Many people in urban areas across the world are moving away from conventional agriculture and have started growing food on rooftops that had long been considered unusable space.
While the practice is widespread in Asian countries, in Kenya its uptake is still low, but cannot be ignored.
Kenyans who have ventured into rooftop farming have limited themselves to vegetable gardens instead of large-scale farming of subsistence crops.
Kenyans.co.ke looked at three benefits of rooftop farming in Kenya and how it works.
Food security
With the rising cost of living in the country, many Kenyans in urban areas are increasingly finding themselves unable to sustain their families.
With good farming techniques, a rooftop can provide a decent harvest and go a long way towards attaining food security.
Protecting the rooftop
While many people think that a farm would destroy a rooftop, it actually protects it.
According to Tree Science, an agricultural journal, rooftop farming can potentially protect rooftops from damage and deterioration.
“The lifetime of a rooftop can be shortened due to ultraviolet radiations, severe temperatures or excess winds.
“Rooftop gardens can form a barrier that protects the roof so homeowners are less likely to have to repair or replace them,” the journal explains.
Effective use of rainwater
Most rainwater from rooftops ends up overflowing the sewer systems in urban areas.
A widescale adoption of rooftop farming in a city has the potential of reducing flooding incidents.
How to set up
Before setting up the farm, make sure that the rooftop was constructed using waterproof cement and placed adequate pillars to accommodate the extra weight.
A polythene paper should be put on top of the waterproof before putting the soil and make sure there is at least a 6-inch thick liner all round bottom and sides.
