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 upscaling of existing urban farming practices in a slum in Kampala, Uganda, but explores how the barrier of lack of space can be overcome by incorporating roof surfaces and hydroponic cultivation.

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 members who wanted to learn more about urban farming and get started growing food at home.
Watch a video from the Growing Green project here.

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 the 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 October 2025: the three roof gardens on Godfrey, Jane and Promises’ houses are now complete and the first batch of plants are going into the water. A series of seasons, each lasting 3-4 weeks, will then be cultivated until the end of the project and evaluation in February 2026.