Socio-Economic Status of 
Nairobi County with COVID-19
Eldah Onsomu, Rose Ngugi, Evelyne Kihiu, Mutuku
Muleli, James Gachanja, Rogers Musamali, Paul Lutta,
Daniel Omanyo, Hellen Chemnyongoi, Shadrack 
Mwatu, Nahashon Mwongera, Paul Odhiambo, Beverly 
Musili, Violet Nyabaro, Japheth Kathenge, Haron 
Ngeno and Elton Khaemba
 
KENYA INSTITUTE FOR PUBLIC POLICY
RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS
(KIPPRA)
The KENYA INSTITUTE for PUBLIC
POLICY RESEARCH and ANALYSIS
Thinking Policy Together
Socio-Economic Status of Nairobi County with 
COVID-19 
Eldah Onsomu, Rose Ngugi, Evelyne Kihiu, Mutuku 
Muleli, James Gachanja, Rogers Musamali, Paul Lutta, 
Daniel Omanyo, Hellen Chemnyongoi, Shadrack Mwatu, 
Nahashon Mwongera, Paul Odhiambo, Beverly Musili, 
Violet Nyabaro, Japheth Kathenge, Haron Ngeno and 
Elton Khaemba
Kenya Institute for Public Policy 
Research and Analysis
2022
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
KIPPRA in Brief
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autonomous institute whose primary mission is to conduct public policy research 
leading to policy advice. KIPPRA’s mission is to produce consistently high-quality 
analysis of key issues of public policy and to contribute to the achievement 
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the public sector. KIPPRA therefore produces a body of well-researched and 
documented information on public policy, and in the process assists in formulating 
long-term strategic perspectives. KIPPRA serves as a centralized source from 
which the Government and the private sector may obtain information and advice 
on public policy issues.
Published 2022
© Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis
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tel: +254 20 2719933/4; fax: +254 20 2719951
email: admin@kippra.or.ke
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The KIPPRA Special Reports Series deals with specific issues that are of policy 
concern. The reports provide in-depth survey results and/or analysis of policy 
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arising from this report.
ii
Table of Contents
Abbreviations and Acronyms ............................................................................................... ix
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ x
Executive Summary .............................................................................................................. xi
1. Introduction and Structure of Nairobi County Economy ..................................................1
1.1 Introduction.......................................................................................................................1
1.2 Level of Socio-Economic Deprivations ............................................................................ 3
1.3 Structure of Nairobi County Economy ............................................................................ 4
1.4 COVID-19 Caseload and Implications of Mobility Restrictions ..................................... 4
2. Socio-Economic Effect of COVID-19 ................................................................................. 7
2.1 Fiscal Policy, Planning and Budgeting ............................................................................ 7
2.2 Recommendations ..........................................................................................................16
3. Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries ................................................................................17
3.1 Characteristics of the Sector ...........................................................................................17
3.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Agriculture Sector .................................................... 29
3.3 Emerging Issues ............................................................................................................29
3.4 Recommendations .........................................................................................................29
4. Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene .......................................................................................31
4.1 Characteristics of the Sector ...........................................................................................31
4.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Various Sectors ........................................................ 36
4.3 Emerging Issues ............................................................................................................36
4.4 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 37
5. Manufacturing, Trade and MSMEs .................................................................................38
5.1 Characteristic of the sector ............................................................................................38
5.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Various Sectors ........................................................ 55
5.3 Emerging Issues ............................................................................................................ 56
5.4 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 56
6. Infrastructure ..................................................................................................................58
6.1 Transport Sector ............................................................................................................58
6.1.1 Characteristics of the Sector .......................................................................................58
6.1.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Various Sectors ......................................................61
6.1.3 Emerging Issues ...........................................................................................................61
6.1.4 Recommendations .......................................................................................................61
6.2 Information and Communication Technology ............................................................. 62
6.2.1 Characteristics of the Sector ....................................................................................... 63
6.2.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Various Sectors ..................................................... 65
6.2.3 Emerging Issues .........................................................................................................66
6.2.4 Recommendations ......................................................................................................66
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
7. Urban Development ........................................................................................................ 67
7.1 Characteristics of the Sector .......................................................................................... 67
7.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Urban Development ................................................ 70
7.3 Emerging Issues .............................................................................................................70
7.4 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 70
8. Tourism............................................................................................................................ 72
8.1 Characteristic of the sector ............................................................................................ 72
8.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Tourism Sector ........................................................ 72
8.3 Emerging Issues ............................................................................................................ 72
8.4 Recommendations ......................................................................................................... 73
9. Health .............................................................................................................................. 74
9.1 Characteristics of the sector........................................................................................... 74
9.1 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Health Sector ...........................................................80
9.2 Emerging Issues ............................................................................................................80
9.3 Recommendations .........................................................................................................80
10. Education and Training .................................................................................................82
10.1 Characteristics of the Sector ........................................................................................82
10.1 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Education and Training .........................................88
10.2 Emerging Issues ...........................................................................................................89
10.3 Recommendations .......................................................................................................89
11. Social Protection .............................................................................................................90
11.1 Characteristics of the sector .........................................................................................90
11.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in social protection ..................................................... 93
11.3 Emerging Issues ...........................................................................................................93
11.4 Recommendations ........................................................................................................93
12. Human Resources .......................................................................................................... 95
12.1 Characteristics of the Sector ........................................................................................ 95
12.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in human resource sector...........................................98
12.3 Emerging issues ...........................................................................................................98
12.4 Recommendations .......................................................................................................98
13. Conclusion and key recommendations........................................................................ 100
13.1 Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 100
13.2 Key recommendations ............................................................................................... 102
iv
List of Tables 
Table 1.1:Development indicators in Nairobi County ............................................................1
Table 1.2: Population distribution for selected age groups in the County (2019) ............... 2
Table 1.3: Level of Deprivations for the various indicators for multidimensional poverty in 
the county .............................................................................................................................. 3
Table 1.4: Total COVID-19 cases and mobility stringency— Nairobi County ...................... 5
Table 2.1: Monthly cash transfers from National Government ............................................ 8
Table 2.2: County departmental/priority spending ............................................................13
Table 3.1: Distribution of Households Practicing Agriculture, Fishing and Irrigation by 
County and Sub County ........................................................................................................17
Table 3.2: Distribution of Households Growing Crops by Type, County and Sub County 18
Table 3.3: Fruits Grown in Nairobi County ........................................................................ 18
Table 3.4: Vegetables Grown in Nairobi County .................................................................19
Table 3.5: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) Grown in Nairobi County ..................20
Table 3.6: Flowers Grown in Nairobi County ......................................................................21
Table 3.7: Distribution of Households Rearing Livestock and Fish by County and Sub 
County ...................................................................................................................................21
Table 5.1: Distribution of Manufacturing firms by gender and size – N (%) ......................41
Table 5.2: Employment by gender and size for manufacturing firms ................................ 42
Table 5.3: Level of innovation by firms in Manufacturing ................................................. 49
Table 5.4: Distribution of MSMEs by gender and size -N (%) ........................................... 49
Table 5.5: Employment by gender and Size – N (%) ..........................................................50
Table 5.6: Level of innovation by MSMEs ...........................................................................51
Table 9.1: Health provision ................................................................................................. 74
Table 9.2: Percentage Distribution of the Population that reported Sickness/Injury by Type 
of Health Provider in the County (%) ................................................................................. 75
Table 9.3: Percentage Distribution of the County’s Population with Health Insurance Cover 
by Type of Health Insurance Provider (%) ......................................................................... 76
Table 9.4: Proportion of Children aged 0-59 Months by Place of Delivery (%) ................ 76
Table 9.5: Proportion of Children aged 0-59 Months Immunized Against Measles ......... 76
Table 9.6: Health indicators in Nairobi county .................................................................. 78
Table 10.1: Gross Attendance Ratio and Net Attendance Ratio by Educational Level in 
Nairobi County ....................................................................................................................83
Table 10.2: Gross and net enrolment rate (%), 2018 ..........................................................83
Table 10.3: Percentage Distribution of Population aged 15 Years and above by Ability to 
Read and Write (%) .............................................................................................................84
Table 10.4: Percentage Distribution of Population by Highest Educational Qualification 85
Table 10.5: Percentage Distribution of Residents 3 Years and above who had ever Attended 
School by Highest Level Reached, and Sex for Nairobi County (%) ..................................86
Table 11.1: The proportion of households by the First Severe Shock in the County ..........90
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Table 11.2: The proportion of households that received cash transfers by source, and 
household headship ..............................................................................................................91
Table 12.1: Distribution of Population Age 5 Years and above by Activity Status, and Sex in 
the County ............................................................................................................................ 95
List of Figures 
Figure 1.1: Structure of the County Economy, 2013-2017 .................................................... 4
Figure 1.2: New COVID-19 cases ........................................................................................... 5
Figure 1.3: Effects of COVID-19 on economic performance ................................................. 6
Figure 2.1: Share of county revenues by source .................................................................... 7
Figure 2.2: Annual Own Source Revenue targets and actual collections ............................. 9
Figure 2.3: Quarterly Own Source Revenue collection ....................................................... 10
Figure 2.4: County expenditure analysis ............................................................................. 11
Figure 2.5: county government expenditure by economic classification (% of total county 
government expenditure ......................................................................................................12
Figure 2.6: County approved expenditure and absorption rates ........................................14
Figure 2.7: Absorption rates for recurrent and development expenditures (%).................15
Figure 2.8: profile of county pending bills. ..........................................................................15
Figure 3.1: Scale of Operation: Per cent of households ...................................................... 18
Figure 3.2: Agriculture Related Labor Force Participation ................................................ 23
Figure 3.3: Changes in Hours Worked by in Agriculture Related Occupations ................ 23
Figure 3.4: Limited access to markets to purchase food items .......................................... 24
Figure 3.5: Reason for Limited access to markets/ grocery stores .................................... 25
Figure 3.6: Percentage of households experiencing change in food commodity prices .... 25
Figure 3.7: Proportion of households facing large food price shocks ................................ 26
Figure 3.8: Per cent of households reporting that the following food items were not readily 
available in their locality .....................................................................................................26
Figure 3.9: Per cent of households where the following strategies were adopted for at least 
one day ................................................................................................................................. 27
Figure 3.10: Percentage of households who experienced the below shocks in the past two 
weeks the KNBS Wave 2 survey ..........................................................................................28
Figure 4.1: Access to sources of water by households .........................................................31
Figure 4.2: Access to improved and unimproved sources of water by households ........... 32
Figure 4.3: Volume of water used in a household in a month ............................................ 33
Figure 4.4: Distance covered by households to and from water sources ........................... 34
Figure 4.5: Access to sanitation by households .................................................................. 34
Figure 4.6: Access to improved and unimproved sanitation by households ..................... 35
Figure 4.7: No of households sharing a toilet facility ......................................................... 35
Figure 4.8: Access to wash during the COVID-19 period ................................................... 36
vi
Figure 5.1: sector of operation in manufacturing ............................................................... 39
Figure 5.2: Manufacturing firms by sector and size ...........................................................40
Figure 5.3: Location of manufacturing firms by premises ..................................................41
Figure 5.4: Distribution of Manufacturing firms by gender and sector ............................. 42
Figure 5.5: Education levels of manufacturing firm owners .............................................. 43
Figure 5.6: Source of markets ............................................................................................. 43
Figure 5.7: Source of markets ..............................................................................................44
Figure 5.8: Source of material inputs..................................................................................44
Figure 5.9: Sources of finance ............................................................................................. 45
Figure 5.10: Recent sources of credit ..................................................................................46
Figure 5.11: Main purpose of credit.....................................................................................46
Figure 5.12: Constraints faced by manufacturing firms ..................................................... 47
Figure 5.13: Distribution of MSMEs by size .......................................................................48
Figure 5.14: Sector of operation by MSMEs .......................................................................48
Figure 5.15: Location of businesses by premises ................................................................ 49
Figure 5.16: Education levels of MSME owners .................................................................50
Figure 5.17: Main constraints faced by MSMEs ................................................................. 53
Figure 5.18: Effects of Covid-19 on household non-farm and farm businesses ................. 54
Figure 5.19: Labour dynamics on household non-farm and farm businesses ................... 54
Figure 6.1:Main means of transport ....................................................................................58
Figure 6.2: How has the cost of your MAIN travel changed .............................................. 59
Figure 6.3:Change in travel patterns .................................................................................. 59
Figure 6.4:Has delivery of your household goods and services been affected
by COVID-19 ........................................................................................................................60
Figure 6.5: Road condition mix-classified road network ...................................................60
Figure 6.6: Per centage distribution of conventional households by ownership of ICT assets 
KPHC 2019 ..........................................................................................................................63
Figure 6.7: Why doesn’t this household have any type of internet connection? KHIBS 
2015/16 ................................................................................................................................64
Figure 6.8: Type of internet connection .............................................................................64
Figure 7.1:Distribution of households Renting/ Provided with the main dwelling unit by 
Provider ............................................................................................................................... 67
Figure 7.2: Has your household paid the rent for April 2020 on the agreed date .............68
Figure 7.3: Was the household paying rent on the agreed date with the landlord before 
COVID-19 .............................................................................................................................69
Figure 7.4:  What is the MAIN reason that has made your household unable 
to pay rent? ..........................................................................................................................69
Figure 7.5:  What measures has your household taken to overcome the effects of 
COVID-19 .............................................................................................................................70
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 9.1: COVID-19 Testing, 2020 ................................................................................... 79
Figure 10.1: Access to ICT in Households and Schools ......................................................88
Figure 12.1: Effects of COVID-19, 2020 ..............................................................................96
Figure 12.2: Difference between usual hours worked and actual hours worked during 
COVID-19 period ................................................................................................................. 97
viii
Abbreviations and Acronyms
ADPs Annual Development Plans
AFA Agriculture and Food Authority
AI Artificial Insemination
CIDC Constituency Industrial Development Centres 
CIDPs County Integrated Development Plans
DSA Drug and Substance Abuse
FAO Food and Agriculture Organization
GBV Gender Based Violence
GCP Gross County Product
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HA Hectares
ICTs Information Communication Technologies
ICU Intensive Care Unit
KCB Kenya Commercial Bank
KDHS Kenya Demographic Household Survey
KNBS Kenya National Bureau of Statistics
KNOCS Kenya National Occupational Classification Standard 
LREB Lake Region Economic Bloc
LVSR Low Volume Sealed Roads 
M.I.C.E Meetings Incentives Conferences and Exhibitions 
MSMEs Micro Small and Medium Enterprises
MT Metric Tonnes
MTPs Medium Term Plans
NGOs Non-Governmental Organizations
OSR Own Source Revenue
PFM Public Finance Management
PPEs Personal Protective Equipment
RAI Rural Access Index 
SDGs  Sustainable Development Goals
TVET Technical and Vocational Educational and Training 
UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund 
UN United Nations
WASH Water Sanitation and Hygiene
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Acknowledgements
The development of the County Technical Reports was a combined effort of various 
departments at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) with 
support and inputs from the Council of Governors and the 47 Counties. Specifically, the 
Institute wish to thank KIPPRA’s Executive Director Dr Rose Ngugi for guiding the process. 
We would also like to thank the entire KIPPRA technical and research team comprising 
Dr Eldah Onsomu, Dr Evelyne Kihiu, Mutuku Muleli, James Gachanja, Rogers Musamali, 
Paul Lutta, Daniel Omanyo, Hellen Chemnyongoi, Shadrack Mwatu, Nahashon Mwongera, 
Paul Odhiambo, Beverly Musili, Violet Nyabaro, Japheth Kathenge, Haron Ngeno, Elton 
Khaemba Ephantus Kimani, Michael Ogolla, Beatrice Mwangi, and Rosemary Murebu for 
their tireless contributions to the success of preparing the report.
x
Executive Summary
Fiscal Policy
Nairobi County total revenue has significantly grown by 80 percent from Ksh 20.11 
billion in 2013/14 to Ksh 36.16 billion in 2018/19, the highest ever. However, the 
total revenues declined in 2019/20 and 2020/21 to Ksh 23.24 billion and Ksh 
30.34 billion respectively, following the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic 
that affected revenue streams. Analysis of the sources of revenue indicate that 
equitable share from the National Government and OSR have been the main 
sources of county funding. The County receives conditional grants from the 
National Government and development partners mainly from World Bank and 
Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), and Sweden. Development 
spending related to pending bills have been greater than those related to recurrent 
expenditure on average accounting for 61.0 per cent of the pending bills portfolio. 
To ensure continued recovery, the county must now move quickly to tackle 
the problem of pending bills, mobilize more finances from OSR to increase the 
available revenues for budgetary operations, seek for more funding in form of 
grants from development partners to cater for the critical development projects in 
the county and ensure that the ongoing projects are completed before launching 
new project and clear any pending bills and arrears owed to suppliers. In addition 
to this, the Nairobi County will mobilize more finances from OSR to increase the 
available revenues for budgetary operations and seek for more funding in form of 
grants from development partners to cater for the critical development projects 
in the county. 
Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
The Agriculture and Livestock sector accounts for a very minimal share of 
economic activity in Nairobi County. Key agricultural value chain commodities 
in the County include: - maize, kales, beans bulb onion, corriander, leeks, 
tomato, kales, spinach, banana, avocado, mango, pawpaw, poultry, goats, dairy 
cattle, sheep and pig farming. Among the socioeconomic effects on the COVID 
19 pandemic on the agri-food sector in the County included negative effects on 
hours worked by in agriculture related occupations. An additional effect was a 
slow down on trade and marketing activities due to the restrictions on movements 
leading to price shocks and shortages of food items.  Agricultural productivity in 
the County is also affected by: - variable and extreme weather events; low agro-
processing and value addition opportunities; dependence of rain fed agriculture; 
low access to quality and affordable inputs; low commercialization and marketing 
opportunities; low access to major off-farm services including extension, climate 
and market information, and credit services; pests and livestock diseases; and 
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
farm losses and post-harvest waste. To successfully build resilience and enhance 
growth of the agriculture sector, the County will: explore partnerships to develop 
agro-processing and value addition capacities at the County; link farmers to 
diverse product markets; strengthen the County’s institutional capacity in disaster 
surveillance and management; enhance farmers access to critical agricultural 
inputs and services and build their technical capacity to act on information 
obtained; provision of storage and cooling facilities; natural resource management; 
and strengthen agricultural cooperatives to enhance marketing.
Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)
Clean water, proper sanitation and good hygiene remains an essential component 
in protecting human health in times of outbreak of infectious diseases. Frequent 
and correct hand hygiene has been emphasized by World Health Organization 
(WHO) as one of the frontline measures to curb transmission of Covid-19. 
This has placed a higher demand for water use in households, schools, health 
care facilities, marketplaces, workplaces, and public places. This therefore has 
necessitated the need for provision of water, sanitation, and hygiene by national 
and county governments to all. The county government is faced challenges in 
revenue collections due to COVID-19 has resulted into reduced incomes among 
households and businesses, thus deferring collection of revenue from the water 
services it provides as well as financial support to water services providers. This 
in the long run could affect the development of the water and sanitation sector. 
Additionally, COVID-19 poses health challenges to water and sanitation officers 
if they get infected, they have to be self-isolated, and this may lead to disruption 
of services. Other constraints to the sector include, drought, water leakages and 
destruction of water catchment areas. To ensure continuous availability of water, 
the national and county government to increase water supply in households, 
institutions, and public places through drilling of boreholes in all the sub-counties. 
Partner with private sector, donor agencies, local communities, and NGOs to help 
develop water infrastructure. 
Manufacturing, Trade and MSMEs 
The momentum in manufacturing, trade and MSMEs was disrupted by the 
COVID-19 pandemic as the containment measures associated with COVID-19 
pandemic took a heavy toll on the sector. The measures that were taken, such as 
closure of markets, observance of health protocols in form of social distancing 
and handwashing served to increase the cost of production and affected access 
to markets for the produce. In sustaining growth in the Manufacturing, Trade 
and MSMEs sector, the County will: Promote the County City as an economic, 
industrial and diplomatic hub as planned in the third Medium Term Plan; 
Collaborate and partner with the counties forming the Nairobi Metropolitan 
Region, that is, Kiambu, Murang’a, Machakos and Kajiado counties, to enhance 
economies of scale and market for industrial products; Invest in water projects, 
xii
Executive Summary
expand the roads and transport network to decongest the city and build adequate 
and affordable housing; Facilitate local and foreign private investors to invest 
in the Special economic Zones (SEZs); Improve power supply reliability as 
outlined in the MTP III, for example though investment in cheaper renewable 
energy; Enhance security through continuous installation of National Security 
Communication Network and the Surveillance System in the City, which is a 
Vision 2030 flagship project;  and Fast-track construction of KIRDI Research, 
Technology and Innovation Laboratory in South B, which is supposed to support 
manufacturing as per MTP III.
Infrastructure, housing and urban development 
The main means of transport used in the County is PSV matatus at 58.74 per cent, 
followed by walking. The paved County road network covers 1155.15 km, while 
the paved National roads cover 599.9 km. Out of the total paved road network of 
1755.05 km, 30.82 per cent is in good condition, 43.77 per cent in fair condition 
and 22.54 per cent in poor condition. The status of ICT access and use in the 
county is low, especially among households. The perception that individuals do 
not need to use the internet, the high cost of services, access to internet elsewhere 
than home and lack of knowledge and skills on internet are the leading reasons 
that the people of in the County do not have internet connection. The housing 
tenure is predominantly owner occupied at 9.3 per cent, with 90.6 per cent of the 
households under rental tenure. Majority of the households (75.6 per cent) did 
not receive a waiver or relief on payment of rent from the landlord, with 3.9 per 
cent reporting a partial waiver, despite inability to pay due to the pandemic. In 
addressing the prevailing challenges, the county will develop a public transport 
master plan in collaboration with the Nairobi Area Metropolitan Authority 
(NAMATA) and Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) office for integrated multi-
modal transport systems; enhance internet connectivity to public buildings and 
key trade centres to boost e-commerce especially for MSMEs in trade and business; 
and Develop a policy to promote home ownership to address the problem of rent 
distress during times of emergency and create a fund to cushion landlords and 
tenants from rent distress during periods of emergency. 
Tourism 
Nairobi City County is a major centre of tourism in the region. Its relative 
proximity to many tourist attractions areas both in Kenya and East Africa makes it 
an asset of great importance in the tourism sector. Nairobi City County has several 
world class hotels and restaurants together with excellent Meetings, Exhibitions, 
Conferences and Exhibitions (M.I.C.E) facilities. There exist eight 5-star hotels and 
eight 4-star hotels with a combined bed capacity of 5,700 beds, five 3-star hotels, 
six 2-star hotels and 122 unclassified hotels. It is also home to the largest ice-
skating rink in East Africa at the Panari Hotel’s Sky Centre covering 15,000 square 
feet and accommodating 200 people. Bed occupancy within the high-class hotels 
within the County has been growing at an average rate of 9.7 per cent with the 
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
occupancy averaging 90.0 per cent. Accommodation and food services contribute 
1.3 per cent to total GCP. The following strategies are proposed for re-engineering 
of tourism sector in the county: Promote domestic tourism to cushion the sector 
from global shocks such as pandemics and other disruption to international 
travel; Diversification and marketing of tourist product offering; come up with 
the Nairobi annual cultural festival; Improvement of hygiene standards in 
the tourist hotels and attraction sites; improvement on the sanitation aspects 
especially during the COVID-19 era whereby tourists will be seeking for touristic 
experiences that assure them of health and safety; Refurbishment of other tourist 
accommodation facilities to achieve star-rating requirements; Enforcement of 
existing laws regarding pollution and natural resource management; promote 
usage of ‘green’ energy such as solar power in tourism establishments and; 
Enhanced energy and ICT infrastructure development; establishment of county 
tourism online information portal.
Health 
In 2019/2020, the number of health facilities in the county were 1,118 which 
comprised of 1,014 primary health facilities and 4 hospitals. This was an 
improvement from a total of 868 health facilities in the previous year, 2018. The 
number of beds per 10,000 population is 143 against the WHO recommendation of 
30 beds per 10,000 population. In general, 40.7 per cent of the county population 
had some form of health insurance cover. The National Hospital Insurance Fund 
(NHIF) was the leading health insurance provider reported by 96.3 per cent of 
the population. Employer contributory insurance cover was reported by 12.9 per 
cent of the population. The county had 28.6 per cent of the children aged 12-23 
months were fully immunized against measles at 9 months while 10.4 per cent 
were fully immunized against measles at 18 months. COVID-19 has worsened 
the situation as far as youths and women are concerned. These are the groups 
have been faced several challenges even before the outbreak of the COVID-19. 
FGM and Gender based violence cases have increased with the lockdown. 
Youths who are entrepreneurs have also been affected losing jobs and businesses 
due to the lockdown. In line with the health status in the county, some of the 
recommendations that need attention include the following: The county to create 
awareness on availability and importance of free maternity services and address 
other constraints to access of maternal health services in the county to address 
risk of contracting COVID-19 in event of visiting any health facility; To reduce 
high burden of both communicable and non-communicable disease, the county 
to revamp its Community Health Strategy. This is a community based promotive 
and preventive health services. To make this more effective, the County to engage 
Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) and equip them with the relevant resources 
and skills.
Education training 
About 96.6 per cent of public primary schools in Nairobi County have been installed 
xiv
Executive Summary
with ICT infrastructure and devices under the Digital Literacy Programme (DLP). 
The Gross Attendance Rate (GAR) for pre-primary school was 80.8 per cent 
while that of primary school and secondary school was 101.3 and 88.4 per cent 
respectively in 2015/16. Just like other counties, many people in Nairobi County 
lost their jobs because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Private schools were forced to 
lay off both teaching and support (casuals) staff because they could not sustain 
their salaries. Public schools have also faced challenges in making payment for 
the other expenses such as electricity, water, and security bills. The entire county 
is not fully networked hence limited access to the e-learning programme for the 
larger portion of school children at home. Although almost all schools had access 
to the digital literacy programme, only 42.1 per cent of households had access 
to internet. Another challenge is the inability of the private schools to sustain 
their teachers while they are not in operation. The county will prioritize projects 
that improve school water, sanitation and hygiene facilities and management in 
order to reduce future effect of similar or related outbreak while promoting public 
health in learning institutions,  promote remedial/catch up lessons for learners 
who might have lagged behind also schools to utilize ICT platforms and have a 
depository of teaching and learning materials that learners could use at their 
own time and while at home, provide financial or in-kind support, such as school 
feeding, to help families overcome the increased costs of attending school, also 
provide psychosocial support to teachers and learners and fight drug and substance 
abuse among the youths in the county. This can be done through counselling and 
ensuring that they are not idle especially this period when learning institutions 
are locked.
Social Protection 
The overall poverty rates in the county stand at 47 per cent which is higher than 
the national average of 36.1 per cent. The county’s food poverty levels are at 23 
per cent and 25 per cent of the total population is multidimensionally poor. Severe 
shocks have had negative impact to the household’s economic and social welfare 
of county residents. The social and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic 
increased households’ susceptibility to Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the 
county.  Loss of jobs and business opportunities led to an increase in poverty and 
declining of people welfare. Households in the county received various forms of 
social assistance or transfers or gift either in form of a good, service, financial 
asset, or other asset by an individual, household or institution. Households in the 
county received various forms of social assistance or transfers or gift either in 
form of a good, service, financial asset, or other asset by an individual, household 
or institution. Transfers constitute income that the household receives without 
working for it and augments household income by improving its welfare. Cash 
transfers include assistance in form of currency or transferable deposits such 
as cheque and money orders. COVID-19 exposed lack of preparedness among 
counties in terms of responding to the emergencies such as COVID-19 pandemic. 
It provided an opportunity to measure how county governments are prepared 
to handle the devolved functions. COVID-19 pandemic created effects with 
immediate and long-term economic consequences for children, PWDs, elderly 
xv
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
and their families. To strengthen social protection response in face of a similar 
pandemic, the Nairobi County government to conduct mass civic education 
among the people on COVID-19 prevention measures, how to handle an infected 
person and avoidance of stigmatization of the affected person, enrol more county 
residents in welfare programmes such as NHIF which will ensure that they access 
medical treatment in case of falling sick and give tax exemption for the SMES who 
have suffered losses in their business as result of diseases outbreak. 
Labour participation
The main economic activities include livestock farming, fruit farming, sand 
harvesting, mining and trade. Loss of employment and closing of businesses due 
to COVID-19 had far reaching consequences to county residents. This has affected 
people source of income hence increasing poverty among the residents. With the 
loss of jobs in the Small and Medium Enterprises the livelihood of people working 
in these sectors were directly or indirectly affected, particularly youths as the sector 
employs most of the young population. During the pandemic, about 1.0 per cent of 
workers in the county were casual workers 48.1 per cent were regular workers (full 
time), 5.9 per cent employees were working as part time. However, about 36.0 
per cent reported decrease in income while only 0.3 per cent of people reported 
to have experienced increased income. These could be the people working in the 
health sector who are supplying medical equipment such as masks and PPEs. 
The Nairobi County government to promote implementation of a stronger labour 
market interventions and policy reforms that drive employment creation. The 
County shall deepen technical education, training and skills development; and 
invest in livestock sector in the County, promote investment and entrepreneurship 
through provision of loans, the county Government to improve access to finance 
for small and medium enterprises through lending institutions and formulate 
measures aimed at encouraging employment creation through corporate social 
responsibility (CSR), including expanding the national internship programs and 
promoting Information Technology (IT) enabled jobs. 
xvi
Introduction and Structure of Nairobi County Economy 
1.1 Introduction
Nairobi City County is the capital city of Kenya with an estimated population 
of 4,397,073 people, of which 49.8 per cent are male and 50.1 per cent female 
(KNBS, 2019) as indicated in Table 1. The county occupies a land area of 696.1 
mm2. Of the population, 42,703 (1.1%) are persons with disabilities. The youth 
constituted 45.3 per cent of the population of whom 53.0 per cent were female. 
The county has a population density of 6,247 per km2. The elderly population (65 
years and above) is made up of 1.3 per cent of the total population of whom 49.1 
per cent were female. The population in school-going age group (4-22 years) was 
35.6 per cent in 2019. 
In 2015/2016, the overall poverty rate in Nairobi County was 17.0 cent against the 
national poverty rate of 36.1 per cent. In addition, 16.3 per cent of the population 
were living in food poverty and 15.2 per cent were living in multidimensional 
poverty; that means being deprived in several dimensions including health care, 
nutrition, and adequate food, drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, education, 
knowledge of health and nutrition, housing and standard of living, and access to 
information. According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS) 
2014, 23.0 per cent of the children were stunted compared to the average national 
level at 26.0 per cent.
Table 1.1: Development indicators in Nairobi County
County National
Estimated County Population (KNBS, 2019) 4,397,073 9.2% of total 
population
•	 Males 2,192,452 49.8%
•	 Females 2,204,376 50.1%
•	 Intersex 245 0.006%
Estimated population density (km2) 6,247 82
Persons with disability 1.1% 2.2%
Population living in rural areas (%) 0.0% 68.8%
Children (0-14 years) (%) 31.4% 41.1%
1
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
School-going age (4-22 years) (%) 35.6% 68.7%
Youth 15-34 years (%) 45.3% 36.1%
Labour force (15-64 years) (%) 67.4% 55.0%
Elderly population (over 65-year-old) 1.3% 3.9%
Number of COVID-19 cases (as of 11th September  18,968 56.7% of the 
2020) (Ministry of Health); National cases were national cases
35,232 people
Poverty (2015/2016) (%) 17.0% 36.1%
Food poverty (2015/2016) (%) 16.3% 31.9%
Multidimensional poverty (2015/2016) (%) 15.2% 56.1%
Stunted children (KDHS 2014) 23.0% 26%
Gross County Product (Ksh million) 2020 2,669,829 27.5 per cent 
Share to total 
GDP
Average growth of nominal GCP (2013-2020) (%)  14.4% 104.8%
Data Source: KNBS (2019)
The age distribution of the county residents as per the 2019 Housing and Population 
Census is shown in Table 1.2. The bulk of the county’s population is in the age 
group of 15-34 years, comprising of 1,984,954 individuals. They are followed 
by persons aged 6-13 years who are the primary school children comprising of 
651,284 of the county population. The under 0-3 age comprise of 430,916 of the 
county population. This shows that the county has a general youthful population.
Table 1.2: Population distribution for selected age groups in the County 
(2019)
Age group Male Female Total
Under 0-3  216,917  213,999  430,916 
Pre-primary school age (Under 4-5)  92,385  91,600  183,985 
Primary school age (6 -13)  321,007  330,277  651,284 
Secondary school age (14-17)  127,768  144,636  272,404 
Youth population (15-34)  937,327  1,047,627  1,984,954 
Female reproductive age (15-49)   1,399,719  1,399,719 
Labour force (15-64) 1494982 1498396  1,498,396 
Aged population 65+  29,575  28,547  58,122 
Data Source: KNBS (2019)
2
Introduction and structure of Nairobi County Economy
1.2 Level of Socio-economic Deprivations
In 2015/2016, 40.7 per cent of the population had health insurance cover, 46.5 per 
cent lived in premises with water, 8.1 per cent lived in their own homes and 85.8 
per cent had access to mobile telephone (Table 1.3) and majority of the households 
(99.3s%) had access to toilet facility. As a result, the multi-dimensional poverty is 
estimated at 15.2 per cent.
Table 1.3: Level of deprivations for the various indicators for 
multidimensional poverty in the county 
Indicator Details Percentage Distribution (%)
Population with 
Health care health insurance 40.7
cover
Zero (in premises) 46.5
Drinking water (time less than 30 
taken to fetch) minutes
50.9
30 minutes or 
longer 0.4
Proportion of 
households with 
toilet facility 99.3
Shared toilet 68.8
Not shared 31.2
Sanitation and hygiene Place to wash 
hands outside toilet 43.6
facility
No place to wash 
hands outside toilet 
facility 55.6
Education (population 3 Ever attended 97.5
years and above by school 
attendance status) Never attended 1.8
Participated 
in community 
Knowledge of health nutrition 
and nutrition (children programmes 52.2
aged 0-59 months that 
participated in community Did not participate 
nutrition programmes) in community 
nutrition 46.8
programmes
3
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Housing and standard of Owner occupier 8.1
living (house ownership) Pays rent/lease 86.4
Television 88
Access to information 
(population aged 3 Radio 89.1
years and above by ICT Mobile phone 85.8
equipment and services Computer 29
used)
Internet 43.8
Data Source: KIHBS 2015/16
1.3 Structure of Nairobi County Economy
Nairobi County Gross County Product (GCP) accounted for 14.4 per cent of total 
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) between 2013 and 2020 (Figure 1). The GCP 
increased from Ksh 1,328,511 million in 2013 to Ksh 2,669,829 million in 2020, 
representing an average annual growth rate of 14.4 per cent. 
The services sector includes such activities as wholesale and retail trade while 
industries and manufacturing include large scale industries and processing of 
consumer goods producers (plastic, furniture, batteries, textiles, soap, cigarettes, 
and flour), agricultural products processing, oil refining, and cement, and various 
manufactured goods for export.
Figure 1.1: Structure of the county economy, 2020
Data Source: KNBS (2019)
1.4 COVID-19 Caseload and Implications of Mobility Restrictions 
As of March 2020, Nairobi County had zero cases. However, by August 2020, the 
County had reported 6,775 COVID-19 cases with mobility stringency of 70.4. The 
4
Introduction and structure of Nairobi County Economy
caseload would rise to 70,908 by August 2021, with mobility stringency of 56.0. 
The mobility stringency index is a composite measure rescaled to a value from 0 to 
100 (100=strictest) based on nine response mobility indicators. The nine metrics 
used to calculate the mobility stringency index are: school closures, workplace 
closures, cancellation of public events, restrictions on public gatherings, closure 
of public transport, stay-at-home requirements, public information campaigns, 
restrictions on internal movements and international travel controls. An index 
measure closer to one hundred means high incidence or severity of mobility 
restrictions. The County mobility stringency index implies the severity of the 
restrictions was moderate. 
Table 1.4: COVID-19 cases in Nairobi County and the country’s mobility 
stringency
Date Total cases Mobility stringency (0-100)
13th March 2020 1 36.1
23rd August 2020 6,775 70.4
23rd August 2021 70,908 56.0
Data Source: Oxford University
New COVID-19 cases in Nairobi County were highest from May 2020-July 2020, 
October 2020-December 2020, March 2021-May 2021, and July 2021-August 
2021. During the four time-periods, spikes in new cases in the County were 
preceded by relaxation of COVID-19 mobility restrictions. Reduction in the 
County’s new cases was similarly preceded by tightening of mobility restrictions. 
Figure 1.2: COVID-19 cases in Nairobi County and the country’s 
mobility stringency
Data Source: Oxford University
Demand for residential space and public transport have remained resilient 
throughout the COVID-19 period. Demand for parks has, however, under-
performed in the County even when mobility restrictions were least stringent. With 
vacation of mobility restrictions in October 2021, demand for public transport 
and workspaces has been strong.
5
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 1.3: Effect of COVID 19 in Nairobi County economic performance 
and the national mobility stringency 
Data Source: Oxford University
The broad objective of the report is to analyze the socio-economic effects of 
COVID-19 across sectors and propose interventions for mitigating the effects. The 
report is organized as follows. Chapter 2 focuses on fiscal policy; chapter 3 focuses 
on agriculture, livestock and fisheries; chapter 4 focuses on water sanitation and 
hygiene; chapter 5 focuses on manufacturing, trade and MSEs; chapter 6 focuses 
on transport and information and communication technology; chapter 7 focuses 
on urban development; chapter 8 focuses on tourism, chapter 9 focuses on 
health; chapter 10 focuses on education and training; chapter 11 focuses on social 
protection; chapter 12 focuses on labour participation and chapter 13 concludes 
the report. 
6
2. Socio-economic Effect of COVID-19
2.1 Fiscal Policy
County revenues are critical in financing the recurrent and development 
expenditures. Timely and adequate funding aid counties in implementing projects. 
The County’s main revenue sources comprise of the transfers from the National 
Government, Conditional Grants, and Own Source Revenue (OSR). 
Transfers from National Government
Nairobi County total revenue has significantly grown by 80 per cent from Ksh 
20.11 billion in 2013/14 to Ksh 36.16 billion in 2018/19, the highest ever. However, 
the total revenues declined in 2019/20 and 2020/21 to Ksh 23.24 billion and Ksh 
30.34 billion, respectively, following the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic 
that affected revenue streams. The amount realized in 2020/21 was 80.4 per 
cent of the annual budget allocation of Ksh 37.88 billion, an improvement from 
63.4 per cent attained in 2019/20. The improvement was supported by the one 
hundred per cent disbursement of equitable shares and increase in conditional 
grants from the National Government.
Analysis of the sources of revenue indicate that equitable share from the National 
Government and OSR have been the main sources of county funding (Figure 2.1). 
Equitable share from the National Government contributed an averaged 54.26 per 
cent of the total revenue between 2013/14 to 2020/21. Additionally, it increased 
by 104.3 per cent from Ksh 9.51 billion in 2013/14 to Ksh 9.42 billion in 2020/21, 
underscoring its importance in financing County operations. The amount received 
in 2020/21 accounted for one hundred per cent of the annual budget allocation. 
This implied that the County received all expected amount from the National 
Government to finance its operations, accentuating its commitment to support 
county operations through timely financing. 
Figure 2.1: Share of county revenues by source
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget (Various reports) 
7
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Monthly cash transfers from the National Government have had an increasing 
trend from January to June over the years as shown in Table 2.1. A similar trend 
was observed in 2020 with the transfers growing by 65 per cent from Ksh 7.14 
billion received in January to Ksh 11.74 billion received in June. In comparison to 
2019, the total amount transferred to Nairobi County in March, April, May, and 
June of 2020 decreased by 22 per cent from Ksh 48.03 billion to Ksh. 37.41 billion. 
To enable the county to undertake its budget operations and curb the spread of 
COVID-19, it was expected that more funds were transferred in the subsequent 
months.
Table 2.1: Monthly cash transfers from National Government
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Oct Nov Dec
2021 6,226.39 6,279.40 - - - - 4,812.42 - -
2020 7,135.32 7,135.32 7,135.32 8,221.21 10,316.36 11,739.99 3,599.60 3,599.60 3,599.60
2019 6,501.44 7,796.03 9,322.30 10,743.78 12,007.32 15,957.82 12,007.32 4,067.25 567,321.77
2018 8,775.02 8,825.29 9,893.45 11,115.63 11,206.20 15,625.68 1,895.30 3,342.60 4,922.02
2017 - - 10,757.75 11,879.75 12,951.63 14,023.51 5,014.46 - -
2016 - - 8,772.71 9,812.44 11,956.88 11,956.88 - - -
Data source: Gazette Notice (Various issues)
Conditional grants
The County receives conditional grants from the National Government and 
development partners from World Bank and Danish International Development 
Agency (DANIDA), and Sweden. During 2020/21, Nairobi County received 
Ksh 195.63 million and Ksh 58.52 million from the National Government and 
Development partners, respectively. The contribution of condition grants to 
total revenue has been low. On average, the grants contributed 1.42 per cent 
of the County total revenue between 2013/14 and 2020/21. In nominal terms, 
conditional grants decreased by 34.91 per cent from Ksh 390.47 million in 2013/14 
to Ksh 254.15 million in 2020/21. To attract more funding inform of grants, the 
County needs to maintain good relations, and comply fully to the requirements of 
its development partners. 
Own Source Revenue
The County has for some time been deemed as the best performing county on 
OSR collection. OSR remains a major source of revenue in Nairobi County, 
contributing an average of 39.56 per cent of the total revenue between 2013/14 
and 2020/21 (Figure 2.1). Notably, the County recorded the largest share of OSR 
to total revenue in 2013/14 and 2015/16 of 49.86 and 45.65 per cent, respectively.
Analysis of annual County OSR performance shows a stable trend over the years, 
averaging Ksh 10.43 billion between 2014/15 and 2020/21 (Figure 2.2). The 
performance of actual OSR versus target indicate that the county achieved more 
than 50 per cent of its target over the period under review, attaining a high of 
86.31 per cent of its target in 2014/15 (Figure 2.2). During 2019/20, the County 
generated Ksh 8.52 billion from OSR, which was 16.9 per cent decrease compared 
to Ksh 10.25 billion realized during 2018/19. The county was unable to achieve its 
8
Socio-economic effect of COVID-19
target due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which negatively affected many businesses 
that are the main OSR contributors. In addition, most of the hotels and business 
had been closed affecting the County’s revenue generation and collection. With 
easing of the containment measures, the County generated Ksh 8.53 billion as 
OSR, an increase of 16.8 per cent compared to the amount realized in 2019/20. 
Figure 2.2: Annual own source revenue targets and actual collections
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget (Various reports)
The county collects most of its OSR during the third quarter (Figure 2.3). This is 
due to the timeline of single business payments, which elapse on 31st March of every 
year. The quarterly collections for 2019/20 were dismal compared to collections 
of other financial years. The lower collections experienced in corresponding 
quarters was attributed to the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic that led to 
slow down of economic activities in the county, hampering revenue generation 
and collection. The measures instituted to curb the spread of the coronavirus, 
such as curfew hours and the County lock down, significantly affected business 
operations, which further contributed to decline in OSR generation. During 
2020/21, the County registered slight improvements in each quarter compared 
to 2019/20 as shown in Figure 2.3. The improvements signified recovery in the 
various sectors of the economy supported by the easing of containment measures 
across the country. Going forward, the OSR performance is envisaged to rebound 
to its original performance once the economy recovers fully. 
9
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 2.3: Quarterly own source revenue collection
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget (Various reports) 
County Expenditure Analysis
Economic and political crises, natural disasters (such as droughts and flooding), 
security challenges and health crisis (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) highlight 
the consequential risks and underlying vulnerabilities in national and county level 
budgetary and planning system. These can substantially affect public resources 
and in cases of weaker planning systems they may impact the nature and level of 
service delivery to the citizen. 
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the productive role of 
targeted and strategic county level expenditure. The 2014 UN Secretary General’s 
Synthesis Report on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) states that “many 
of the investments to achieve the sustainable development goals will take place at 
the sub-national level and be led by local authorities”1. It is at the counties that 
economic activity takes place and when spending priorities and execution are 
done just right, then the County and country will be set to the desired development 
trajectory.
Despite their constrained fiscal autonomy (such as inability to borrow funds) 
and relatively small budgets, the County government has a key role to play in 
promoting growth as espoused in the Kenya Constitution. This is particularly the 
case with development expenditure, which is within the assigned remit of county 
as per the PFM Act of 2012 and is key to the county’s future growth prospects, 
given several decades of under-investment, which have constrained productive 
capacity in the local economy.
Trends and profile of county government expenditures
County expenditure has over the years been rising as the county escalates its 
efforts in provision of services to its residents. Total county expenditure has 
grown significantly since 2013/14. With the implementation of the first full year 
county budget in 2013/14, actual expenditure in the county increased from Ksh 
1 UN General Assembly (2014), p. 22, par. 94.
10
Socio-economic effect of COVID-19
17,774.9 million to Ksh 29,398.2 million in 2018/19 before dropping to Ksh 
23,353.4 million in 2019/20 and then increasing to Ksh 30,136.1 million at the 
end of 2020/21 (Figure 2.4). Cumulatively, the county has spent Ksh 192.3 billion 
between 2013/14 and 2020/21. This comprises of a cumulative Ksh 164.5 billion 
and Ksh 27.8 billion on recurrent and development expenditure, representing 
85.5 per cent and 14.5 per cent of the cumulative recurrent and development 
expenditure, respectively. This signals that more development expenditure is 
required to support deepening of capital spending in the county. 
Figure 2.4: County expenditure analysis
Figure 2.4(a): Trends in actual Figure 2.4 (b): Trends in actual  per 
aggregate expenditure capita expenditure 
 35,000
7,829.9 
 30,000
9,379.6 
 25,000
7,631.77 ,931.3 
 20,000 6,698.6 6,853.7 
 15,000 5,663.7 5,311.1 
 10,000
 5,000
 -
Recurrent Development Total
  
 
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget
Consistent with the nominal growth in actual county expenditure, spending on a 
per capita basis has shown upward growth over the period. In 2013/14, per capita 
spending in the county was about Ksh 5,663.7 compared to Ksh 9,3756 in 2018/19 
and Ksh 6,853.7 in 2020/21. The average per capita spending between 2013/14 
and 2020/21 stood at Ksh 7,162.4. 
Utilization of public resources in the county
Analysis of expenditure by economic classification and by department (spending 
priorities) reveal interesting insights. It is evident that since inception of 
devolution, the county government prioritized narrowing the economic and social 
infrastructure gaps. Much of government development expenditure has been 
dominant in provision of health services, public works, education, agriculture, 
and trade and industry.
11
Amount (Ksh million)
Amount (Ksh)
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 2.5: County government expenditure by economic classification 
(% of total county government expenditure
100%
90% 12.4 10.9 17.4 15.2 
8.9 8.5 
20.1 18.7 
80% 19.3 22.9 30.7 
70% 34.8 26.4 30.8 
60% 33.2 48.9 
50%
40%
68.3 
30% 66.2 56.2 54.0 60.5 56.7 
20% 46.7 
32.4 
10%
0%
2013/14 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21
Compensa�on  of Emloyees O&M Development Expenditure
 
 
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget
County development expenditure accounted for an average of 14.0 per cent of 
total county spending between 2013/14 and 2020/21 as represented in Figure 2.5. 
In 2017/18 and 2019/20, the share of development expenditure performed poorly 
and accounted for just 8.9 per cent and 8.5 per cent of the county expenditure, 
respectively. Over the review period, Nairobi County development expenditure 
has not gone beyond 21.0 per cent of its total expenditure. Compensation of 
employees has been burgeoning between 2013/14 and 2020/21. The average 
share of compensation of employees in total county budget over the review period 
was 55.1 per cent. It is only in 2018/19 and to 2020/21, that compensation of 
employees accounted for less than half of the county total spending.
Reflecting on expenditure by functional classification (priority spending), the 
County spent a combined average of 52.3 per cent of total expenditure during 
2014/15 to 2020/21 on non-administrative services such health and emergency 
services (17.7%); public works, transport and infrastructure (9.7%); education, 
youth affairs, sports, culture and social services (6.1%); environment, water, 
energy, and natural resources (6.4%); Nairobi metropolitan services (5.7%); 
trade, commerce, tourism, and cooperatives (1.7%); urban planning and lands 
(1.3%); agriculture, livestock development, fisheries and forestry (1.1%); ICT, 
E-government and public communication (1.0%), and emergency funds (0.2%). 
During the review period, coordination and administrative functions accounted 
for a combined 47.7 per cent, with Office of the Governor and Deputy Governor 
leading at 20.3 per cent followed by Finance and Economic Planning at 15.9 per 
cent, County Assembly at 6.0 per cent, Public Service Management 5.3 per cent, 
while County Public Service Board accounting for 0.2 per cent.
12
Socio-economic effect of COVID-19
13
Table 2.2: County departmental/priority spending
Average 
Average spending share 
Department 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 spending (%)
Office of Governor and Deputy Governor 5,349.4 4,574.1 5,193.6 5,161.6 6,431.3 4,770.2 4,488.6 5,138.4 20.29
Health 5,246.7 4,904.9 4,229.9 5,435.1 5,570.2 5,294.4 625.6 4,472.4 17.66
Finance and Economic Planning 2,131.5 3,010.1 3,808.5 3,002.1 4,158.4 5,144.0 7,001.9 4,036.6 15.94
Public Works, Transport and 
Infrastructure 2,341.9 3,011.3 3,241.1 1,855.8 4,684.9 1,693.6 412.0 2,463.0 9.73
Environment, Water, Energy and Natural 
Resources, 1,174.8 1,613.6 2,154.2 1,629.2 2,390.6 1,470.1 884.6 1,616.7 6.38
Education, Youth Affairs, Sports, Culture 
and Social Services 1,319.5 1,755.6 1,647.7 1,537.3 1,857.4 932.5 1,706.4 1,536.6 6.07
County Assembly 1,351.2 1,743.2 1,572.2 1,482.0 1,393.1 1,303.8 1,822.6 1,524.0 6.02
Nairobi Metropolitan Services - - - - - - 10,080.7 1,440.1 5.69
Public Service Management 1,082.2 1,438.3 1,448.3 2,159.8 925.9 1,045.1 1,290.1 1,341.4 5.30
Trade, Commerce, Tourism and 
Cooperatives 214.8 657.8 372.5 396.4 533.7 402.7 416.5 427.8 1.69
Urban Planning and Lands 322.9 489.1 272.8 343.1 421.4 354.6 146.6 335.8 1.33
Agriculture, Livestock Development, 
Fisheries and Forestry 272.0 280.2 379.1 313.7 290.4 239.4 229.0 286.3 1.13
ICT, E-Government and Public 
Communications 162.1 426.1 322.8 244.5 224.0 108.5 257.4 249.3 0.98
Ward Development Programmes - - - 840.0 99.8 214.4 70.1 174.9 0.69
Liquor Licensing Board - - - - 209.3 222.5 294.3 103.7 0.41
Urban Renewal and Housing - - 158.7 94.2 151.3 84.6 14.6 71.9 0.28
Emergency Funds - - - - 29.7 43.1 300.5 53.3 0.21
County Public Service Board 53.8 46.9 57.4 46.9 26.8 30.1 94.1 50.8 0.20
Total 21,022.6 23,951.0 24,858.7 24,541.5 29,398.1 23,353.6 30,135.8 25,323.0 100.00
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Effectiveness of County spending
Total budget execution averaged 76.3 per cent in 2013/14 to 2020/21. In 2013/14, 
overall total budget execution stood at 70.5 per cent. This execution improved 
to 88.2 per cent and 82.3 per cent in 2016/17 and 2015/16, respectively, before 
taking a dip in 2016/17 then rising to 88.2 per cent in 2019/19 then declining 
to 63.1 per cent in 2019/20, the lowest absorption recorded since devolution. At 
the end of 2020/21, budget absorption stood at 79.6 per cent, meaning that in 
2020/21, only Ksh. 30.1 billion was utilized out of the approved budget of Ksh 
37.9 billion (Figure 2.6). 
Figure 2.6: County approved expenditure and absorption rates
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget
Regarding development budget execution in the county, the average absorption 
rate between 2013/14 and 2020/21 was 42.5 per cent (implying that on average 
over 57.0 per cent of the development budget is not absorbed). This implies 
existence of shortfalls in budget implementation, and the county to continue 
tightening budget implementation to ensure achievement of greater absorption 
rates to achieve the targets in Annual Development Plans (ADPs) and the County 
Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs). On recurrent expenditure, the execution 
has been robust over the years, the average absorption rate has been 88.7 per cent 
leaving about 11.3 per cent of unspent recurrent budget. 
14
Socio-economic effect of COVID-19
Figure 2.7: Absorption rates for recurrent and development 
expenditures (%)
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget
Pending Bills
Nairobi County has had issues of not reporting its data on pending bills, especially 
for 2016/17 and 2018/19 while in 2020/21 only the sum of pending bills was 
reported without details of what per cent relates to development and recurrent 
expenditure. Nonetheless, pending bills in the County are dominated by those 
related to recurrent expenditure, especially repairs and maintenance. Payment 
of all pending bills in their respective fiscal year enhances the execution of both 
development and recurrent budget in subsequent years by releasing funds meant 
for subsequent years.
Figure 2.8: Profile of county pending bills
Data Source: Office of the Controller of Budget
To achieve its overall goal of improving lives and livelihoods of its residents, the 
County Government must now move quickly to tackle the problem of pending 
15
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
bills. Increasing and persistent pending bills is a threat to the survival of the 
private sector, particularly primary firms that trade with the County government. 
These firms are critical for employment creation and driving economic activity 
within the County. These bills have not only affected their profitability and overall 
performance but have also become a threat to private sector in general and the 
families that depend on these firms through ripple effect. If not well monitored, 
these could grow and eat up on the county’s already thin revenue sources.
2.2 Recommendations
(i) Mobilize more finances from OSR to increase the available revenues for 
budgetary operations.
(ii) Seek for more funding in form of grants from development partners to 
cater for critical development projects in the county. 
(iii) Ensure that the ongoing projects are completed before launching new 
project and clear any pending bills and arrears owed to suppliers.
(iv) Ensure the ongoing infrastructure project are completed and suppliers 
paid within the specified timelines for optimal returns to investment and 
to spur private sector activity.
(v) Improve budget execution and absorption of development budget by 
harmonizing project implementation cycles to budgeting and fast-track 
exchequer releases.
(vi) Reduction of expenditure on compensation of employees within the PFM 
requirement since ballooning compensation of employees potentially 
affects execution of key development programmes especially if not 
brought to sustainable levels.
(vii) Monitoring and prompt payment of pending bills as they limit execution 
of planned activities in subsequent budgets.
16
3. Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
3.1 Characteristics of the Sector
Agriculture accounts for a very minimal share of economic activity in Nairobi 
County. Less than one per cent of the County’s economic activity is driven by the 
agriculture sector. In 2017, agriculture accounted for Ksh 4,102 million out of the 
total Ksh 1,492,323 million Gross County Product (GCP) amounting to 0.3 per 
cent of the County’s GCP. 
About 2 per cent of households in Nairobi County practice farming. About 1.09 
per cent of the households produce crops, 1.51 per cent produce livestock, 0.02 per 
cent practice aquaculture and about 0.05 per cent are involved in fishing. About 
0.22 per cent of households practice irrigation farming.
Table 3.1: Distribution of households practicing agriculture, fishing 
and irrigation by county and sub-county
County/ Total Farming Crop Livestock Aquaculture Fishing Irrigation
Sub-County Households Production Production
Households
Kenya 12,143,913 6,354,211 5,555,974 4,729,288 29,325 109,640 369,679
Nairobi 1,506,888 32,258 16,359 22,818 279 697 3,343
Dagoretti 155,089 5,691 3,298 3,818 29 81 577
Embakasi 347,955 3,224 1,361 2,344 36 122 315
Kamukunji 84,365 459 208 313 10 27 56
Kasarani 271,290 6,136 3,349 4,044 53 125 707
Kibra 61,690 737 334 522 9 41 71
Lang’ata 62,239 1,712 1,099 1,012 35 50 258
Makadara 70,361 639 199 503 4 14 45
Mathare 74,967 735 298 560 6 28 62
Njiru 204,563 10,642 4,642 8,484 46 117 886
Starehe 69,389 483 279 316 14 22 63
Westlands 104,980 1,800 1,292 902 37 70 303
Source: KNBS (2019), Kenya Population and Housing Census
On the scale of production, the FAO criterion on land size is used to identify 
smallholder farmers as those producers that “fall in the bottom 40 per cent of the 
cumulative distribution’’ (Khalil et al., 2017). Using this criterion, about 14.5 per 
cent of the farming households in Nairobi County are “small-scale” farming with 
a land holding of 0.675 or less acres of land. 
17
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 3.1: Scale of operation: Per cent of households
Source: KIHBS 2015/2016. Figures for a period of the 12 months
An overall analysis of the county agricultural production indicates among the top 
food crops produced by households in Nairobi include maize, kales and beans.
Table 3.2: Distribution of households growing crops by type, county, 
and sub-county
County/Sub Nairobi Dagoretti Embakasi Kamukunji Kasarani Kibra
County
Maize 9,867 2,319 699 95 1,904 187
Kales 9,573 2,057 704 99 1,934 201
Beans 7,610 2,029 526 63 1,283 152
County/Sub-
Lang’ata Makadara Mathare Njiru Starehe Westlands
County
Maize 533 106 178 2,950 158 738
Kales 734 92 147 2,715 113 777
Beans 414 77 142 2,180 124 620
Source: 2019 Kenya Population and Housing Census
Resource productivity is another key important factor in determining the agro-
processing potential (scale) of the county and would have a great impact on farmers’ 
incomes and the county’s GCP. An assessment of horticultural productivity 
indicates Nairobi’s value of fruits production in 2019 amounted to Ksh 51.971 
million. The area under fruit was 119.04 Ha, with a production of 1630.2 MT. The 
major fruits grown in order of value importance are banana, avocado, mango and 
pawpaw. 
Table 3.3: Fruits grown in Nairobi County 
Type of Fruit Area in Production in Value in Shillings
Ha Tons
Banana 52 789 26,216,021
Avocado 20 333 10,742,480
Mango 26 307 10,005,568
18
Agriculture, livestock and fisheries
Pawpaw 9 88 2,002,900
Loquats 2 53 590,000
Purple Passion Fruits 2 5 500,000
S/Berry 0 2 319,000
Oranges 2 3 300,000
Tangerines 1 3 300,000
Lemons 1 3 300,000
Grapefruits 1 3 300,000
Guavas 2 28 270,000
Tree Tomato - 8 65,000
Thorn/Horn Melons 1 5 50,000
Macadamia Nuts 0.04 0.2 10,500
Total 119.04 1630.2 51,971,469
Source: Agriculture and Food Authority – AFA (2019)
In 2019, the value of vegetables production in the County amounted to Ksh 226.05 
million. The area under vegetables was 502.18 Ha with a production of 46,565.02 
MT. The major vegetables grown in order of value importance are tomato, kales, 
spinach, cowpea, cabbage, leaf amaranth, and African nightshade.
Table 3.4: Vegetables grown in Nairobi County
Type of Vegetables Area in Ha P r o d u c t i o n in Tons Value in Shillings
Tomato 60 1,791 104,044,548
Kales 166 1,644 32,197,104
Spinach 79 812 19,293,714
Cowpea 37 40,409 11,331,955
Cabbage 20 343 11,136,000
Leaf amaranth 23 398 10,576,307
African nightshade 24 387 10,067,761
Bell pepper/Sweet 
pepper 17 125 7,173,832
Spider plant 14 113 3,165,554
Brocolli 4 46 2,610,010
Potato 15 167 2,554,410
Lettuce 4 43 2,530,510
Cauliflower 4 43 2,320,020
Egg plant 8 74 2,155,000
Carrots 7 63 1,747,000
19
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Cucumber 4 35 1,073,634
Courgettes/Squash/
Marrow 2 21 641,319
Pumpkin fruit 3 22 400,000
Pumpkin leaves 1 9 348,000
Garden peas 6 3 192,000
French beans 2 3 120,000
Russian comfrey/
Mafaki 0 2 110,000
Butter nut 1 5 100,000
Beetroot 1 6 90,000
Malabor Gourd/
Kahurura 0.1 1 50,000
Vine Spinach/
Nderema 0.08 0.02 20,000
Total 502.18 46,565.02 226,048,678
Source: Agriculture and Food Authority – AFA (2019)
In 2019, the value of MAPs production in the County amounted to Ksh 22.35 
million. The area under MAPSs was 56 Ha with a production of 579 MT. The 
major MAPs grown are bulb onion, corriander, and leeks.
Table 3.5: Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAPs) grown in Nairobi 
County 
Type of Medicinal Area in Ha Production Value in Shillings
and Aromatic Plants in Tons
(MAPs)
Bulb Onion 17 225 10,014,998
Corriander 14 141 4,738,393
Leeks 8 80 4,254,758
Spring Onion/Green 15 121 2,644,260
Shallots
Celery 2 12 700,008
Total 56 579 22,352,417
Source: Agriculture and Food Authority – AFA (2019)
Floriculture is a key sub-sector in the agriculture sector and a major contributor 
of foreign exchange after diaspora, tourism, and tea. The flowers grown in Nairobi 
County are Roses. In 2019, the value of flowers production in the County amounted 
to Ksh 1.68 billion. The area under flowers was 40 Ha with a production of 420 
MT. 
20
Agriculture, livestock and fisheries
Table 3.6: Flowers grown in Nairobi County 
Flowers Area in Ha Production in Tons Value in Shillings
Roses 40 420 1,680,000,000
Source: Agriculture and Food Authority – AFA (2019)
Regarding animal production, households in Nairobi County mainly rear poultry, 
goats, dairy cattle, sheep, and pigs. A lower percentage of farming households 
practice bee keeping (apiculture) and aquaculture. 
Table 3.7: Distribution of households rearing livestock and fish by 
county and sub-county
County/Sub Kenya Nairobi Dagoretti Embakasi Kamukunji Kasarani
County
Indigenous 3,337,700 16,471 2,567 1,593 217 2,853
chicken
Goats 1,898,887 3,863 548 389 32 636
Exotic chicken 194,517 3,432 576 405 55 611
layers
Exotic cattle 939,916 2,286 577 210 14 423
-Dairy
Exotic chicken 79,461 1,813 281 202 32 314
broilers
Sheep 1,299,893 1,754 340 144 23 226
Pigs 110,383 1,586 548 188 5 286
Rabbits 124,122 1,253 234 137 13 232
Indigenous cattle 2,260,439 1,242 160 187 13 156
Exotic cattle -Beef 167,625 595 116 79 10 112
Donkeys 500,682 286 15 44 3 27
Fishponds 22,019 208 23 22 8 42
Beehives 201,406 154 23 11 1 16
Fish cages 3,361 57 7 10 2 11
County/Sub Kibra Lang’ata Makadara Mathare Njiru Starehe Westlands
County
Indigenous 364 675 371 381 6,636 230 584
chicken
Exotic chicken 74 141 106 120 1,125 57 162
layers
Exotic chicken 72 58 63 69 607 34 81
broilers
Goats 71 180 64 107 1,643 51 142
Indigenous cattle 45 134 15 46 401 35 50
Exotic cattle 44 135 32 42 644 40 125
-Dairy
Sheep 35 158 18 47 647 21 95
Rabbits 34 52 34 33 418 19 47
21
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Exotic cattle -Beef 12 38 11 24 138 23 32
Donkeys 7 18 5 15 141 7 4
Pigs 7 37 51 42 364 10 48
Beehives 5 40 4 12 20 9 13
Fishponds 5 29 2 4 39 7 27
Fish cages 1 7 1 2 5 2 9
Source: KNBS (2019), Kenya Population and Housing Census
The above characterization of farming households highlights the priority value 
chain opportunities in maize, kales, beans bulb onion, corriander, leeks, tomato, 
kales, spinach, banana, avocado, mango, pawpaw, poultry, goats, dairy cattle, 
sheep, and pig farming. With majority of the households farming the identified 
products, the current Nairobi transformation strategy in agriculture should 
prioritize value chains in the identified areas to positively impact household’s 
livelihoods.
Agri-Food Challenges in COVID-19 
i) Human capital/Employment levels – by gender
Agricultural labour participation in Nairobi indicates relative dominance by either 
gender in specific agriculture-related occupations. Majority of the population in 
Nairobi are the agricultural, fishery and related labourers. The workers in this 
sub-major group include farmhands and related labourers; forestry labourers; and 
fishery, hunting and trapping labourers. The second most popular sub-category of 
workers are farm workers where the group covers occupations related to: field 
crop, vegetable and horticultural farm workers; poultry, dairy and livestock 
producers; and crop and animal producers. The popular category among female 
workers in Nairobi County is the subsistence agricultural and fishery workers. The 
workers in this sub-major group grow and harvest field or tree and shrub crops, 
grow vegetables and fruit, tend or hunt animals, gather wild fruits and plants, 
catch fish and gather other forms of aquatic life to provide food, shelter and a 
minimum of cash income for themselves and their households. The classifications 
are based on the Kenya National Occupational Classification Standard (KNOCS).
22
Agriculture, livestock and fisheries
Figure 3.2: Agriculture related labor force participation 
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
An assessment of the COVID-19 effects on hours worked in agriculture-related 
occupations indicates workers in majority of the identified sub-sectors worked 
fewer hours in the reference period compared with the usual hours worked per 
week. The most affected workers are the agricultural, fishery and related labourers 
who recorded the highest difference of 8 hours between the usual and actual hours 
worked in a week. 
Figure 3.3: Changes in hours worked by in agriculture related 
occupations
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
23
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
The identified COVID-19 effects on labour force participation are likely to have 
negative effects on output thereby increasing yield gaps.
ii) Market operations 
Successful transformation of smallholder agricultural production in Nairobi 
County from subsistence to an innovative, commercially oriented, and modern 
agricultural sector, as aspired in the national ASTGS, is dependent on the 
ability of the County to market its commodities both in domestic, regional, and 
international markets.
As a result of COVID-19, there has been a further slow down on trade activities due 
to the restrictions on movements. From the KNBS conducted between 30th May 
and 6th June 2020, 11.1 per cent of the households in Nairobi County indicated 
that over the past 1 week, there had been instances where the household or a 
member of the household could not access the markets/grocery stores to purchase 
food items.
Figure 3.4: Limited access to markets to purchase food items 
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
Majority of the households indicated the key reasons for not accessing the markets/
grocery stores to purchase food items were movement restrictions (57.2%) and 
closure of the markets/grocery stores (23.9%).
24
Agriculture, livestock and fisheries
Figure 3.5: Reason for limited access to markets/ grocery stores
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
Restrictions affecting seamless movement of food commodities are likely to cause 
a hike in prices in non-production areas and fall in prices in production areas. 
80 per cent of households in Nairobi County indicated that that food prices had 
increased over the past 2 weeks from the reference period, while 18 per cent 
indicated that they had not experienced a change in the prices
Figure 3.6: Percentage of households experiencing change in food 
commodity prices 
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
On the magnitude of the price shocks, 54 per cent of the households indicated they 
faced a large rise in food prices in the past two weeks from the reference period.
25
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 3.7: Proportion of households facing large food price shocks 
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
Poor access to markets also hinders the ability to supply food to the population as 
shown in the below figure.
Figure 3.8: Per cent of households reporting that the following food 
items were not readily available in their locality
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
While access to all food groups were affected as shown in the figure above, a key 
concern is that the food groups affected most are the nutritious food categories- 
fruits, legumes/nuts and vegetables, which are necessary for boosting the immune 
system of the population. 
Among the key strategies adopted by households to mitigate COVID-19 effects 
on food consumption include relying on less preferred and less expensive foods 
(59.62%), purchase food on credit or incurred debt (43.81%), decreased buying 
26
Agriculture, livestock and fisheries
some non-food products (38.02%), and limit portion size at mealtimes (37.81%).
Figure 3.9: Per cent of households where the following strategies were 
adopted for at least one day
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
Additional challenges faced by the County, albeit at low levels during the COVID-19 
pandemic period include Desert locusts (0.7%); Floods/ Mudslides/ Landslides 
(2%); and Livestock Diseases (0.7%).
27
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 3.10: Percentage of households who experienced the below 
shocks in the past two weeks the KNBS Wave 2 survey 
Desert Locust Floods/ Mudslides/ Landslides
0.7% 2.0%
98.0%
99.3%
No Yes No Yes
  
Livestock Diseases
0.7%
99.3%
No Yes
 
 
Source: KNBS Survey on Socio Economic Impact of COVID-19 on Households-
Wave 2
Agri-Food Constraints Faced in the County 
Among the key constraints the county faces include:
(i) Low access by farmers to quality and affordable inputs including 
certified seeds, water, animal feeds, artificial insemination (AI) services, 
fertilizers, and livestock vaccination 
(ii) Low commercialization of farming where majority of farmers practice 
farming for subsistence purposes and as a hobby rather than a business. 
(iii) Flash Floods affecting farm productivity 
(iv) Low agro-processing and value addition opportunities among small 
scale farmers 
(v) Slow uptake of digital platforms to market agricultural produce. 
(vi) Need to enhance/ revive extension services in the County
(vii) Farm losses and post-harvest waste.
28
Agriculture, livestock and fisheries
The above challenges lead to the overall impact of reducing farm output, farmer 
incomes and increasing the vulnerability of households to food insecurity and 
climate variability particularly drought and flood episodes. 
3.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Agriculture Sector 
The County has opportunities in:
a) Developing County-private partnership in enhancing agro-processing 
and value addition capacities and linking farmers to product markets, 
including livestock products.
b) Storage and cooling facilities, including at collection points, to minimize 
post-harvest losses and spoilages. 
c) Promotion of contract farming to ensure farmers have ready buyers for 
their produce.
d) Uptake of digital platforms to build capacities of farming households in 
modern agricultural technologies, and market agricultural produce. 
e) Enhance farmers access to supportive services to include early-warning 
systems, extension advisory and information services, and training on 
natural resource management, fodder conservation and value addition.
f) Strengthening farmers access to input supply such as certified seeds and 
fertilizer, vaccination, pesticides, and herbicides, and animal feeds. 
g) Strengthening farmers’ associations and cooperatives as an additional 
solution to marketing challenges. 
h) Improved crop and livestock emergencies surveillance systems in the 
county.
3.3 Emerging Issues 
(i) Climate change, manifested in increased frequency and intensity of 
extreme weather conditions such as floods, droughts, and pest invasion.
(ii) Environmental degradation because of both human and non-human-
related activities such as extreme climate conditions. Environmental 
degradation has reduced the productive capacity of land leading to 
increased risks to food insecurity and reduced farmers’ income.
3.4 Recommendations
To successfully build resilience and enhance growth of the agriculture sector, the 
County will:
(i) Develop partnership with the National Government, NGOs, development 
partners, research institutions, and the private sector in enhancing agro-
processing and value addition capacities of the County, particularly 
in horticultural and poultry production as envisioned in the national 
Agricultural Transformation and Growth Strategy (ASTGS).
29
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
(ii) Invest in storage and cooling facilities to minimize spoilage and post-
harvest losses.
(iii) Enhance availability of affordable formal credit targeting urban value 
chain innovations and technology in support of urban farming.
(iv) Digitize the agri-food sector to support: training and building capacities 
of farming households in modern agricultural technologies, provision of 
advisory and information services, marketing agricultural produce at a 
wider scope beyond the County level and improving access to innovative 
support services including credit and insurance services.
(v) Access to quality and affordable inputs including certified seeds, water, 
animal feeds, Artificial Insemination services, fertilizers, and livestock 
vaccination.
(vi) Establish programmes for surveillance of disasters such as extreme 
weather conditions, crop pest and diseases, and livestock disease at the 
County level equipped with relevant technical specialists and finances 
to effectively prepare, respond and prevent risks. In addition, there is 
need for the County to mitigate disasters, such as those related to floods, 
through institutional capacity development, vulnerability analyses and 
updates, monitoring and early warning systems, and public education.
(vii) Exploit market opportunities within the several economic blocks in the 
County to enhance food security in Nairobi City County. 
(viii) Strengthen agricultural cooperatives through effective stakeholder 
engagement and implementation of interventions for more sustainable 
models of financing and customized training of cooperative members.
30
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
4.  Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene
4.1 Characteristics of the Sector 
Water supply for the County is from Ndakaini Dam located 50 km on the outskirts 
of the capital, and which supplies 500 million of litres of water used by the city 
each day. The dam supplies 85 per cent of the water used by the city. Additionally, 
there is also the Kikuyu Springs, the oldest underground source for freshwater 
drinking source serving Kikuyu Town and other surrounding areas adjacent to the 
city. Other sources of water are borehole and dug well water. 
Access to source of water by households 
The major source of water for drinking utilized by households (33.1%) piped water 
into plot/yard, piped water into dwelling (34%), piped water in a public tap/stand 
tap (25.2%) and tube well (3.3%). Likewise, both male (31.6%) and female (47.0%) 
headed households have access to piped water into the plot. 
Figure 4.1: Access to sources of water by households 
Source: KNBS 2015/2016
Combating the COVID-19 pandemic has already placed high demand for water for 
both domestic usage in households, health care institutions, learning institutions, 
marketplaces, and other public places. Water also remains important to other 
sectors of the economy, such as agriculture and industrial usage, among others. 
31
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
The re-opening of schools after the closure due to the pandemic, and subsequent 
low rain seasons meant that pressure on water resources would be high, and if 
the supply is low, households are likely to fail to observe COVID-19 prevention 
measures of hand washing, which may in turn lead to high transmission of 
COVID-19. 
To ensure continuity of quality water supply, there is need for the County to invest 
in water harvesting and storage facilities both at household and institutional 
level. This may include supporting schools in building rain harvesting and 
storage structures from the school structure rooftops and supporting households 
in rainwater harvesting during rainfall times. Other interventions may include 
digging boreholes and supplying water to households that experience water 
scarcity. 
For equality in access to water, the county government could waive or reduce 
water bills for urban households that use piped water and support water vendors 
in access to clean safe water at a reduced cost. This will mean financial support 
to water service companies. Other long-term measures include inclusion of 
both rural, urban and peri-urban dwellers in decision-making regarding water 
management and governance.
Access to sources of water by households (improved and unimproved 
sources) 
Clean and safe water is essential for good health and goes a long way in ensuring 
reduced infections. Access to improved drinking water2 is high in the county 
among households (96.2%), and among male and female headed households as 
shown in the figure below. 
Figure 4.2: Access to improved and unimproved sources of water by 
households
Source: KNBS 2015/2016
2 Improved sources of water include water from the following sources: piped water - piped into dwelling, piped water - piped into 
plot/yard, piped water - public tap/standpipe, tube well/borehole with pump, dug well - well protected, dug well - unprotected well, 
water from spring - protected spring).  Unimproved sources of water, which include: water from spring - unprotected spring, rainwater 
collection, vendors - tankers-truck, vendors - cart with small tank/drum/bucket, vendors-bicycles with bucket, surface water river/
streams/pond/dam/lake/canal/irrigation channel bottled water. This is according to WHO and UN classification of sources of water.
32
Water, sanitation, and hygiene
Inequalities in access to safe and clean drinking water may put households at 
risk of contracting infectious diseases and make the households less observance 
of COVID-19 measures of hand hygiene. One mitigation measure that may be 
undertaken by the county to increase access to improved water source include 
connecting the households with piped water and increasing the development of 
improved sources of water especially in rural areas. The long-term measures to 
support access to water in all households is to have both male- and female-headed 
households to be part of water management/governance team and in decision-
making in water management.
The other important consideration is to have separate water drinking point for 
livestock, different from the household water drinking water sources to minimize 
water contamination, and conflict over water resource. There is also need to avoid 
agricultural activities along the upstream to minimize water pollution. 
Volumes of water used by households in a month 
Most households (28%) use between 1,501 and 2,000 litres of water per month 
compared to male- (30.0%) and female- (36.7%) headed households using 
between 1,001 and 1,500 litres of water in a month. 
Figure 4.3: Volume of water used in a household in a month
Source: KNBS 2015/2016
Distance covered by households to and from water source 
Majority of households are urban and cover less than one hundred metres to 
water sources, meaning they have water within their premises or close to their 
compounds. Only a small portion of the households cover more than five hundred 
metres as shown below. 
33
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 4.4: Distance covered by households to and from water sources 
Source: KNBS 2015/2016 
Access to sanitation
The common sanitation methods utilized by majority urban households are flush 
to piped sewer (61.7%) and pit latrine with slab (21.8%). Access to sanitation is very 
important since it can help detect the genetic residues of diseases in wastewater 
as those who are infected are thought to shed traces of the virus in faeces, thus 
prompting for immediate action from the health officials.
Figure 4.5: Access to sanitation by households
Source: KNBS 2015/2016 
Access to improved and unimproved sanitation 
Majority of households, both male- and female-headed households, have access 
to improved sanitation facilities3. Access to improved sanitation is very important 
in maintaining hygiene and keeping away infectious diseases. Good sanitation can 
help detect the genetic residues of diseases in wastewater as those who are infected 
3 Improved sanitation includes: flush to piped sewer, flush to septic tank, flush to pit (latrine), flush 
to somewhere else, flush to unknown place, ventilated improved pit latrine, pit latrine with slab, 
pit latrine without slab). Unimproved sanitation includes: composting toilet, bucket toilet, hanging 
toilet/hanging, no facility/bush/field, others
34
Water, sanitation, and hygiene
are thought to shed traces of the virus in faeces, thus prompting for immediate 
action from health officials. 
Figure 4.6: Access to improved and unimproved sanitation by 
households 
Source: KNBS 2015/2016
Sharing of a toilet facility
Majority of households (66.7%) share a toilet facility with other households. 
Additionally, there are large proportions of households (42.2%) male- (36.6%) 
and female- (39.7%) headed households who share a toilet with other households. 
Only a small proportion of households (14.1%) male- (16.7%) and female- (20.1%) 
headed households share a toilet facility with less than 5 other households. 
Figure 4.7: No. of households sharing a toilet facility
Source: KNBS 2015/2016 
Does your household share this toilet No households sharing a toilet 
faccility with other households faccility 
Above 20 households 36.642.339.7
33.3 Between 16 and 20… 4.81.76.6
Between 11 to 15… 111
34.63.0.1
66.7 Between 6 and 10… 222
56.5..
1
61
Less than 5 households 141.612.70.1
0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0
Yes No Households Male (HHs) Female (HHs)
  
 
Sharing of toilet facilities with large number of households puts individuals at 
risk of contracting COVID-19, and other infectious diseases in cases where proper 
hygiene is not maintained, and social distancing measures are not in place. 
35
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Similarly, the WHO guidelines require separate sanitation facilities for suspected 
COVID-19 cases, which households may not be able to achieve
Access to WASH during the COVID-19 period 
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) helps curb transmission of infectious 
diseases. Despite this, only a few households (44.2%) have a handwashing facility 
in their households. Most households (56%) male- (53.6%) and female- (48.4%) 
headed households have access to WASH (water and soap) during the period of 
COVID-19. An additional 39.5 per cent of households have access to both water, 
soap and hand sanitizer, with male-headed households at 40.9 per cent and 
female-headed households at 47.8 per cent. Only a small portion of households 
have access to water only.
Figure 4.8: Access to wash during the COVID-19 period
Source: KNBS 2015/2016
Is there a place for Household access to WASH 
handwashing in your faccility during this period of Covid-
? 19
No Non at all 0.1
yes water, soap, hand… 3490..5497.8
44.26 yes only hand sani�zer 33.3.
2
.39
55.74 yes water & soap 5536.6.048.4
yes, water only 12
0.0 20.0 40.0 60.0
Yes No households Male (HHs) Female (HHs)
  
 
More of hand washing should be emphasized especially to those who are not 
observing hand hygiene to help decrease the spread of the virus. This should be 
facilitated by provision of water, soap/hand sanitizer to households.
4.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in various sectors
COVID-19 has highlighted the need to maintain clean safe water, proper sanitation 
and hand hygiene, which place more demand on water. Therefore, the county 
needs to leverage on lessons learned from COVID-19 by improving its water and 
sanitation coverage. 
4.3 Emerging Issues 
Water companies have lost a significant amount of their revenue due to low 
demand of water and sanitation services mostly from hotels, schools, and other 
institutions due to closure of operations. This, in the long run, may affect the 
delivery, development, and rehabilitation of WASH services. 
36
Water, sanitation, and hygiene
4.4 Recommendations
To successfully build resilience and enhance growth of the WASH sector, the 
County will:
(i) Expand and rehabilitate the existing piped water connection infrastructure 
to help increase access to water. Access to piped water stands at 34.7 per 
cent. This means low revenue from piped water for the county. Similarly, it 
also implies low access to clean and safe water which is guaranteed through 
piped water system. There is need to increase piped water connectivity to 
households to increase access to safe water and increase revenue. This can 
be achieved by expanding water infrastructure. The County government 
could collaborate with the private sector, non-governmental organizations 
and the local community to expand the water infrastructure. 
(ii) The County could increase water supply in households, institutions, and 
public places by drilling boreholes in all the sub-counties.
(iii) Expand sewer infrastructure to accommodate more households; currently 
there is a higher access to piped sewer among households, which is 61.72 
per cent. This means higher revenue collection from sanitation services 
and access to safe sanitation. 
(iv) Improve access to safe and improved toilets in schools, health care facilities, 
workplaces, and public places. About 66.72 per cent of households 
share a toilet with other households, and this puts individuals at risk of 
contracting COVID-19 and other infectious diseases in cases where proper 
toilet hygiene is not maintained. Increased access to sanitation can be 
achieved through collaboration of the county government, development 
partners and PPP to expand sewer infrastructure and to accommodate 
more households. 
(v) Promote the importance of handwashing and construct WASH facilities 
to increase access at the household level. Access to WASH (water and 
soap) is 56 per cent among households during the period of COVID-19. 
On the other hand, 44.26 per cent of households do not have a designated 
handwashing facility in their households. This may compromise hand 
washing hygiene of households. Increased access to WASH can be achieved 
by sensitization on the importance of handwashing and construction of 
WASH facilities at the household level. Collaboration between County 
Government, Non-Governmental Organizations, local community, and 
the media is important to realize increased access to WASH. 
37
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
5. Manufacturing, Trade and MSMEs
5.1 Characteristics of the Sector 
a) Manufacturing sector 
Nairobi City County has 23,770 establishments involved in manufacturing 
activities, which comprise 6.8 per cent of a total of 351,414 firms (KNBS, 2016). 
In terms of size 18,472 (77.7%) are micro, 3,169 (13.3%) are small, 621 (2.6%) are 
medium and 1,508 (6.3%) are large enterprises. The main drivers of the economy 
of the county include agriculture (0.3%), services (40.0%), and manufacturing 
(25.1%) (GCP, 2019).
Sector of operation
According to the KNBS 2016 survey, the key sub-sectors that drive manufacturing 
in Nairobi City County include: wearing apparel (66.9%), food products (8.8%), 
paper and paper products (6.4%), wood and wood products (3.8%), leather and 
related products (3.8%), among others. The World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) 
of 2019 compliments these findings and provides that additional evidence on the 
sub-sectors key to manufacturing (Figure 5.1). They include paper and paper 
products (18.8%), precision instruments (17.5%), rubber and plastic products 
(10.7%), fabricated metal products except machinery and equipment (10.2%), 
and food products (8.8%). These are sub-sectors that are considered essential in 
dealing with COVID-19 and are likely to experience increased activity with focus 
on food production, production of Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and 
hospital beds. 
38
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
Figure 5.1: Sector of operation in manufacturing
Source: KNBS (2016) and WBES (2019)
Sector of operation by size
Majority of the establishments in Nairobi City County are micro in nature and 
operate in the wearing apparel (55.1%), furniture (10.7%), food products (4.1%), 
wood and wood products (2.6%), and leather and related products (2.6%) (Figure 
5.2). Small-sized establishments operate in wearing apparel (4.7%), beverages 
(2.4%), paper and paper products (1.6%), among others. Additionally, large 
enterprises are found in paper and paper products (4.1%), and beverages (2.4%).
39
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 5.2: Manufacturing firms by sector and size
Source: KNBS (2016)
Location of manufacturing firms by type of premises
The common premises used by manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County include 
commercial premises (36.7%), market stall (31.4%), residential with special outfit 
(12.9%), and industrial site (11.9%) (Figure 5.3).
40
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
Figure 5.3: Location of manufacturing firms by premises
Source: KNBS (2016)
Distribution of manufacturing firms by gender and size
Manufacturing establishments in Nairobi City County are owned by male 
(48.1%), with females comprising 23.7 per cent while 28.2 per cent are owned 
jointly. In terms of micro-sized firms, 48.1 per cent are male-owned, 27.2 per 
cent female-owned and 24.6 per cent jointly owned. Small-sized firms are owned 
jointly (53.4%), male-owned (27.6%) while 19.0 per cent are female-owned. For 
medium-sized establishments, 84.8 per cent are male-owned while 15.2 per cent 
are jointly owned. With large-sized firms, 75 per cent male-owned while 25 per 
cent are jointly owned (Table 5.1). 
Table 5.1: Distribution of Manufacturing firms by gender and size - N 
(%)
Gender A11 Micro Small Medium Large
11,423 8,891 1,131 
Male (48.1) (48.1) 875 (27.6) 527 (84.8) (75.0)
5,033 
Female 5,636 (23.7) (27.2) 603 (19) 0 (0) 0 (0.0)
4,548 1,692 
Joint 6,712 (28.2) (24.6) (53.4) 95 (15.2) 377 (25.0)
23,770 18,472 3,169 1,508 
Total (100.0) (100.0) (100.0) 621 (100.0) (100.0)
Source: KNBS (2016)
41
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Distribution of manufacturing firms by gender and sector
Majority of the sub-sectors in manufacturing are male dominated, including 
wearing apparel (21.5%), food products (7.1%), paper and paper products (4.5%), 
among others. Females are mostly found in the wearing apparel (25.6%) and 
beverages (0.4%) (Figure 5.4). Additionally, there is a joint ownership between 
males and females in the following manufacturing sub-sectors: wearing apparel 
(19.8%), wood and wood products (2.9%), and beverages (2.7%).
Figure 5.4: Distribution of manufacturing firms by gender and sector
Source: KNBS (2016)
In terms of employment, the manufacturing sector employs more men (65.7%) 
than women (34.3%). Most men are found in the large-sized firms (32.7%) while 
10.5 per cent are in micro-sized establishments. Majority of the women are mostly 
in the large establishments as well (14.9%) (Table 5.2).
Table 5.2: Employment by gender and size for manufacturing firms
Number of 
employees Micro Small Medium Large Total
Male 39,163 50,005 (10.5) (13.4) 33,707 (9)
122,120 244,994 
(32.7) (65.7)
Female 37,968 (10.2) 26,141 (7) 8,397 (2.3)
55,595 55,595 
(14.9) (34.3)
Total 77,131 76,146 42,104 (11.3) 177,714 373,095 (20.7) (20.4) (47.6) (100)
Source: KNBS (2016)
42
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
Education levels of manufacturing firm owners
Education levels of manufacturing firm owners in Nairobi City County are depicted 
in Figure 5.5 as follows: secondary (52.2%), mid-level college diploma or certificate 
(21.9%), primary (13.5%), degree (6.9%), pre-primary education (3.9%).
Figure 5.5: Education levels of manufacturing firm owners
Source: KNBS (2016)
Source of markets
Majority of manufacturing firms and MSMEs in general rely on individual 
consumers for markets at 81.3 per cent and 80.2 per cent, respectively (Figure 
5.6). 
Figure 5.6: Source of markets
Source: KNBS (2016)
In addition, manufacturing firms and MSMEs also trade with other MSMEs, 
non-MSMEs and government. About 0.8 per cent of those in manufacturing and 
0.7 per cent of MSMEs are involved in direct exports, implying susceptibility to 
exogenous shocks because of COVID-19. The WBES 2019 also echoes the same, 
with 5.5 per cent of manufacturing firms sourcing for markets internationally 
(Figure 5.7).
43
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 5.7: Source of markets
Source: WBES (2019)
Source of material inputs
Overall, manufacturing establishments and MSMEs source for material inputs 
from among MSMEs at 50.3 per cent and 47.3 per cent, respectively (Figure 5.8). 
Individual suppliers, farmers, and non-MSMEs are also important to the supply 
of inputs. Manufacturing enterprises and MSMEs also source for inputs from 
direct imports (4.5%) and government (10.2%). Disruptions in the external source 
markets, therefore, have adverse implications to both firms in manufacturing and 
MSME operations in Nairobi City County. 
Figure 5.8: Source of material inputs
Source: KNBS (2016)
Level of innovation by firms in manufacturing
Manufacturing establishments in Nairobi City County were involved in both 
product, process and market innovations. More product and market innovations 
are seen under the micro category at 7.7 per cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively, 
while process at 6.5 per cent under the small sized category. Fewer innovations 
are observed in the medium category at a rate of 1.2 per cent for product and 0.8 
per cent for process and market innovations, respectively (Table 5.3). 
44
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
Table 5.3: Level of innovation by firms in Manufacturing
Type of Micro Small Medium Large
innova- Don’t Total 
tion No Yes No Yes No Yes No Yesknow
1,839 1,750 1,419 342 280 565 942 23,770 
Product 0 (0) 16,633 (70)
(7.7) (7.4) (6) (1.4) (1.2) (2.4) (4) (100)
17,657 815 1,624 1,545 433 188 942 565 23,770 
Process 0 (0)
(74.3) (3.4) (6.8) (6.5) (1.8) (0.8) (4) (2.4) (100)
17,236 1,236 2,240 930 433 188 565 942 23,770 
Market 0 (0)
(72.5) (5.2) (9.4) (3.9) (1.8) (0.8) (2.4) (4) (100)
Source: KNBS (2016)
Access to credit for manufacturing and MSMEs firms
According to the MSME 2016 survey, 72.8 per cent of MSMEs and 64.6 per cent 
of those in manufacturing applied for credit. Manufacturing firms mainly get their 
credit from commercial banks (47.7%), MFIs (19.7%), SACCOs (17.9%), self help 
groups (7.2%), among others. MSMEs source their financing from commercial 
banks (59.8%), SACCOs (11.1%), MFIs (7.7%), public financing agencies and 
cooperatives (7.7%) (Figure 5.9).
Figure 5.9: Sources of finance
Source: KNBS (2016)
Recent evidence from FinAcess 2019 provides further insights on sources of 
credit for businesses in Nairobi City County. Businesses commonly obtain 
credit from the conventional sources such as shops (28.8%), family/neighbour 
(17.3%), groups/chama (9.7%), SACCOs (8.6%), personal/business loans from 
banks (6.6%), employer (3.1%), government (3%), obtaining goods in kind from 
shopkeepers (2.4%), shylocks (0.8%) and MFI (0.7%). Emerging sources of credit 
for businesses in Nairobi City County include mobile money (17.2%) and digital 
loans (7.5%) (Figure 5.10).
45
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 5.10: Recent sources of credit
Source: FinAcess (2019)
Purpose of credit
Figure 5.11 shows the main purpose for credit for both manufacturing enterprises 
and MSMEs in Nairobi City County. Manufacturing firms require credit for 
working capital (35.6%), refurbishing business (34.4%), non-business purposes 
(13.6%), purchasing inventory (9.6%), among others. MSMEs require credit for 
working capital (44.8%), refurbishing business (23.8%), and purchasing inventory 
(15.4%).
Figure 5.11: Main purpose of credit
Source: KNBS (2016)
46
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
Constraints faced by manufacturing firms
The main constraints faced by manufacturing firms in Nairobi City County 
include lack of markets (25.8%), local competition (15.3%), power interruption 
(11%), foreign competition (5.8%), shortage of raw materials or stock (5.2%), and 
interference from authorities (4.3%) (Figure 5.12).
Figure 5.12: Constraints faced by manufacturing firms
Source: KNBS (2016)
b) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)
Nairobi City County has 351,414 establishments4 with 273,454 (77.8%) being 
micro, 65,974 (18.8%) are small, 7,596 (2.2%) are medium, and 4,390 (1.2%) are 
large enterprises (KNBS, 2016) (Figure 5.13). 
4  After applying weights.
47
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 5.13: Distribution of MSMEs by size
Source: KNBS (2016)
Sector of operation by MSMEs
Most of MSMEs in Nairobi City County operate in wholesale and retail trade, repair 
of motor vehicles and motorcycles (50.1%); arts, entertainment and recreation 
(8.8%); manufacturing (6.8%); accommodation and food services (5.3%); and 
professional, scientific and technical activities (5.3%) (Figure 5.14). Ideally, these 
are the sectors that have been affected most by the pandemic and need focus in 
achieving re-engineering and recovery.
Figure 5.14: Sector of operation by MSMEs
Source: KNBS (2016)
48
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
Location of the businesses by type of premises
Most MSMEs in Nairobi City County are in commercial premises (59.7%), 
residential with special outfit (16.1%), market stall (10.9%), market stall (3.5%), 
and residential without special outfit (2.4%) (Figure 5.15).
Figure 5.15: Location of businesses by premises
Source: KNBS (2016)
Distribution of MSMEs by gender and size
Table 5.4 shows the distribution of MSMEs in Nairobi City County by gender: 
44.2 per cent are male-owned, 27.6 per cent are female-owned, while 29.2 per 
cent are jointly owned (male/female). For micro establishments, 43.9 per cent 
are male-owned, 32.3 per cent are female-owned, while 23.7 per cent are jointly 
owned. Joint owners dominate small sized establishments at 49.2 per cent, while 
male and female are 38.5 per cent and 12.3 per cent, respectively. Considering 
medium sized establishments, ownership is either joint (53.9%) or controlled by 
males (46.1%). Large sized establishments are dominantly owned jointly (74.4%) 
while male and female owners are 8.3 per cent and 17.3 per cent, respectively. 
Table 5.4: Distribution of MSMEs by gender and size -N (%)
Gender A11 Micro Small Medium Large
151,943 120,182 25,380 490 
Male (43.2) (43.9) (38.5) 3,503 (46.1) (8.3)
96,976 88,384 8,102 1,020 
Female (27.6) (32.3) (12.3) 0 (0) (17.3)
102,495 64,889 32,492 4,390 
Joint (29.2) (23.7) (49.2) 4,093 (53.9) (74.4)
351,414 273,454 65,974 5,900 
Total (100) (100) (100) 7,596 (100) (100)
Source: KNBS (2016)
49
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
In terms of employment, the small-sized establishments employ more people 
(32.7%) compared to micro (25.9%), medium (14.1%) and large (27.4%) (Table 
5.5). Micro firms employ 13.4 per cent male and 12.5 per cent female and small 
sized employ 19.2 per cent male and 13.5 per cent female. Equally, more men are 
employed among medium establishments at 10.3 per cent while females include 
3.8 per cent. For large sized establishments, 17.1 per cent of males and 10.3 per 
cent are employed, respectively. Overall, more men (59.9%) are employed by 
MSMEs in Nairobi City County than women (40.1%). 
Table 5.5: Employment by gender and size - N (%)
Gender Micro Small Medium Large Total
Male 494,122 707,389 (19.2) 379,336 631,613 2,212,460 
(13.4) (10.3) (17.1) (59.9)
Female 461,869 497,993 (13.5) 139,969 378,804 1,478,636 
(12.5) (3.8) (10.3) (40.1)
Total 955,991 1,205,382 519,306 1,010,417 3,691,096 
(25.9) (32.7) (14.1) (27.4) (100)
Source: KNBS (2016)
Education levels of MSME owners
Education levels of MSME owners in Nairobi City County are shown in Figure 
5.16: secondary (33.5%), mid-level college diploma or certificate (26.9%), degree 
(20.5%), primary (10.0%), and pre-primary (7.0%) education. About 1.8 per cent 
of MSME owners in Nairobi City County do not have formal education.
Figure 5.16: Education levels of MSME owners
Source: KNBS (2016)
50
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
51
Table 5.6: Level of innovation by MSMEs
Micro Small Medium Large
Type of 
Innovation Refused Don’t Total
to answer know No Yes
Refused Don’t 
to answer know No Yes No Yes
Don’t 
know No Yes
Product 301 (0.1) 2,410 237,979 31,082 86 (0.02) 308 49,191 5,626 5,626 1,969  1,751 2,035 344,807 (0.7) (69) (9) (0.1) (14.3) (4.6) (1.6) (0.6) (0.5) (0.6) (100)
Process 301 (0.1) 2,410 257,758 11,303 86 (0.02) 228 57,068 8,058 7,321 274 0 (0) 3,032 754 344,807 (0.7) (74.8) (3.3) (0.1) (16.6) (2.3) (2.1) (0.1) (0.9) (0.2) (100)
Market 301 (0.1) 2,113 248,073 21,284 (0.6) (71.9) (6.2) 86 (0.02)
148 53,951 11,255 5,324 2,272 1,510 2,276 344,807 
(0.0) (15.6) (3.3) (1.5) (0.7)  (0.4) (0.7) (100)
Source: KNBS (2016)
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Level of innovation by MSMEs
Table 5.6 presents the levels of innovation in Nairobi City County by MSMEs 
according to size. Overall, there were low levels of innovation across MSMEs, 
with 9 per cent involved in product, 3.3 per cent in process, and 6.2 per cent in 
market innovation for micro-sized enterprises. Regarding small-sized enterprises, 
4.6 per cent engaged in product, and 2.3 per cent process and 3.3 per cent in 
market innovation innovations, respectively. For medium-sized establishments, 
0.6 per cent were involved in product, 0.1 per cent process while 0.7 per cent 
were involved in market innovations. A similar trend is noted among large-sized 
establishments, with 0.6 per cent in product, 0.2 per cent in process and 0.7 per 
cent in market innovations. 
E-commerce
Participation in e-commerce by households in Nairobi City County is above 
the national average. About 14 per cent of the households participate in online 
e-commerce, which is above a national average of 4.3 per cent (KPHC, 2019). In 
comparison, men participate more in online e-commerce (15.1%) than women 
(13.0%). With introduction of stay-at-home protocols due to COVID-19 online 
trade has been expected to thrive, more impact will be felt in Nairobi City County 
since more households participate in the same.
Turnover tax
Only 30.5 per cent of MSMEs in Nairobi City County (107,220) had a previous 
monthly turnover of above Ksh 83,333, which translates to Ksh 1 million a year. 
Ideally, this would be the establishments that are eligible for turnover tax, with 
new thresholds recently introduced vide the tax laws (Amendment) Act, 2020. 
The actual impact of this move may be difficult to estimate due to data challenges 
on actual revenue streams and the number of establishments that comply with 
the same.
Constraints faced by MSMEs
The main constraints faced by MSMEs in the City County include lack of markets 
(22.4%), local competition (15.5%), lack of collateral for credit (5.7%), power 
interruption (4.8%), licenses (4.8%), poor security (4.3%), and poor roads/
transport (4.0%) (Figure 5.17).
52
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
Figure 5.17: Main constraints faced by MSMEs
Source: KNBS (2016)
A study on County Business Environment for MSEs (CBEM) identified other 
constraints faced by MSMEs in Nairobi City County as: financial and technical 
capacity, market environment, and worksite and related infrastructure (KIPPRA, 
2019). On worksites, MSEs face inadequate and unequipped worksites, lack 
of public toilet facilities, lack of designated areas for waste disposal, poor road 
infrastructure, and frequent power interruptions. On technical capacity, MSEs 
are characterized by low levels of innovation, lack of training and apprenticeship 
programme for artisans, fragmentation due to multiplicity of players who offer 
training and capacity building, and lack of monitoring and evaluation of training 
programmes. With the market environment, MSEs face inadequate market 
for their local products; stiff competition among themselves; and unfair trade 
practises which manifest through contract enforcement, counterfeiting, dumping 
(substandard goods) and misrepresentation (through weight, price, ingredient). 
MSEs also face bottlenecks related to insecurity; multiple licences and permits; 
numerous procedures for obtaining licenses; and shortage of raw materials.
Effects of COVID-19 on household non-farm and farm businesses
Figure 5.18 presents the effects of COVID-19 on household non-farm and farm 
businesses in Nairobi City County. 50 per cent of the respondents report a 
decrease in their business activities due to the pandemic while 50 per cent were 
not affected. Equally, 50 per cent of the respondents have had a decrease in their 
income due to COVID-19. This is an indicator that COVID-19 is already having a 
53
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
negative effect on the non-farm and farm businesses, even though the situation is 
still evolving.
Figure 5.18: Effects of COVID-19 on household non-farm and farm 
businesses
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Survey 2020 (Wave 2)
Labour dynamics
During the period considered in wave 2 data collection, respondents reported an 
improvement 15 hours in the mean working hours for household non-farm and 
farm businesses in the Nairobi City County, which implies a deterioaration in 
economic activities between the interview periods (Figure 5.19). This could be as a 
result of service and manufacturing activities, considering they significantly form 
the main stay of the County. 
Figure 5.19: Labour dynamics on household non-farm and farm 
businesses
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Survey 2020 (Wave 2)
54
Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
Key Messages
a) The key sectors that drive the economy of Nairobi City County include 
services and manufacturing. Therefore, support should be prioritized to 
these sectors to ensure re-engineering of the County economy.
b) The key sub-sectors that drive manufacturing in Nairobi City County 
include wearing apparel, food products, paper and paper products, wood 
and wood products, and leather and related products.
c) The main constraints faced by manufacturing firms in the City County 
include lack of markets, local competition, power interruption, foreign 
competition, shortage of raw materials or stock, and interference from 
authorities.
d) The main constraints faced by MSMEs in the City County include lack of 
markets, local competition, lack of collateral for credit, power interruption, 
licenses, poor security, and poor roads/transport.
e) Access to credit perennially remains a constraint to MSMEs, which 
hinders growth and expansion of businesses, even more so now during 
the pandemic. There is need to provide financial support to MSMEs that 
have demand, employ large number of people, and those that provide 
essential goods and services. 
f) COVID-19 presents opportunities that could be harnessed, such as 
development and support of innovations to address the pandemic. These 
include production of essential goods such as masks, Personal Protective 
Equipment (PPEs), and sanitizers, disinfectants, canned foods, immunity 
boosting products, hospital beds and ventilators. As the pandemic 
subsides, a strategy is required for smooth transition.
g) Manufacturing establishments must also adopt to cope with the new 
guidelines that could include rearranging floor plans to allow for social 
distancing. 
h) Training and capacity building are important in assisting MSMEs to 
surmount the shocks faced during the pandemic but also allow for re-
emergence. 
i) In terms of re-engineering, there is need to consider establishing support 
measures to re-vitalize and re-open businesses that collapsed during the 
crisis within the county.
5.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in various sectors
The following are some of the opportunities created by COVID-19 in trade, 
manufacturing and the MSMEs sector:
(i) High demand for masks, Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and 
sanitizers. An opportunity to empower manufacturing firms exists.
55
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
(i) COVID-19 has increased demand for locally produced goods. It is an 
opportunity for industry and MSMEs development and generation of jobs 
for the youth.
Effects of COVID-19 on this sector
There have been both positive and negative effects of COVID-19 on this sector. 
These are outlined below:
(i) There has been an increased wave of innovations during the pandemic.
(ii) MSMEs have been faced with declining sales and revenues due to 
depressed demand and low circulation of money in the County, which is 
caused by loss of income by the residents.
(iii) There is a decrease in trade activities in the County due to restrictions on 
movements due to fear of attending physical markets, where there is fear 
of contracting the disease. 
(iv) Businesses are faced with challenges of increased costs resulting from the 
need to comply with new protocols in form of provision of handwashing 
and sanitization points, wearing of masks even for workers, rearrangement 
of floor plans for social distancing especially for manufacturers, and 
awareness creation. 
5.3 Emerging Issues
(i) There has been reduced income from traders, manufacturers and MSMEs 
and a corresponding decrease in taxes collected from them. This will 
affect implementation of Nairobi City County’s planned activities due to 
reduced projected revenues.
(ii) There is need to identify and promote specific and emerging value chains 
because of COVID-19, and which Nairobi City County has comparative 
advantage.
(iii) Review all the ongoing interventions by the County and the national 
government to assess their effectiveness and especially regarding trade, 
manufacturing and MSMEs.
(iv) There is need for legislative amendments to ensure the Buy Kenya Build 
Kenya initiative is implemented at the County.
5.4 Recommendations
To support trade, manufacturing and the MSMEs sector, the County will:
(i) Consider an emergency rescue package for businesses and traders hard-
hit by the effects of COVID-19 in the short-run. The emergency Fund, 
supported by development partners and other stakeholders, can be used 
to identify and support the most vulnerable businesses and entrepreneurs 
affected by COVID-19. Related, the County will inject some stimulus to 
cushion the businesses and traders through affordable credit, waiver of 
some County taxes, cess, and other charges.
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Manufacturing, trade and MSMEs
(ii) COVID-19 has increased demand for locally produced goods in the 
County, and especially Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs), sanitizers, 
hospital beds and ventilators. It is an opportunity to spur innovation and 
promote manufacturing and industry development and generation of jobs 
for the youth.
(iii) Establishments in the county will need to adopt to the new pandemic 
guidelines including rearranging floor plans to allow for social distancing.
(iv) Promote the County City as an economic, industrial and diplomatic hub 
as planned in the third Medium-Term Plan.
(v) Collaborate and partner with the counties forming the Nairobi 
Metropolitan Region; that is, Kiambu, Murang’a, Machakos and Kajiado 
counties, to enhance economies of scale and market for industrial 
products.
(vi) Invest in water projects, expand roads and transport network to decongest 
the city and build adequate and affordable housing.
(vii) Facilitate local and foreign private investors to invest in the Special 
economic Zones (SEZs).
(viii) Improve power supply reliability as outlined in the MTP III, for example 
though investment in cheaper renewable energy. 
(ix) Enhance security through continuous installation of National Security 
Communication Network and the Surveillance System in the City, which 
is a Kenya Vision 2030 flagship project.
(x) Fast-track construction of KIRDI Research, Technology and Innovation 
Laboratory in South B, which is supposed to support manufacturing as 
per MTP III.
57
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
6. Infrastructure 
6.1 Transport Sector 
In response to the COVID -19 pandemic, the County responded by delaying the 
implementation of some of the projects that are likely to exhaust the budget to 
next financial year. Some of these projects include construction of roads and 
Technical, Vocational, Education Training (TVET) institutions. As a result, this 
budget was reallocated to public health.
6.1.1 Characteristics of the sector
Majority of households own a car (12.9%), a bicycle (12.5%), and motorcycle 
(4.3%) (KNBS, 2019). The main means of transport used in the County is PSV 
matatus at 58.74 per cent, followed by walking at 17.11 per cent, private car at 9.73 
per cent, motorbike 3.94 per cent and Bus (PSV) 3.68 per cent (Figure 6.1) while 
90.16 per cent of the population had not changed the main means of transport 
(KNBS, 2020b). On average, residents travel 6.04 kilometers to their workplace 
at an average cost of Ksh 78.36. For those commuting to school, residents spend 
on average Ksh 3,490.76 (KIHBS, 2015/16). 
Figure 6.1: Main means of transport
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020
The KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020 revealed that 68.48 per cent of the 
population reported a change in the cost of travel/commute (Figure 6.2). The 
58
Infrastructure 
expenditure on transport increased by 49.23 per cent from Ksh 65 before February 
2020 to Ksh 97 in May 2020 for a one-way trip. The main change (89.08%) in 
transport cost was attributed to increased fares for PSV, Boda Boda and Tuk Tuk.
Figure 6.2: How has the cost of your main travel changed
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020-wave 2
Residents had changed their travel patterns, with 25.36 per cent of the population 
traveling less often, while 9.18 per cent travelled with the same frequency but with 
some difficulty, and 17.17 per cent were unable to travel. However, 25.24 per cent 
of the population did not change their travel pattern (Figure 6.3).
Figure 6.3: Change in travel patterns
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020-wave 2
The pandemic has affected delivery of goods and services for 30.46 per cent of 
households.
59
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 6.4: Has delivery of your household goods and services been 
affected by COVID-19
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020-wave 2
The County was allocated a total of Ksh 553,745,527 from the Road Maintenance 
Levy Fund towards road maintenance in 2017/18 (OCOB, 2019). 
Road network 
The county has a total of 4,730.68 kilometres of classified road network. The 
paved County road network covers 1155.15 km, while the paved national roads 
cover 599.9 km. Out of the total paved road network of 1755.05 km, 30.82 per cent 
is in good condition, 43.77 per cent in fair condition and 22.54 per cent in poor 
condition. The unpaved road network in the county covers 1205.11 km (county 
roads) and 11.04 km (national roads). Of this, 0.84 per cent is in good condition, 
26.49 per cent fair and 70.12 per cent in poor condition as depicted in Figure 6.5 
(KRB, 2019). 
Figure 6.5: Road condition mix-classified road network
Paved Unpaved
2.55%
2.87% 0.84%
22.54% 30.82% 26.49%
70.12%
43.77%
Good Fair Poor U/C Good Fair Poor U/C
  
 
Source: KRB (2019)
60
Infrastructure 
The unclassified road network in the County covers 1,759.49 km, with 1,319.99 km 
of narrow roads; that is, road with a reserve of between 4-9 meters, while there is 
a total of 439.50 km of new roads.
Constraints faced
The Rural Access Index (RAI) measures the proportion of the rural population who 
live within 2 km of an all-season road5. The county has a RAI of 95 per cent, which 
is above the national average of 70 per cent, indicating that access to transport 
in rural areas is above average (KRB, 2019). This has positive implications 
regarding sectors that rely on accessibility such as agriculture, trade and overall 
development. The road condition mix of the unpaved network at 70.12 per cent is 
a constraint to development. 
6.1.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in various sectors
With reference to the 8-point stimulus programme by the National Government6 
and resources allocated to road development and maintenance, the County could 
strategically improve the road network for economic development, while creating 
jobs for youth, women and vulnerable groups as espoused in the Roads 2000 
programme7 on labour-based road development approaches. 
The Roads 10,000 programme being implemented nationally by the Roads sub-
sector actors, and specifically the Low Volume Sealed Roads (LVSR) approach8 
offers a strategic and cost-effective approach to improve rural accessibility in the 
County. 
Residents predominantly rely on matatu PSV transport and walking; this is an 
opportunity during the pandemic period as this mode reduces the risk of infections 
that would arise from use of motorized public transport9. 
6.1.3 Emerging Issues
•	 Poor road conditions for unpaved network 
•	 Reliance on PSV transport requires enforcement of COVID-19 mitigation 
measures 
6.1.4 Recommendations
(i) Develop a public transport master plan in collaboration with the Nairobi 
Area Metropolitan Authority (NAMATA) and Nairobi Metropolitan 
Services (NMS) office for integrated multi-modal transport systems. 
5 RAI defined: https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/dataset/rural-access-index-rai
6 Government of Kenya eight (8) point stimulus programme https://www.president.
go.ke/2020/05/23/the-seventh-presidential-address-on-the-coronavirus-pandemic-the-8-point-
economic-stimulus-programme-saturday-23rd-may-2020/
7 Roads 2000 programme http://krb.go.ke/our-downloads/roads%202000%20strategic%20plan.
pdf
8 LVSR /Roads 10,000 programme https://www.kerra.go.ke/index.php/lvsr
9 Non-Motorized Transport strategy https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/05/cities-support-
people-walking-and-cycling-work/
61
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
(ii) Improve and expand infrastructure for Non-Motorized Transport (NMT) 
in urban areas and along roads with heavy high-speed traffic to promote 
sustainable mobility options and enhance road safety for all road users. 
This is in line with the Integrated National Transport Policy 2009 and the 
Sustainable Development Goals10.
(iii) Integrate NMT infrastructure with public transport and commuter rail 
transport systems to respond to the modal split in the new normal.
(iv) Collaborate with transport sector stakeholders to register transport 
operators into formal organizations to enable future County Government 
support and funding during times of emergency.
(v) Sensitize PSV and boda boda and tuk tuk operators on COVID-19 
prevention measures and assist vehicle owners in retrofitting vehicle 
designs for social distance, hygiene and ventilation.
(vi) Expand the county capability for telecommuting and teleworking and 
develop relevant policies in support of the same.
(vii) Re-develop bus parks and termini to address crowding and social 
distancing concerns stipulated in the public health guidelines.
(viii) Focus on increasing the share of unpaved roads in good and fair condition 
to above 62.0 per cent, which is the national average. For the unpaved 
road network, focus on adopting the Low Volume Sealed Roads (LVSR) 
technology for greater network coverage cost effectively.
(ix) Apply labour-based and local resource-based approaches for road 
development and maintenance, where technically and economically 
feasible, in line with the Roads 2000 national policy11.
(x) Adopt climate smart road engineering designs to safeguard road and 
bridge infrastructure from floods and to harvest storm water for irrigation 
and productive use. Use the Kenya Urban Support Programme funding to 
build storm water management systems in urban areas. 
6.2 Information and Communication Technology
The County has been expanding especially using e-platform and IFMIS. However, 
some of these projects have slowed down because of low connectivity but, overall, 
they have improved in ICT. The County can now hold meetings using ICT. The 
County has also improved its ICT software and communication platforms; for 
example, it is making use of Zoom and WhatsApp applications. One overall 
challenge is delay in ICT infrastructure such as IFMIS and OSR application; the 
budget was reallocated to COVID-19-related issues.
10 Sustainable Mobility for All: https://sum4all.org/implementing-sdgs
11 Roads 2000 programme http://krb.go.ke/our-downloads/roads%202000%20strategic%20plan.
pdf.
62
Infrastructure 
6.2.1 Characteristics of the sector 
The analysis of the 2019 KPHC reveals that only 42.1 per cent of the conventional 
households in the county ‘own’ Internet with 22.7 per cent owning a desktop, 
computer laptop or tablet. Internet access, ICT device ownership and TV 
ownership is particularly critical not only for access of COVID-19 information, but 
as well as supporting remote learning by pupils, and remote working (Figure 6.6). 
Figure 6.6: Percentage distribution of conventional households by 
ownership of ICT assets KPHC 2019
Source: KNBS (2019), Kenya Population and Housing Census 2019
Online shopping is not prevalent in the County. 14.0 per cent of the conventional 
households searched and bought goods/services online. There exists gender 
disparity in online shopping, with more men (15.1%) than women (13.0%) 
undertaking online shopping. 
The perception that the individual does not need to use the internet, lack of 
knowledge and skills on internet are the leading reasons that the people of in the 
County do not have Internet connection (KHIBS). Other key factors include lack 
of Internet/network in the area, and high cost of service and equipment (Figure 
6.7). 
63
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 6.7: Why doesn’t this household have any type of Internet 
connection
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/2016
Approximately 88 per cent of the Internet users in the county rely on mobile 
phone for connectivity, with a marginal population of 9 per cent relying on mobile 
broad band that uses a sim card for connectivity. 
Figure 6.8: Type of Internet connection
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/2016
Approximately 69.1 per cent of the population aged 3 years and above own a 
mobile phone, which is higher than the national average of 47.3 per cent. 
Approximately 91.74 per cent of the people in the county have a mobile money 
subscription compared with only 22.34 per cent that have a mobile money banking 
platform subscription (KHIBS 2015/16).
64
Infrastructure 
Figure 6.9: Mobile money transfer subscription, KHIBS 2015/16
8.26%
22.34%
77.66%
91.74%
% YES % NO % YES % NO
  
 
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/2016
Figure 6.10: Mobile money banking platform subscription, KHIBS 
2015/16
8.26%
22.34%
77.66%
91.74%
% YES % NO % YES % NO
  
 
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/2016
The County experiences gender divide in use of Internet and ICT devices and mobile 
money subscriptions. Both Internet and ICT device use is higher among the male 
with 55.3 per cent of the men and 49.5 per cent of the women using Internet, while 
30.8 per cent of the men and 25.3 per cent of the women using Desktop/Laptop/
Tablet devices (KPHC, 2019). While the usage is below the national averages, the 
County recorded a similar gender disparity with the national averages in Internet 
and ICT usage. 
6.2.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in various sectors
Mobile phone ownership is high, and this can be used strategically to connect 
households to the internet for business continuity. 
65
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
6.2.3 Emerging issues
Online shopping is not prevalent in the County.
6.2.4 Recommendations
i) Collaborate with National Government and private sector to harness 
the power of technology to transform the county into a vibrant digital 
economy.
ii) Support programmes in partnership with the private sector that will 
enable households acquire ICT assets such as smart phones and laptops 
and increase mobile phone ownership from the low of 69.1 per cent to 
100.0 per cent in line with the global agenda for Universal Access to 
Mobile Telephony12 
iii) Collaborate with IT personnel in universities to support the development 
of ICT competence and skills among the public and bolster a digital 
economy.
iv) Improve the laws and regulations related to information infrastructure, 
establish standards for the construction of information infrastructure 
integrated with road, water and electricity infrastructure planning and 
development, especially for terrestrial IT infrastructure.
v) Negotiate with the public primary schools for community access to ICT 
infrastructure and collaboratively build and equip youth empowerment, 
ICT centres and ICT laboratories as provided in the CIDP.
vi) Enhance internet connectivity to public buildings and key trade centres 
to boost e-commerce, especially for MSMEs in trade and business. The 
NOFBI programme can be expanded to the sub-county administrative 
units to further enable deployment of e-governance solutions.
vii) Make ICT a standalone sector for planning and budget allocation. This 
is aimed at giving strategic prominence to planning, budgeting and 
investment in ICT.
viii) Review and implement ICT policies and procedures to manage ICT 
and mitigate cyber threats, disasters, and pandemics. Collaborate 
with the national Computer Incident Response Team (CIRT) and the 
Communications Authority (CA) towards managing cyber threats. This is 
because enhanced use of ICT is known to raise threats and risks related to 
cyber-crime and misinformation.
12 Universal access to mobile telephony: http://www.itu.int/itunews/manager/display.asp?lang=en
&year=2007&issue=07&ipage=universal-telephony
66
Infrastructure 
7. Urban Development 
The County is mainly urban in nature with a total population of 49.9 per cent males 
and 50.5 per cent females. The urban land area covers 704 km with a population 
density of 6,247 persons per sq.km 
7.1 Characteristics of the Sector
The housing tenure is predominantly owner occupied at 9.3 per cent, with 90.6 per 
cent of the households under rental tenure. Individuals are the primary providers 
of rental housing at 87.4 per cent, followed by Private Companies (7.2%), and 
National Government (2.1%). For those who own homes, 53.7 per cent constructed 
the houses while 30.8 per cent purchased the house and 15.5 per cent inherited 
their homes (KNBS, 2019). 
Figure 7.1:Distribution of households renting/provided with the main 
dwelling unit by provider
Source: KNBS (2019), Kenya Population and Housing Census, 2019
Majority of households are headed by men (73.64%) compared to women (26.36%) 
in the County (KIHBS, 2015/16). 
Housing quality 
On average, the main dwellings of houses in the County have 1.68 habitable rooms 
against an average household size of 4.23 persons in a household, translating to 
approximately 2.52 people per room. According to the UN-Habitat, overcrowding 
occurs when there are more than three people per room.13 In terms of housing 
quality (building material), 95.52 per cent of houses are constructed using finished 
13 Household crowding measure: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535289/table/ch3.
tab2/#:~:text=Overcrowding%20occurs%20if%20there%20are,per%20habitable%20room%20
(88).&text=Crowding%20occurs%20if%20there%20is,%2Drooms)%20(89).
67
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
materials for walls, floor and roofing compared to 4.48 per cent constructed using 
rudimentary materials (KIHBS, 2015/16). Majority of households (51.3%) have 
iron sheets for roofing, concrete/concrete blocks/precast walls (40.3%) and 
concrete/cement/terrazo floors (62.5%) (KNBS, 2019). 
Rent payment 
On average, rental households spend approximately Ksh 7536 on rent, with a 
minimum of Ksh 300 and the maximum of Ksh 15000 (KNBS, 2020b). The county 
recorded a rent to income ratio of 21.52 per cent which is within the acceptable 
threshold of 30 per cent (KNBS, 2012/13). 
Figure 7.2: Has your household paid the rent for April 2020 on the 
agreed date
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020-wave 2
With the advent of COVID-19 pandemic, households’ ability to pay rent has been 
affected, with 32.04 per cent of the population indicating inability to pay rent 
on the agreed date for April 2020 (Figure 7.2) compared to 33.04 per cent of the 
population that were able to pay rent on the agreed date and 38.41 per cent who 
paid rent on agreed date before COVID-19 pandemic (Figure 7.3). 
68
Urban development 
Figure 7.3: Was the household paying rent on the agreed date with the 
landlord before COVID-19
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020 wave 2
The main reason that has made households unable to pay rent was attributed 
to reduced incomes/earnings, reported by 63.54 per cent of the population. The 
inability to pay rent was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic by 96.59 per cent 
of the population. 
Figure 7.4: What is the main reason that has made your household 
unable to pay rent?
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020 wave 2
Majority of the households (75.64%) did not receive a waiver or relief on payment 
of rent from the landlord, with 3.92 per cent reporting a partial waiver and 0.31 per 
cent reporting a full waiver. To overcome the effects of Coronavirus on payment 
on rent, 21.23 per cent of households renegotiated rent terms, while 44.65 per 
cent of households did not take any measures. Approximately 1.07 per cent used 
personal savings to pay rent (Figure 7.5). 
69
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 7.5: What measures has your household taken to overcome the 
effects of COVID-19
Source: KNBS COVID-19 Impact Survey 2020 wave 2
Regarding primary energy source for cooking, 29.9 per cent of households rely 
on unclean sources of energy for cooking such as firewood, paraffin and charcoal, 
which could adversely affect respiratory health of women and children. 
7.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Urban Development
Benefits from the “Big Four” Agenda on affordable housing and investment 
partnership with the private sector to provide housing. 
7.3 Emerging Issues
Majority, 90.6 per cent of the households, are under rental tenure and did not 
receive a waiver or relief on payment of rent from the landlord when distressed 
because of the pandemic. 
7.4 Recommendations
(i) Incorporate and implement the smart cities and smart planning concepts in 
the Nairobi Integrated Urban Development Plan (NIUPLAN) 2014-2030, 
to ensure continued services delivery and efficiency in service provision 
during emergencies and adopt technology-driven urban planning. 
Develop and implement an addressing system with complete, correct and 
unique address data in line with the National Addressing System to be 
used during pandemic and disaster surveillance and emergency response. 
(ii) Adopt and promote ex-ante investments in human settlement planning to 
build resilience against pandemics and other emergencies and promote 
proactive risk-based, all hazards and all-of-society approaches in disaster 
risk reduction. 
70
Urban development 
(iii) Adopt programmes aimed at an increasing household access to clean 
energy sources and technologies for cooking to mitigate against exposure 
to respiratory diseases.
(iv) Develop a policy to promote home ownership to address the problem of 
rent distress during times of emergency. 
(v) Create a fund to cushion landlords and tenants from rent distress during 
periods of emergency. 
(vi) Fast-track implementation of the affordable housing programme in 
partnership with the private sector targeting urban centres. Upgrade 
informal settlements by providing basic infrastructure such as roads, 
water and sanitation and electricity. 
(vii) Collaborate with the counties of Kiambu, Murang’a, Kajiado and Machakos 
to plan and jointly invest in developing the Nairobi Metropolitan Region 
in line with the Nairobi Metro 2030 Strategy.14
(viii) Avail appropriate building technology for use by the public in house 
construction and improvement in every sub-county, which responds to 
local cultural and environmental circumstances. 
(ix) Develop and implement urban planning and design instruments that 
support sustainable management and use of natural resources and land 
in line with the New Urban Agenda and as a mitigative measure to future 
pandemics and disasters.
14  Nairobi Metro 2030 Strategy: https://www.namsip.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/
Metro2030_Strategy.pdf
71
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
8. Tourism
8.1 Characteristics of the Sector
Nairobi City County is a major centre of tourism in the region. Its relative 
proximity to many tourist attractions both in Kenya and East Africa makes it an 
asset of great importance in the tourism sector. As the capital city and commercial 
centre, it attracts many business and leisure tourists through the Jomo Kenyatta 
International Airport (JKIA), the main point of entry to Kenya by air. Its main 
tourist attractions are Nairobi National Park; Nairobi Safari Walk; Nairobi 
Mini Orphanage; Nairobi National Museum, which houses a large collection of 
artefacts portraying Kenya’s rich heritage through history, nature, culture, and 
contemporary art; the Nairobi Gallery; and the Nairobi Snake Park.
Nairobi City County has several world class hotels and restaurants together with 
excellent Meetings, Exhibitions, Conferences and Exhibitions (M.I.C.E) facilities. 
There exists eight (8) 5-star hotels and eight (80 4-star hotels with a combined 
bed capacity of 5,700 beds, five (5) 3-star hotels, six 96) 2-star hotels and 122 
unclassified hotels. It is also home to the largest ice-skating rink in East Africa at 
the Panari Hotel’s Sky Centre covering 15,000 square feet and accommodating 
200 people. Bed occupancy within the high-class hotels within the County has 
been growing at an average rate of 9.7 per cent with the occupancy averaging 90.0 
per cent. Accommodation and food services contribute 1.3 per cent to total GCP. 
In terms of linkage with other sectors, the County is well linked with other tourist 
attraction sites in the country by road, air and rail. The Standard Gauge Railway 
(SGR) connects Nairobi with Mombasa tourism hub, and with Naivasha M.I.C.E 
hub. Nairobi’s largest M.I.C.E venue, the Kenyatta International Convention 
Centre (KICC), can hold a maximum of 5,000 participants. There is need to 
expand this capacity (such through the proposed Bomas International Convention 
Centre) to open the county to hold larger international conferences.
8.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in the Tourism Sector
•	 Improving sanitation aspects in tourism attraction sites. 
•	 Refurbishment of accommodation facilities. 
•	 Promoting domestic tourism. 
8.3 Emerging Issues 
Sanitation as a key component in ensuring business continuity in the tourism sub-
sector.
72
Tourism
8.4 Recommendations
The following strategies are proposed for re-engineering of the tourism sector in 
the county: 
(i) Promote domestic tourism to cushion the sector from global shocks such as 
pandemics and other disruption to international travel.
(ii) Diversification and marketing of tourist product offering; come up with the 
Nairobi annual cultural festival.
(iii) Improvement of hygiene standards in the tourist hotels and attraction sites; 
improvement on the sanitation aspects especially during the COVID-19 era 
whereby tourists will be seeking for touristic experiences that assure them 
of health and safety.
(iv) Refurbishment of other tourist accommodation facilities to achieve star-
rating requirements.
(v) Enforcement of existing laws regarding pollution and natural resource 
management; promote usage of ‘green’ energy such as solar power in 
tourism establishments.
(vi) Enhanced energy and ICT infrastructure development; establishment of 
county tourism online information portal.
(vii) Improvement of tourism-supporting infrastructure: leverage on the 
proposed Nairobi Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) and Nairobi Commuter Rail 
to promote urban tourism.
(viii) Construction of the proposed Bomas International Convention Centre to 
popularize M.I.C.E tourism in the County.
73
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
9. Health 
9.1 Characteristics of the Sector
General health provision in the County
The County has a total of 681 health facilities in 2017, with only 115 being owned 
by the public thus translating to 17.0 per cent and 83.0 per cent owned by private 
sector. There are 4 county referral hospitals, 33 health centres, 55 dispensaries 
and 23 clinics. The county has 190 community health workers. 
Table 9.1: Health provision
Year 2018 2019/20
Health facility density   
Primary health facilities 790 1014
Hospitals 78 104
Number of health facilities 868 1118
Health facility density 14.7 16.2
Bed density   
Hospital beds  8,707  9,631 
No. of beds per 10,000 population  132  143 
Human resource density   
Total workforce 5,807 22,786
Human resources for health (technical) 9,199 10,881
Number per 10,000 population 23.7 24.0
Source: Ministry of Health (2021)
In 2019/2020, the number of health facilities in the county were 1,118, which 
comprised of 1,014 primary health facilities and 4 hospitals. This was an 
improvement from a total of 868 health facilities in the previous year, 2018. The 
number of beds per 10,000 population is 143 against the WHO recommendation 
of 30 beds per 10,000 population. The health facilities and personnel serve a 
growing population of 4,397,073 people according 2019 census. In 2019, total 
health workforce was approximately 22,786, representing 24 health workers per 
10,000 population which meets the WHO target of 23 health workers per 10,000.
74
Health
Table 9.2: Percentage distribution of the population that reported 
sickness/injury by type of health provider in the county (%)
Type of Health Provider Percentage Distribution of 
the Population
Government hospital 21.8
Government health centre 14.2
Government dispensary 22.5
Faith-based (church, mission) hospital/clinic 2.9
Community health 0.3
Private hospital/clinic 
39.5
Nursing/maternity home 0.3
Pharmacy/chemist 0.7
Community health worker 0.7
Shop/kiosk 0.3
Traditional healer 0.3
Faith healer 0.0
Herbalist 0.6
Other 0.0
Number of Individuals (‘000) 772
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/2016
Table 9.2 presents the distribution of population reported to have been sick or 
injured and the type of health provider they visited. Majority of Nairobi County 
residents who reported illness visited private hospital/clinic (39.5%) followed by 
those who visited government dispensary at 22.5 per cent, government hospitals 
(21.8%), government health centre (14.2%). About 2.9 per cent of the county 
residents visited faith-based (church, mission) hospital/clinic.
Population with health insurance cover
The percentage distribution of the population with health insurance cover by 
type of insurance provider is presented in Table 9.3. In general, 40.7 per cent of 
the county population had some form of health insurance cover. The National 
Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) was the leading health insurance provider 
reported by 96.3 per cent of the population. Employer contributory insurance 
cover was reported by 12.9 per cent of the population. Private contributions to 
insurance cover were reported by 1.4 per cent of the population.
75
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Table 9.3: Percentage distribution of the county’s population with 
health insurance cover by type of health insurance provider (%)
Source of Health Insurance Percentage Distribution of the Population (%)
Population (‘000) 4,463
Share of population with 
health insurance (%) 40.7
NHIF 96.3
Private contributory 1.4
Private-non-contributory 0.3
Employer-contributory 12.9
Employer-non-contributory 0.7
Other 0.6
Number of individuals (‘000) 1,818
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/16
Place of delivery
In the 2015/16 KIHBS, women in Nairobi County were asked the place where 
children aged 5 years and below were delivered. Table 9.4 shows the percentage 
distribution of children by place of delivery in the County. About 8.8 per cent of 
children were delivered at home, which is higher than the national percentage 
of 31.3 per cent. The proportion of children born in hospitals, health centres, 
dispensary/clinics was 79.2 per cent, 1.6 per cent, and 1.7 per cent, respectively. 
Table 9.4: Proportion of children aged 0-59 months by place of delivery 
(%)
Place of Delivery Proportion of Children aged 0-59 
Months by place of delivery (%)
Hospital 79.2
Health centre 1.6
Clinic/Dispensary 1.7
Maternity home 8.3
At home 8.8
Other 0.0
Not stated 0.4
Number of Individuals (‘000) 600
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/16
Immunization for children 
The 2015/16 KIHBS covered data on measles immunization for children below 5 
years at 9 months (Measles I) and at 18 months (Measles II). The information was 
collected from vaccination cards where they were available while mother’s recall 
76
Health
was used where the card was not available. Table 9.5 presents information on the 
proportion of children immunized (from vaccination cards) against measles. The 
analysis focused on children aged 12-23 months (or one year). The county had 
28.6 per cent of the children aged 12-23 months were fully immunized against 
measles at 9 months while 10.4 per cent were fully immunized against measles at 
18 months.
Table 9.5: Proportion of children aged 0-59 months immunized against 
measles
Proportion of 
Children
Vaccination Card Yes seen 41.1
Yes, not seen 55.5
No 2.9
Not stated 0.4
Measles Vaccination Measles I (at 9 months 28.6
card)
Measles II (at 18 months 10.4
card)
Measles II (mother/ 49.1
guardian memory)
Either (card or memory) 77.7
Number of Individuals 600
(‘000)
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/16
Health outputs
The most prevalent diseases are respiratory system, which accounts for 46 per 
cent of the total cases reported. This is followed by skin diseases, which accounts 
for 11.2 per cent. Other diseases include diarrhea, which stands at 6.0 per cent, 
urinary tract infection 5.1 per cent, arthritis and joint pain at 3.8 per cent, 
hypertension at 3.1 per cent, pneumonia at 3.1 per cent, other injuries at 2.9 per 
cent, eye infection at 2.1 per cent and intestinal warms at 1.0 per cent.
The most common form of malnutrition in the county are stunted growth under 
5 years, which accounts for 27 per cent followed by underweight at children 8 per 
cent, wasted at 7 per cent and overweight children at 6 per cent.
All health institutions in the county offer immunization services, which stood at 
90 per cent in 2017 above the WHO recommended rate of 85 per cent. The county 
has not achieved 100 per cent immunization of child partly due to prolonged 
medical health strikes, which has affected the performance of health facilities.
The proportion of pregnant women who attended at least one ante-natal clinic 
visit during pregnancy is 67.2 while delivery by skilled attendant coverage is 63.4 
per cent. Maternal mortality rate stood at 40.9 per cent while total deliveries in 
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
the hospital are 19,882. In addition, the infant mortality rate was 44/1000 live 
births, under-5 mortality was 82/1000 live births while neo-natal mortality was 
32/1000 live births (KDHS, 2014)
HIV prevalence in the county is at 3.8 with females being the most affected at 6.1 
per cent. The ART adult coverage is 82 per cent while ART coverage in children 
was 90 per cent (HIV survey, 2016).
Table 9.6: Health indicators in Nairobi County 
Key Health Indicators County Estimates
Maternal and Child Services  
Skilled delivery (%) 63.4
Children born at home 35.1
Fully immunized child 90
Child Mortality  
Infant mortality (*/1000) 44
Under-5 mortality (*/1000) 82
Neo-natal mortality (*/1000) 32
Nutrition Status  
Stunted children (%) 26.5
Wasted children (%) 6.5
Underweight children (%) 8.1
HIV (%)  
HIV adult prevalence (%) 3.8
Children with HIV (No.) 2400
ART adult coverage (%) 82
ART children coverage (%) 90
Source: KNBS (2014), KDHS; KNBS (2018), KDHIS
Effects of COVID-19
Despite the fear brought about by COVID-19, service delivery continued in all 
the health facilities although workload reduced drastically after the first case of 
Coronavirus disease was announced in the country as the public viewed the health 
facilities as environments for contracting COVID-19. 
There has been continuous health education, which has seen a change in this 
misconception, and the patients flow is almost back to normal. The County is 
following guidelines and protocols for prevention of COVID-19 to be practiced 
in the health facilities, with screening and triaging of patients on arrival at the 
facilities. At community level, the Community Health of Volunteers (CHVs) have 
been trained and sensitized on COVID-19 and they continue to pass the necessary 
information to the other members of the community. However, outreaches to the 
community had been temporarily halted but are back to normal.
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Health
In June 2020, the Kenya National Bureaus of Statistics conducted a survey of 
COVID-19. The results showed the share of the population that had doctor or 
healthcare provider testing or confirming to them the status regarding COVID 
19 was estimated at 4.5 per cent in 2020 (COVID 19, Wave 2 survey). This small 
number shows that there is a large population of people in the County who have not 
yet been tested for COVID-19. Further, 1.0 per cent of members of the population 
indicated that at least one household member had failed to seek health services 
and 84.8 per cent of the population indicated they will be willing to be tested if 
there was mass testing for COVID 19. Therefore, a lot of awareness is among the 
county population.
Figure 9.1: COVID-19 Testing, 2020
Source: COVID-19 Wave 2 (June 2020)
Teenage pregnancies, and Sexual and Gender Based Violence (SGBV) are some 
of the health issues affecting the youths in Nairobi City County. The closure of 
schools due to COVID-19 affected children socially; this has seen one in ten girls 
being victims of teenage pregnancies. This is alarming given that only 2 per cent 
of teenage mothers always return to school.
As per the latest National Adolescents and Youth Survey (NAYS) report of 2020, 
the main health problems affecting young people are teenage pregnancies, drug, 
and substance abuse (DSA), STI and/or HIV and AIDS infections, malnutrition, 
mental health problems, SGBV and abortion. Other problems that were mentioned 
are poor sanitation and existence of diseases such as malaria. The main causes 
of the health issues in the County are high levels of poverty in households, fear 
of knowing HIV status. Addiction to Drug and Substance Abuse (DSA), idleness, 
parental negligence/lack of parental guidance and lack of or inadequate health 
information and services.
The sector has linkages with the education, ICT, WASH and agriculture sectors. 
There is a direct proportionality between education and health. The high the 
education level of members of the county, the healthier they are. High level 
of education reduces instances of disease outbreaks due to ignorance. This 
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
particularly reduces health diseases such as sexually transmitted diseases among 
the youths and adults. 
Advancement in ICT also helps improve the health sector. This is because with 
ICT, it is easy to scan for diseases and manage the treatment. With advancement 
in ICT, it is possible to do diagnosis to patients and treat them promptly. A 
good example is the scan for pregnant mothers and cancer patients. In some 
countries such as Rwanda, drones are being used to deliver blood. This is helping 
in mortality rate reduction. Good water and sewerage facilities also contribute 
greatly to reduction of diseases such as cholera, typhoid and other waterborne 
diseases. 
Good disposal of waste by avoiding open defecation and using toilets also helps 
reduce the spread of diseases through human waste. The agriculture sector also 
plays a key role in ensuring that people get a balanced diet and good nutrition. 
This reduces cases of malnutrition and stunted growth among children due 
to lack of certain nutrients and vitamins. Agriculture also serves as a source 
of revenue and employment, mostly for females. This reduces cases of family 
conflicts and stresses, hence reducing mental diseases.
9.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in the Health Sector
The pandemic has led to utilization of local capacity in production of masks and 
PPEs. This has promoted growth of local industries, hence creating employment. 
It has also challenged the County Government, hence exposing the health 
sector since it lacks enough ICU beds. More attention is now being given to 
the sector, leading to improved health services. The county has also received 
several donations in terms of bed and PPEs, which have contributed to general 
improvement of the health sector in general.
9.3 Emerging Issues 
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the demand for isolation centres, 
admission beds, ICU and HDU beds. It has also overstretched the existing health 
facilities. Additionally, with the spread of the pandemic across counties, it has 
created fear among the residents and some of them have opted not to visit the 
hospital in fear of contracting the virus.
The outbreak of the virus has caused the County to reprioritize its health sector 
priorities and some preventative and promotive health services such: malaria 
control; expanded programmes on immunization; integrated management of 
childhood illness; and control and prevention of environmentally communicable 
diseases have been affected to some extent. 
9.4 Recommendations
In line with the health status in the county, some of the recommendations that 
need attention include the following: 
(i) Revamp, expand, modernize and equip health facilities, including, Mbagathi 
District Hospital and Mathari National and Teaching Hospital; promote 
80
Health
training and recruiting high number of health officers to enable health centres 
provide equitable essential services throughout an emergency, limiting direct 
mortality and avoiding increased indirect mortality.
(ii) Create awareness on availability and importance of free maternity services 
and address other constraints to access of maternal health services in the 
county including addressing the fear of contracting COVID-19 in event of 
visiting a health facility.
(iii) Allocate resources towards nutrition specific and sensitive programmes in the 
County by establishing specific budget lines for nutrition support initiatives.
(iv) Promote and support public and community health including the installation 
of hand washing facilities in homes and institutions such as schools, tertiary 
education institutions, public workplaces and health care facilities within 
Nairobi County.
(v) Strengthen preventative and promotive health services through malaria 
control; expanded programmes on immunization; integrated management 
of childhood illnesses; and control and prevention of environmentally 
communicable diseases. This intervention is in line with CIDP 2018-2022 of 
eliminating communicable conditions and halting and reversing the rising 
burden of non-communicable diseases.
(vi) Proactively address the mental health needs including those of the health 
workforce, mental illnesses from depression, especially in response to 
shutdowns and economic downturns.
(vii) Address the training needs of healthcare workers, including frontline health 
workers and facilitate their protection through the supply of Personal 
Protective Equipment (PPEs) as the frontline healthcare workers address the 
clinical and isolation needs of patients and the public at large.
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
10. Education and Training
10.1 Characteristics of the Sector
General education provision in the county
The County has 205 public primary schools with total enrolment of 193,058 and 
2000 private primary schools with a total enrolment of 254,476. The teacher to 
pupil ratio in the primary schools is 1:47. The gross enrolment rate is 84 per cent 
while the net enrolment rate is 77.8 per cent. Dropout rate stands at 3.6 per cent. 
The average years of attendance for primary school are 8 years while the retention 
rate is 90 per cent. The transition rate to secondary is at 78 per cent.
In addition, the county has 95 public secondary schools and 57 private secondary 
schools with 2,028 teachers. The teacher to pupil ratio is 1:24, with a total 
enrolment of 48,669. The gross enrolment rate is at 28.6 per cent while the net 
enrolment is 25.3 per cent. The dropout rate is 5.5 per cent; completion rate is 91.8 
per cent while the retention rate is 94.6 per cent. The County has 211 public Early 
Childhood Development (ECD) centres. Among these, 21 are stand-alone ECDs 
while 190 are in main primary schools. The private ECDs are 344 in number. The 
total number of ECD teachers is 413. The teacher: pupil ratio in the pre-primary 
school is 1:29. The total enrolment in the public ECDs is 12,019 with that of private 
ECDs being 182,618. The pre-primary retention rate is 99 per cent with a drop-out 
rate of 0.2 per cent while the transition rate is 99 per cent
There are 12 vocational centres in the County with total enrolment of 477 students. 
The number of vocational training instructors are 45. The teacher to student ratio 
is 1:11; transition rate is 45 per cent while the retention rate is 55 per cent.
About 96.6 per cent of public primary schools in Nairobi County have been installed 
with ICT infrastructure and devices under the Digital Literacy Programme (DLP) 
(ICT Authority, 2019). The infrastructures include learner digital devices (LDD), 
teacher digital devices (TDD) and the Digital Content Server and Wireless Router 
(DCSWR). 
Gross Attendance Ratio (GAR) and Net Attendance Ratio (NAR)
The Gross Attendance Rate (GAR) for pre-primary school was 80.8 per cent 
while that of primary school and secondary school was 101.3 and 88.4 per cent, 
respectively, in 2015/16 (Table 10.1). Gross Attendance Ratio (GAR) represents 
the total number of persons attending school regardless of their age, expressed as 
a percentage of the official school age population for a specific level of education. 
The GAR for pre-primary school was higher for females, 86.4 per cent, compared 
to that for males, 74.5 per cent. The GAR for primary school was higher for females, 
102.2 per cent, compared to that for males, 100.5 per cent. The GAR for secondary 
school was higher for females, 94 per cent, compared to that for females, 81.3 per 
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Education and training
cent. Net Attendance Ratio (NAR) is the total number of persons in the official 
school age group attending a specific education level to the total population in 
that age group. Table 10.1 shows that the total NAR for pre-primary, primary and 
secondary school was 74 per cent, 90.6 per cent and 65 per cent, respectively.
Table 10.1: Gross attendance ratio and net attendance ratio by 
educational level in Nairobi County 
Education Gender Gross Attendance Net Attendance Ratio
Level Ratio
Pre-Primary Male 74.5 68.6
School
Female 86.4 78.8
Total 80.8 74.0
Primary Male 100.5 90.1
School Female 102.2 91.1
Total 101.3 90.6
Secondary Male 81.3 62.4
School Female 94 67.0
Total 88.4 65.0
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/16
Basic education gross and net enrolment rate 
The pre-primary gross enrolment rate in the county was 92.8 per cent in 2019 
while the net enrolment rate was 69.2 per cent. The Gross Primary and Secondary 
enrolment rates stood at 100.7 per cent and 105.6 per cent, respectively, in 2019 
while the Net Enrolment Rates (NERs) were 86.1 per cent and 64.2 per cent for 
primary school and secondary school, respectively, during the same period.
Table 10.2: Gross and net enrolment rate (%), 2019
Pre-primary 2019
Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) (%) 92.8
Net Enrollment Rate (NER) (%) 69.2
Gender Parity Index 0.99
Primary  
Gross Enrollment rate (GER %) 100.7
Net Enrollment Rate (NER) (%) 86.1
Gender Parity Index 1.00
Secondary  
Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) (%) 105.6
Net Enrollment Rate (NER) (%) 64.2
Gender Parity Index 0.96
Source: KNBS (2021)
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
High rate of school dropouts can be attributed to factors such as harsh environment, 
early marriages mostly among the girls, teenage pregnancies where girls drop out 
of school after becoming pregnant for the fear of ridicule by colleagues, lack of 
school fee due to poverty especially if one is admitted in a boarding school, drug 
and substance abuse, school absenteeism by teachers and pupils and indiscipline 
among some pupils leading to expulsion. 
These challenges have been contributed by many factors such poor parenting, 
which leaving children unguided, poverty which pushes girls to be married at 
early age, negative cultural practices such as FGM and forced early marriages, 
peer pressure and easy dugs accessibility. To address the issues, there is need to 
create awareness against drug and substance abuse, offer guidance and counseling 
to students, introduce free and compulsory secondary education, discourage 
negative cultural practices that affects school attendance and ensure there is no 
teacher absenteeism
Literacy 
The analysis of literacy is based on respondents’ self-assessment as no reading 
and writing tests were administered during the data collection. Further, it was 
assumed that anybody with secondary level of schooling and above could read 
and write. The percentage distribution of population aged 15 years and above 
by ability to read and write is presented in Table 10.3. The proportion of literate 
population in the county was 98.3 per cent with the male population being more 
literate (98.7%) compared to their female counterparts (97.9%).
Table 10.3: Percentage distribution of population aged 15 years and 
above by ability to read and write (%)
Ability to Read and Write Percentage 
Distribution (%)
Overall county Literate 98.3
Illiterate 0.9
Not stated 0.8
Number of Individuals (‘000) 3,055
Male Literate 98.7
Illiterate 0.5
Not stated 0.7
Number of Individuals (‘000) 1,563
Female Literate 97.9
Illiterate 1.3
Not Stated 0.8
Number of Individuals (‘000) 1,491
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/16
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Education and training
Educational attainment 
The distribution of population aged 3 years and above by educational qualification 
attained is presented in Table 10.4. Approximately 27.3 per cent of the population 
do not have any educational qualification. This is below the national percentage 
of 49.7. Only 6.8 per cent of the population has attained university degree. The 
proportion of the population with CPE/KCPE qualification is 22.8 per cent and 
that of KCE/ KCSE qualification is 25.3 per cent. 
Table 10.4: Percentage distribution of population by highest 
educational qualification
Highest Educational Qualification Percentage Distribution of 
Population
None 27.3
CPE/KCPE 22.8
KAPE 0.4
KJSE 0.2
KCE/KCSE 25.3
KACE/EAACE 0.3
Certificate 6.5
Diploma 7.2
Degree 6.8
Basic/post literacy certificate 0.0
Other 0.0
Not Stated 3.2
Number of individuals (‘000) 4,004
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/16
Percentage distribution of Nairobi County residents aged 3 years and above who 
had ever attended school by the highest level reached, and sex is presented in 10.5. 
The proportion of males who had reached primary school level was 33.3 per cent 
while that of females was 34.3 per cent. Except for primary school, the proportion 
of males who had reached other levels of education were comparatively higher 
than females. For instance, for all persons who reported to have attended school, 
7.4 per cent of males and 7 per cent females had reached pre-primary school level 
in the County. There was a high disparity between the proportion of persons who 
had reached university education level, with male recording a higher percentage 
than female at 10.8 per cent and 8.3 per cent, respectively.
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Table 10.5: Percentage distribution of residents 3 years and above who 
had ever attended school by highest level reached, and sex for Nairobi 
County (%)
Educational Level Gender Percentage Distribution of 
Population 3 Years and above
Pre-primary Male 7.4
Female 7
Primary Male 33.3
Female 34.3
Post-primary vocational Male 1.4
Female 0.8
Secondary Male 30.6
Female 31.4
College (middle-level) Male 14.9
Female 13.5
University Male 10.8
Female 8.3
Madrassa / Duksi Male 0
Female 0
Other Male 0
Female 0.2
Not Stated Male 1.6
Female 4.4
Number of Individuals Male 2,036
(‘000) Female 1,968
Source: KNBS (2016), KIHBS 2015/16
The main education problems affecting youth as per latest National Adolescents 
and Youth Survey (NAYS) report were drug and substance abuse, absenteeism of 
teachers and students and lack of school fees. These problems were attributed to 
idleness among youth, parental negligence in supporting and guiding the youth, 
and poverty. Parental negligence also pushed the youth to engage in activities that 
predispose them to Drug and Substance Abuse (DSA) and student absenteeism. 
The consequences of these problems included school dropout especially because 
of substance and drug abuse and poor education performance at national level 
examinations.
Just like other counties, many people in Nairobi County lost their jobs because 
of the COVID-19 pandemic. Private schools were forced to lay off both teaching 
and support (casuals) staff because they could not sustain their salaries. Public 
schools also faced challenges in making payment for the other expenses such 
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Education and training
as electricity, water, and security bills. This is because the national government 
halted the release of money to the schools. Apart from the other expenses, public 
schools could not pay teachers who were hired on contract and were under Boards 
of Management (BOMs).
Even after reopening of schools, private schools will have been struggling to come 
back to the feet as many of them had suffered huge losses. There is a likelihood 
that some of the schools will close permanently unless the government comes 
to their rescue. The government has sent money to public shows to pay teachers 
employed on temporary terms by the Board of Managements.
The Education Department in Nairobi County is committed to the provision 
of quality education and training, including providing support to all levels of 
education in line with the Provisions of the Intergovernmental Act, 2012. There is 
need for the County to input in more resources in the education sector to facilitate 
the re-opening of learning institutions.
Water is a shared commodity between community and the schools. The County 
government could ensure that all learning institutions have water for proper 
hygiene during this COVID-19 period. School uniform and learning materials such 
as books are provided by parents. Schools should make sure that there are enough 
classrooms to accommodate all learners when schools re-open. There is need to 
cover days lost through make up programmes both at home and in schools. There 
is also need for employment of more teachers in case of double tracks.
ICT in education 
The entire County is not fully networked, hence limited access to the e-learning 
programme for the larger portion of school children at home. Although almost 
all schools had access to the digital literacy programme, only 42.1 per cent of 
households had access to Internet. Another challenge is the inability of private 
schools to sustain their teachers while they are not in operation.
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Figure 10.1: Access to ICT in households and schools
Source: KNBS (2019), Kenya Population and Housing Census (KPHC, 2019)
On the linkage to other sectors, the line Ministries and Departments such as 
Health, Ministry of Health and development partners such as UNICEF, AMREF 
are involved in child immunization through multi-sectoral approach. In addition, 
through ICT, other children within the county have managed to continue with 
their schoolwork at home. Health is concerned with operation of education sector 
as it defines the measures to put in place in preparation to re-open schools under 
the new normal. Education is also directly linked to agriculture sector to enhance 
food security. Some school dropout cases are due to lack of food, and that is why 
agriculture comes in to provide food for the students, thus enabling them to 
concentrate in class.
10.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Education and Training
The demand for PPEs such as masks in the County has led to local production by 
Voluntary Counselling Centres (VCTs), hence creating employment and income 
for youth. It will, however, be important to address issues of standards and 
quality of the locally produced PPEs. The COVID-19 pandemic has also provided 
opportunity for the County government to forge partnerships to ensure enough 
network coverage across all the sub-counties and counties in the Lake region. 
There is also the opportunity of exploring online classes. This, if effective, can 
save time spent on travelling from home to schools to teach. Teachers will be 
able to reach at the comfort of their seats. This can reduce cases of lateness and 
absenteeism. Learning from homes will also reduce accidents and injuries among 
pupils at school. It will also reduce indiscipline and drug abuse as parents will 
be able to closely monitor their children at home. The disease has also created 
an opportunity for creativity among students who are involved in making of 
ventilators and researching on vaccines.
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Education and training
10.3 Emerging Issues 
Limited access to desktops, laptops and Internet connectivity by many school-
going children who have missed the studying at home programme. Lack of clear 
schools re-opening strategy among the private and public schools.
10.4 Recommendations
(i) The County with support from stakeholders should continue to 
invest in early childhood development through infrastructural 
development to allow for adequate social distancing, deployment of 
ECDE teachers and provision of sanitation facilities.
(ii) The County to involve communities to mobilize learners when schools 
re-open, while deepening implementation of COVID-19 mitigation 
measures. The County could combine community participation and 
large-scale direct communication campaigns to parents, and where 
possible increase attendance options to accommodate all children, 
including those with highest risk of dropping out, and promote back 
to school campaign and community outreach to ensure that no child 
is being dropped out of school due to COVID-19 emergency. 
(iii) The County to prioritize projects that improve school water, 
sanitation and hygiene facilities and management to reduce future 
effect of similar or related outbreak while promoting public health in 
learning institutions.
(iv) The County to promote remedial/catch up lessons for learners who 
might have lagged, and also schools to utilize ICT platforms and have 
a depository of teaching and learning materials that learners could 
use at their own time and while at home.
(v) The County to provide financial or in-kind support, such as school 
feeding, to help families overcome the increased costs of attending 
school, also provide psychosocial support to teachers and learners.
(vi) Concerted efforts will also be required to fight drug and substance 
abuse among the youths in the county. This can be done through 
counseling and ensuring that the youth are not idle especially when 
learning institutions are locked.
(vii) The Government needs to come in and support private institutions 
that are facing threat of closure due to losses because of closing 
school indefinitely. This can involve giving grants and loans to the 
private schools.
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
11. Social Protection 
11.1 Characteristics of the Sector
Sources of vulnerabilities in the County
According to the KNBS census 2019, Nairobi County has a population of 4.4 
million of which 1.3 per cent are the elderly and 1.1 per cent are people living 
with disabilities. The overall poverty rates in the County stand at 17 per cent, 
which is higher than the national average of 36.1 per cent. The county’s food and 
multidimensional poverty level are at 16.3 per cent and 15.2 per cent of the total 
population, respectively. Further, about 23 per cent of the children population is 
stunted. The impact of the COVID-19 to the county’s economy cannot be gainsaid. 
Severe shocks to the households
Severe shocks have had negative impact to the household’s economic and social 
welfare of county residents. Table 11.1 presents the proportion of households by 
the first severe shock in the county. The major shocks in the county are the large 
rise in price of food, which affected about 29.9 per cent of the County households 
followed by robbery/assault/burglary and dearth of family member, which affected 
11 per cent and 13 per cent of households, respectively. Other major shocks include 
loss of salaried employment or non-payment of salary and household business 
failure.
Table 11.1: The proportion of households by the first severe shock in 
the County
First Severe Shock The proportion of households (%)
Droughts or floods 2.5
Crop disease or crop pests 0.8
Livestock died 3.2
Livestock were stolen 0.7
Household business failure, non-agricultural 7.3
Loss of salaried employment or non-payment of 
salary 9.5
End of regular assistance, aid, or remittances 
from outside the household 1.4
Large fall in sale prices for crops 1.0
Large rise in price of food 29.9
Large rise in agricultural input prices 1.0 
90
Social protection
Severe water shortage 4.0 
Birth in the household 1.0 
Death of household head 3.0 
Death of working member of household -
Death of other family Member 13.0 
Break-up of the household 3.0 
Bread winner jailed 0.0 
Fire 2.0 
Robbery/Burglary/Assault 11.0 
Carjacking 1.0 
Dwelling damaged, destroyed 1.0 
Eviction 1.0 
Ethnic/Clan Clashes -
Conflict 0.0 
HIV/AIDS 1.0 
Other -
Number of  
households with 
Shock 902,000 
Source: KIHBS 2015/16
Distribution of social assistance beneficiaries 
Households in the county received various forms of social assistance or transfers or 
gift either in form of a good, service, financial asset, or other asset by an individual, 
household or institution. Transfers constitute income that the household receives 
without working for it and augments household income by improving its welfare. 
Cash transfers include assistance in form of currency or transferable deposits such 
as cheque and money orders. The proportion of households that received cash 
transfers by source, household headship, residence and county is presented in 
Table 11.2. Overall, 15 per cent of households received cash transfers. A higher 
proportion of households received transfers from within the country (87%), 
mainly from individuals (86%) while external transfers constituted 16 per cent.
Table 11.2: The proportion of households that received cash transfers 
by source, and household headship
  Beneficiaries
 Total number of households 1,503,000 
 Households receiving transfers 
(%) 15 
91
Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
From inside Kenya Individual 41,056 
Non-profit institution 2,283 
National government 1,755 
County government 152 
Corporate sector 2,010 
Inside Kenya  47,256 
Outside Kenya  2,048 
Total  41,794 
Number of households  223,000 
that received  
transfers 
Source: KIHBS 2015/16
The main source of revenue to implement social protection activities in the county 
were mostly government budgetary allocations and donor contribution to OVCs, 
PWDs, and the elderly. The County government has been complementing the work 
of the National government on taking care of the OVCs. The County government 
aims at protecting children from abuse, neglect and discrimination in accordance 
with the Children’s Act, 2001, and the Education Act, 2012.
Loss of jobs and business opportunities led to an increase in poverty and declining 
of people welfare. With loss of jobs and businesses, most youths were involved 
in activities such as crimes, prostitution, and other social evils. Job losses also 
increased suffering among county residents. In addition, decreased county 
revenue made it hard for the county to cater for the needy cases and mostly those 
affected by COVID-19. In addition, unemployment and recruitment to the terror 
groups posed a great danger to the youths in the county. 
Social protection is directly linked to the health sector. When people’s social 
welfare is good, that is people have good health insurance, they can be able to 
access health services in case of sickness. When people welfare is affected by loss of 
employment and closing of businesses, they are more likely to suffer from diseases 
such as stress and depression. ICT also plays a key role in terms of information 
dissemination through media such as radio, television, mobile phones, etc. 
Communication is key especially for the people in business as one needs to order 
for goods or services. ICT is also involved in record keeping of those people in 
schemes such as NHIF and NSSF, and other insurances.
Additionally, social protection is directly related to education. The more one is 
educated the more is informed of existing welfare schemes. Educated people 
are also aware of the need for and importance of engaging in social protection 
programmes such as insurance and investment for the future to benefit after 
retirements. With good education, one can understand the role of the government 
in ensuring good life for its citizens. 
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Social protection
11.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Social Protection 
The COVID-19 exposed lack of preparedness among counties in terms of responding 
to the emergencies such as COVID-19 pandemic. It provided an opportunity to 
measure how county governments are prepared to handle the devolved functions. 
Health being a devolved function has really exposed counties, as many of them 
lack required health facilities such as ICU beds and enough medical personnel. 
The virus has also given an opportunity to develop social protection programmes 
to cushion the vulnerable groups in the community in case of outbreak of other 
diseases.
11.3 Emerging Issues 
The COVID-19 outbreak affected all segments of the population and is particularly 
detrimental to members of vulnerable groups. The County has an estimated 
42,703 persons with disability and 1.3 per cent of older persons (aged 65 years and 
above). The County Government of Nairobi will ensure that deserving households 
within the informal settlements are cushioned against food insecurity and that 
people are safe from COVID-19. The county will distribute food targeting all the 
slum dwellers and will involve community leaders to allow the community to 
own the interventions. The county will provide soft loans to small scale traders, 
collaborating with NHIF to increase the number of vulnerable population covered, 
support initiatives that encourage the participation of women, youth and people 
living with disabilities such as in initiating tailor-made programmes for the youth, 
women and PWD that will entice their participation; enhancing protection of 
vulnerable groups through establishing emergency family protection fund; and 
equipping rescue centres and collaborating with social welfare organizations. 
11.4 Recommendations
The COVID-19 pandemic created effects with immediate and long-term economic 
consequences for children, PWDs, the elderly and their families. To strengthen 
social protection response in face of a similar pandemic, the County government 
could: 
(i) Build linkages with other public and private agencies, and with NGOs that 
work with people with disabilities to strengthen families, deliver assistive 
devices, reduce barriers to access and provide vocational training. The 
government could design and implement a disability grant for those 
severely disabled, and those above the age of eligibility for orphans and 
vulnerable children, and below the age of eligibility for the old age cash 
transfer grant.
(ii) Enroll more County residents in welfare programmes such as NHIF, 
which will ease their access to health facilities at subsidized cost.
(iii) Give tax exemption for the SMEs who have suffered losses in their business 
as result of COVID-19. The County government could create a fund where 
they can collaborate with local banks in offering loans to SMEs to restart 
and boost their businesses. The elderly will be provided with food and 
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
other basic needs since their movement has been reduced as they are at 
great risk of contracting the virus.
(iv) Build linkages with Ministries and with NGOs that work with people 
with disabilities to strengthen families, deliver assistive devices, reduce 
barriers to access and provide vocational training.
(v) Protect vulnerable groups of the population from health costs by increasing 
coverage of the NHIF; improving knowledge of the existing insurance 
scheme (NHIF) to improve uptake; and subsidizing NHIF premiums for 
targeted populations.
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Education and Training
12. Human Resources
12.1 Characteristics of the Sector
Sources of employment in the County
The main economic activities in Nairobi City County include livestock farming, 
fruit farming, sand harvesting, mining and trade. The food crops grown include 
cereals. The County is well-endowed with natural resources such as water from 
rivers Athi and Tana, livestock, minerals, game, tourists’ attraction sites, rangeland 
and pastures. Other sources of employment are government departments, Non-
Governmental Organizations, donor agencies and business organizations. A 
small percentage is self-employed, and they engage in jua kali (small scale 
businesses), hawking and livestock selling, among other economic activities. The 
County Government has invested in vocational training institutes and given more 
incentives and subsidies to investors and entrepreneurs so that they can in turn 
create more job opportunities especially for the youth who make a large portion 
of the unemployed. 
Loss of employment and closing of businesses due to COVID-19 had far reaching 
consequences to county residents. This has affected sources of income. With 
the loss of jobs in the Small and Medium Enterprises, the livelihoods of people 
working in these sectors were directly or indirectly affected, particularly the youth 
as the sector employs most of the young population. The loss of jobs in the matatu 
and boda boda industry had directly impacted on the lives of the youth, as some 
residents avoided public means of transport in fear of contracting the virus. In 
addition, lockdowns in Mombasa and Nairobi counties had a negative impact on 
long distance drivers in these sectors. The impacts of the pandemic were felt in the 
services sectors as it affected workers in both private and public sector. Several 
people working in restaurants and bars were rendered jobless due to closure as 
ordered by the government.
Table 12.1: Distribution of population age 5 years and above by activity 
status, and sex in the County
 Male Female Total 
Population 1,888,886 1,925,799 3,814,871
Working 1,030,840 781,389 1,812,311
Seeking work/ No work available 203,434 218,822 422,288
Persons outside the labour force 653,821 924,806 1,578,696
Not stated 791 782 1576
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Per cent working 83.5 78.1 81.0
Per cent seeking work/ No work 
available 16.5 21.9 18.9
Source: KNBS (2019)
Distribution of population age 5 years and above by activity status, and sex in the 
county is shown in Table 12.1 above. An assessment on the county labour force 
indicates that the county population aged 15-64 years (labour force) was estimated 
at 2,234,599 people of whom 1,812,311 people were working and 422,288 were 
seeking work, but work was not available, representing an unemployment rate 
of 18.9 per cent (Kenya Population and Housing Census, 2019). However, the 
employment and income opportunities are affected by several challenges in the 
county. The major challenges pointed out in the county include lack of knowledge 
and skills, lack of capital among the youth, high taxation and insecurity. The 
informal sector covers small scale activities that are semi-organized, unregulated 
and use low and simple technologies while employing few people per establishment.
Effects of COVID-19
During the pandemic, about 1.0 per cent of workers in the county were casual 
workers, 48.1 per cent were regular workers (full time), 5.9 per cent employees were 
working as part time. However, about 36.0 per cent reported decrease in income 
while only 0.3 per cent of people reported to have experienced increased income. 
These could be people working in the health sector, who are supplying medical 
equipment such as masks and PPEs. About 2.1 per cent of workers indicated to 
have benefited from government tax exemptions, which indicates about 97 per 
cent did not benefit from National government tax relief for low-income-earning 
persons, a reduction in the top Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) rate, and other changes 
such as cash transfers, credit relief, lower VAT, and a corporate tax cut.
Figure 12.1: Effects of COVID-19 on jobs
 
 
 
Source: May 2020 KNBS COVID-19 Survey
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Human resources
The COVID-19 had adverse effects on the labour sector in Kitui County. Several 
people lost their sources of income due to close of business and job loss. This 
was because of closing bars, entertainment joints and markets. The government 
closed county popular markets such as Kalundu and Kabati, leaving traders with 
limited access to markets. However, Kitui County seized the opportunity provided 
by COVID-19 to start mass production of masks, which have since been in great 
demand. Kitui County Textile Centre (KICOTEC) plugged in the gap and has since 
been producing 30,000 face masks daily. 
According to the May 2020 KNBS COVID-19 survey, financial and insurance 
activities sector reported the highest level of loss of hours worked (36.5 hours) 
followed by workers in education at 33.0 hours (Figure 3). Workers in other service 
activities and activities of extra-territorial organizations and bodies recorded an 
average loss of 18.0 hours and 16.4 hours per week, respectively. Transportation 
and storage and professional, scientific, and technical activities reported loss 
of 15.1 and 13.0 hours, respectively. This implies that the pandemic negatively 
affected the County economy, which implies loss of employment, productivity, 
and output.
Figure 12.2: Difference between usual hours worked and actual hours 
worked during COVID-19 period
 
 
 
Source: May 2020 COVID-19 Survey 
According to the May 2020 KNBS COVID-19 Survey, 49.0 per cent of workers 
in Kitui recorded decreased income, 5.0 per cent reported increase in income, 
while 86.4 per cent recorded working as unpaid workers. The County recorded 
66.5 per cent of workers in informal sector and 7.8 per cent never attended to 
work due to COVID-19 related activities. In private sector schools, teachers and 
other workers lost their incomes. Some other businesses such as bars, hotels, and 
market centres had totally closed, leading to reduced business activities. Some 
workers in the transport sector had also been rendered jobless due to restrictions 
of moving in and out of Nairobi and Mombasa counties. On average, the county 
lost 11.9 hours worked in a week and the hours lost in economic base of the county, 
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
such as services sector and agriculture sector (7.1 hours) will negatively affect the 
county economy. 
12.2 Opportunities with COVID-19 in Human Resource Sector
To minimize on loss of revenue, the County Government has been provided 
with an opportunity to embark on automating its revenue collection processes. 
The county will seek to complete and attain 100 per cent automation, especially 
on payment and monitoring systems for levies collected on rates on property, 
entertainment taxes, and charges for its services.
The county has been provided with an opportunity of exploring ICT to support 
the county move on despite the current situation. The county has been holding 
virtual meetings at different levels of government. In addressing the pandemic, 
technology has been very significant in contact tracing. The county network 
coverage is very poor and low, hence the need for more funds to be allocated in 
the budget for ICT to try and deal with the issue. 
The COVID-19 pandemic has hastened the arrival of ICT as the economic effect 
of the global pandemic (COVID-19) provides an opportunity for the acceleration 
of the digitalization processes in the work environment. The County government 
needs to immediately use digital platforms to enable remote access to jobs for 
their employees where the Human Resource Management will have an essential 
role to play in navigation of the situation caused by the pandemic. 
The pandemic has provided an opportunity for capacity building of health workers 
as there have been notable efforts by the County government to invest more money 
in training health workers. The County government now has an opportunity to 
reskill its employees and develop strategies (mid- and post-pandemic strategies) 
to adapt to the emerging issues.
12.3 Emerging Issues
The COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the speed at which different firms and 
businesses within the county are changing their pay programmes through pay 
reductions and incentive resets. The county governor and his deputy experienced 
a 30 per cent pay cut. In addition, County executives took a 20 per cent pay cut 
while county chief officers took 15 per cent pay cut. 
There has been reframing of the way the County government segments its 
workforces to include essential and frontline workers especially in the health 
sector. As it continues, the County will consider long-term strategies to determine 
which changes will be temporary versus those that will be permanent.
With the widespread stay-at-home orders, most of county employers are adjusting 
operations and shifting workforces online, all of which have affected overall 
employee well-being.
12.4 Recommendations
(i) Enhance universal access to health to collectively finance health services for 
all, including uninsured workers and their families, and invest in community 
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Human resources
and primary health including community health workers, water, sanitation, 
immunization, and public health.
(ii) Build workplace resilience to public health emergencies and outbreaks of 
infectious diseases in all economic sectors. 
(iii) Promote implementation of stronger labour market interventions and 
policy reforms that drive employment creation. The County to deepen 
technical education, training, and skills development.
(iv) Create more employment opportunities through development of pro-
employment policies; investment in education and training and skills 
development; and investments within the key sectors of manufacturing, 
agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, technology, and innovation. 
(v) Improve access to finance for small and medium enterprises through 
collaboration with lending institutions in the county for sustained business. 
In addition, build capacity in areas related to marketing, operations, finance, 
and human resource development to enhance chances of survival of SMEs.
(vi) Encourage appropriate flexible working arrangements, such as teleworking.
(vii) Liaise with humanitarian actors and development partners to consider the 
feasibility of establishing a pool fund to finance seasonal public works or 
employment guarantee scheme.
(viii) Strengthen the capacity of workers and employer’s organizations to enhance 
their knowledge base and understanding of the mechanism of minimum 
wages determination amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
13. Conclusion and Key Recommendations
13.1 Conclusion
Fiscal Policy
Nairobi County total revenue has significantly grown by 80 per cent from Ksh 
20.11 billion in 2013/14 to Ksh 36.16 billion in 2018/19, the highest ever. However, 
the total revenues declined in 2019/20 and 2020/21 to Ksh 23.24 billion and Ksh 
30.34 billion, respectively, following the adverse effects of COVID-19 pandemic 
that affected revenue streams. Analysis of the sources of revenue indicate that 
equitable share from the National Government and Own Source Revenue (OSR) 
have been the main sources of county funding. 
Development spending related to pending bills has been greater than those 
related to recurrent expenditure, on average accounting for 61.0 per cent of the 
pending bills portfolio. To ensure continued recovery, the County must now move 
quickly to tackle the problem of pending bills, mobilize more finances from OSR 
to increase the available revenue for budgetary operations, seek for more funding 
in form of grants from development partners to cater for the critical development 
projects in the county, and ensure that the ongoing projects are completed before 
launching new projects, and clear any pending bills and arrears owed to suppliers. 
In addition to this, Nairobi County will mobilize more finances from OSR to 
increase the available revenue for budgetary operations and seek for more funding 
in form of grants from development partners to cater for the critical development 
projects in the county. 
Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
The agri-food analysis highlights that the sector was negatively affected by 
COVID-19 in terms of labour supply, trade and marketing operations, food supply 
and the resulting effects on food prices. At the peak of the COVI-19 pandemic, the 
County also suffered from floods. The County’s agricultural productivity is also 
affected by variable and extreme weather events; low agro-processing and value 
addition opportunities; dependence on rain-fed agriculture; low access to quality 
and affordable inputs; low commercialization and marketing opportunities; 
low access to major off-farm services including extension, climate and market 
information, and credit services; pests and livestock diseases; and farm losses 
and post-harvest waste. This adversely affects the productivity of the sector and 
impairs marketing and consequently places livelihoods and food security at risk 
especially in times of emergencies. The analysis calls for strategies to enhance 
productivity, profitability, and resilience of the sector for improved livelihoods. 
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 
The County relies more on water from vendors, dug well, and piped water into plot. 
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Conclusion and key recommendations
Sanitation coverage remained high in the County, with majority of households 
using flush to septic tank. This presents an opportunity for the County to increase 
sanitation coverage to increase its additional revenue collection from sanitation 
services. Similarly, increased access to piped water by rural and peri-urban 
households can also be potential for revenue.
Manufacturing, Trade and MSMEs 
The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted Nairobi City County’s trade, manufacturing 
and MSMEs momentum as containment measures associated with COVID-19 
pandemic took a heavy toll on the sector. In sustaining growth in this sector, it is 
important to strengthen trade and production capacity of MSMEs and especially 
those involved in manufacturing in the County by exploiting opportunities 
afforded by the pandemic, such as production of masks, PPEs, hospital beds, 
ventilators, reagents, gloves, and sanitizers. However, it is also critical to ensure 
the transitioning out of such products is well managed as the COVID-19 pandemic 
slows.
Tourism 
Nairobi City County is a major centre of tourism in the region. Its relative proximity 
to many tourist attractions both in Kenya and East Africa makes it an asset of great 
importance in the tourism sector. Nairobi City County has several world class 
hotels and restaurants together with excellent Meetings, Exhibitions, Conferences 
and Exhibitions (M.I.C.E) facilities. There exists eight (8) 5-star hotels and eight 
(8) 4-star hotels with a combined bed capacity of 5,700 beds, five (5) 3-star hotels, 
six (6) 2-star hotels and 122 unclassified hotels. It is also home to the largest ice-
skating link in East Africa at the Panari Hotel’s Sky Centre covering 15,000 square 
feet and accommodating 200 people. Bed occupancy within the high-class hotels 
within the County has been growing at an average rate of 9.7 per cent, with the 
occupancy averaging 90.0 per cent. Accommodation and food services contribute 
1.3 per cent to total GCP.
Health 
The COVID-19 has worsened the situation as far as youth and women are 
concerned. These are the groups of people that have been facing several challenges 
even before the outbreak of the COVID-19. FGM and gender-based violence cases 
have increased with the lock down. Youths who are entrepreneurs have also been 
affected, thus losing jobs and businesses due to the lockdown. Other problems 
facing youths include teenage pregnancies, malnutrition, STI/HIV and AIDS, 
poor environment, drug and substance abuse and malnutrition.
Education and Training 
The County, with support from stakeholders, would continue to invest in early 
childhood development through infrastructural development to allow for adequate 
social distancing; deployment of ECDE teachers and provision of sanitation 
facilities. The county could provide financial or in-kind support, such as school 
feeding, to help families overcome increased costs of attending school and provide 
psychosocial support to teachers and learners during and after the pandemic.
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
Social Protection
It will be important for the county to build linkages with ministries, and with 
NGOs that work with vulnerable groups to strengthen families, deliver assistive 
devices, reduce barriers to access and provide vocational training. Research to get 
a better understanding of the actual situation of disability and chronic illness in 
the County is needed, and to map existing initiatives on social protection.
Labour Participation
The County will enhance investments and mechanisms for up skilling and 
reskilling, deepening technical skills and ICT skills; and retraining employees 
on how to work from home, where applicable. The County Government needs to 
protect workers in the informal economy by pursuing innovative policies to reach 
them quickly through a combination of non-contributory and contributory social 
security schemes and facilitating their transition to the formal economy in the 
longer-term.
13.2 Key Recommendations 
Fiscal Policy
Generally, pending bills related to development have been greater than those 
related to recurrent expenditure, on average accounting for 61.0 per cent of the 
pending bills portfolio. To ensure continued recovery, the County must now move 
quickly to tackle the problem of pending bills, mobilize more finances from OSR 
to increase the available revenues for budgetary operations, seek for more funding 
in form of grants from development partners to cater for the critical development 
projects in the county, and ensure that the ongoing projects are completed before 
launching new project and clear any pending bills and arrears owed to suppliers. 
In addition to this, Nairobi City County should mobilize more finances from OSR 
to increase the available revenues for budgetary operations and seek for more 
funding in form of grants from development partners to cater for the critical 
development projects in the county. 
Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries
To successfully build resilience and enhance growth of the agriculture sector, the 
County will: explore partnerships to develop agro-processing and value addition 
capacities at the County; link farmers to diverse product markets; strengthen 
the County’s institutional capacity in disaster surveillance and management; 
enhance farmers access to critical agricultural inputs and services and build their 
technical capacity to act on information obtained; provision of storage and cooling 
facilities; natural resource management; and strengthen agricultural cooperatives 
to enhance marketing.
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 
To build resilience and mitigate the effect of COVID-19, the county will increase 
water supply in households, institutions, and public places by drilling boreholes, 
dams, and access to piped water in all the sub-counties. The County could 
promote protection of water catchment areas and promote the use of safe and 
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Conclusion and key recommendations
improved toilets in schools, health care facilities, workplaces, and public places by 
connecting households to piped sewer. There is also ned to promote handwashing 
as a measure against COVID-19. 
Manufacturing, Trade and MSMEs 
In sustaining growth in the manufacturing, trade and MSMEs sector, the County 
will promote the County City as an economic, industrial and diplomatic hub as 
planned in the third Medium-Term Plan; collaborate and partner with the counties 
forming the Nairobi Metropolitan Region - that is Kiambu, Murang’a, Machakos 
and Kajiado counties, to enhance economies of scale and market for industrial 
products; invest in water projects, expand the roads and transport network to 
decongest the city and build adequate and affordable housing; facilitate local and 
foreign private investors to invest in the Special Economic Zones (SEZs); improve 
power supply reliability as outlined in the MTP III, for example though investment 
in cheaper renewable energy; enhance security through continuous installation of 
National Security Communication Network and the Surveillance System in the 
City, which is a Kenya Vision 2030 flagship project; and fast-track construction 
of KIRDI Research, Technology and Innovation Laboratory in South B, which is 
supposed to support manufacturing as per MTP III.
Tourism 
The following strategies are proposed for re-engineering of the tourism sector in 
the county: promote domestic tourism to cushion the sector from global shocks 
such as pandemics and other disruption to international travel; diversification and 
marketing of tourist product offering; come up with the Nairobi annual cultural 
festival; improvement of hygiene standards in the tourist hotels and attraction 
sites; improvement on the sanitation aspects, especially during the COVID-19 
era whereby tourists will be seeking for touristic experiences that assure them 
of health and safety; refurbishment of other tourist accommodation facilities to 
achieve star-rating requirements; enforcement of existing laws regarding pollution 
and natural resource management; promote usage of ‘green’ energy such as solar 
power in tourism establishments and; enhanced energy and ICT infrastructure 
development; establishment of county tourism online information portal.
Health
For a resilient health sector, there is need for more awareness on immunization so 
that mothers can ensure their children get immunized. There is need to implement 
a comprehensive human resource health management system, including 
undertaking training needs assessments and information system to ensure skilled 
and motivated health care workers, equitable deployed across all sub-counties. 
This is in addition to paying the salaries in time to avoid cases of strikes and 
low staff morale. There is need to recruit additional public health officers and 
community health workers to strengthen preventive and public health systems.
Education and Training
The County with support from stakeholders will need to continue to invest 
in early childhood development through infrastructural development 
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Socio-economic Status of Nairobi County with COVID-19 
to allow for adequate social distancing; deployment of ECDE teachers 
and provision of sanitation facilities. The County could also put in place 
measures that encourage learners to complete all levels of education.
Social Protection
The COVID-19 pandemic created immediate and long-term economic consequences 
for vulnerable groups, including children, PWDs, the elderly and their families. To 
strengthen social protection response in face of a similar pandemic, the County 
government needs to provide basic income security, especially for persons whose 
jobs or livelihoods have been disrupted by the pandemic. There is need to build 
linkages with Ministries, and with NGOs that work with people with disabilities 
to strengthen families, deliver assistive devices, reduce barriers to access and 
provide vocational training. 
Labour participation
The COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the speed at which different firms and 
businesses within the county are changing their pay programmes through pay 
reductions and incentive resets. It will be important for the County to promote 
implementation of a stronger labour market intervention, especially those working 
in the tea sector, which is a major employer in the county and policy reforms 
that drive employment creation. The County shall deepen technical education, 
training, and skills development.
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 Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis
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P.O. Box 56445-00200, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 4936000; +254 20 2719933/4
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