Food Rights and Agroecology

Under this special programme, The Route To Food Initiative, hbs Nairobi works towards realizing the Right to Food in Kenya, which is provided for in Article 43 of the Constitution: “Every person has the right to be free from hunger, and to have adequate food of acceptable quality.” Our activities aim to influence the political approach to food security and target avenues related to policy development and implementation at national and county-level. Additionally, the initiative relies on creative communications and an influencer-led campaign to promote innovative solutions to the problem of chronic food insecurity. We engage with mainstream and alternative media to shift the emphasis of the debate on hunger and unaffordable or inadequate food to a discussion about food rights.

The Soil Atlas Kenya Edition 2025

Kenya Must Move Beyond Toxic Pesticides dependency to Protect Public Health and Food Security

Article

Food security should not come at the expense of public health, farmers or the environment. Kenya needs to move beyond dependence on toxic pesticides and invest in farming systems that can nourish people while protecting the ecosystems on which agriculture depends. By Candy Margaret Vizengwa

From left to right: Dr. Harun Warui, Lead – Agroecology and Food Rights, Heinrich Böll Foundation, Nairobi, Dr. John Gachara, CEC Member for Agriculture, Livestock, Veterinary and Fisheries, Brendah Sikolo Obura, Head, Division of Food Safety, Directorate of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Eustace Kiare, Executive Director, Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN), Prof. Raphael Githaiga Wahome, Chairman of the Organic Consumers Alliance, Dr. Gitahi, Department of Public Health, Pharmacology and Toxicolo

Public Discussion Opens Up the Question: What's Really on Kenya's Vegetables?

Press Release

How safe is the food on our plates? New research examining pesticide residues in vegetables commonly consumed in Kenya offers fresh evidence on the state of food safety and practical household methods that can help reduce pesticide residues before consumption. Join us for Food Safety in Kenya: From Evidence to Action as researchers, policymakers, farmers and consumer advocates explore the findings and discuss solutions for building safer food systems.

All articles on Food rights

Recent Publications

Cover of the publication Pesticide Residues in Selected Vegetables from Kenyan Markets

Pesticide Residue Levels in Selected Fresh Vegetables Delivered in Markets in Kenya

How safe is the food on our plates? Research by the Kenya Organic Agriculture Network (KOAN), in partnership with the University of Nairobi, Route to Food Initiative, a programme of Heinrich Böll Foundation, and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, examined pesticide residues in vegetables commonly consumed in Kenya and offers fresh evidence on the state of food safety and practical household methods that can help reduce pesticide residues before consumption.

Global Oil Conflict, Fertiliser Dependence and Kenya’s Soil Future

Dossier

This dossier shows how disruptions in oil markets ripple through fertiliser supply chains and into agriculture, increasing production costs and exposing countries like Kenya to global instability. Because most synthetic fertilisers are derived from fossil fuels and imported, Kenya’s farming systems remain tightly linked to energy markets and geopolitical dynamics.

All publication on Food Rights

Our Programme Goals

Agroecology

Saba saba demonstrations in Nakuru - 7 Jul 2025 Newspapers for sale displayed on a stand ahead of Saba Saba demonstrations in Nakuru.

Victims First. Action Now: Kenya Must End Enforced Disappearances

For families of people who have been forcibly disappeared in Kenya, the search for answers can stretch for years. As the country marks 20 years since the adoption of the international convention on enforced disappearances, Shukri Wachu the National Coordinator of the Missing Voices Coalition, examines Kenya’s record, the urgent need for accountability, and what ratification could mean for victims and their families.

Soil Health

Global Oil Conflict, Fertiliser Dependence and Kenya’s Soil Future Why this calls for a different approach. Why this calls for a different approach

When conflict escalates, such as the one unfolding in the Gulf, the first images that come to mind are usually oil tankers, fuel prices and diplomatic tension. But the effects do not stop there. They move into fertiliser markets, then into farms and from there into food systems. In countries like Kenya, this is not something distant or theoretical. It shows up quickly in the cost of farming, even if the full effects on consumer food prices may take longer to work their way through markets.¹

Pesticides and Food safety

Persistence: Pesticides do not stay where they are applied

Article

Pesticides do not simply disappear once they are banned or withdrawn; many persist in the environment for years, accumulating in soil, water, air, and living organisms. These persistent chemicals, including organochlorines and other synthetic compounds, move through food chains via bioaccumulation and biomagnification, posing long-term risks to human health, wildlife, and ecosystems. Evidence from studies in Kenya and across Africa shows that even years after exposure, pesticide residues remain in people, animals, and the environment, highlighting the urgent need for remediation, monitoring, and sustainable pest management practices

Christine Gatwiri

Sustainable Food Systems

Without Feminism, There is no Agroecology

Background

It is impossible to imagine a just, sustainable, and diverse future that does not include women, and especially rural women, as they are the ones leading the transformation of the agrifood system in Latin America.

Agroecology defined

A Farm of Hope - Agroecology - RTF Route to Food

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Join the Route to Food Alliance

The Route to Food Alliance is a group of more than 600 women and men who use their personal or professional platforms to champion for the Right to Food in Kenya.

Joining the Route to Food Alliance means you are part of an initiative to realise the Right to Food in Kenya. The reason we exist is to create a network of like-minded people from government, media, civil society, academia, farmers and the private sector who want to work together to end food insecurity in the country.

Why you should be a member of the Route to Food Alliance. - RTF Route to Food