“Urban farming is possible and profitable,” Francis Wachira told communication officers and media practitioners who visited his farm in Nairobi City County, Kenya, on 15 October. 

 

Wachira commenced his farming activities in 2002 on a neglected piece of ground outside his home that is owned by the municipal authorities.  Every so often he would cut the overgrown grass on the patch until he decided to start growing vegetables for his family.  Pretty soon the vegetable production grew until Wachira started giving them away to his neighbours.

Living right next to a market, Wachira soon started selling his produce and has over the years even expanded to animal husbandry.  He keeps goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits and guinea pigs – all of which are reared and sold for their meat. Wachira knew that his choice of livestock raised for the food market would be met with resistance but, he persisted in his efforts.

 

“It’s all about changing mindsets,” Wachira claims.  “With rising food prices, I knew that before long people would not have a problem eating broiler chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs. After all their meat is tasty.”

 

He has since earned himself the nickname ‘Rabbit King.’ His customers come from different regions of Kenya and he often has to work extra hard to meet their demand.  Wachira also reaches out to his community by giving lessons on urban farming. Children and youth have the opportunity to go to his farm for training on various farming techniques, such as vertical gardening.  As a result, some of the unemployed youth are now part of the food production cycle in Nairobi.

 

In addition, Wachira and his family practise climate smart agriculture. For example, they use only organic compost that they make from kitchen bio-waste, vegetation from their own gardens and their own animal manure. “Nothing from the farm is really wasted,” asserts George, Wachira’s son.

 

Communication officers and journalists paid Wachira a visit as part of their workshop on harmonising agricultural messaging in Africa and documenting best practices.  The workshop was organised by the NEPAD Agency’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

 

The workshop was attended by staff from the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry; communication officers from the East African Farmers Federation (EAFF) and l’Union Maghrébine et Nord-Africaine des Agriculteurs (UMNGARI); the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Arab Maghreb Union (UMA), East African Community (EAC), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and; members of the CAADP Journalists Network. (Source: NEPAD Agency – NAIROBI )