The relational and dynamic nature of biocultural diversity. Foods and gastronomic knowledge in multi-ethnic migrants’ settlements in Naivasha, Kenya

ABSTRACT

In this study, we discuss the relational and dynamic nature of biocultural diversity in urban and multi-ethnic settlements inhabited by migrants working in flower and horticultural farms in Naivasha, Kenya. Migrants cope with vulnerable livelihoods and low wages by devising several strategies for food procurement, among which food transfers and exchange play a key role. Through semi-structured and retrospective interviews with migrant workers, we investigated the diversity of foods generated by transfers from migrants’ rural areas of origin to Naivasha and by further exchange of these foods and associated knowledge among fellow workers in the settlements where they live. As the foods traveling to Naivasha reflect the biological, ethnic, and gastronomic diversity of all Kenya, as much as migrant workers do, we argue that biocultural diversity converges to the informal settlements, which become sites where foods overcome ethnic boundaries, food meanings are reconfigured, and gastronomic syncretism and innovation occur.

KEYWORDS:

• Rural-Urban Food Transfers
• Food Exchange
• Gastronomic Heritage
• Reciprocity
• Multi-Local Networks
• Migrant Ethnobiology

Acknowledgments

Our gratitude goes out to all those migrant workers who shared their stories with us. We thank the two anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on the manuscript. We also wish to thank our research partners, Samson Ngugi, Jane Mwangi and John Kariuki from Slow Food Kenya for their invaluable support.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The Ark of Taste is an online catalog of foods (including plant varieties, animal breeds, and processed products) that are part of the cultures and traditions of the world: www.fondazioneslowfood.com/en/what-we-do/the-ark-of-taste/

2. In agreement with the local partners of Slow Food Kenya, during fieldwork we decided to gift each interviewee with a bag of fruits and vegetables bought at local stalls. When, at the end of one interview, we gave to the young woman a bag with two cabbages and some plantains, she commented that “this [the food] comes at the right moment, as I did not have anything to cook for dinner for my kids.”

3. Table-banking is a group saving strategy where members from a group place their savings and borrow immediately if they wish, thus giving each member access to the money.

Additional information

Funding

This work is part of a larger research study on Sustainable Food Systems in sub-Saharan Africa, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) (Project code: Ministero dell’Istruzione, dell’Università e della Ricerca H42F16002450001; Kenyan Research License Number: 23753).