Transforming Urban Agriculture through Technology and Innovation

From kisumu.go.ke (Emily Mwika)

Kisumu County Extension Officer Mr. James Samo instructing other extension Officers on how to construct a key hole garden at the Mamboleo Show ground (Photos by: Emily Mwika)

The County extension officers (TOTs) converged at the Mamboleo Show ground to practically apply skills learnt on urban food systems, a week after their training in Kakamega courtesy of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The three-day practical lessons are basically to prepare them for the trainings set to begin next week, targeting local farmers across the urban and peri urban sub counties within Kisumu. These include: Kisumu West, Kisumu Central, Kisumu East and Nyando.

The focus is to drive food systems change in the urban context to boost food security, nutrition, and self-sufficiency within the county.

Some of the urban agriculture technology demonstrations the extension officers participated in constructing were: the storeyed micro/ sack garden, the key hole garden, the moist bed and the hanging gardens.

Such gardens are efficient in production of kales, spinach, onions, coriander, traditional green leafy vegetables, cherry tomatoes and each garden especially the sack garden can hold up to 300 plants.

The advantages of such gardens are that they require small parcel of land, create jobs, promotes food quality and security, empowers one economically and community building since it makes people work collectively.