| dc.description.abstract | In recent years, urban agriculture has flourished in many urban areas. The purpose of this study
was to investigate the determinants of growth of urban agriculture in Lang‟ata Sub County,
Nairobi County. The objectives of this study were to establish the influence of consumer demand
for fresh produce on growth of Urban Agricultural Projects in Lang‟ata Sub County, Nairobi
County, to examine the influence of space availability on growth of Urban Agricultural Projects
in Lang‟ata Sub County, Nairobi County. To assess the influence of Non-governmental
Organizations intervention on growth of Urban Agricultural Projects in Lang‟ata Sub County,
Nairobi County and to evaluate the influence of technology on growth of Urban Agricultural
Projects in Lang‟ata Sub County, Nairobi County. The study adopted a descriptive and
qualitative design in case and field study. The primary data was collected by use of
questionnaires and notes as the data collection instruments to record respondents‟ responses that
in this study were Urban Agriculture producers who dwell in Lang‟ata Sub County. The target
population was Lang‟ata Sub County which has a population of 176,314 but due to time and
budgetary constraints the researcher picked a sample of 384 respondents from Karen ward which
has four divisions of which three represented the three socio-economic classes. This study
showed that the demand on croplands can be reduced by growing crops in urban settings where
land is available for cultivation. This does not require the conversion of valuable natural habitats,
such as forests or wetlands, but rather uses underutilized, derelict or vacant land. The benefits of
urban agriculture have been documented widely, and include environmental, social, economic
and structural benefits. Urban Agriculture is the production of food through crops, fruit and nut
bearing trees, livestock and bees within a city. Crops are grown in on-ground gardens, in pots,
without soil through hydroponics, on green roofs and vertically along walls. Urban Agriculture
has appeared in various forms. The research study advocates for policies that promote smallscale
urban and peri-urban farming and thereby prepare the next generation of urban farming
leaders. The task is to increase public knowledge and support, in order to transform urban
agriculture from its cottage industry status into a major instrument against hunger and poverty. | en_US |
