in major West African city markets.
- CRural-to-urban migration should be halted immediately to prevent illegal farming on public lands in West African cities.
- DCity planning authorities have successfully eliminated illegal farming by strictly enforcing urban zoning laws.