Urban food systems and the spatial planning regime in Kakamega municipality, Kakamega County, Kenya

Abstract

Rapid urbanization has resulted in tremendous transformation in urban system dynamics. In particular, urban areas are increasingly experiencing food shocks and stresses that have affected their resilience ability, leading to challenges in food availability and access. Currently, urban areas occupy only 2% of the earth surface but consume more than 70% of the global food supply. Without intervention, consumption will increase and possibly surpass existing food supplies. This necessitates the establishment of sustainable and resilient urban food systems. Over the past decade, food systems planning has blossomed into a central concept in urban planning. Planners have gradually realized that they cannot achieve sustainable urban development unless the urban food system is integrated into the urban planning framework. The question however remains how to affect this integration. Kakamega is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Kenya, with the majority of households perennially affected by food insecurity. With a population growth rate of 2.5%, food demand and consumption rate will escalate in the near future. Yet it is not known how, or if at all, the urban food system dovetails into the extant municipal planning framework. How, for instance, does the planning regime (re)produce Kakamega’s food system? This study therefore sought to examine the structures and level of integration of Kakamega’s urban food system into the municipal planning framework. Specifically, the study aimed at examining the extant urban planning processes; analysing components of the local urban food system; and strategies of integration between the urban food system and urban planning in Kakamega Municipality. The study is anchored on the Food Supply Distribution System (FSDS) model. The study applied a cross-sectional design. The data sources were primarily from first hand interaction with respondents, observation and literature reviews. A sample survey of 382 households derived by the Morgun formula from a total of 52,015 households spread across the eight municipal wards was considered. A sample size of 175 market retailers (25 retailers from each of the 7 markets) was also interviewed. Four focused group discussions were held with food retailers, a youth group, meat suppliers and university students. Besides, key informant interviews were held. Officers in key departments dealing with policy and functions in urban planning and urban food systems namely County directors of Urban Planning, Agriculture, Trade, Finance and Economic Planning departments, as well as with the Municipal Planner, market superintendents and ward administrators were purposely sampled and interviewed. Field-based observations were also conducted. Qualitative data was analysed thematically, while quantitative data was summarised and reported by mean, mode and variance. The findings indicate that the local planning policy and regulatory framework is at variance with the quotidian practice on the ground. Furthermore, the municipal food system as currently practiced is informal, unstructured and unstable, determined as it is by the vagaries of demand and supply forces. While there is some level of integration between the local food system and the extant urban planning framework, this remains rather weak and hence unable to guarantee food resilience for long-term urban sustainability. In the upshot, the study recommends that the urban planning framework be strengthened by formulation of the urban development control guidelines to regulate developments. The Municipal board to increase budgetary allocation for urban planning framework, empower the planning team by increasing more staff since we only have one Municipal planner. The Municipal planner as an urban manager to introduce policies in the planning framework that promotes food production in urban areas, such as reservation of agricultural land, limit on bylaws that restrict urban agriculture and reduce taxes on urban agriculture practices. The food system be formalized and documented by the Municipal manager. That the captured data be processed and accessible to all stakeholders in the municipal food system. More emphasize on food production rather than depending on food imports. It is proposed that the necessary synergies be build capitalizing on the prevailing slight integration between the urban food system and the planning framework in order to eliminate the current tendencies of the two entities functioning in isolation, and often at cross-purposes.