| dc.description.abstract | Kitui County is one of the three Kenyan Counties inhabited by the majority Kamba community.
The Kamba people were historically long - distance traders. The trade inclination has made the
Kambas highly receptive and hospitable to visitors. With its headquarters at Kitui town, The
County is resource rich with commercially viable coal reserves in Mui Basin. Other mineral
resource includes limestone, iron ore and sand. Forty-six (46) percent of the Tsavo East National
Park is in Kitui County and has a great heritage with great untapped tourism potential. Proximity
to Nairobi and the Standard Gauge Railway offers great opportunities for economic
transformation. Permanent rivers, namely, Tana and Athi flow through the County.
Despite the great potential, Kitui County is among the Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL) counties
characterized by relatively high levels of poverty. The level of absolute poverty is estimated at
47.5 percent compared to the national average of 36.1 percent in 2016. About 522,000 persons
or 3.2 percent of the Kenyan poor live in the County. Food poverty is estimated at 39.4 percent
compared to the national average of 32 percent. About fifty percent of the population does not
have access to improved water sources and 57.6 percent of households spent thirty minutes or
more to fetch drinking water. The County is a member of South Eastern Kenya Economic Block
(SKEB) composed of three counties: Kitui , Makueni and Machakos. | en |
