Urban Farm DB
Research catalogue
Database research record1998·Africa

Does Access to Land Have a Positive Impact on the Food Situation of the Urban Poor? A Case Study in Nairobi

Dick Foeken, A. Mboganie-Mwangi

Leiden Repository (Leiden University)

Urban Farm DB summary

Using survey data collected in 1994 in Korogocho, one of Nairobi's slum areas in Kenya, this study examined whether access to farmland influences a household's food situation. Access to land had a positive impact on urban households' overall welfare, but not necessarily on their food situation. Households with access to a rural plot appeared better off in terms of self-reported food situation than households without any land access, and access to rural land appeared more favorable for food situation than access to urban land alone. Among the very poor households in Korogocho who claimed access to rural land, half did not actually use that land themselves.