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Policy
Brief
Urban
and Peri-Urban Agriculture Policy Prospects in Kenya
February,
01, 2006
Farming
is a well-known and widespread activity in the capital city Nairobi
and other urban areas of Kenya, often practiced by vulnerable
groups, the majority of whom are women. Although it alleviates
hunger and poverty for those who lack wage-employment, it also
carries health risks in built-up areas. And although the Government
of Kenya provides limited extension services to urban farmers, there
is no coherent legal and policy framework governing urban
agriculture.
In
recognition of the diverse opinions on urban
agriculture, the Kenya Agricultural Research
Institute (KARI) in collaboration with the regional
office of Urban Harvest, a system-wide initiative of
the Consultative Group on International Agriculture
Research (CGIAR) organized a one day stakeholders’
workshop to develop consensus on providing an
enabling environment for advancing urban and peri-urban
agriculture (UPA) in Kenya. The workshop, which also
received support from the International Livestock
Research Institute (ILRI), used an issue-based
framework as the basis for developing a policy
process. Substantive papers were presented on:
-
Employment
and Poverty
-
Health
Issues and Waste Management
-
Food
Security focusing on Household Nutrition (Fresh
Vegetables and Dairy)
-
Land
Use Management and Physical Planning
-
Legislation
and Governance
Representatives
of key national institutions, including KARI, the
Ministries of Agriculture, Lands and Settlement,
Health, and Local Government, confirmed their
commitment to carrying forward a policy dialogue and
presented substantive data and information relating
to urban and peri-urban agriculture from the
perspective of their sectors. The Department of
Research Development located in the Ministry of
Education, Science and Technology presented
important data on urban poverty in Kenya in relation
to urban agriculture, while the Ministry of
Agriculture presented recent statistics on the
volume of urban agriculture production in Nairobi.
International
research institutions and national bodies including
NGOs gave perspectives and data on the other aspects
of policy. Participants met in groups addressing
each aspect of policy to review the adequacy of
treatment by the expert presentations, to come up
with additional material and to chart the direction
policy should take. To do this, each group addressed
the key questions of who should be responsible for
what. A final plenary session reviewed these
suggestions and focused on deciding which
institution or institutions should carry the policy
process forward.
It
was resolved that the Ministry of Agriculture was
the right institution to carry forward the process
of developing UPA policy, with assistance from KARI,
which therefore undertook to take the next step
needed, to convene a meeting of key stakeholders
from community, market, government, civil society
and other actors in UPA to create a National
Inter-institutional Steering Committee of these
stakeholders. It was agreed that the national
process should build upon the extensive data and
analytical material produced by this workshop, as
well as on work already done to create a forum for
government, private and community sector, including
the creation of an urban farmers’ network. This
Sectoral Mix and Cooperation Model provide the
starting point for the national process. Urban
Harvest agreed to help KARI to compile the workshop
report and
distribute
it to participants, relevant ministries and
departments.
(taken from the executive summary)
Download
the PDF file.
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