| dc.description.abstract | Machakos County is one of the forty seven counties in Kenya and one of the eight counties
in the Eastern region. To the North the county borders Embu, Murang’a and Kiambu
counties, to the west Nairobi and Kajiado counties; to the south Makueni county; and to the
East Kitui county. The county has area of 6208.2 Km² most of which is semi-arid. The
county is divided into eight sub counties/constituencies namely; Masinga, Yatta, Kangundo,
Matungulu, Kathiani, Mavoko, Machakos Town and Mwala. The County has a total of 40
wards and 75 Locations. It lies between latitudes 0º45´South and 1º31´South and longitudes
36º45´East and 37º45´East.
According to the to the 2009 Kenya Population and Housing census, the county has a
population of 1,098,584. The Kenya National Bureau of Statics has projected a total
population growth of 1,238,650 in 2015 and 1,289,200 in 2017. The projected population
growth is at approximately 1% over the years while the projected population growth of men
is 1% more than women. The county has an average population of 188 per square kilometre.
The average household size is 4 with a life expectancy of 65.5%. Absolute poverty is at a
rate of 60.7% with a contribution of 4.7% to national poverty. The poverty line is a threshold
below which people are deemed poor. The last official statistics summarizing the bottom of
the consumption distribution (i.e. those that fall below the poverty line) were provided in
2005/06. The poverty line was estimated at KES 1,562 and KES 2,913 per adult equivalent
per month for rural and urban households respectively. Nationally, 45.2 percent of the
population lives below the poverty line (2009 estimates) down from 46 percent in 2005/06.
(KNBS, 2009) Masinga Sub County had the highest rate of individuals below the poverty
line at 61.3%, which was 15.3% above the national average. Mavoko had the lowest rate at
22.8%, 23.2% below the national average. | en_US |
