Inception and co-creation workshop to inform urban healthy diets and food environments approaches in Nairobi

On 19 June 2026, the International Potato Centre (CIP), under the CGIAR Food Frontiers and Security Science Program, convened an Inception and Co-creation Workshop on Urban Nutrition and Food Environment Interventions in Nairobi, Kenya. The workshop brought together 30 participants from three sectors of the Nairobi City County Government - Health; Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources; Trade and Markets alongside CIP – CGIAR FFS research team. The event was officially opened by Ms. Gladwell Cheruiyot, County Chief Officer for Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources, and was facilitated by CIP’s Urban Food Systems Research Team.

The workshop served a dual purpose: to introduce and deliberate CGIAR Food Frontiers and Security Program proposed urban nutrition and food environment package of delivery to county government stakeholders and to co-create a shared, multi-sectoral implementation plan within the available programme window of June to November 2026. The discussions were structured around four thematic group-work sessions and complementary plenary presentations.

A central finding of the workshop was the convergence of evidence on the drivers of poor dietary quality in Nairobi’s urban population. Stakeholders identified high costs and limited availability of nutritious foods, heavy marketing of ultra-processed foods, time constraints associated with urban livelihoods, limited nutrition knowledge among caregivers and consumers, weak food safety systems along the value chain and socio-cultural preferences that favor convenience and processed foods as the key barriers to healthy diets. Children aged 6 to 23 months, pregnant and lactating women, low-income households, adolescents, and informal sector workers were identified as the most nutritionally vulnerable population groups.

The research team presented its proposed intervention package, which comprises four complementary approaches: (i) integration of the Healthy Baby Toolkit into existing community health structures through social and behavior change communication to promote improved dietary practices (ii) promotion of nutritious crops, (iii) capacity building across all sectors and (iv) market assessment to establish baseline food environment data for nutritious roots and tuber crops in target markets. The intervention targets households with children under two years and pregnant and lactating women in Westlands and Dagoretti North sub-counties.

The workshop concluded with a multi-sectoral work-planning session during which representatives from health, agriculture and markets sectors proposed specific timelines, locations and role assignments for key activities. An agreed implementation schedule was developed. County Government counterparts affirmed their institutional commitment to the collaboration.