Kenya, a country known for its vast savannahs and teeming wildlife, relies on agriculture for a large proportion of merchandise exports and approximately 33% of its total GDP. However, in a climate prone to unstable weather and ongoing food insecurity, it is crucial to transform the current food systems in Kenya to secure a sustainable and healthy future. 

Kenya’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA)

With more than 40% of its overall workforce situated within the agricultural sector, the Kenyan government pledged to implement its Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) in 2022.

The policy focuses on making agricultural transformation a priority within government and aims to support small-hold farmers by driving resources and technology to modernize outdated methods within agriculture. 

While implementing this plan recognizes the importance of transforming food systems in Kenya as a solution to extreme poverty, severe food insecurity still affects around 28% of Kenyans, with a large proportion of children suffering from malnutrition. 

Hydroponic Systems and Urban Farming

One example of a method revolutionizing food systems in Kenya is the use of hydroponic systems. While the initial installation of hydroponics can be expensive, this ‘no soil’ method of farming uses nutrient-rich water to grow crops and can produce plants rapidly. 

According to the World Bank, hydroponic systems use 10 times less water than traditional field farming methods and can grow barley for cattle feed in just five to seven days.

A second factor setting hydroponics at the forefront of modern sustainable farming, is the ability for systems to be built and grown vertically. This allows people living in confined urban environments to create their own food systems through initiatives like The World Food Programme’s (WFP) H2Grow project. Through this program, WFP is providing technology and support to local farmers, while creating innovative solutions to decrease the cost of installation and upkeep for disadvantaged communities.

With results in more than 21 countries worldwide, H2Grow aims to ‘grow food in impossible places’ and has helped more than 89,000 people to achieve better nutrition and food security.

The primary benefit of using hydroponic systems in Kenya is that hydroponic farming does not rely on seasonal rainfall which makes it one of the few sustainable forms of continuously successful agriculture for arid and semi-arid environments. 

Women in Agriculture

While hydroponics offer a positive route for urban farming, rural communities still largely rely upon land-based subsistence.

The Association of Women in Agriculture Kenya (AWAK) is a women-led, nonprofit organization seeking to educate women in the necessary skills to develop both profitable and agroecological farming practices. 

Winners of the 2023 Women’s Economic Empowerment Award, AWAK focuses on helping women at the intersection of poverty and the climate emergency by providing education and opportunities through a variety of projects. 

Their initiatives range from a land restoration project teaching women how to successfully become independent farmers, to an online MYCoop partnership that reduces the gap between the producer and market. 

Currently, AWAK’s land restoration project has reached more than 150,000 farmers and has taught women how to turn subsistence farming into a sustainable, profitable and climate-smart business. AWAK’s goal is to reach and empower 4,000,000 women in the next 10 years by helping them become an integral, educated part of Kenya’s agricultural sector. 

Looking Ahead

Both education and resources play a vital role in transforming food systems in Kenya and emphasize the need for Kenya’s BETA to fully come into effect. Tackling food systems in Kenya will not only help poverty reduction but, with enough research and technological advancement, present an opportunity for Kenya to utilize its agricultural sector innovatively and sustainably in the fight against food insecurity and poverty.

– Zoe Winterfeldt
Photo: Flickr