244 T.C. DAVIES, M.M. IKIARA, A.M. KARANJA, C. FUREDY
institutions largely involves separation and sorting but many institutions simply dump
the wastes together in a bin or some other receptacle to await collection. On average,
a market or institution in Nairobi has 51 workers involved in waste handling. The
number however ranges from 1 to 400, with 47.4 percent of the markets and institu-
tions having 4 to 15 workers involved in waste handling.
Other aspects regarding the mode of operation of the institutions in the City of Nairobi
are covered in chapter 4 of this volume.
12.4. URBAN AGRICULTURE
Provision of most urban services has, since colonial times, been the responsibility of
the local government, the NCC in the case of Nairobi. The NCC has largely failed in
this responsibility.
Urban-agricultural linkages, revolving around a range of diverse actors from those
involved in the generation of urban wastes to reuse, are seen as having the potential to
improve SWM. Among the more significant of these actors are: the farmers them-
selves; private waste handling companies; CBOs; the Ministry of Social Services;
NGOs; and institutions such as hotels, markets, hospital and schools.
The urban space
Farming in the city has been categorised into two broad levels: (i) the ‘urban’ referring
to small-scale crop gardens near the central part of the city, often located along road-
sides and flood plains, and the high density residential area on the eastern side of the
city where there is limited space, and (ii) the ‘peri-urban’ agriculture, where the land
holdings are large enough to allow cultivation and livestock keeping for commercial
purposes, as in Karen and Langata. But a phenomenon that is increasingly becoming
common in Nairobi is the practice of ‘zero grazing’ (keeping one or more dairy cattle
behind the house) and poultry keeping. Many urban residents are engaging in this
practice to supplement food available to households and generate extra income.
Within the central part of the city, flowerbeds and small gardens along the city streets
and around buildings are common. Along river valleys, flower and tree nurseries as
well as food crops are the major agricultural activities. Food production is considered
the most important form of farming in Nairobi. The Mazingira Institute (1994) study
established that of the 20 percent of the households that practice urban agriculture, 90
percent use their land for production of subsistence crops.
The urban agricultural production space is derived from the livestock practices that
existed before the process of urbanisation. An important characteristic of this notion is
that the farming systems are framed within the “urban” concept, with access to infra-