Policy-based approaches to poverty reduction in Kenya
Date
2005-06Author
Njeru, Enos H N
Alila, Patrick O.
Type
OtherLanguage
enMetadata
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The critical challenge facing Kenya is to raise the rate of economic growth to levels
incorporating broad-based improvement in the standards of living and well-being of Kenyans
in order to reduce poverty which has increased rapidly in the recent past (PRSP, 2000).
Kenya's economic growth rate declined dramatically from an average of 6.6% in 1970s to
4.2% in 1980s to an average 2.1% in the 1990s. The living conditions of the vast majority
of Kenyans are deteriorating rapidly. There is a marked increase in the number of people
unable to access clean water, clothing, shelter, health services and education. Unemployment
is a problem in Kenya. Average unemployment is at 23%, and is even higher for youth that
drop out of school and for women, averaging 25% in both cases (Chune, 2003). Government
services in many cases are no longer available. Growing disparities in access to services have
further undercut the living conditions of low-income households. School enrolments, infant
mortality and life expectancy have deteriorated (UNDp, 2002).
Kenya's economic objectives of growth, poverty reduction and improved resource utilization
and access have remained essentially the same since independence. The quest for sustainable
socio-economic development has however been a challenging endeavor, influencing some
policy shifts. The strident call has basically centred on poverty reduction, inclusion of those
excluded from the enjoyment of the benefits of economic growth and the redistribution of
productive resources. What have consequently changed are the strategies to achieve the
objectives of sustainable human development focusing on improving the quality of life of the
majority poor.
Poverty reduction broadly defined requires processes that help people to improve their
capabilities and functioning, that enable them to take charge of their affairs (Gondi, 2005).
Kenya has come up with many poverty reduction policies since independence, most of which
have had little success. The previous pre-1990s povertyreduction policies erroneouslyassumed
that the benefits of rapid growth of key sectors such as industry, service and agriculture would
automatically trickle down to all sectors of society. So more effort was injected into improving
economic performance (export incentive, agricultural food processing, etc.), at the expense
of promoting societal welfare enhancing projects. For example, some policies like the rural
and informal sector development did not receive the much-needed political will and required
resource allocation, to be effective.
Citation
POLICY-BASED APPROACHES TO POVERTY REDUCTION IN KENYA: STRATEGIES AND CIVil SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT, and Njeru, Patrick Alila Enos O. H. N. , Citizen-Government Dialoguing: Evaluating Policies for Poverty Reduction, Nairobi, p.87-94, (2005) copy at http://profiles.uonbi.ac.ke/enjeru/publications/policy-based-approaches-poverty-reduction-kenya-strategies-and-civil-society-engPublisher
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
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