Daniel Maingi

Daniel Maingi is a science and development practitioner in Kenya with a 15-year career helping bring learning on appropriate and sustainable technologies to Civil Society Organizations in Eastern Africa. Specializing in the area of Biosciences, Daniel uses that experience to simplify jargon and stress strategies that put the rights of communities first, reversing power relations away from that of extraction and exploitation. This enables social change and innovation in an environment that brings Justice, reconciliation, and diversity to underdeserved communities. Daniel may spend his days at small urban farms in Nairobi, but it’s the realization that consumers and farmers across Kenya are realizing their rights to the best products, knowledge and health, that gets him up in the morning. When he is not a policy campaigner for the CSOs at the Inter-Sectoral Forum on Agrobiodiversity and Agroecology (ISFAA), Daniel is an avid bicyclist and loves spending time growing his organic chicken in the Streets of Eastlands, Nairobi Kenya. 

Project title: Strengthening Agroecological voices in the digitalization of Kenya’s Agriculture and Food systems

Project description: I propose to set up a multistakeholder platform of CSOs, and government to track and point out infractions and gaps in policies. We will then propose changes that CSOs can agitate for justice and fairness to be achieved in the digital transformation proposed. Additionally, farmers and consumers will be educated on their digital rights, which will trigger the development of AgroEcology-friendly tools. We will create and host a multistakeholder platform (MSP) the existing Inter-sectoral Forum on Agrobiodiversity and Agroecology (ISFAA). The MSP will be a think-tank to track, study and respond to challenges, and infractions presented by the corporate digitalization of agriculture. It will also guide agroecology towards beneficial digital tools. The MSP will examine relevant government policies, regulations and papers related to digitalization and suggest revisions. The platform will be a watchdog to instil governance in the use of digital data in Kenya. The project will help us bring data sovereignty concerns to the forefront for national discussion by both the citizens and the agroecology practitioners supporting the social and movement-organizing pillars espoused in sustainable agriculture.