To Subsidise My Income: Urban Farming in an East-African Town (Afrika-Studiecentrum Series)

Contents......Page 8
Maps, Figures, Boxes, Tables
......Page 10
Photos
......Page 12
Glossary and abbreviations......Page 13
Foreword......Page 15

Urbanization and urban poverty......Page 18

Urban agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa......Page 19

Urban agriculture in Kenya......Page 22
Aspects of urban farming......Page 25

Theoretical considerations......Page 31

The present study......Page 34

Nakuru town......Page 38

The study population......Page 50

Numbers and geographical distribution......Page 54
 Farmers in town by housing density......Page 57

Rural farmers and non-farmers......Page 61

Urban plots......Page 66

Crops and inputs......Page 68

Yields......Page 74
4.8 Most
 frequently mentioned problems with crop  cultivation in town......Page 80

Animal production......Page 84

Rearing systems......Page 87
5.3 Purpose of livestock keeping by type of livestock
......Page 89
5.5 Most frequently mentioned problems with livestock keeping by type of livestock
......Page 92
5.6 Disposal of animal waste by type of livestock
......Page 94

Importance of urban farming as perceived by respondents......Page 96

Food supply......Page 100

Food consumption and nutrition......Page 103

Income......Page 106

Employment......Page 109

Assistance for crop cultivators and livestock keepers......Page 112

The Agriculture and Rural Development Programme (ARDP)......Page 115
7.4 ARDP farmers and non-ARDP farmers: cattle and milk sales
......Page 119

Introduction......Page 126

Urban farmers’ environmental awareness......Page 129
8.2 Urban non-farmers’ and officials’ perceptions regarding the environmental impact of farming in Nakuru town 
......Page 131

Heavy metal concentrations......Page 134
Institutional farming......Page 140
School farming in Kenya......Page 142

School farming in Nakuru town......Page 143

Introduction......Page 154
10.1 Farming by income class
......Page 155

Benefits......Page 161
10.5 Assistance with livestock keeping by income class
......Page 164

Schools......Page 165
10.6 School farming and feeding by income level of neighbourhood
......Page 166

Introduction......Page 170

Summary of findings......Page 171
 Theoretical reflections......Page 175

Policy and the future of urban farming in Nakuru......Page 179

Annexes......Page 186

References......Page 226

Index......Page 236

Kenya and location of Nakuru town......Page 39

Evolution of the boundaries of Nakuru town......Page 42

Economic structure......Page 45

Structure of housing......Page 47

Distribution of the research clusters......Page 193

Monthly rainfall, selected years......Page 40

Types of livestock by household income......Page 86
 Safety of “sewage crops”......Page 127

Nakuru Prison Farm......Page 141
2.1 Characteristics of the sampled households
......Page 51
3.1  Numbers of households practising farming in 1999 by area and type of  farming......Page 55
3.2 Percentages of households farming in town, 1998
......Page 56
3.3 Urban farmers and non-farmers: su
mmary of household characteristics......Page 58
3.4 Non-farmers: reasons for not farming in town by type of farming
......Page 60
3.5  Rural farmers and non-farmers: summary of h
ousehold characteristics......Page 62
4.1 Summary of characteristics of urban plots by housing density......Page 67
4.2 Material inputs for crop cultivation in town......Page 72
4.3 
 Number of inputs by input category......Page 73
4.4 
Harvests of major crops cultivated in town......Page 75
4.5 Mean harvest (all crops) by plot size
......Page 76
4.6 
Mean harvest (all crops) by use of material inputs......Page 77
4.7 Mea
n harvest (all crops) by household characteristics......Page 78
5.1 Live stock in 1998: number of households and ‘demography’ (averages), by type of animal
......Page 85
5.2 Livestock rearing system by type of livestock
......Page 88
5.4 Inputs for livestock keeping by type of livestock
......Page 90
6.1 Reasons for growing crops and keeping livestock in town
......Page 97
6.2 Importance of urban farming activities for crop cultivators  and livestock keepers
......Page 98
6.3 Urban farmers and non-farmers:  summary of general food security issues
......Page 101
6.4 Urban farmers and non-farmers: nutritional status of pre-school children
......Page 105
6.5 Employment in the urban agricultural sector
......Page 110
7.1 Summary of livestock-keeping characteristics by type of assistance
......Page 114
7.2 Forms of support for the ARDP farmers 
......Page 116
7.3 ARDP farmers and non-ARDP farmers: material welfare levels
......Page 118
8.1 Urban farmers’ awareness of the environmental impact of their activities
......Page 130
8.3 Urban non-farmers’ and officials’ attitudes regarding urban farming
......Page 133
8.4 Characteristics of the sampling sites
......Page 135
8.6 Heavy metal concentrations in water, by type of water source
......Page 136
8.7 Sites with relatively high heavy metal concentrations in Amaranthus
......Page 137
9.2 Persons responsible for farming by school category
......Page 144
9.3 Inputs used for crop cultivation by school category
......Page 146
9.4 Destination of farm produce by school category
......Page 148
9.5 Frequency of school feeding programme by school characteristics
......Page 149
10.2 Summary of urban plot characteristics by income class
......Page 158
10.3 Summary of livestock-keeping characteristics by income class
......Page 160
10.4 Urban farmers: summary of genera l food security issues by year and income class
......Page 162
2 Crop cultivation in the medium-density area of Bangla Desh.
......Page 37
4 Labourer feeding chickens in Rhonda Weavers.......Page 53
6 Ziwani estate.......Page 65
8 Chickens kept in a house in Kabachia.......Page 83
9 Animal waste disposal site in a compound in Lanet.......Page 95
12 Dairy cattle roaming in the street feeding on household waste in Stadium  area.......Page 139
11 James Mwangi’s butchery......Page 123
14 Crop cultivation in a more spacious part of Kwa Rhonda.
......Page 153
16 Rabbit keeping in Lanet.......Page 169
17 Experimenting with bag cultivation (sukuma wiki)  in the ARDP compound.......Page 182