The focus of Christian Aid Week 2026 is the city of Nairobi. Nairobi is the capital city of Kenya and is home to over 5 million people and this year’s Christian Aid Week Appeal is exploring how to tackle hunger and poverty through urban farming – growing food in cities and built-up spaces.
Alongside Nairobi’s big skyscrapers and luxury safaris, Kenya’s capital holds areas of poverty and hardship. Here, most people are living on less than a dollar a day, and many families regularly go without meals.
Thousands of people have had to move to the city in search of work. That is because in many parts of Kenya, poverty and the climate crisis are making it very hard for people to grow crops to feed their families, and to pay for education and health care.
Many of these people that move to Nairobi end up living in places called informal settlements. These are very overcrowded areas where there is often no running water or electricity. Work can be hard to find, and pay is very low. This puts families in incredibly difficult situations, with little money or food. No-one should have to live like this.
Christian Aid is working with partners and communities in Kenya who are finding clever answers to the problem of getting enough food for families to eat.
In Dagoretti, one of the informal settlements in Nairobi, Christian Aid is supporting a partner organisation called ‘Beacon of Hope’. They are growing hope for the future, using ‘Cone Gardens’ and training and supporting the local community to farm in tiny city spaces. Fridah is a mum and grandma who, with the help of Beacon of Hope, has learned to grow food for her family using this space-saving method.
Cone Gardens offer people in Dagoretti the chance to train as city farmers, by giving them skills, seeds, tools and space-saving ways to grow produce near their homes. Fridah has transformed a tiny unused space into a source of healthy food and income for her family. With grit and determination, she is studying hard. Lessons cover not only farming techniques, such as pest management, compost production, and seed cultivation, but also business skills, including money management and how to sell.
Fridah is now beginning to reap the benefits of her nutritious produce. Colourful kale, tomatoes and a range of local vegetables are now being sold on her market stall and fed to her family. Fridah is also using the metal fences for climbing plants and turning old containers into planters.
Fridah delights in being able to give her family the healthy food she is growing herself, without harmful chemicals. From living meal to meal, not knowing if her children will go to bed with empty stomachs, Fridah now cherishes the security her small urban farm is bringing.
She is even saving some money, which she hopes one day will pay for her children to go to college. Farmers like Fridah are turning the tide on poverty.
Despite the challenges Fridah faces, she maintains a quiet but steady faith – trusting fully in God’s plan for her and her loved ones. This belief drives her single-minded dedication to her family and keeps her going through difficult days.
The charitable giving for the whole month of May will be donated to Christian Aid so please use the envelopes in the church to support this work.
On Friday, 15th May from 10.00am – 12 noon there will be a coffee morning at “Springfield” Blakeshall, Wolverley to raise funds for the work of Christian Aid.
Everyone is welcome for coffee and cakes so please come along if you can.
