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Kenya is a lower-middle income economy. Although Kenya's economy is the largest and most developed in eastern and central Africa, 16.1% (2023/2024) of its population lives below the international poverty line.

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what percent of people in kenya are in poverty - Google Search

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Please click here if you are not redirected within a few seconds. Kenya is a lower-middle income economy. Although Kenya's economy is the largest and most developed in eastern and central Africa, 16.1% (2023/2024) of its population lives below the international poverty line.

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Housing Poverty in Kenya: Slums & Vulnerable Communities

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We help communities to build decent homes, alleviating housing poverty in Kenya. We've helped +19,000 families living in poverty...

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The African Library Project coordinates book drives in the United States and partners with African schools and villages to start small libraries.

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Kenya has long struggled with the issue of poverty and with the symptoms that follow such as high rates of disease and child mortality. Life expectancy is low in Kenya, just one of the examples of the effects poverty has on a country. The following are 10 facts about poverty in Kenya.

Poverty in Kenya

1. Around 35.5% of Kenya's population is living below the poverty line, reported in 2016. This means basically that more than one-third of the entire country is living on less than the U.S. $1.90 per day. Much of Kenya is rural land, which contributes to high rates of the population living in poverty.

2. Kenya ranked 154th out of 177 countries for life expectancy and GDP in a 2005 report by the UN. The entire region that surrounds Kenya also ranks low on that list. The situation in Kenya, however, has gotten notably better since this report.

3. Desert land and unpredictable weather create an unstable economy. Over three-fourths of Kenya's population depends on the agriculture sector to survive. A lack of fertile land and erratic weather creates an unreliable source of sustainability.

4. Kenya government is known to be one of the most corrupted in the world. Impoverished people are unable to propel themselves upwards in society if their government is not working for them and government money is being misused.

5. Levels of poverty in Kenya have improved significantly in the past decade. Currently, around 35.5% of the country is living in poverty, but in 2005, this number was 43.6%. Poverty in Kenya is nowadays lower than any other country in the Eastern Africa region, and it is still on the decline.

6. A major contributor to decline in poverty rates lies in the agriculture sector. Good fortune in weather patterns is a great thing, but it leaves the prosperity Kenya has experienced in a vulnerable place. An unexpected drought could upturn progress made against poverty.

7. Despite improvements, the World Bank does not believe poverty will be eradicated in Kenya by 2030. Representatives stated that although Kenya's GDP has been growing yearly, the pace has not been fast enough to eliminate poverty by the above stated year.

8. Kenya's literacy rate has increased by 11% since 2005. This statistic is emblematic of the immense improvements Kenya has made in its education system. In comparison to similarly situated countries like Ghana, Kenya's literacy rates are higher.

9. Child mortality has decreased in the last decade. In 2008, the rate was 52 out of every 1,000 live births. In 2014 it had decreased to 39. Rates of deaths in children under the age of five also decreased from 74 out of 1,000 to 52.

10. Among the benefits of decreased poverty levels, people of Kenya have experienced better access to sanitation. Despite this, Kenya still ranks low in comparison to some of its neighbor countries in terms of access to quality water sources. However, Kenya still ranks above countries like Ghana and Rwanda for improved sanitation.

The facts about poverty in Kenya has ameliorated significantly in recent decades. The country has expanded its education and system of health care, and the GDP has grown consistently every year. Although the situation is far from satisfactory, things are looking up for people in Kenya.
- Amelia Merchant

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10 Facts About Poverty in Kenya - The Borgen Project

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Kenya has long struggled with the issue of poverty and with the symptoms that follow such as high rates of disease and child mortality. Life expectancy is low in Kenya, just one of the examples of the effects poverty has on a country. The following are 10 facts about poverty in Kenya.

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Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Kenya has experienced socioeconomic challenges leading to delayed progress in reducing poverty, with an estimated two million additional Kenyans falling into poverty. The rapid spread of the virus in Kenya has severe repercussions for people. The consequences include reduced job opportunities, lower wages, less access to healthcare assistance, difficulties transitioning to remote learning and food insecurity. The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kenya has especially affected women, youth and refugees.

Limited Jobs and Lower Wages = Reduced Food Supply

The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kenya affects household welfare due to fewer work opportunities and lower earnings, which leads to decreased food security. Compared to pre-pandemic rates, unemployment has nearly doubled. The working hours and earnings of wage workers have been cut, especially impacting women. Most families relied solely on the income of their small businesses, but due to lockdown restrictions, many businesses closed or experienced significantly reduced revenue. During the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 1.7 million Kenyans experienced job losses.

Food security is a major concern for many families. Some are unable to afford expensive foods like vegetables and others can only afford to consume one or two meals per day. Most families reported that food shortage is the biggest challenge in the household. With the loss of jobs and income, people in Kenya can barely afford basic necessities such as food, water and healthcare assistance.

Limited Access to Healthcare

COVID-19 has deeply compromised access to healthcare. Many people reported having trouble getting public health coverage for non-COVID-19 related health problems. This forced people to go to private health clinics that offer highly-priced examinations. When a person in Kenya is infected with COVID-19 or other deadly diseases, the person is usually hospitalized even though they cannot afford the medical expenses. This forces the person to seek support from relatives or friends. Access to healthcare for intricate cases such as COVID-19 is limited since more than 78% of the population live in rural areas and 52% of people live in poverty. Most community and primary care centers in Kenya are short on medication and lack access to some of the most needed respiratory equipment, such as ventilators, which are needed to treat COVID-19.

Education for Children

Kenya has a commendable literacy rate of almost 80%. Due to the global pandemic, schools closed to prevent any further spread of the virus. This led to education transitioning to remote learning. Roughly 70% of Kenya's schoolchildren live in rural areas with a lack of properly financed schools, qualified teachers and educational resources. Schools were expected to transition to remote learning but many students could not due to a lack of internet access and the high cost of internet access, especially in remote areas. For most households, accessing the internet costs more than a day's pay. Many low-income families, particularly in rural areas, also have limited access to electronic resources such as smartphones and computers.

Raising Futures Kenya

Raising Futures Kenya is an organization that has helped Kenyans since 2001. Its main focus is helping young Kenyans secure a better future. The organization's vocational centers have provided more than 1,500 young Kenyans with the skills and knowledge needed to secure employment and rise out of poverty.

Due to the global pandemic, fewer children are able to receive an education and people have limited access to healthcare. Fewer jobs available for families means households struggle to secure their everyday meals. The organization has called for support in order to effectively carry out its COVID-19 response plan in Kenya. The response includes securing essential items for communities such as food, hygiene products and medicines. Raising Futures Kenya is also prioritizes imparting important public health information to Kenya. Furthermore, the organization is transitioning to telephonic counseling to support children and youth during COVID-19.

The impact of COVID-19 on poverty in Kenya has been harsh, pushing millions of families further into poverty and causing the population to face even more difficulties. Due to the outcomes of COVID-19, organizations will need continued funding and support to continue to address the effects of poverty in Kenya.

Photo: - Mary McLean
Flickr

Experts argue that expanding access to financial systems and services are an indispensable component of reducing poverty. However, Kenya offers only limited access to banking services outside of central cities. Fixed-line telephones are largely unavailable, and minimum fees for banking services pose an impediment to the rural poor and can deter use. Due to these facts, many rural and poor Kenyan households traditionally lacked access to proper finance-management resources. However, mobile money transfer service, M-Pesa, now provides Kenyans with an alternative to traditional banking. Mobile money reduces poverty in Kenya by creating a simple and accessible resource for individuals and families to manage their finances. In under a decade, the expansion of M-Pesa's simple SMS-based system changed household finance so drastically that nearly 200,000 Kenyans-around 2% of the population-were able to break out of poverty.

Establishing Financial Resilience

M-Pesa allows individuals to send and receive payments via text, as well as deposit and withdraw cash from M-Pesa agents stationed in villages. With 110,000 agents located throughout the country, M-Pesa helps Keynan households overcome the country's lack of accessible financial services. Now, there are 40 times more M-Pesa agents stationed throughout Kenya than ATMs. Users can easily and inexpensively store savings by depositing cash into their mobile phones via M-Pesa agents. Increased access to savings helps Kenyan households weather unexpected economic hurdles. One study found that following a financial shock, the per-capita spending of households using M-Pesa was 12% higher than households that didn't use M-Pesa. The discrepancy is likely due to the increased saving capabilities of M-Pesa users.

Long-Term Implications for Poverty in Kenya

An MIT study in 2016 examined the long-term effects of using M-Pesa's service. They found that between the years 2008-2016, per capita consumption of goods increased by approximately 18.5%. The mean of the households in the study spent $2.50 per day, which is well above the $1.25 or even the $2.00 per day that constitutes extreme and general poverty. According to the study, M-Pesa directly helped as many as 194,000 Kenyan households escape poverty between 2008 and 2016.

Financial Independence for Women

Additionally, the MIT study found that M-Pesa helps Kenyan households run by women in particular. Between 2008 and 2016, the savings of women-headed households using M-Pesa grew by 22% compared to those who did not. Furthermore, nearly 185,000 Kenyan women using M-Pesa could switch from subsistence farming to more economically productive activities, such as sales or business. This economic freedom came regardless of whether their home had a female or male head. For households with two incomes, M-Pesa gives women the ability to store savings, allowing Kenyan women to gain newfound financial independence and opportunity for their own economic pursuits.

More Resources from M-Pesa

Since MIT's 2016 study, M-Pesa has increased the number of Kenyans with access to formal financial services from . Researchers hope that M-Pesa's success in Kenya will 75% to 83% in 2019. Along with personal banking, M-Pesa helps Kenyan households with a wide array of financial services. These include taking out loans, actively managing savings and collaborating with local banks. With the introduction of M-Pesa, the number of bank accounts held by Kenyans grew from 14% in 2007 to 41% by 2019. Largely due to this mobile money service, Kenya is now ranked third in the continent in citizen access to financial service, behind only South Africa and Seychelles encourage further study of how mobile money reduces poverty in other countries.

- Photo: Alexandra Black
Flickr

Poverty in Kenya is on the decline. Between 2005-06 and 2015-16, the percentage of Kenyans living under the international poverty line (characterized in 2011 as US$1.90 per day) decreased from 46.8% to 36.1%. Kenyan poverty is currently decreasing by 1% yearly, a rate which is ahead of some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Still, the rate of poverty reduction in Kenya falls short of most nations in the lower-middle-income range.

The majority of impoverished Kenyans are in the rural, northeastern regions of the country. In Kenya, only 72% of homes possess viable drinking water. This is 4% above the average in the Sub-Sahara, but below countries like Ghana and Rwanda. In 2015 records showed 84% of Kenya's population over 14 years of age were literate. This constitutes an 11% increase from Kenya's 2005 literacy statistics.

While overall poverty in Kenya is decreasing, there is still much that people can do. Here are three of the many organizations creating change in Kenya and SSA more broadly:

The Boma Project

In its mission statement, The Boma Project states that it "empowers women in the drylands of Africa to establish sustainable livelihoods, build resilient families, graduate from extreme poverty and catalyze change in their rural communities." The Boma Project creates triads of women and provides them with financial support in order to begin and grow their businesses. It also provides these women with two years of mentorship. Currently, 159,684 women and children have received support from The Boma Project.

Daate Inyakh of northern Kenya lives in an area with little access to water and often fought to feed herself and her six girls. In 2014, Inyakh began receiving help from The Boma Project. This gave her the opportunity through training and financial aid to start her own business. Inyakh's triad is now in charge of their own shop and she is in the process of learning to read.

The Makuyu Education Initiative (MEI)

MEI is a very small nonprofit founded in 2011 that operates in Makuyu, Kenya. The organization provides children of the ultra-poor in this region with the opportunity to "escape the vicious cycle of poverty by fighting malnutrition and other obstacles that can deter them from reaching their full potential." MEI provides a home for any children in the program, many of whom are orphans. It gives these children holistic support in education, health care and consistent meals. MEI relies on volunteers and donations in order to accomplish its important work.

African Childrens Haven

African Childrens Haven protects some of Kenya's, Ethiopia's and Tanzania's most impoverished children and their families. Primarily, the organization takes care of orphaned children who lost their parents to HIV/AIDS. This organization's work focuses on girls. African Childrens Haven supports these children by providing scholarships, regular meals and sexual education. It also works to prevent child marriage and sex trafficking. The organization provides its services to more than 700 children.

These three organizations are a few among many addressing the multifaceted reality of poverty in Kenya. Engagement and donation to causes like these provide anyone with a tangible avenue to help make a difference.

- Photo: Clara Collins
Flickr

According to UNICEF, a child laborer is a child who is too young to work or one who is involved in hazardous activities that could compromise their physical, mental, social and educational development. In Kenya, the Employment Act 2007 and the Children Act define a child as any person below the age of 18 years. Section 56 of the Employment Act makes it illegal to employ children under the age of 13. Children between the ages of 13 to 16 can be employed in "light work" while those between 16 and 18 are considered employable. Keep reading to learn the top seven facts about child labor in Kenya.

7 Facts About Child Labor in Kenya

One in ten Kenyans under the age of 21 is disabled. In Kenya, several women feel the pressure from their communities and family members to either kill or give away their disabled children. Disabled Rights International interviewed several mothers of disabled children who claimed that disabled children are referred to or often called idiots, subhuman, imbeciles, abnormal and a burden.

Other reasons for child abandonment and even child killing s are that the family will not be able to afford medical bills or that the child will be unable to live a full life. Kenyan women are usually ostracized by their community for raising a disabled child and are either said to be cursed or that the child is cursed. If these women are unable to gain enough support, they will be more likely to give up or even kill their child.

Awareness about Disabilities

A contributing factor to the treatment of disabled children in Kenya is that little to no information is known about disabilities. Women in Kenya are rarely told that their child has a disability when they are born, and they are sent home without any sort of information.

In the survey conducted by Disabled Rights International (DRI), 93 percent of women only found out their child had a disability after taking them home. Some doctors refuse to treat the child, claiming that they are contagious. A lack of education about disabilities and the future life of the disabled person has a large impact on the treatment of disabled children.

Institutions for Disabled Children

Some disabled children in Kenya are given away to overcrowded institutions. Disabled children are separated from nondisabled children in specific institutions that are less sanitary and underfunded. In Kenya, the children in orphanages have living family members, but they are typically abandoned due to their family's inability to care for them. Institutionalized children with disabilities spend their whole lives in institutions because, even as adults, they have nowhere else to go. The DRI found that some of these institutions even put these children in restraints or isolation rooms.

The problem with these institutions is that the donations that they receive from different organizations and mission trips are often not used for the children. The DRI found that several orphanages who benefited from donations or mission trips were still not suitable for children, although these funds were provided for this purpose. One organization, Child in Family Focus, advocates for family-focused relief efforts rather than donating money to these institutions, so that a family can keep and raise their child. The group focuses on advocacy, deinstitutionalization and lobbying for child protection policies.

Able Child Africa

Around 100,000 disabled children in Kenya are out of school, meaning that they do not have access to even a basic education. Organizations like Able Child Africa are trying to change this situation. One of their current projects involves disabled children who are out of school in inclusive sports clubs. The inclusive club means that both non-disabled and disabled children are participating in the same club. These sports clubs are held at local schools where the organization hopes the children will eventually enroll. The project began in 2015 and has been granted more funding so that the organization can range across two of Kenya's school districts.

Organizations like Child in Family Focus and Able Child Africa are fighting for the better treatment of disabled children, whether by simply involving disabled children in activities at schools so that they enroll in school and have access to an education or by keeping them with their families.

As the stigma behind disabilities fades and people become more educated about disabilities, disabled children in Kenya can possibly have better care and a better future.
- Olivia Halliburton
Photo: Flickr

Kenya is a country in North East Africa (also known as the Horn of Africa) located on the Indian Ocean coastline. The countries in the Horn of Africa have been frequently hit by droughts that lasted for decades. As a result of this, Kenya suffered and still suffers from extreme food shortages that lead to illnesses and in many cases to death. To understand Kenya's struggles and progress, below are the top 10 facts about hunger in Kenya.

Top 10 Facts about Hunger in Kenya

1. Kenya has a population of 46 million people. Of this number, 25 percent or 11.5 million people live in underdeveloped housing and suffer from a variety of harmful living conditions such as food insecurity and diseases. The people who are most vulnerable to food scarcity live in dry areas, which is about 80 percent of the land.

2. The number one cause of death of children under five years old is malnutrition. According to the World Food Programme, 337,000 children under five years old suffer from malnutrition.

3. Twenty-five percent of children in Kenya suffer from stunted growth due to poor nutrition.

4. Food scarcity is nothing new to East Africa. According to World Vision, poor climate and instability are the main causes of East Africa's hunger. Droughts are extremely common and affect food-production, which leads to malnutrition.

5. Instability is a consequence of years of political and social conflicts that make prices and food affected. Climate Change News states that due to political opposition and a lack of tools to run a government smoothly, the annual food inflation in Kenya increased 18.6 percent in 2017.

6. Between July 2011 and mid-2012, East Africa experienced a drought that was known as the worst in 60 years, leaving 13 million people affected with a severe food crisis in Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. Hundreds of thousands of Somali people escaped to Kenya and Ethiopia to seek food and shelter. This has put more stress on Kenya and Ethiopia as the two already crowded countries. Huffington Post reported that the overall death rate is about seven out of 10,000 people a day while the average crisis rate is usually two person per day.

7. Fortunately, the number of people in Kenya affected by food insecurity has improved from 3.4 million in 2017 to 2.6 million in 2018. This significant improvement is a direct result of more rain and living necessities supplied to the people in need.

8. While there are millions of people in Kenya that are still in need of help, health and nutrition services have been extended out to two million people.

9. During droughts, food prices escalate. In Kenya, maize prices rose 30 percent. However, people are still able to purchase this life staple due to increased imports from Uganda.

10. Africa has the most people living in extreme poverty and facing food shortages. Food shortages are so severe that many children cannot go to school because schools are forced to close. According to Save the Children organization, only 30 percent of boys and 20 percent of girls are enrolled in school during droughts, and only a few complete their education. In addition, 4.7 million children across East Africa are at risk of dropping out of school due to the drought's impact. The Kenyan government promised to donate money for food aid but has only given 4,000 bags of maize that can last only for a week.

Food is a necessity to live but in Kenya food almost seems like a privilege since so many obstacles need to be faced in order to feed a family. Besides food shortages, Kenyans have to deal with a horrendous climate and an unstable government which creates a cycle of unfortunate events.

These top 10 facts about hunger in Kenya give an idea of the struggles these people have to face. Fortunately, Kenya continues to lift itself up out of poverty with the help from surrounding countries.

Photo: - Kristen Uedoi
Flickr

Kenya has long struggled with the issue of poverty and with the symptoms that follow such as high rates of disease and child mortality. Life expectancy is low in Kenya, just one of the examples of the effects poverty has on a country. The following are 10 facts about poverty in Kenya.

Poverty in Kenya

1. Around 35.5% of Kenya's population is living below the poverty line, reported in 2016. This means basically that more than one-third of the entire country is living on less than the U.S. $1.90 per day. Much of Kenya is rural land, which contributes to high rates of the population living in poverty.

2. Kenya ranked 154th out of 177 countries for life expectancy and GDP in a 2005 report by the UN. The entire region that surrounds Kenya also ranks low on that list. The situation in Kenya, however, has gotten notably better since this report.

3. Desert land and unpredictable weather create an unstable economy. Over three-fourths of Kenya's population depends on the agriculture sector to survive. A lack of fertile land and erratic weather creates an unreliable source of sustainability.

4. Kenya government is known to be one of the most corrupted in the world. Impoverished people are unable to propel themselves upwards in society if their government is not working for them and government money is being misused.

5. Levels of poverty in Kenya have improved significantly in the past decade. Currently, around 35.5% of the country is living in poverty, but in 2005, this number was 43.6%. Poverty in Kenya is nowadays lower than any other country in the Eastern Africa region, and it is still on the decline.

6. A major contributor to decline in poverty rates lies in the agriculture sector. Good fortune in weather patterns is a great thing, but it leaves the prosperity Kenya has experienced in a vulnerable place. An unexpected drought could upturn progress made against poverty.

7. Despite improvements, the World Bank does not believe poverty will be eradicated in Kenya by 2030. Representatives stated that although Kenya's GDP has been growing yearly, the pace has not been fast enough to eliminate poverty by the above stated year.

8. Kenya's literacy rate has increased by 11% since 2005. This statistic is emblematic of the immense improvements Kenya has made in its education system. In comparison to similarly situated countries like Ghana, Kenya's literacy rates are higher.

9. Child mortality has decreased in the last decade. In 2008, the rate was 52 out of every 1,000 live births. In 2014 it had decreased to 39. Rates of deaths in children under the age of five also decreased from 74 out of 1,000 to 52.

10. Among the benefits of decreased poverty levels, people of Kenya have experienced better access to sanitation. Despite this, Kenya still ranks low in comparison to some of its neighbor countries in terms of access to quality water sources. However, Kenya still ranks above countries like Ghana and Rwanda for improved sanitation.

The facts about poverty in Kenya has ameliorated significantly in recent decades. The country has expanded its education and system of health care, and the GDP has grown consistently every year. Although the situation is far from satisfactory, things are looking up for people in Kenya.
- Amelia Merchant
Photo: Flickr

published by the World Bank indicates that the percentage of Kenyan people living below the international poverty line has dropped significantly over the last decade. In 2005-2006, 43.6 percent of Kenyans were living on less than $1.90 per day. In 2015-2016, that number sank to A December 2017 report 35.6 percent, a dramatic improvement.

Despite these findings, researchers maintain that it is doubtful that poverty in Kenya will be eradicated by 2030. So what exactly is behind the poverty decline in Kenya, and why will it not be enough to completely solve the problem in the future?

Infrastructure Contributes to Poverty Decline in Kenya

Since 2013, the public sector's contribution to GDP growth has jumped from just 1.1 percent to 2.5 percent. This is largely due to ambitious projects undertaken by the Kenyatta administration, including the construction of a $24.5 billion northern trade route, the expansion of the Mombasa-Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway, the creation of the Lamu Port and the modernization of major Kenyan airports. These developments have opened up new opportunities for trade throughout the region.

Beyond that, Kenya has made incredible strides in providing basic needs to its citizens over the past few years. In 2013, only 27 percent of Kenyan households had access to electricity. This number skyrocketed to 55 percent, or 5.7 million households, by the beginning of 2017. The number of Kenyan households with access to improved water sources has also climbed from just 60 percent in 2005 to nearly 72 percent in 2015. In addition, Kenya is leading the way in households with access to adequate sanitation facilities among countries with similar poverty rates. These improvements are crucial to promoting economic growth because they are the cornerstones of basic health and well-being.

Agricultural Growth Promising, But Unstable

Another factor leading to the poverty decline in Kenya is the agricultural sector. According to the report, agriculture accounted for the largest share of poverty reduction in the past decade. The agricultural sector remains the leading contributor to Kenya's GDP, and provided a sizeable boost to the economy with an average growth of 4.1 percent between 2011 and 2015.

However, this is problematic because farming is an unreliable source of growth. The success of crops is completely controlled by weather conditions, and drought is extremely common in Africa. Kenya witnessed the devastating impacts of relying on agriculture last year when its economy took a hit due to decreased rainfall levels. This instability is one of the reasons why experts say that poverty will not be eradicated by 2030.

Private Sector Investment Needed to Continue Poverty Decline in Kenya

An additional obstacle to the poverty decline in Kenya is the deterioration of the private sector. In recent years, GDP growth from private investments has slid from 1.3 percent in 2013 to negative 0.7 percent in 2017. This is partially due to the political instability that surrounded the presidential election in 2017, which led many to see investments in Kenya as a risk because the government seemed fragile. Another claim made in the report is that the increase in government spending led to "crowding out," the discouraging of private spending due to a rise in interest rates.

Although poverty may not be completely eradicated by 2030, it is projected to decrease at the rate of one percentage point per year if current trends continue. Though there are some major challenges to overcome in the future, the poverty decline in Kenya is a promising sign for the country's welfare.
- Maddi Roy
Photo: Flickr

In a country that has a plethora of wealthy individuals who make use of the coastal regions and beautiful landscape, the rate of poverty in Kenya still remains at 46 percent of the population. With an increase in assistance from the government and those who are living a lavish lifestyle, this issue could be drastically improved in a short period of time.

Addressing Poverty in Kenya

According to Buzz Kenya, "In Kenya, the slums are next to the posh neighborhoods. The rich people depend on the poor for housekeeping, yet they pay them peanuts even though they are fully aware of their situation."

There needs to be accountability for wealthy individuals to accommodate those doing housework. If the wealthy paid their workers at a higher rate instead of on average $1 a day, poverty would not be resolved but it would definitely help the issue tremendously.

Even access to resources that most people take for granted are considered a "luxury" in particular parts of Kenya; these resources can include healthcare, education and clean water. The Kenyan government is working on a solution that would greatly help poverty-stricken communities obtain the necessary assets to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

The government and concerned citizens have the ability to better a developing nation.

International Affairs Budget

There are multiple methods of assistance that the government provides and the people can act upon. The International Affairs budget is one part of legislation that is available to the people. By supporting the International Affairs budget, aid will be provided to countries around the world that need the most help.

Assistance can come in the form of fighting diseases, supplying emergency care throughout the nation and promoting hunger-relief and stability in the economic system abroad.

Contributions to efforts such as the International Affairs budget allows for more workers to be employed in the country and continue to develop new and improved ways to figure out how poverty can ultimately and eventually become eradicated.

Causes of Poverty in Kenya

Poverty is a result of many factors in a nation-state; for instance, unemployment, lack of clean water and people from other countries migrating over with absolutely nothing.

"In June 2011, Kenya faced formidable hurdles with the Horn of Africa drought that left 3.75 million Kenyans and 150,000 refugees mostly from Somalia, in need of humanitarian assistance." Refugees also contribute to the rate of poverty in Kenya.

UNICEF was able to contain the situation and efficiently provide support for not just Kenyan citizens but also the refugees from Somalia and South Sudan.

Land, Agriculture and Future Progress

Urban areas are not as much of an issue when it comes to poverty. Slightly less than a third of Individuals living in urban areas are below the poverty line, while approximately half of Kenyans living in rural locations are considered impoverished.

Kenya-Advisor states, "around three quarters of Kenya's population is dependent on the agriculture industry, but with its erratic weather patterns and vast regions of arid desert, it is a very unstable sector. Periods of drought can be crippling, not only in terms of food supply, but in jobs as well."

With so many people relying on agriculture for their main access of food supply, this can lead to an overuse of the land that can poison the soils and no longer provide the nutrition that Kenyans need.

Also, it can impact wildlife due to the uneven distribution of agricultural resources and has the potential to influence climate change. With the diversification of funding that the government and the people have the ability to provide, there will be a severe decline to the rate of poverty in Kenya and a subsequent new outlook on this emerging nation.
- Matthew McGee
Photo: Flickr

It doesn't take an organization with hundreds of thousands of members to make a difference in the world. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, there is a group known as Merry-Go-Strong (MGS). MGS is a nonprofit dedicated to supporting children and women's development in Kenya through the expansion of both minds and resources.

Women's Development in Kenya

Back in the spring semester of 2012, Professor Lesley Sager challenged her students to use design thinking processes to artistically create shelters for people displaced from natural disasters.

The students created a structure based on cardboard. Susan Miller, a designer, saw value in cardboard structures being brought to Kenya. Sager and Miller teamed up and decided to journey to Kenya to see if there was any viability in promoting cardboard houses for families there.

Aside from the architect side of the trip, Sager had a deep interest in bringing education opportunity to the children (specifically girls) in Kenya.

Sager's Journey in Gatunga

When she arrived in Gatunga, a small village in Tharaka Nithi County, Sager met Aniceta Kirigata, the founder of the Tharaka Women's Welfare Program (TWWP) and the Alternative Rite of Passage (ARP). ARP is designed to protect girls from female genitalia mutilation (FGM). TWWP receives its funding through a scholarship with the Women's Global Education Project (WGEP). Many girls are forced to drop out due to lack of money to pay for fees, or they must remain out of school in order to work; therefore, a scholarship like one from WGEP is a huge deal.

Once she realized there was an immense lack of income generating options for women and children, Sager decided to take a different approach to helping women's development in Kenya.

The Origins of Merry-Go-Strong

In fall of 2014, Sager offered the first of four sequential design thinking courses at UW-Madison. These courses would focus on using student's own ingenuity to create projects and tools that would be useful to the women in Kenya. These projects range from product development, to solar power, beekeeping and other options.

And one of these projects is how MGS was born. The members within this organization partner with TWWP in the village of Gatunga, a project that supports women by providing materials to create viondo (aka bags/purses). The purses are then bought from their Kenyan makers to be sold in the United States where there is a much bigger consumer market.

MGS' Impact

The profits from the purses are used to fund future projects and create scholarships for girls to continue to attend ARP and finish proper schooling. This approach to supporting women's development in Kenya is empowering because it provides for self-sustainability both among women and the community in Gatunga; these lives will be positively impacted in the upcoming future.

Sager still continues to go to Kenya once or twice a year to follow up on the progress of Merry-Go-Strong's efforts in empowerment and ending FGM (Big Ten Network, 2017). With this type of resiliency and consistency, women's development in Kenya will hopefully experience leaps and bounds.
- Caysi Simpson
Photo: Flickr

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Due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, Kenya has experienced socioeconomic challenges leading to delayed progress in reducing poverty, with an estimated two million additional Kenyans falling into poverty. The rapid spread of the virus in Kenya has severe repercussions for people.

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In 2022, 17 percent of Kenya's population lived below 1.90 U.S. dollars per day. This meant that over 8.9 million Kenyans were in extreme povert y, most of whom were in rural areas. Over 7.8 million Kenyans in rural communities lived on less than 1.90 U.S. dollars daily, an amount 6.5 times higher than that recorded in urban regions. Nevertheless, the poverty incidence has declined compared to 2020. That year, businesses closed, unemployment increased, and food prices soared due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Consequently, the country witnessed higher levels of impoverishment, although improvements were already visible in 2021. Overall, the poverty rate in Kenya is expected to decline to 14 percent by 2025.

Poverty triggers food insecurity

Reducing poverty in Kenya puts the country on the way to enhancing food security. As of November 2021, 7.9 million Kenyans lacked sufficient food for consumption. That corresponded to 15.4 percent of the country's population. Also, in 2021, over one-quarter of Kenyan children under five years suffered from chronic malnutrition, a growth failure resulting from a lack of adequate nutrients over a long period. Another 4.2 percent of the children were affected by acute malnutrition, which concerns a rapid deterioration in the nutritional status over a short period.

A country where prosperity and poverty walk side by side

The poverty incidence in Kenya contrasts with the country's economic development. In 2021, Kenya ranked among the ten highest GDPs in Africa, at 106 billion U.S. dollars. Moreover, its gross national income per capita has increased to 1,760 U.S. dollars over the last 10 years, a growth of above 80 percent. Generally, while poverty decreased in the country during the same period, Kenya still seems to be far from reaching the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030.

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Kenya: extreme poverty rate 2016-2025 | Statista

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In 2022, 17 percent of Kenya's population lived below 1.90 U.S. dollars per day. This meant that over 8.9 million Kenyans were in extreme povert y, most of whom were in rural areas. Over 7.8 million Kenyans in rural communities lived on less than 1.90 U.S.