Sustainable Urban Agriculture Land Use Practice for Thika Town

Onguso Malitinus Maina

doi:10.11648/j.ijsdr.20190501.14

Abstract

This paper looks at the residents of Ngoingwa Estate on their attitudes towards sustainable urban agriculture land use practice within their urban set up. The pursuit of food security, alternative food systems, employment, fresh food, the unpredictable food prices, enhanced communal ties among others are the basic benefits of urban agriculture. A mixed method (purposive and non-probability) approach was adopted and both qualitative and quantitative data was collected from primary and secondary data sources by the use of questionnaires, photography, and sketches. A total of 196 questionnaires were administered analyzed by the use of SPSS and Microsoft Excel programs. The results are presented in percentages and deductions done against them. It was found out that 60% of the residents are willing, and 39.3% are actually practicing some forms of urban agriculture. It was found out that the current urban development plan for Thika and the Kiambu County Spatial Plan have not handled matters of urban agriculture, there have not been change of users to agriculture (2016-2017), land subdivision continue to eat into into former agricultural parcels, there was no data on sustainable urban agriculture land use practices within Ngoingwa, Thika Water and Sewerage Company prohibits residents from utilizing their water mains for agricultural purposes as well as the county/neighbourhood regulations and policies that prohibit urban agriculture. The study recommends that an integrated land use framework that involves building designs, appropriate building materials, exploration of vertical and rooftop farms, revision of existing plans to include urban agriculture and hiring of extension officers to guide farmers on urban agriculture.

Highlights

The Kenyan government has been restructuring and privatizing extension services to improve delivery extension services as supported by Kamau [8]
The research revealed that urban agriculture depends on the people’s attitudes to development control and land use regulations, socio-economic benefits, health benefits, type of crop grown and the expected satisfaction derived from urban agriculture
Planning and architectural design considerations that naturally promote urban agriculture can be factored in plans for urban areas in the long run even by manner of revisions of the current approved plans

Summary

Introduction

The Kenyan government has been restructuring and privatizing extension services to improve delivery extension services as supported by Kamau [8]. The reality of urbanization has seen urban managers, urban dwellers, policy makers, activists among others to progressively embrace urban agriculture as a means of food sustainability. The merits of urban agriculture are evident in more food secure households, appealing spatially planned neighborhoods, shorter or reduced need of transportation to the markets which contribute to cities that are more energy efficient and sustainable, creates employment locally as argued by Eriksen et al [3]. Urban agriculture can be a way of sharing knowledge and skills on farming. It can be an avenue for practical learning for students, parents and general public. Taylor [15] argues that upon well articulation into the society, urban agriculture can influence policy, regulations and legislation

Methods

Results

Conclusion