Machakos, 22nd November 2025
Nairobi City County’s Subsector of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources in collaboration with Mazingira Institute convened a workshop to strengthen gender integration within the ongoing review of the Nairobi Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Policy.
The Partnership seeks to incorporate gender responsive approaches into the revised Urban Agriculture Policy, drawing key lessons particularly from the Mazingira Institute’s Women’s Spaces project. The workshop focused on enriching gender considerations to ensure equitable, inclusive and participatory outcomes across the City’s food systems.
According to the County Chief Officer for Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, Ms. Gladwell Cheruiyot, the Sub-Sector is finalizing a policy draft that responds to emerging challenges including food systems transformation and resilience. “Before undergoing public participation, it is important for the draft to go through stakeholder engagement to ensure it meets quality and inclusivity standards” She said.
The Nairobi City County Urban Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries policy 2015 currently under review, was originally developed to guide the regulation and growth of the Urban Agriculture sector. It aims to promote sustainable urban Agriculture, enhance food security, create employment, improve household income and uplift the living standards of Nairobi residents. The ongoing review seeks to update these priorities to reflect current realities and future needs.
Attending the workshop were technical staff from the Crops & Forestry, Livestock and Fisheries, Veterinary Services, Food System & Sector Programmes units, NAVCDP coordination team, the County Gender and Legal department’s representatives, as we as Mazingira Institute team. Their contributions helped strengthen alignment on gender integration, policy coherence and sector specific priorities.
“We look forward to working with the County in the next steps of the policy, not just finalizing it but also implementing it.” Promised Mr. Sam Ikua from Mazingira Institute, while commending the County Government of Nairobi for its continued collaboration.
During the workshop, Mazingira Institute also introduced the participants to the Urban Agriculture and Food systems database, an online advanced tool that supports data driven decision making, enabling real time access to farm data, location – independent monitoring, and improved planning and support to the urban farmers.
While urging the participants to utilize the database, Mr. Ikua stressed on the importance of evidence based planning, noting the role of accurate data in shaping practical and responsive polices.
The Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources team celebrated Mazingira Institute for its longstanding partnerships with Nairobi City County on urban food systems work, a collaboration that dates back to 2002.
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