Doctoral Dissertation Research: Livelihoods and Environmental Risk: Urban Agriculture in Kibera Slum of Nairobi

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In the growing slums of Nairobi, home to more than one-half the population of Kenya's capital city, food insecurity and environmental contamination are an increasing concern. Given the growing number of slum residents, new ways need to be identified to address urban poverty. One approach is through urban agriculture, which allows people to positively contribute towards their local livelihoods. In early 2008, following post-election violence, a non-governmental organization introduced a new form of urban agriculture called sack gardening to residents in the Kibera slums. Tens of thousands of resident now engage in sack gardening, but these urban agriculturalists are potentially exposed to environmental toxins via contaminated soil and water due to the lack of sanitation in the slums. This doctoral dissertation research project will examine the tradeoff between sack gardening as an activity that may help to improve people's ability to eat or earn an income and the potential health risks to which they are exposed. The doctoral student will focus on the following questions: (1) How does participation in sack gardening serve to improve the livelihoods of gardeners in the Kibera slums of Nairobi? (2) To what extent does participation in sack gardening expose people to environmental risks? Key informant interviews, in-depth interviews with members of thirty households, and surveys of 200 households in Kibera will provide data regarding the ways in which sack gardening contributes to various aspects of the livelihoods of people. Soil, plant tissue, and irrigation water samples from household gardens will be analyzed for heavy metal contamination. These data will be combined with interview and survey data to answer questions related to the extent that people are exposed to environmental risks.Project results will provide quantitative and qualitative measures of the tradeoffs inherent in urban sack gardening regarding household livelihood strategies and food security on the one hand and exposure to environmental risks on the other. Because urban agriculture increasingly is promoted as a viable option to improve urban food security around the world, this project will provide practical information on the potential benefits to improved food security and environmental risks related to urban gardening for slum dwellers. In addition to contributing to the academic literature, information from this research will be useful for local community members, non-governmental organizations, and policy makers interested in working on issues of increasing food security and health in Kibera or other slum areas. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.