Community Gardens and Wellbeing Among Somali Refugees in Kenya: An Action Research Study

Community gardens have emerged as a promising intervention for addressing multiple social issues in urban environments, including food insecurity and mental health challenges. A participatory action research approach was employed, involving semi-structured interviews with garden participants and focus group discussions with community leaders. Data collection tools included food frequency questionnaires and standardised mental health scales. Participants reported an increase in dietary diversity by 20% compared to baseline levels, indicating improved nutrition outcomes. There was also a significant reduction in depression symptoms (35%) among those who engaged actively in garden activities. Community gardens appear to be effective in enhancing nutritional health and mental well-being amongst Somali refugees in Nairobi, Kenya. Integrating community gardening initiatives into existing refugee support programmes is recommended to leverage these benefits further. Future research should explore scalability and sustainability of such interventions.