This archive report was first published on 21 December 2019.
On a typical day, it takes around 30 minutes to reach Wonder Farm in Muthaiga North, a suburb of Nairobi, from the city's central business district. However, the traffic congestion is a far cry from the usual 10 minutes it would take without the jams.
Upon arrival, Dennis Mureithi and his father Daniel Gitau are busy putting the final touches to their storey gardens. The duo has been perfecting their craft since 2013, when Dennis first came up with the idea of urban gardening as a solution to shrinking land sizes in urban and rural areas.
The storey gardens are made from ultraviolet treated polythene materials, cut and fastened together to form a conical shape. The base is wider for stability, and the size of the gardens reduces as they move up, forming a pyramid.
Each garden is filled with well-drained loam or red soil, mixed with goat manure, which is part of the value addition process. The gardens can accommodate up to 130 plants, each with access to water, manure, and sunlight.
According to Dennis, the storey gardens utilise water and manure well, especially in areas with inadequate water supply. They can consume between 20-30 litres of water per week.
The father-son duo sells each garden at Sh2,500 and has a client base that spans across Kiambu, Mombasa, Kisumu, and Nairobi. They also make hanging gardens from wood and pellets, which are then fixed to the walls.
Evans Nyabaro, a farmer in Kericho County, has adopted the storey gardening technology and uses it to grow tomatoes, spinach, and sukuma wiki. He praises the method for saving on labour, manure, and conserving soil.
Brian Sakwa, a crops expert from Kalro, Njoro in Nakuru County, notes that urban agriculture is one way of reflecting development in economic and social status. He suggests that the idea can be used to supplement food production in towns and cities without relying on scarce land.
However, he notes that while more people use urban gardens to produce food, it should be improved to cater for agroforestry and other sectors.
Spinach, sukuma wiki, onions, tomatoes, peas, basil, parsley, capsicum, herbs, chilies, mint, strawberries, and indigenous vegetables are some of the crops that can be grown in the urban gardens.
