Policies are needed to secure the place of urban farming in the city's food system- called experts at a day long urban food futures symposium held to address the place of food in the urban space.
In its recent survey (2017), the Aga Khan University, East Africa Institute (EAI) interviewed 618 urban food vendors in 18 food markets in Nairobi and found that 69% of the market outlets had poor water and sanitation conditions, 83% had poor drainage. Only 22% had concrete floors- the rest had earth floors. The average food sourcing distance is 175 KM and food is sourced from 49 destinations. The survey further showed that Nairobi’s food system is fragile, based on a narrow base of food items sourced from a narrow geographic range but with growing distance from the city making the cost of distribution to urban households high.
This high cost affects households’ expenditure on food. It is therefore not surprising that 28% of urban household income is spent on food in contrast to 11% on housing, 10% on education, 7% in health and just 8% on savings and investment.
When it comes to accessibility of food from purchasing outlets 69% on people living in Nairobi prefer to shop in kiosks due to the proximity and convenience in terms of access. Only 11% consider supermarkets as conveniently accessible and, 44% find open markets slightly conveniently accessible.
The survey is one of the pioneer projects by EAI’s Director Dr. Alex Awiti who said that the aim of these surveys is to understand the types and sources of food that arrive in major retail and
wholesale markets in Nairobi and the intra-city re-distribution pathways, the dynamics of formal commercial food retail outlets and to appreciate the demand, purchase and consumption patterns of urban households.
According to Dr. Awiti, the pace of urbanization is quickening – and currently estimated at about 4.3% compared to an annual rate of national population growth of 2.6%. Based on these findings, Dr. Awiti is certain that the future is urban and it will demand more food resources for a growing urban population.
“With the land available for agriculture within Nairobi diminishing as development increases, policies are needed to secure the place of urban farming in the city's food system”, said Dr. Awiti.
According to him, “this must also be viewed against the backdrop of expanding rural populations, pressure on arable land from competing demands for settlement as well as the impacts of climate change on soil water and vegetation resources in the rural food source areas”, he said.
The overarching aim of all this effort is to provide evidence for advocating for integrated planning and governance, which recognizes the need for a systems approach to feeding Nairobi, with the larger policy goal of building resilient urban food systems. The urban agriculture study seeks to characterize existing urban farms, determine their resource capacity, production, access to markets and challenges.
Urbanization presents significant challenges with regard to planning and equitable provision of vital social services; water and sanitation, healthcare, food safety and nutrition, housing, work and livelihood security. Urbanization, without the necessary safeguards will exert enormous pressure on land, water and vegetation resources of rural hinterland.
At the core of the urbanization challenge and opportunity therefore lies the big question; what is the future of food in the urban space?
This looming crisis on food and the urban space is the reason EAI brought together researchers, policy makers, farmers, Nairobi residents and members of the business community to discuss the current and future challenges of feeding Nairobi and other urban populations earlier today.