Nairobi is one congested city owing to its planning and lack of timely upgrades for decades.
With the movement of people from the rural areas to the city, there has been a lot of pressure on the available resources including food.
This has seen many people buying food from neighbouring counties like Kiambu.
And with increasing food needs, those living in the informal settlements like Kibera have had to become ingenious to survive.
Enter sack farms and other forms of micro-farming. This is an interesting practice carried out by people in Kibera. It does not require a lot of energy; yes you will not be forced to cultivate any land for you to plant your vegetables.
All you need is some few sacks filled with soil and water for irrigation.
On the sacks, make some holes at least three centimetres in diameter. The spacing from one hole to the other one can be from 15 to 20 centimetres. The length should be the same as the width.
After making the holes, insert your young sukumawiki seedlings in the holes. You must be careful not to break them. The leaves should be left hanging out of the sack.
For water, irrigate the sukumawiki seedlings every morning and evening for about three weeks daily. After this period, the plants will have developed roots and will be mature after one month.
However, the farmer needs to be conscious of pests which might destroy the vegetables. They should spray the vegetables to keep them healthy.
This type of farming has been well received by Kibera residents who harvest good money from it. The practice is a joint investment plan currently practiced by women.
Every sack can bring a total of two hundred shillings weekly depending on availability of customers.