Intensive urban farming in Uganda

In this pilot project, we investigate how the yield of urban farming can be increased to contribute to food security, job creation and potentially also reduce the urban heat island effect in a dense and treeless slum.

The project is based on scaling up existing urban farming practices in a slum in Kampala, Uganda. The lack of space for growing food in slums is a known barrier, and in this project we investigate how this barrier can be overcome by incorporating roof surfaces and hydroponic cultivation. This soilless form of cultivation is chosen to reduce weight and enable small farms to be established on the roofs of fragile, self-built houses in slums. Because hydroponic cultivation takes place in closed pipes, it also uses far less water than traditional irrigation.

The project is developed in close collaboration with our Ugandan partners National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda and ACTogether Uganda as well as the local community in the Kinawataka slum where the project takes place.

The project is based on our previous Growing Green project where we established an urban farming learning environment for community residents who wanted to learn more about growing and get started growing food at home. Watch video from the Growing Green project here.

This is due to poor food security in many slums, where vulnerable and resource-poor residents are being hit hard by the consequences of climate change. These lead to rising food prices due to crop failures, which in turn leads to malnutrition among the urban poor who are unable to grow their own food, helping to keep slum dwellers in a vicious cycle of poverty and disease.

Development goals

• Investigate in a full-scale trial whether it is technically feasible and economically viable to grow food on the roofs of small slum settlements using hydroponics
• Build the capacity of our Ugandan partner organizations National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda and ACTogether Uganda to guide slum dwellers in hydroponic cultivation.
• Establish and strengthen networks between local partner organizations, hydroponics experts, local authorities and microfinance actors in order to scale the project if possible.

Project updates

Update May 2026: The three rooftop farms on Godfrey, Jane and Promises’ houses are working properly and the residents have learned how to manage the hydroponic systems including measuring and adjusting nutrients in the water. Work is now underway to secure market access and identify the most profitable buyers for the vegetables being grown, and to investigate which crops make the most sense to grow.