A Journey to Exchange Expertise 

I am delighted to share my enthusiasm for our upcoming trip to Kenya, where we’ll be exchanging knowledge and experiences between food systems and urban agriculture specialists from Montreal and Nairobi. These two cities, although geographically and culturally distant, share a common goal: strengthening local food systems and expanding their urban agriculture capacity. 

I, along with a group of passionate collaborators, led the first Development Plan for a Nourishing Community in Montreal. Verdun was the first borough in Montreal to carry out a borough-wide food system development plan. After extensive public consultations, the Borough tabled its Verdun Edible Neighbourhood Development Plan in June 2022 and its 2023-2026 Detailed Action Plan in April 2023. The public, along with economic, environmental, institutional, and social stakeholders were invited to contribute to the Borough's approach. The goal of the Development Plan is to promote urban agriculture and access to quality, sustainable, local food in all of Verdun’s neighborhoods. Verdun is in the process of implementing this local action plan. 

In October 2024, aligned with this plan, Verdun’s community stakeholders and I hosted a delegation of food system and urban agriculture specialists from Nairobi. During their visit, the delegation explored various initiatives in Montreal, including a visit to Centrale Agricole in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. This exchange allowed the Kenyan delegation to learn from Montreal and Verdun’s urban agriculture initiatives and policy approaches, as well as to witness firsthand examples of community-driven and cooperative food systems. 

As a follow-up to this initial exchange, Rooftops Canada is continuing to support the co-learning process. To build on the momentum - a Canadian delegation, which includes me – will be traveling to Kenya from January 27th and February 7th, 2025. This trip represents a unique opportunity to learn from local actors in Kenya who are working on similar food systems and urban agriculture issues.  

Our goal is to continue the conversations, deepen our relationships, and exchanges strategies that strengthen both Nairobi and Montreal’s local food systems. This trip promises to be rich in learning with lasting, positive impacts for both cities and their communities.  

My expectations for this trip include:   

1. Fostering Inclusion: Developing tools to further integrate women, youth, and ethnocultural and disadvantaged communities into our local food system. The inclusiveness of all population groups is a priority for the City of Montreal and for me. The inclusive practices observed in Nairobi could inspire concrete actions in Montreal. I am eager to explore how these approaches can be adapted to our own context.  

1. Discovering new perspectives: The local food system in Quebec is currently in a state of transformation. Exploring other ways to intervene in local food systems will enrich my understanding and ability to act as a more effective professional in the development of our food future.  

1. Developing the Verdun food community: By learning more about the various actions, initiatives, and projects in Nairobi, I intend to bring back innovative ideas to strengthen our food community and systems in Verdun and Montreal. 

1. Improving local food governance: By collaborating with local partners in Nairobi who share a similar commitment to food system development, I aim to gain insights into strengthening our own food governance and relationships in Montreal.  

1. Establishing new partnerships: Travelling alongside other Montreal-based food advocates, particularly from Centrale Agricole, will pave the way for new collaborations and synergies. 

This trip will undoubtedly be an enriching and formative experience. My goal is to share the knowledge acquired as widely as possible, including with colleagues in the Borough of Verdun, the City of Montreal, our local partners, and other organizations likely to benefit from this learning.  

Even though we are thousands of miles apart, we can still learn so much from each other to advance urban agriculture and strengthen our local food systems for a more sustainable and inclusive future. 

I look forward to sharing my impressions and knowledge gained throughout this trip.