Water and Food

Sack gardening in Kibera, Nairobi           Inspired by our discussion this week about urban poverty, sanitation & social innovation, I will be looking at urban agriculture innovations in Nairobi that stemmed out of the COVID-19 crisis (Sam Ikua).  The COVID-19 crisis demonstrated the vulnerability of international supply chains, especially for food (Sam Ikua) . On a regional scale, rural-urban linkages were difficult to sustain during the crisis, making people rely on food production and consumption within their own community (Sam Ikua) . Since then, urban agriculture has gained popularity, especially in Kibera, the biggest informal settlement in Africa, situated on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya (Sam Ikua) . The rise in urban agriculture during the pandemic demonstrated that “localized food systems and short food supply chains” are good for reducing vulnerability in households (Sam Ikua) . Consumers are a walk away, inputs are sourced locally such as manure, and seeds are boug

   As part of my first blog entry in Water and Food, I will look at the political and environmental impacts, climate change has had on farmers in Central Kenya. Before we begin, it is crucial to acknowledge a key irony that occurs in discussions of climate change and development. The Global North has contributed significantly high levels of GHG emissions in the atmosphere, since the beginning of the industrial period, 150 years ago (Uddin, 2017) . However, the Global South, the majority of whom have yet to contribute to these industrial activities to the same degree, experiences the brunt of the impacts of climate change (Uddin, 2017) . Global initiatives that aim to reduce GHG emissions do not just target countries in the Global North, the greatest contributors, but also pressure countries in the Global South to follow suit (Uddin, 2017) . As many countries in the Global South are post-colonial countries, many are endeavoring to develop their economies, infrastructure, and resources (