Kenya is a lower middle income economy, with Kenya's GDP hitting $150 billion as of 2024. This is due to increasing technology innovation services. Although Kenya's economy is the largest and most developed in eastern and Central Africa, 63% (2023/2024) of its population lives below the international poverty line. [1] This severe poverty is caused by economic inequality, government corruption and health problems. In turn, poverty also worsens these factors. The Kenyan government's efforts to address poverty have received help from international institutions as well. The incident rate of poverty has steadily decreased, as shown by a recent MPI index. [2]
Poverty is a condition that someone lacks materials or money and has an exceptionally low level of standard of living. [3] It is a complicated concept, reflected by many aspects including social, economic and political factors.
The Global Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) incorporates 11 variables to explore poverty in three dimensions i.e. standard of living, education and health. It is more scientific and practical to measure poverty as it reflects both incidence rate and the degree to which a population is deprived. The 2014 global MPI data shows that the number of Kenyans being MPI poor is 39.9%, [2] indicated by the headcount ratio. This implies that poverty still is a severe issue in Kenya.
According to the information from OPHI Country Briefing 2017, poor people in Kenya are significantly deprived in the living standard dimension, especially of cooking fuel, electricity, and sanitation indicators. In addition, poverty differs between different regions, and the percentage of MPI Poor deprivation in rural areas is higher than that in urban areas. [4]
The following information mainly focuses on trends of Kenya's poverty from 1990 to 2007.
In the 1990s, the reduction by about 5% in GDP growth rate indicated that Kenya's economic become stagnant and even shrunk. [5] The teetering economy made the poverty issue much more severe, reflected by a 12% ascending poverty incidence rate from 2000 to 2003. [6] In order to address the issue, the government introduced some policies, such as National Poverty Eradication Plan and Poverty Reduction Strategy. However, due to ineffective implementation, it failed to alleviate poverty radically.[ citation needed ]
After the new government taking office in 2003, there were early signs of economic recovery in Kenya. The annual GDP growth rate continued to increase during the period from 2003 to 2007. Owing to the success of the Economic Recovery Strategy developed by the new government, children had access to free primary education. [6] To some extent, improved education level and an economic boom have eased the poverty in Kenya.
Kenya has the largest economy in the East African region with a gross domestic product of 74.8 billion US dollars in 2017. The leading GDP sectors of Kenya's economy are Services (53%), Agriculture (29%), and Industry (18%). [7]
Although less than 20% of the land is suitable for cultivation, the agriculture industry has an important role in Kenya's economy. However, unpredictable weather and outdated technology make the agricultural sector erratic. In Kenya, 80% of the land is classified as arid and semi-arid, where there is highly variable rainfall and frequent droughts.[ citation needed ] More than a quarter of the population and half of livestock live in these areas. In times of serious drought, the government spends an average of 50 dollars per family in relief supplies.
There was a severe drought in Kenya that began in October 2016. In April 2017, the drought was declared a national emergency by the Kenyan government. [8] The drought resulted in a slump in the production of the staple crop (maize), and more than 2 million people were in need of food aid. [9]
Droughts reduce crop and livestock production, cause financial losses in agriculture and increase unemployment rates. Declines in food production force the government to provide food assistance, incurring extra expenditures in the national budget. All these situations increase poverty issues in Kenya.
Kenya is an upper-middle income country with inequality in wealth distribution, poverty level and human rights aspects.
Kenya's inequality is reflected by share of income and social services varying among different segments of the population. One-tenth of Kenyans have approximately two-fifths of total wealth. [10] The wealth gap has not narrowed in recent years, even though the statistics show that the economy has grown by 19 percent. Disclosed by the World Bank in 2015, Kenya's Gini index was 40.8%, [11] indicating the unequal distribution of income. Distribution of wealth continues to be a challenge to Kenya, because income inequality is a factor leading to social conflicts, violence, and crime, which aggravates social instability and poverty issues.
In addition, the poverty level is unequal in different regions. Measured by MPI, the percentage of poor people is much lower in the capital city. Compared to that, some large secondary cities’ percentage of poor people is much higher. For instance, there is 44% of population in Mombasa is relatively poor. [12] In addition to the huge inequality between different level of cities, inequalities in poverty level exists within cities. For example, in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya, Kileleshwa's location level poverty is under 5%, while location level poverty of Korogocho and Laini Saba excess 60%. [12]
Kenya has significant gender inequality and Kenyan women continue to advocate for their equal right to property, security, financial services, healthcare, and education. [13]
Women may still need their spouse or father's consent before accessing a healthcare provider or taking time off from their traditional household roles. [14] Most institutions providing healthcare in Kenya afford women very little say over their own bodies; they may be forced to undergo abortions or female circumcision. [14] They also risk the chance of being reported to authorities if the physician believes that they were engaging in prostitution or drug use. [14]
Women also lack a basic education in Kenya and very few go on to higher education. Nearly 60% of young women do not attend secondary school either because there is no school close by or the school has little in the way of educational resources. [14] Even in schools, teachers put more value on teaching boys than girls, which usually allows men to be significantly more educated and access higher levels of education, while women are left behind.[ citation needed ]
Financial services and property rights are also still limited, as women have very little access to the basic needs and legal rights to start a business or live self-sufficiently. [13] [15] Only 1% of Kenyan women own property and there are few women in business. [15] They also have little to no voice when speaking with city councils.[ citation needed ]
Corruption remains a severe issue in Kenya. Of the 180 countries participating in the assessment of the corruption perceptions index, Kenya was ranked at 143 with the score of 28 in 2017. [16] The score of Kenya for the past five years has varied between 25 and 28, implying that corruption is still a serious problem. Kenya's corruption is prevalent within all levels of government.
Studies have found that Kenya is one of the most crime-infested countries in Africa. One of reasons is that even the police help crime. Especially in some rural areas, the police provide arms to criminals, assist to transfer stolen goods and release arrested criminals if criminals bribe the police. [17] The increasing criminal rate leads to instability of the society that directly reduces economic growth and further causes poverty problems.
Apart from bribe-taking, improper government expenditure and illegal possession of public resources by senior government officials also worsen Kenya's corruption .
Some authority institutions, such as judiciary and legislature, are also considered as the channels of corruption. In the major reforms in 2011, many unqualified judges were removed from their positions. [18] Not strictly obeying the law is a common phenomenon in Kenya, and this type of phenomenon gives rise to cynicism and undermines social value, because instead of following the legitimate process, people in Kenya often find it easier to use corruption to solve problems. The society in Kenya, without authoritative orders and binding regulations, fails to establish effective social order and make good use of all public resources, which leads to poverty.
Addressing health problems remains a challenge for Kenya's government. Diseases that spread in the society reduce productivity and increases the health care expenditure of government, which worsens the poverty in Kenya.
According to the data from Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, diseases including pneumonia, HIV and malaria are the main causes of mortality, which brings about 11.5%, 16.1% and 11.5% of deaths in the total register deaths respectively. [19] In particular, Kenya is ranked 4th among countries with the highest HIV infections in the world with 1.6 million people infected with HIV. [20]
People with poor health condition decrease household incomes and increase medical expenditure, which may cause households to fall into poverty. HIV and malaria are especially prevalent in marginal areas, such as the Western and Nyanza Provinces. More than three-fifths of households in Kenya fall into poverty due to these diseases. Furthermore, decreasing available workforces and increasing government expenditures further strains the economy and worsens poverty.
Data from the Society for International Development shows that although half of Kenya's people have access to improved water supply, there are over 19 million Kenyans still drinking unimproved water, such as unsafe water from rivers. Besides, there is large inequality in access of safe water. There are about 30 percent more improved water sites in urban areas than in rural areas. [21]
One of major causes of water crisis in Kenya is frequent droughts. [22] The Society for International Development has revealed that rivers are the most common supply of Kenya's drinking water. [21] However, more than half of Kenya's regions are classified as arid and are very arid areas with annual average rainfall at a very low level, and global warming exacerbates this situation. Rivers are an unstable source of water, especially in a dry climate period. Droughts damage Kenya's agricultural economy, cause famine and result in even worse hygienic conditions. [22]
Kenya is classified as a water limited country. According to data from the World Bank, the amount of renewable internal freshwater resources per capita has been decreasing from past to now and it has declined to under 450 cubic meters per capita in 2014. [23] According to the research conducted by Kimani-Murage and Ngindu in 2007, the main activities that cause contamination of water in Kenya are washing clothes in rivers, pouring pollutants into rivers and using unclean containers to get water. These are especially common in rural areas and some urban slums. [22] People in these areas often have no cleaner options. High population growth rate and inappropriate water policy also make the water problem more severe. [22]
Unsafe water can cause diseases like bilharzia, cholera, and diarrhea, while stagnant water is a breeding ground for mosquitoes that cause malaria infections to skyrocket. Shown by MSF clinic, three-fifths of all consultation is classified as caused by poor sanitation diseases. [22] Over 5 thousand children die from water-related diseases per day. [24]
Due to the severe water crisis, many Kenyans’ basic standards of living are not guaranteed, and incidences of related diseases are high, which increases financial burden on the government and exacerbates poverty.
With the assistance of the Commission of Poverty Eradication and Poverty Eradication Unit, the National Poverty Eradication provided various poverty reduction programmes to help reduce poverty in Kenya. [25] It attempted to increase the poor households' living standard. For instance, for householders with low income that were unable to have access to safe food, health care and education, implements of the plan improved their condition through using money from the exchequer. Objectives of the NPEP involved wide aspects, such as universal education, primary health care, safe drinking water and abolishing the gap between rural and urban social development. They are monitored by Anti-Poverty Trust Fund.
In 2003, the Kenya's government launched the Economic Recovery Strategy, which focused on three areas; the economy, equity and reformation of governance. [26]
Due to the success of the strategy in the economic area, fiscal deficit and stock of non-performing loans have decreased, implying the more stable economic structure. In addition, the government encourages the private sector to be actively involved in offering infrastructure services. [27]
To alleviate poverty, the government succeeded in achieving the goal of universal primary education. It enlarged the scope of health services and water services, which reduced the incident rate of HIV and other epidemic diseases and improved the living condition of poor people. In addition, the government created more jobs and helped people living in arid areas address the unstable weather effects on agriculture. [26]
To complete the sound management system, the ERS attempted to drive judicial reform and transformation of government functions, which further helped establish a stable social order and increase transparency in government affairs.[ citation needed ]
Launched in 2008 by President Mwai Kibaki, Kenya Vision 2030 aims to transform Kenya into an actively modernizing middle-income country that provides a better quality of life for every Kenyan by 2030. [28] [29] As the plan is based on four pillars—economic and macro, social, and political—Vision 2030 works to provide more democratic solutions to societal problems. Small and medium-sized businesses are seen as key to economic development; for example, Vision 2030 will make fertilizer available to small farmers by building a local fertilizer plant. In the political arena, Vision 2030 emphasizes the new 2010 Kenyan Constitution which mandates that women get 1/3 representation in parliament. [28] [29] Lastly, they aim to provide more access to primary education through increased funding and reconstruction of primary schools in more rural geographic areas. [28]
Extreme poverty is the most severe type of poverty, defined by the United Nations (UN) as "a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to services". Historically, other definitions have been proposed within the United Nations.
Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse environmental, legal, social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in statistics or economics there are two main measures: absolute poverty which compares income against the amount needed to meet basic personal needs, such as food, clothing, and shelter; secondly, relative poverty measures when a person cannot meet a minimum level of living standards, compared to others in the same time and place. The definition of relative poverty varies from one country to another, or from one society to another.
In economics, income distribution covers how a country's total GDP is distributed amongst its population. Economic theory and economic policy have long seen income and its distribution as a central concern. Unequal distribution of income causes economic inequality which is a concern in almost all countries around the world.
Feminization of poverty refers to a trend of increasing inequality in living standards between men and women due to the widening gender gap in poverty. This phenomenon largely links to how women and children are disproportionately represented within the lower socioeconomic status community in comparison to men within the same socioeconomic status. Causes of the feminization of poverty include the structure of family and household, employment, sexual violence, education, climate change, "femonomics" and health. The traditional stereotypes of women remain embedded in many cultures restricting income opportunities and community involvement for many women. Matched with a low foundation income, this can manifest to a cycle of poverty and thus an inter-generational issue.
Poverty reduction, poverty relief, or poverty alleviation is a set of measures, both economic and humanitarian, that are intended to permanently lift people out of poverty. Measures, like those promoted by Henry George in his economics classic Progress and Poverty, are those that raise, or are intended to raise, ways of enabling the poor to create wealth for themselves as a conduit of ending poverty forever. In modern times, various economists within the Georgism movement propose measures like the land value tax to enhance access to the natural world for all. Poverty occurs in both developing countries and developed countries. While poverty is much more widespread in developing countries, both types of countries undertake poverty reduction measures.
Diseases of poverty, also known as poverty-related diseases, are diseases that are more prevalent in low-income populations. They include infectious diseases, as well as diseases related to malnutrition and poor health behaviour. Poverty is one of the major social determinants of health. The World Health Report (2002) states that diseases of poverty account for 45% of the disease burden in the countries with high poverty rate which are preventable or treatable with existing interventions. Diseases of poverty are often co-morbid and ubiquitous with malnutrition. Poverty increases the chances of having these diseases as the deprivation of shelter, safe drinking water, nutritious food, sanitation, and access to health services contributes towards poor health behaviour. At the same time, these diseases act as a barrier for economic growth to affected people and families caring for them which in turn results into increased poverty in the community. These diseases produced in part by poverty are in contrast to diseases of affluence, which are diseases thought to be a result of increasing wealth in a society.
Poverty is measured in different ways by different bodies, both governmental and nongovernmental. Measurements can be absolute, which references a single standard, or relative, which is dependent on context. Poverty is widely understood to be multidimensional, comprising social, natural and economic factors situated within wider socio-political processes.
Tropical diseases, especially malaria and tuberculosis, have long been a public health problem in Kenya. In recent years, infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), also has become a severe problem. Estimates of the incidence of infection differ widely.
The quality of health in Cambodia is rising along with its growing economy. The public health care system has a high priority from the Cambodian government and with international help and assistance, Cambodia has seen some major and continuous improvements in the health profile of its population since the 1980s, with a steadily rising life expectancy.
Rural poverty refers to situations where people living in non-urban regions are in a state or condition of lacking the financial resources and essentials for living. It takes account of factors of rural society, rural economy, and political systems that give rise to the marginalization and economic disadvantage found there. Rural areas, because of their small, spread-out populations, typically have less well maintained infrastructure and a harder time accessing markets, which tend to be concentrated in population centers.
The causes of poverty may vary with respect to nation, region, and in comparison with other countries at the global level. Yet, there is a commonality amongst these causes. Philosophical perspectives and especially historical perspectives, including some factors at a micro and macro level can be considered in understanding these causes.
Multidimensional Poverty Indices uses a range of indicators to calculate a summary poverty figure for a given population, in which a larger figure indicates a higher level of poverty. This figure considers both the proportion of the population that is deemed poor and the 'breadth' of poverty experienced by these 'poor' households, following the Alkire & Foster 'counting method'. The method was developed following increased criticism of monetary and consumption-based poverty measures, seeking to capture the deprivations in non-monetary factors that contribute towards well-being. While there is a standard set of indicators, dimensions, cutoffs and thresholds used for a 'Global MPI', the method is flexible and there are many examples of poverty studies that modify it to best suit their environment. The methodology has been mainly, but not exclusively, applied to developing countries.
Bangladesh is an under-developed nation. Despite rapid economic growth, poverty remains a major issue. However, poverty has declined sharply in recent history. Shortly after its independence, approximately 90% of the population lived under the poverty line. However, since economic reforms and trade liberalization of early 1990s, along with accelerated economic growth since early-2000s, Bangladesh have experienced a dramatic progress in reducing poverty. The remarkable progress in poverty alleviation has been recognized by international institutions. According to World Bank, more than 33 million Bangladeshi people have been lifted out of poverty since 2000; as measured by the percentage of people living on the equivalent of US$1.90 or less per day in 2011 purchasing price parity terms.
In 2023, official government statistics reported that the Philippines had a poverty rate of 15.5%,, significantly lower than the 49.2 percent recorded in 1985 through years of government poverty reduction efforts. From 2018 to 2021, an estimated 2.3 million Filipinos fell into poverty amid the economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The social determinants of health in poverty describe the factors that affect impoverished populations' health and health inequality. Inequalities in health stem from the conditions of people's lives, including living conditions, work environment, age, and other social factors, and how these affect people's ability to respond to illness. These conditions are also shaped by political, social, and economic structures. The majority of people around the globe do not meet their potential best health because of a "toxic combination of bad policies, economics, and politics". Daily living conditions work together with these structural drivers to result in the social determinants of health.
Cambodia remains on the list of developing countries, despite recent economic growth. Although Cambodia is undergoing significant urbanization. Cambodia has made progress in combating poverty, and many citizens have risen just above the poverty line
Poverty in Norway had been declining from World War II until the Great Recession. It is now increasing slowly, and is significantly higher among immigrants from the Middle East and Africa. Before an analysis of poverty can be undertaken, the definition of poverty must first be established, because it is a subjective term. The measurement of poverty in Norway deviates from the measurement used by the OECD. Norway traditionally has been a global model and leader in maintaining low levels on poverty and providing a basic standard of living for even its poorest citizens. Norway combines a free market economy with the welfare model to ensure both high levels of income and wealth creation and equal distribution of this wealth. It has achieved unprecedented levels of economic development, equality and prosperity.
According to data from 2010, low-income earners make up 37.8% of South Korea's labour force. Conversely, the highest income earners make up 1.4% of the labour force.
Sustainable Development Goals and Lebanon explains major contributions launched in Lebanon towards the advancement of the Sustainable Development Goals SDGs and the 2030 agenda.
Disability in Kenya "results from the interaction between individuals with a health condition with personal and environmental factors including negative attitudes, inaccessible transport and public buildings, and limited social support. A person's environment has a huge effect on the experience and extent of disability." Having a disability can limit a citizen's access to basic resources, basic human rights, and social, political and economic participation in Kenyan society. There are three forms of limitation of access linked to disability: impairment, disability, and handicap. An impairment is "the loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function." A disability results from an impairment as "the restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner considered normal for a human being", and the requirement for accommodation. Finally, a handicap "results from a disability, and limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role that is normal for that individual."