Abstract: This study explores the impact of urban agriculture on poverty, precisely on the contribution of the practice towards the generation of cash incomes, jobs and food security in the informal settlements of Soweto of South Africa. The study was quantitative in design. Simple random sampling techniques were used to draw the sample with a questionnaire being used for data collection. The major contribution of this study is typology of urban farming practice in Soweto characterised by the dominance of women often with low skill levels involving elderly people often unemployed with a low education background; big family size usually above 5 members; generating below poverty line incomes; dominated by crop over livestock farming; primarily using the backyard and communal land that is in public spaces such as schools, clinics, churches and or municipal office backyards and associated with poor land ownership patterns. Consequently, the study recommends that for profound impact on development, women in agriculture should be targeted to improve their livelihoods and ultimately their communities. There is need to use appropriate technologies to improve productivity. High value crops could be introduced. Land tenure can be revisited within the context of government leased or rented land for urban agriculture. There is need to also propagate water harvesting techniques such as trench gardening, water tanks and mulching to save water. As the projects grow, the initiation of agro-industries will improve backwards and forward linkages in the local area such that jobs will be created with the possibility of earning decent incomes.