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The question of how to achieve healthy, sustainable urban futures demands a singular emphasis. The scale and rate of change of modern urbanisation is unprecedented—so much so that it threatens the health gains of the past century. Urbanisation is the greatest ecological shift in human history, and in modern times has attained dimensions never seen before. We have mere decades to enact the greatest transformational change the planet has ever seen, if we are to safeguard a sustainable future. Indeed, the scope, scale, and ambition of transformative efforts need to accelerate dramatically, if humanity is to achieve sustainability before being overwhelmed by global change.

The city of Tegucigalpa as it is today is a result of the rural–urban migration phenomenon triggered in the 1950s across Honduras and the accompanying blueprint models of urban development at the time. Nowadays, the city is dominated by issues such as social disparity, urban violence, and environmental degradation. We question the adequacy of Tegucigalpa’s top–down planning system and explore the concept of urban agriculture (UA) as a multifaceted lever that can provide building blocks for an alternative bottom–up strategy to address the intricate web of problems the city faces. Noteworthy among our discoveries is the potential of school gardens to serve as a channel for strategically achieving community goals. UA is organized as a result of residents’ need to overcome food insecurity and hardship in the city. Still, the topic of active citizenship and bottom–up development is not yet consolidated in the context of Tegucigalpa. Moreover, the city poses challenges regarding the resources needed for practicing UA and the diffusion of knowledge to the population. Nevertheless, steps must be taken toward further considering UA and its social assets that may compensate for the unfavorable access to resources in the urban area.