| dc.description.abstract | This study focused on women urban cultivators in the city of Nairobi. It had the objective
of investigating the motivational factors to women's involvement in urban agriculture.
The specific objectives of the study included: Investigating the factors that explain the
involvement of women in urban agriculture; investigating the factors influencing the
location of gardens in certain areas of the city; finding out the extend to which women
have control over the use of food and income from their urban garden; and establishing
the key problems that women experience as urban cultivators.
The study employed a combination of both qualitative and quantitative techniques.
Qualitative techniques used included informal interviews and observation. Quantitative
techniques included use of questionnaires or interview schedules. Data processing and
analysis procedures were quantitatively and qualitatively applied.
The literature reviewed shows that urban agriculture is a phenomenon evident in many
cities and major towns of developing countries. This is contrary to the fact that urban
areas in these countries have not been .designed to accommodate farming at any scale.
Largely it is an activity undertaken by the unemployed and the low-income urban
residents as a source of food, income or as a hobby. Thus, urban agriculture is important
in the sense that it reduces the risk of starvation or malnutrition and contributes to
household food security among low-income urban residents. It also has a recreational
value (hobby) arid helps to supplement household incomes.
Specifically, in the city of Nairobi urban agriculture is illegal since it is said to encourage
breeding of mosquitoes while tall crops such as maize act as hiding places for thugs. The
practitioners use rented, borrowed or illegally occupied land signifying that they have no
land of their own and thus face the problem of low security of land tenure.
Despite the illegal status of the practice, there is a proliferation of gardens in the city of
Nairobi along the city's polluted streams, drainage and sewerage systems, roads, rail
lines, on vacant industrial and housing plots, at house back yards and on other unused
public and private spaces.
The study was guided by the following two theories: The situational approach theory and
the cultural lag theory. The core argument ofthe situational approach theory is the idea of
a crisis, defmition of the situation and the concept of social disorganization, which brings
about redefmition of the situation. In essence, urban economic realities constitute a
"crisis" resulting from escalating costs of basic necessities, low wages and pressure to
meet subsistence needs. It is this crisis that calls for a response or redefmition of the
situation. As a result, women indulge in urban cultivation in response to this crisis.
Although the situational approach theory VIews human behaviour as adjustable, the
argument of the cultural lag theory is that this adjustment is not necessarily harmonious.
There is a tendency for old forms of behaviour to persist. The central focus of the
cultural lag theory is the occurrence of change at unequal time. In this study the argument
is that when people migrate from the rural area to the city, they are forced to adjust their
way of life to be able to fit in the urban environment. However, the adjustment is not
uniform as far as their socio-cultural and economic activities are concerned. They may
fmd it easier to drop some of their socio-cultural traits than it is to wholly abandon
important rural economic activities such as farming. This theory helps to explain the
interaction between ones socio-cultural back ground and her involvement in urban
agriculture. ..:
The study found out that relatively middle-aged women who are married and have
children dominate urban cultivation. Most of these women are either unemployed or
underemployed and their spouses are in the low income-earning group. Majority of them
are also lowly educated. Their desire to farm in the city is driven by the need to
supplement household food supply and income. Clearly, it was established that the socio-
economic status factors of occupation, income and the level of education are key factors
in explaining women's involvement in urban agriculture.
It was noted that majority of the women urban cultivators combined garden work with
other forms of employment. This led to the conclusion that urban cultivation is not an
only survival strategy for women but a way of supplementing household food supply and
income.
Given the scarcity of vacant land in the city of Nairobi, the study established that the
overriding factor in establishing gardens in certain areas of the city is the availability of
such 'idle' land. Thus, the need to have a piece of land to cultivate surpasses the
suitability of such land for agricultural purposes. In addition, the study found out that
majority of the women farm on such land after entering into an informal agreement with
a second party.
Women have traditionally been the principal cultivators in rural Kenya. However, they
have been excluded almost entirely from the land entitlement process and thus decisions
on use of such land and appropriation of benefits accruing from it lie with the male heads.
With the changes occurring in the society giving women a higher status and increasing
their say in certain and indeed most matters affecting society, this study established that
women urban cultivators make decisions pertaining to the search of a garden, choice of
crops to be grown, the use of garden produce and appropriation of any income from the
sale of garden produce.
The study identified several problems that women face in their endeavor to produce food
in the open and idle spaces in the city. These include: theft and destruction of crops by
people and animals, lack of capital, inadequate time to do farm work, lack of water for
irrigation, crop pests and diseases, and lack of enough space to farm. These are common
problems to farmers even in the countryside. The only problem unique to urban farmers
is theft and destruction by people and animals. This is however a common problem
affecting urban farmers in general and not specifJc to women farmers.
Further it has been established that urban farming (which is largely illegal) receives very
minimal attention from the government and the ministry of agriculture. As a result
majority of the women cultivators do not receive any agricultural extension services.
This lack of services from the ministry of agriculture indicates that the potential of urban
agriculture is unappreciated and largely untapped.
This study therefore recommends that the government should legalize urban cultivation,
avail credit services to women urban farmers and provide the necessary agricultural
extension services through the ministry of agriculture. A favorable legislation towards
urban agriculture will enable planners and farmers to design and plan a nutritionally selfreliant
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