Food Fiti Project Boosts Urban Nutrition in Nakuru

In Summary

• Food Fiti project enhances safe vegetable access for Nakuru’s low-income households.
• Five-year initiative targets 1.1 million consumers across five Kenyan counties.
• Promotes climate-smart farming and indigenous vegetables to reduce pesticide risks.
• Supports mama mbogas with training, market linkages, and Food Fiti Zones.
• Addresses low vegetable intake (100–130g/day vs. WHO’s 400g recommendation).
• Challenges include water scarcity and high costs for inputs and storage.

The Food Fiti project, a Dutch-funded initiative led by the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), is significantly improving urban nutrition in Nakuru County by promoting safe and healthy vegetable consumption among low-income households.

Launched in 2023, the five-year program targets 1.1 million consumers in Nakuru, Nairobi, Kiambu, Machakos, and Mombasa, aiming to increase daily vegetable intake from 100–130g to the World Health Organization’s recommended 400g.

In Nakuru, the project supports mama mbogas and smallholder farmers through Food Fiti Zones (FFZ), ensuring access to safe, pesticide-free produce like indigenous vegetables—amaranthus (terere), black nightshade (managu), and kales.

Training emphasizes climate-smart practices such as crop rotation, integrated pest management, and solar drying to reduce post-harvest losses, which can reach 50% for nutrients like potassium and zinc, according to a 2018 HORTINLEA study.

County Agri-nutrition Officer Anne Odhiambo highlighted the project’s impact. “Food Fiti empowers vendors and farmers to deliver nutritious vegetables, improving dietary diversity and food security,” she said at a Nakuru training session on July 31, 2025.

The initiative builds on Nakuru’s 2022 kitchen garden program, which provided 11,460 vulnerable households with seeds and training to grow indigenous vegetables.

Farmer Mary Wanjiku from Bahati praised the support but noted challenges. “Training helps us grow safer crops, but water scarcity and high input costs limit our output,” she said. The county is collaborating with partners like the Cereal Growers Association and Israel’s MASHAV to address these issues through irrigation support and market linkages.

The project also tackles health risks from unsafe pesticide use, a concern in Nakuru where 76% of pesticides are highly hazardous, per a 2023 Route to Food Initiative report. By promoting biopesticides and organic methods, Food Fiti reduces consumer exposure to toxins linked to cancer and environmental harm.

Deputy Governor David Kones emphasized the project’s alignment with Nakuru’s agroecology policy. “This initiative supports our goal of sustainable, nutrition-focused agriculture,” he said. Plans to scale up FFZs and training by 2027 aim to further enhance access to safe vegetables for Nakuru’s urban poor.