Working Paper No. 03 of 2000 on a Review of Poverty and Anti-poverty Initiatives in Kenya

Abstract

Poverty in Kenya is caused by a number of factors, which include a high degree of inequality of income and production resources, inequality in the access to economic and social goods and services and in the participation in social and political process. Other causal factors include lack of education, lack of job opportunities, unfavourable climatic conditions, large family sizes, poor government planning and interventions, lack of good governance and weak democratic institutions and practices. The results from studies on poverty in Kenya show that the poverty situation has deteriorated overtime and especially in the 1990s. The deterioration in living standards in the country is reflected in the rising number of people without food, inadequate access to basic necessities such as education, safe water, sanitation, and health facilities. A much recent factor leading to increased poverty is HIV/AIDS pandemic.