In 2008, Solidarités International, a French NGO designed Garden-in-Sack low cost urban garden system to help residents living in informal settlements grow their own food. The ?Vertical farms? are made using recycled or biodegradable sacks, filled with soil and livestock manure. Small stones are placed down the center for proper drainage using a small empty tin where crops such as kale, spinach and onions are planted, and holes are poked in the sacks for drainage. The sacks can be stacked one above another, using shelving, saving space and increasing productivity. I happened to be involved in the project working as a Data entry clerk and project assistant at the field in Kibera, Kenya  the largest slum in Africa.

Kibera is located in Kenya's capital city on a 10 hectares piece of land in the center of Nairobi .With a population close to one million, most people live below a dollar a day.  The slum is pretty cramped in quarters with narrow foot paths and even owning your own house doesn?t guarantee you will have enough space for a lawn or garden. This has resulted in food prices increase, waste disposal challenges, unsustainable use of natural resources and consumption patterns converging pressure on current and future food availability and access in cities.

Promotion of  Integration  of innovative form of urban farming by rehabilitating dumpsites through Sack-gardening by the slum dwellers , can provide access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and healthy life . Further to that these small urban gardens can help women, who compose the majority of urban farmers, grow food for their families and sell the surplus improving their diets and livelihoods.

This model can be replicated to other parts of developing countries across the world because the Sack gardens can raise living standards by reducing pollution and minimizing waste disposal issues while meeting dietary needs.  Urban farmers, for example, often use wastewater to irrigate and fertilize their crops. To help farmers avoid health hazards, the International Water Management Institute has helped them build simple filtration systems, like waste sedimentation ponds, in places like Accra, Ghana.

Despite challenges associated with the project such as limited space, crop and sack damage by animals, pests, and disease, and limited availability to clean soil, manure, seedlings, and water, the sack gardens provide many collateral benefits, such as developing social cohesion and empowering women and marginalized groups(Solidarités International report).