Kenya: Agroecology a pathway to building sustainable food systems even during covid-19 pandemic

8 December 2020. Kenyan scientists are fronting agroecological farming approaches as a pathway to building affordable and resilient food systems.

Agroecology principles is a diversified farming system that aims for longer-term sustainability of the natural ecosystem and social livelihoods besides the production of safe and sufficient food.

“Having agroecology embedded in existing agricultural, food, environmental and climate change policies is important so that when implementation and budgetary allocations are made for such policies, agroecology can also be part of it,” Mary Nyasimi, Executive Director of the Nairobi-based Inclusive Climate Change Adaptation for a Sustainable Africa.

A recent study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Biovision Foundation and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) shows a strong positive link between the application of agroecology principles and climate resilience in Kenya.

The comprehensive study “The Potential of Agroecology to Build Climate-Resilient Livelihoods and Food Systems” compiles and assesses evidence from scientific literature and from the field showing how agroecology builds climate resilience for smallholder farmers. Increased soil health, (bio-)diversity in farming approaches as well as the creation and sharing of locally, peer-generated knowledge have proven to be powerful effects of Agroecology for this.

The report shows how sustainable agroecological farming practices can help tackle climate change on

three levels, including strengthening resilience and adaptation as well as increasing mitigation. Nonetheless, it is still struggling with insufficient political backing to actually take off.

In Kenya, Kiambu county has developed a policy on agroecology as the first one among all the 47 counties while on the national level an Intersectoral Forum on Agroecology and Agrobiodiversity (ISFAA) was established only recently.