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Urban agriculture (UA) is often associated with industrial and municipal wastewater reuse, intensive use of pesticide, organic and inorganic fertilizers leading to the accumulation of potentially toxic heavy metals and pathogens in soil. This research was carried out in three West African cities of Kano (Nigeria), Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) and Sikasso (Mali). It investigated the geochemical distribution, dynamics, movement and budget of heavy metals in urban garden soils of Kano. It also assessed the extent of the food chain contamination by determining the forms of heavy metals in soils and edible portions of vegetables and establishing a relationship between soil concentration and plant uptake. The potential health risk to producers and consumers of UA produced vegetables was also evaluated. Results from Kano were compared with comparable datasets from the two West African cities of Bobo-Dioulasso (Burkina Faso) and Sikasso (Mali).

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