Sustaining local food webs: insights from Kenya and the UK

Patrick Mulvany; Ben Murphy

doi:10.3362/2046-1887.2015.009

Sustaining local food webs: insights from Kenya and the UK

This paper is a contribution to the contested discourse about how healthy food supplies can be secured for future generations. It argues that the small-scale food providers who currently supply the local food webs that nourish more than 70 per cent of the world’s population can provide for the growing urban and world population, building on their skills and knowledge. The food webs they serve are productive, resilient, and healthy, connecting food providers and consumers locally. Local food webs are a cornerstone for the model of food provision, in the framework of food sovereignty, that should be prioritized in order to secure our future food. The paper sets out to demonstrate the value and challenges of local, resilient, biodiverse, and productive food systems that would benefit from greater support and compliant policies. It uses examples from Kenya and the UK to demonstrate how productive local food systems can improve small-scale family farming and reduce hunger, in contrast to industrial agricultural systems. Consumer surveys and mapping local food webs demonstrate the value that consumers place in local food production and markets, both in Kenya and the UK. The article concludes with recommendations for how to support local food webs.

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