Urban agriculture livelihoods and household food security: a case of Eldoret, Kenya

摘要

One of the aims of the MDGs is to halve the world’s poor population with an income of less than one dollar a day as well as those who suffer from hunger (Mougeot, 2005). By 2015-2020, more than half of the world’s population will be living in urban and peri-urban areas. One common livelihood that the poor venture into is Urban Agriculture (UA) which involves the production, processing and selling of livestock, poultry and horticultural produce and products due to the immediate monetary gains and the necessity for a quick source of food. The main objective of this study was to determine the socio-economic characteristics of low-income horticultural food producers and sellers (HFPS) and how this affects their livelihoods and household food security. An exploratory survey design was used to examine the diverse manifestations brought by the interface between the livelihoods of HFPS. The study integrated the livelihood framework to examine the respondents’ socio-economic characteristics and the resultant food security status of their households. Non-probability sampling was used to get 110 producers and 110 sellers. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Quantitative data was analyzed using SPSS (15.0) software whereas qualitative data was triangulated into the discussions of the quantitative findings. The results revealed that the current infrastructure is not conducive for sustainable UA practices, which affects the interactive livelihoods and household food security of HFPS. A synergy of stakeholders should to engage in serious working partnerships in developing sustainable and contextual pro-poor infrastructure for enhanced UA livelihoods, in order to stimulate growth and increase efficiency, productivity, employment and generate better returns for the poor.