To characterise the urban livestock keeping practices and constraints in Kisumu municipality, Kenya, a questionnaire survey was carried out. Thirty-four contact farmers were interviewed on general farm characteristics and production constraints. The farming activities were categorised as either livestock only (41 %), or mixed crops and livestock (59 %). The surveyed farmers kept mainly cattle (100 %), chickens (82 %) and goats (74 %). Most (94 %) of the farmers had kept livestock for prolonged periods mainly for income generation (97 %) and domestic consumption (59 %). These data show that livestock keeping was popular and could be harnessed to increase food security, although the farmers kept mainly low-producing indigenous cattle (98 %) which were grazed on unutilised land. The main production constraints mentioned by farmers included diseases (100 %), poor fertility (68 %) and lack of feed (56 %). The diseases varied with species of ruminants and included lumpy skin disease (71 %), diarrhoea (65 %) and helminthosis (62 %). The source of advice on management and treatment of the livestock was almost equally from private and government veterinary personnel. To improve livestock productivity, it is recommended that key stakeholders address the constraints mentioned in this study and in particular that the occurrence of diseases should be investigated with a view to developing sustainable control strategies.