Urban Farming project tour Nairobi

The day started at Mtaa Safi, a non governmental organization that works with youth from Kibera to ensure a clean neighbourhood by organizing cleanups and waste collection. Founder Dennis Juma gave a tour of the community business center, cyber café, laundry service and its newest achievements: a water purification station and a fully rehabilitated communal toilet building, making wash services such as drinking water, clean toilets and (hot) showers possible. The presence of clean drinking water also makes it possible to turn a long-lasting community dream into reality: a future urban farm on a current waste disposal site next door. Exciting plans were being made to start the transformation process soon. To be continued…

Thereafter, we visited the new office of AWOCHE (Agape Women and Child Empowerment Foundation), where the second location of a possible urban farm is located in a gated community in the area. A very different site with very different agricultural opportunities, which illustrated the versatile possibilities of urban farming.

That urban farming can take place in very challenging environments as well, was shown in Kariobangi, next to the Dandorra Dump site in Nairobi East. A brave collective of young agricultural professionals started hydroponic and aquaponic herb farming while upcycling waste materials from the dump site (one of the largest in Africa – The Guardian). The lucrative business model focuses on the niche market of drinks: local juice parlors and cocktails for clubs in the ‘hood’ and allows them to maximally utilize the small space. The vertical and horizondal hydroponic pipes make use of pumped drip irrigation and vulcanic rock (due to the unsuitable highly polluted and toxic soil around). The growing pots and mesh roof are made of upcycled old construction nets. For the aquaponics: old polystyrene and single use plastic coffee cups are used to float on a small fish pond, home to catfish to produce fertilized irrigation water and fish for sale. Talking about circular economy!

 Then it was time for the next project: Komb Green Solutions. This community based organisation formed by the local youth is on a mission to ‘Bring Back the Lost Glory of Nairobi River’.

Their main activities are river rehabilitation and urban farming, through green house hydroponics for vegetable production and open field multistory farming. They have been visually suffering from the heavy rains that repeatedly keep on destroying the landscape and river bed. A clear example of climate change and El Nino at work…

 The day ended in Babadogo, where the inspirational Easy Urban Green Grower pioneers in utilizing the fertile Nairobi river bed soil for vertical vegetable farming integrated with poultry. Waste materials are optimally utilized in various ways: plastic pipes as growing means, milk sachets as nursery bags, cans for seedlings and, very extraordinary flower pots on trees! (photo with ladies bag)

Unfortunately, they have not been spared regarding the water damage ravaging the country recently. At the highest point, the water level reached up to their middle, leading to the death of the majority of the poultry and the destruction of the ground-level planting beds… Nonetheless, training participant and founder Davis is remarkably inspiring in keeping his head up and his heart strong while sharing the future plans of the farm and the resilient way forward they envision to keep on farming for and with the community.