[Kibera neighbourhood in Nairobi]
[Urban farm]
[David Omari, urban farmer, planting vegetables]
David Omari (interview): “We use this type of farming simply because in Kibera, we don’t have enough land, of which you can plant what you can see over here. So, we are using what we call the waste products, which are things which come from yoghurt, those cups of yoghurt. So, we are using it, we put in the pumice, which comes from the volcanic type of soil or rock from Maimahiu. So this one, you know it has got no impurities, it is clear and makes the work easier because it cannot grow some weeds.”
[Farmer watering vegetables]
[Omari looking after kale]
David Omari (interview): “We have around 1,200 students of whom we are feeding using the greens in the shamba (garden) and the surplus we give to the community because we do harvest more than what we can absorb.”
[Greenhouses in Kibera]
[Farmers inside a greenhouse]
[Racheal Jumba, urban farmer, looking at sticky pad used to trap insects]
[Jumba looking after capsicum]
Racheal Jumba (interview): “There is a lot of sales of vegetables in the informal sectors, in the slums, but you find that a lot of these are grown in unhygienic conditions. Some are actually grown in sewage and sold to unsuspecting customers. So, when this project came up for us, for me, it was a way of us being able to give the community food that is organically produced, that we are using clean resources to be able to do that. And also, the fact that we are using hydroponics, we are able to do a lot in a smaller space. So, where for example, what we have right here, we would have done it in perhaps about half an acre, but now we are doing it in an area that is 8 meters by 15 meters.”
[Farm workers harvesting tomatoes]
[Stella Mwania, field coordinator, Human Needs Project, looking after tomato plants]
Stella Mwania (interview): “Urban farming is very important to people living in informal settlements, given that informal settlements are seen as a dumping site by anyone outside. And them being able to trace where their food is coming from, we believe it is very important for the communities as well.”
[Farm worker looking after capsicum plants]
[Joseph Wangai, agriculture expert, entering office, working on computer]
Joseph Wangai (interview): “Definitely, when we talk about informal settlement, remember land becomes a limiting factor. So, it is likely everywhere is occupied by human settlement. These informal sectors have poor sanitation, these informal sectors have poor garbage collection. So, soil as a medium of production now becomes polluted and now we are avoiding this pollution, this hazard of pollution, to the produce that is coming from the farms. So, one method is avoiding the soil as a medium of production. Therefore, the farmers can consider soilless mediums.”
[Tomatoes in the urban farm]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.