The United Nations envisions that, by 2050, almost 70 percent of the global growing population will be living in urban areas, especially in small cities and towns within Africa and Asia. This will mean more people to feed in these cities, as well as the risk of nutrition problems and increased levels of obesity associated with changes in diet and lifestyle. In this context, agriculture will need to produce more nutritious food while competing for ever scarcer natural resources and struggling with the effects of climate change.

Family farmers innovate by developing assemblages of old and new food system practices and organizational processes, using both traditional and diverse forms of knowledge and connecting these with newly available information and technologies. These innovations have a holistic approach and can take many forms: technological, social, policy, financial, marketing, legislative and institutional. They can cover all aspects of agrifood systems and help family farmers to fight hunger and poverty, revitalize rural areas and protect the environment.

Countries around the world, including Kenya, are improving their national forest monitoring systems (NFMS) in response to the growing global demand for high integrity carbon credits. This demand is demonstrated by initiatives like the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance (LEAF) Coalition, which commits to purchasing emission reductions. In order to sell carbon credits to LEAF, countries need to have reliable forest data that meets new carbon standards.

Over the years, Kenya has continued to experience high levels of food and nutrition insecurity. At the same time, the country is experiencing a rapid rate of urbanization, which is double the population growth rate. The growth of cities and urban areas has a direct impact on food security due to diminishing land for agriculture productivity and decreasing labour force, as a result of rural urban migration. In addition to reducing land for agriculture production, rapid urbanization contributes to climate change because of increasing greenhouse gas emissions from cities.

This document compiles international experiences in watershed management, with particular regard to the integration of FFS and climate change.