First Lady Rachel Ruto has unveiled a new pilot project, Mama Kitchen Gardens, aimed at providing vegetables to State House and nearby schools at no cost to the government. The initiative, launched on Thursday at State House, is part of a broader effort to promote food security and sustainable urban farming across Kenya.

The Mama Kitchen Gardens project encourages families and schoolchildren to grow their own vegetables, providing a source of nutritious food while reducing reliance on external suppliers. The First Lady highlighted that the State House garden will not only benefit employees living in staff quarters but also support local public schools.

“The kitchen garden pilot at State House Nairobi will provide vegetables at no cost to State House employees living in the staff quarters, as well as support neighbouring public schools,” Mrs. Ruto shared in a statement on Friday.

Rachel Ruto emphasized that this initiative is part of a larger national food security strategy, with women across counties taking the lead in cultivating kitchen gardens near their homes. “It seeks to inspire women across counties to incorporate kitchen gardens, contributing to food and nutritional security,” she added.

In addition to providing fresh produce, the program will offer urban families training in urban farming techniques, helping them sustain their gardens.

This project adds to the First Lady’s ongoing efforts to promote economic and social empowerment. Earlier this year, she launched a series of empowerment projects in Kajiado County, including a donation of Ksh19 million worth of equipment to Maasai Technical Training Institute.

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Rachel Ruto also spearheaded the Sifa Pad and Praise Project in 2023, an initiative aimed at producing affordable sanitary pads. She noted that the project has the capacity to produce 96,000 sanitary pads daily, benefiting thousands of girls across Kenya.