How can forest products help the urban poor? Can these resources actually support poverty alleviation programmes in urban and peri- urban areas? Recent research from an international team at the University of Reading with research collaborators in six cities – Mexico City (Mexico), Calcutta (India), Kumasi (Ghana), Feira de Santana (Brazil), Kathmandu (Nepal) and Harare (Zimbabwe) – assessed how far poor urban households depend on forest and tree goods for subsistence and income generation.