King Charles III on Tuesday had a peek at what it is like to practice urban farming in a densely populated area in Nairobi.
The King, who is in Kenya with Queen Camilla for a historic State visit, sampled City Shamba- an urban agricultural farm business located next to Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital in Nairobi’s Eastlands area.
Charles toured the approximately one-acre piece of land accompanied by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
The King picked spinach, kales and indigenous vegetables as he toured the farm.
City Shamba manager Greg Kimani was given the honour of taking the King around and answering any questions he would have.
“The King was very excited with the way we use organic manure at the farm,” Kimani told the Star after the tour.
Kimani further said the King was amazed at how such a small piece of land in the middle of a densely populated area could produce significant yields.
“He was amazed at how we were not doing anything out of the ordinary. What we do can be done by anyone, anywhere,” Kimanai said.
City Shamba is an urban agricultural business that seeks to build city gardens appropriate for small spaces.
City Shamba models urban centres to be part of the solution to hunger and malnutrition through training and enabling urban communities to adopt and practice urban agriculture.
It is a food security initiative that was founded to transform the livelihoods of urban people living in marginalised communities.
It aims to boost incomes by ensuring food and nutrition security goals are achieved.
Urban farming occurs when someone living in a city or heavily populated town repurposes their green space to grow food and/or raise smaller animals (goats, rabbits, chickens, turkeys).
Not every urban farm has to be at the owner's house; some urban farmers lease land and work the soil in other backyards, utilise rooftops or even farm indoors.
Unlike a personal garden, an urban farmer grows to feed the community, sometimes selling it for little or no profit.
