Episode I. Food Security: Farm to Plate
We all have our favorite dishes of chakula. From githeri to mursik to nyama choma, or pilau, our different food cultures are important. They are part of our identity. Unfortunately, more than 10...
View ArticleEpisode II. Food Security: Seeds as Food and Freedom
The importance of seeds, and indigenous seed cultures, in particular, is a lost knowledge among the current generation of Africans. Seeds represents both culture, survival, power, love, beauty,...
View ArticleEpisode III. Food Security: Food as History and Culture
Food has never been about the simple act of eating; food is history, and identity. Colonialism, as a violent process, fundamentally altered the way of life of a people, including their culinary habits....
View ArticleEpisode IV. Food Security: Food Infrastructure and Policy in Kenya
Food is a personal issue but also a deeply political and institutional issue. It therefore is dependent upon a set of critical policy and infrastructure framework for transportation, storage, sales,...
View ArticleEpisode V. Food Security: Food . Art . Culture . The Relationship.
The African Indigenous food systems had complex models around seed preservation, refrigeration, justice, art, nutrition, and trade. And not to forget, food was central to colonization, global...
View ArticleEpisode VI. Food Security: Food Kiosks in our Urban Culture
Since the first COVID-19 case was recorded in March 13th, the state agencies effected a lock-down of social spaces including informal eateries. These eateries also known as vibandas make up a critical...
View ArticleEpisode VII. Devolution & Food Security; Food Issues In Our Everyday Culture
Kenya's 2010 constitution put in place devolution through 47 elected governments. The devolved units alongside shifting weather patterns are reshaping our food systems and policies in ways that cause...
View ArticleEpisode VIII. Food Security; A Look at Regenerative Farming
Healthy farming practices is about having good, readily available and affordable food and as Kai Njeri expounds the options to pursue some form of regenerative farming is available to each and everyone...
View ArticleEpisode IX. Food Security; Why Food is About More Than Just Food
What is most striking in the intersection between food, colonialism, sovereignty, and personal agency is that one realizes food is about more than just dinners and meals. Our favourite staples,...
View ArticleEpisode X. Food Security; Food as Memory and Nurture
Food and farming plays such a central role in our relationships as consumers, farmers, gardeners, friends and in the aesthetics and memories. Nic Odhiambo an organic farmer, chef and writer uses his...
View ArticleEpisode XI. Food Security; When Farmers & Consumers Lose Agency
In recent years industrial farming and the rise of farming multinationals have reduced the agency and sovereignty of farmers over their crops, and what consumers eat. We are joined by Cidi Otieno,...
View ArticleEpisode XII. Food Security; Why Insect Lives Matter
Millions of Insects species have been around for billions of years while performing key roles such as pollination, maintaining ecological balance, controlling pests, recycling nutrients. However as...
View ArticleEpisode XIII. Food Security; Why GMOs Aren't the Answer to Food Insecurity
Food security is not a problem of production. It is a problem of access (affordability) and distribution. Felix Karuri Githaka a regenerative farmer believes that GMOs are not the solution to Kenya’s...
View ArticleEpisode XIV. Food Security; Farming Practices Across Generations
The invisibility of young and women farmers in popular literature robs us interesting and insightful ideas on how respective age, genders, and regions pursue farming. Michael Wekesa, a farmer and...
View ArticleEpisode XV. Food Security; Where Does The Food Money Go?
Every year state agencies, parastatals, donors and the private sector allocate money to different aspects of the agriculture sector. The money allocated has a major influence on which policies are...
View ArticleEpisode XVI: Right to Food legal framework | Where is Kenya?
The Right to Adequate food is a human right, endorsed and ratified as binding international law by 171 nations. These nations recognise that all people have the right to be free from hunger and to...
View ArticleEpisode XVII: Role of youth in our food systems | Why we are getting it all...
Young people in Kenya make up the highest proportion of the population. 70% of Kenyans are below the age of 35. This, therefore, makes it imperative to ensure that young people are included in the food...
View ArticleEpisode XVIII: Kenyan women leading the industrial agriculture boycott
Women face multiple challenges, including limited access to land and other productive and financial resources, education, health care, access to markets and employment opportunities. These challenges...
View ArticleEpisode XIX: Data in food systems; A necessary evil?
Data is a very necessary ingredient to building sustainable food systems. At the same time, in the absence of adequate checks and balances, data on food and agriculture can easily be manipulated to the...
View ArticleEpisode XX: Misunderstanding around organic farming
Recently, organic farming has been receiving increased recognition as a sustainable approach to farming and food systems that can meet the current and future food and nutrition needs without causing...
View ArticleEpisode XXI: Kitchen gardening; The next food revolution in the urban set up.
Our ability to access food is one of the most overlooked aspects of the debate on solving hunger. We assume that producing more food means that everyone will be food secure. However, there are many...
View ArticleEpisode XXII: Feminism and Agroecology, where do they meet?
In this episode, Patricia McFadden, a radical African feminist, activist, sociologist, writer, educator, and publisher from Eswatini shares with us her insights on power dynamics in food and farming...
View ArticleEpisode XXIII: Soil and Food, it's time to regenerate our soils.
Healthy soils feed a healthy plant and in turn safe, nutritious and balanced food for a healthy population. Dr. David Lelei a soil biologist joins us in this episode of the Cha Kula podcast and shares...
View ArticleEpisode XXIV: The place for farmer managed seed systems in Kenya
Seeds are the very basis of our food systems. We can’t control our food systems if we don’t have control of our seeds. In this episode a seed systems specialist, Noel Templer shared with us the...
View ArticleEpisode XXV: Regenerative agriculture | Farmers healing the soil
Episode XXV: Regenerative agriculture | Farmers healing the soil by Cha Kula Podcast
View ArticleEpisode XXVI: Impact of Aid and Development Assistance on our Food Systems
Episode XXVI: Impact of Aid and Development Assistance on our Food Systems by Cha Kula Podcast
View ArticleEpisode XXVII: Food Safety | Consumer Perspective
Consumers have a lot of influence on food systems through the choices they make and practically finance the food system by taking up the costs of production, and resources used through purchase of...
View ArticleEpisode XXVIII: Food Safety | Why you should be concerned
Safe food for all Kenyans is enshrined in the Kenyan Constitution, 2010. The right to food is one of our economic and social rights, which the state is required to take steps to achieve. As per Article...
View ArticleEpisode 1, Part 1: Decolonising Kenyan food & farming systems | Art, Language...
The food on your plate today is more than just a combination of inert ingredients heated – it is a reflection of various structural forces at work. Dr. Njoki Ngumi of the Nest Collective, Joseph...
View ArticleEpisode 1, Part 2: Decolonising Kenyan food & farming systems | Art, Language...
The food on your plate today is more than just a combination of inert ingredients heated – it is a reflection of various structural forces at work. Dr. Njoki Ngumi of the Nest Collective, Joseph...
View ArticleEpisode 2: The buzz around bees with Jason Runo
“If the bee disappears from the surface of the Earth, man would have no more than four years left to live.”Albert Einsten Bees and humans have long had a close relationship because bees of the role...
View ArticleEpisode 3: Food on the ballot | The Food Manifesto
Food and nutrition insecurity continues to be one of Kenya's biggest problems. While technological advancements, enhancement of infrastructure and education, and other factors have changed over the...
View ArticleEpisode 4: Youth in Food Systems | The viability of hydroponics
Nairobi's population is expected to grow to 5.94 million people by 2030, resulting in increased waste generation. The Dandora dumpsite (Kenya's biggest dumpsite) receives approximately half of the...
View ArticleEpisode 5: Bridging the gap between feminism and food conversation on media
Food is a crucial subject all over the world. It's at the center of our lives, and food has everything to do with gender. But there is a gap between feminist and food media, which leaves out important...
View ArticleEpisode 6: Persistent myths about our food system | Lessons for Kenya
Global hunger is still rising and the world is still not on track to meet the 2030 zero hunger target of the UN Sustainable Development Goals – confirmed on the SOFI report. The number of people...
View ArticleEpisode 1: The Blind Spot | Politics & Power in Food
Get ready for a stimulating episode of the Cha Kula podcast, where we dive into the fascinating world of politics and power in Kenya's food system. Our host, Felistus Mwalia, is joined by Chief...
View ArticleEpisode 2: Food as culture, history & identity | How Colonialism Shaped...
Food is an integral part of Kenyan culture, representing a rich tapestry of traditions and heritage. In Kenya, food is not merely sustenance; it holds immense social and cultural significance....
View ArticleEpisode 3: Enhancing Food Security & Farmer Livelihoods: Where are we?
Join us on this episode of the Cha Kula Podcast as we delve into the critical topic of agricultural development and government policy in Kenya with Eng. Laban Kiplagat from the Ministry of Agriculture,...
View ArticleEpisode 4: Redefining Our Plate | A conversation with Lena Luig on the Global...
The Global Food System is broken. The food system is a complex web of activities and sectors involving the production, processing, transport, and consumption of food and is best conceptualized as an...
View ArticleEpisode 5: Navigating the Food Policy Landscape
Our agri-food systems are facing unprecedented challenges, exacerbated by factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic, civil conflicts, lack of political will, poverty, inequality, power in a few hands, loss...
View ArticleEpisode 6: Climate Change | Role of agroecology in Current Food Systems
In this episode of the Cha Kula Podcast, we delve into the repercussions of current food production and consumption on the environment, emphasizing the imperative shift towards agroecological practices...
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