Mpishi Hula Moshi

How is food a creative medium that articulates Lamu’s oscillating relationships between bodies, places, and time?

The research traces the stories of food on Lamu Island, where different actors use food as a method to navigate daily challenges, leverage their status, and highlight gender advantages and social connections, hence exploring new business opportunities.

Food has become a technology to access earning opportunities for those previously left out, hence reimagining and recreating urban spaces.

Mpishi Hula Moshi

Thus, the community hall transforms into a space for women to breathe, engage in self-making, and bond socially through chanting, dancing, and small conversations around food trays.

What began as a goal to exchange knowledge, practices, food, and joy within our group evolved into recording one of many unwritten food archives that are gradually disappearing, along with the stories of the women who invented and once cooked these dishes.

Carrying on her family’s heritage in the food business and driven by a desire to have a self-independent work, Asma—fondly known as “Mama Ntilie” by those who visit her small outdoor kitchen—introduces a new dimension of Lamu food stories.

We learn that one aspect that makes this mahamri popular is that they taste, look, and feel homemade—something lost in the commercialized baking.

Through preparing, sharing, and enjoying food, it becomes a creative medium that reimagines the connections between bodies, places, and time.

Mama na Bahari

How do social identities and community roles of women in Lamu evolve through their engagement in the fishing industry?

How do gender dynamics and cultural practices influence women's roles and participation in environmental conservation efforts in Lamu, Kenya?

These sustainable practices not only enhance environmental conservation but also elevate women’s standing within the community, contesting long-held gender norms.

Through these initiatives, women become agents of change, reshaping local perceptions of gender roles and actively contributing to Lamu’s socio-economic landscape.

This project offers a comprehensive view of how women are reimagining their place within the fishing industry, interweaving the intersections of gender, economy, and environmental sustainability to build a more inclusive and empowered future.

Sustainable Futures:
Mama na Bahari at the Intersection of Gender Justice and Climate Action in Lamu, Kenya

Using an intersectional approach, it highlights the complex socio-cultural and economic barriers that shape women’s experiences, revealing the ways in which gender, environment, and power are interconnected.

Through interviews, group discussions, participatory observations, and literature review, the study emphasizes the critical role of women in addressing climate-related challenges, such as droughts and floods, which disproportionately impact their lives and livelihoods.

“We can fight the culture because that was made by humans. We can challenge humans, but we cannot challenge God,” 

reflecting how women navigate social structures.

The interconnections between gender, religion, and culture shape women’s leadership and environmental activism in complex ways. 

Participants frequently echoed the sentiment that

“There is no climate justice without gender justice,”

underscoring that sustainability efforts must be inclusive to be effective.

These findings illustrate that achieving environmental justice requires acknowledging and addressing gendered inequalities, recognizing women as key contributors to environmental preservation and community resilience.

Through their collective efforts, women in Lamu not only contribute to the local ecosystem but also foster a more equitable and sustainable future for their community.

Mama na Bahari: An analysis of the involvement of women in the fishing industry in Lamu, Kenya

Their involvement challenges traditional gender norms within the culturally conservative, Muslim-majority society of Lamu. 

Women’s participation has been largely restricted to shore-based activities like fish processing, trading, and small-scale, near-shore fishing, such as octopus harvesting. 

This gendered division reflects deep-rooted cultural norms and Islamic teachings, which influence gender roles in Lamu.

My central research question is:

“What factors and societal values influence women’s participation in the fishing industry in Lamu?”

Inadequate infrastructure, like the lack of cold storage facilities, complicates fish preservation and affects women’s incomes.

Many interviewees expressed a sense of agency from their work, noting that financial independence helps them support their families and contribute to the community.

Empowerment is evident in the women’s ability to make household decisions and engage in collective action to address community issues, such as marine conservation.

"wazee wanasema wanawake wamekuwa kichwa ngumu", which means "Elders say women have become stubborn".

"We can fight the culture because that is what was made by humans. We can challenge humans, but we cannot challenge God". 

This highlights how women in Lamu negotiate change while respecting religious and cultural boundaries. 

Although women face significant challenges, they contribute substantially to their families and communities by adapting traditional roles to new economic contexts.

Ways of Living with the Lamu Archipelago

Today the Lamu Archipelago is undergoing a period of change, wherein land and sea converge under the influence of local and global forces.

• Promises and Pitfalls of the Blue Economy;
• Changing Performance of Fisheries in Amu;
• Experience and Sense-Making of Climate Change; 
• Relations to Nature in Times of Crisis;
• Archipelagic Stories of Spirituality; and 
• Managed Mangroves. 
  

I can read dua in Lamu and cure you in Dubai: On how spirituality circulates through spaces in Lamu, and what spiritual practices tell us about the islands’ transoceanic ties to other ports cities in the Indian Ocean

“I can read dua in Lamu and cure you in Dubai”

“I have religion in one hand, and the jinn in the other” 

Spirituality in Lamu is doubtlessly connected to Islam, and due to Lamu’s maritime connections to other nations in the Indian Ocean, the advent of Islam has led to an enduring influence on the cultural history of the port city.

How does spirituality circulate through spaces in Lamu and across geographies? And how are we as urban scholars to squeeze meaning out of these practices?

Interactions with tides reveal a deep spiritual connection to the sea, where tidal movements are seen as sacred and imbued with cleansing powers.

My interlocutor Yunus’ memory of a spirit encounter near the main jetty of Lamu Old Town highlights the jetty’s unique role as a liminal space, where the boundary between water and land holds spiritual intensity and guides social behavior.

Spirituality as a scale of its own creates alternative connections between spatial, temporal, emotional and socio- political elements, than proposed by Menon, and provides a pathway to think space less as a surface to move on or a scene for cultural practices or beliefs, and more of a medium to think about felt connections.

Mangroves

We were on the boat, the sky was blue and the clouds were white.

What is the relationship between these institutions? What is the relationship between mangroves and local people? And are mangroves effectively protected? 

What kind of restoration method can better ensure that mangroves are effectively passed down as a natural and cultural symbol?

If we still have a little compassion for the remaining species, if we really put ourselves in the middle of them, we will understand that animals and plants are as alive as humans.  

Work at sunrise and rest at sunset.
People pray, people sing.

Children and donkeys are crying
from time by time.
However, you do not feel noisy at all,
You feel that, this is life itself.

The boat drifting with the sea,
The starry sky in sight.
Houses in the distance,
Waves close by,
Chatty backpackers.

All tell the stories... ...

If the forest is the habitat of the soul,
then the sea is the home of the wanderer.
Rare seabirds were low in the sky,
The moon showing half its face.

The clouds are like the white breasts of swans,
People running, laughing and crying.
Day after day, year after year,
Until the end of the world...

Sometimes, the darkness
extinguished the light of the clouds,
Just like the distant dreams.

Lonely old people,
Lost middle-aged people,
And the little ones,
Who do not know what they are doing... 

Complexity and Contradiction in Ecology

“Will we allow anthrax or cholera microbes to attain self-realization in wiping out sheep herds or human kindergartens? Will we continue to deny salmonella or botulism micro-organisms their equal rights when we process the dead carcasses of animal and plants that we eat?”

“Okay, let me tell you something. In the sea, Islamically, everything that comes from the sea is eatable.”

The Ustadh’s response is similar:
“In the sea, there is no mistreat. Because they're going there for fish, and fish is a meal. People will eat it, right?”

“We need to have equal rights for everything. But it is not practiced. It is only practiced to the direct benefit. […] Things are done for productivity. So, if something is not productive to me, I don't care about it. But there is a need for everything to be treated equally.”

Tunahitaji kuwa na haki sawa wote, lakini hilo halijatiliwa maanani, halijatekelezwa -ila kutekelezwa tu Kwa manufaa ya kibinafsi.

We need to have equal rights for all, but it’s not practiced — it’s only practiced to the direct benefit.

Tuna haki, wanyama pia Wana haki, Katika uisilamu, upo usawa. Hufai kuua bila sababu, labda kuwe na sababu tu.

We have rights, and the animals have rights, so it is equal. For Islam, it is very equal. You’re not supposed to kill without a reason — if you have a reason, you do it.

Cha kusikitisha samaki walio na thamani kubwa sana wamekuwa wahamaji. Pindi tu wanapo vuka mipaka waanaacha kuwa samaki wa hapa Kenya. Lakini wanapokuwa katika bahari yetu, ni haki yetu kutumia rasilimali hizo.

Sadly still, the high-value fish species are migratory. The moment they cross the border, they are no longer Kenyan fish — but when they are in our waters, it is our right to utilize those resources.

Kama mwanaharahakati unapaswa kuwa na njia mbadala za kuelezea hisia zako. Iwapo unakuja hapa kuharibu Mikoko yetu, tutapaza sauti zetu — Pia tutatumia jukuwaa Hilo kuzielezea hisia zetu. Unajaua mbona umelifanya, sababu unatutenga, unatubagua na kutunyanyasa na haya ni maeneo yetu,uliyoyachukua kwa lazima.

As an activist, you should always have a different formula of expressing your concern. So if you come here to destroy mangroves, we will raise our voice — but we will utilize that platform also to express our feelings: ‘You know why you did it, because you’re neglecting us, you’ve marginalized us, these are our areas, you took them by force.’

Kwa mtazamo wangu kama mwanamazingira, Ni na Imani fika sehemu zote za asili ni sawa,zote zina haki ya kuwepo, zote zinafaa kufurahia maisha na uhuru wao — Kwa mtazamo wa jamii, Kuna utegemezi mkuu sana wa rasilimali, na kujiona bora zaidi wanafaa kufaidika na rasilimali hizo .

From my point of view as an environmentalist, I obviously believe all parts of nature is equal, they all have a right to be there, they all deserve to enjoy their life and their freedom — but from the community point of view, since there is a high dependency on natural resources, they definitely see themselves as superior. They are supposed to be the ones benefitting from nature, but not nature benefitting from them.

Conflicting Scales and Ambitions:
Kenyas Blue Economy in times environmental decline

The goal of my research was to understand the interplay of the different programs and policies active in Lamu and the related ambitions and challenges.  

The current developments in the Blue Economy are heralded by stating the ambitions to help the fishers to have more stable incomes, to protect the marine environment and simultaneously increase the production.

The fishers staying with the near coast fishing should participate in the management of the co-managed areas, in which temporary closures allow the fish population to recover.

But even though many plans exist and large sums of funding have been invested, most of the fishermen still go with the flour.  

And conflicting with the hope to get the now too numerous fishers to find other occupations, the potential higher income trough this new market access combined with the scarcity of other job opportunities, could work as an adverse effect. 

Ultimately, while changing the sector might take some time, overfishing and ocean warming induced changes are accelerating.

Since leaving Lamu in May 2024, the compensation for the damages caused trough the first part of the LAPSSET Port construction, was after many years of waiting finally paid.

Ng'amba // Plastic:
Maji yakishamwagika hayazoleki tena //
Once Water Has Been Spilled, It Cannot Be Recovered

Through the stories of local residents, the film delves into the impacts of plastic waste on the community and its environment.

Our documentary, "Ng'amba: Maji yakishamwagika hayazoleki tena" (Once Water Has Been Spilled, It Cannot Be Recovered), explores the issue of plastic pollution in Lamu Island, Kenya.

It highlights the challenges in waste management, the local initiatives for handling plastics such as PET, and the economic inequalities that complicate these efforts. 

The films aims to raise awareness about the complex, global nature of plastic pollution and its local impact on Lamu island.

The Lifecycle of Disposability: Perspectives from Lamu

Waste is present, it is visible and so are those who work with it.

For countless people in places like Lamu, waste is an immediate, everyday presence that affects and shapes their lives in profound ways

“Young people feel ashamed to collect these things; they feel embarrassed to be seen collecting these things; they feel they look like me”, 

The stigma associated with what is often viewed as “dirty work” is not only physical, but also societal and moral, deeply impacting those who manage waste 

(Meiu 2020, 225-26).