Rethinking Urban Food Systems in Nairobi
Embracing Local Context for Sustainable Transformation
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22018472 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Linda Hering (0000-0002-9477-4693, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin), Alexander Kohrs (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-12 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Urban Planning (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2183-7635 • E-ISSN: 2183-7635 |
| Publisher | Cogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT) |
| DOI | 10.17645/up.9458 |
| OpenAlex | W4413198266 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 38 |
Urban food systems are crucial for addressing sustainability, equity, and resilience, especially in rapidly growing cities of the Global South. Yet, urban planners have long neglected them. In Nairobi, where up to 60% of residents live in informal settlements and many spend over half their income on food, the food system remains fragmented despite extensive interventions. Drawing on research in Kasarani, a constituency of Nairobi, this article explores how residents navigate and use the social, economic, and infrastructural dynamics of their neighborhoods to secure food and their livelihoods. We show that policy approaches centered on formalization and large‐scale projects often ignore the value of everyday practices and local networks. Informal actors, such as mama mbogas (fresh produce traders), are vital for food security and community resilience. We advocate for urban food governance that embraces the coexistence of on‐ and off‐grid systems and recognizes informal economies as central to urban resilience. By emphasizing residents’ lived experiences, we highlight pathways for more inclusive and transformative urban food planning
Agriculture · Business · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Economics · Food security · Food systems · Geography · Livelihood · Political science · Psychological resilience · Sociology · Sustainability · Transformative learning · Food Waste Reduction and Sustainability · Organic Food and Agriculture · Urban Agriculture and Sustainability
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Shifting Approaches to Planning Theory
Neoliberalism, Urbanization and Change in Africa
The impact of the structural adjustment
Food and Governmentality in the Green City
The role of the informal economy in promoting urban sustainability
Resituating Africa’s Urban Informal Food Sector
The Sustainability Society
Addressing food security in African cities
Bringing together urban systems and food systems theory and research is overdue
Ensuring food secure cities – Retail modernization and policy implications in Nairobi, Kenya
Africa’s new urban spaces
Influence of public policy planning on peri-urban land speculation in (Greater) Eastern Bypass in Nairobi Metropolitan
Urban governance and urban food systems in Africa
Food system transformation
Re-assembling sustainable food cities
Geographies of peri-urbanization in the global south
A World-Class City-Region? Envisioning the Nairobi of 2030
Evaluation of the Nairobi-Thika Road Improvement Project in the Context of Inclusive Development
Street trade, neoliberalisation and the control of space
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |