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Sub-saharan Africa faces rampant urbanization, which generates an increased demand for perishable market gardening products. New markets for farmers on the outskirts are developing, while urban sprawl constrains their access to land. Peri-urban market gardening adapts to this double constraint of urban demand increase and land limitation by intensification. It relies on large amounts of synthetic inputs which are harmful for both health and environment. In the Djagblé floodplain, located in Togo on the outskirt of Lomé, we show how farmers adapted to this situation. Interviews carried out with 6 resource persons and 65 farmers in 4 representative villages of the floodplain reveal the evolution of agricultural systems, gradually specializing in production of a short cycle leafy vegetable, the jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius) and increasing use of agrochemical inputs. This specialized and input-intensive market-gardening is fostered by a change in farmers profile, with wives of urban workers with unsecured land status progressively becoming dominant over traditional agricultural households. Economic, environmental and social indicators shed light on farmers' strategy, while exposing its impacts on the territory. Our results enable to identify levers to orientate this agriculture towards more sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]