New National Poverty Survey Reveals Sharp Inequalities

NAIROBI--Eight out of ten people in Kenya's poorest constituency live below the poverty line of less than a dollar a day (about Ksh 73). But only one or two people are extremely poor in the richest constituency.

Ganze in Coast Province has the highest level of poverty nationally (84 per cent), while Kabete Constituency, in Central Province, is the richest (16 per cent).

Central Province tops the country, its worst constituency being Nyeri Town, with a poverty rate of 43 per cent. The arid North Eastern Province is the poorest nationally. In the best constituency, Dujis, 59 per cent of the people are poor, while in the worst, Wajir North, it is 70 per cent.

The figures are contained in a new government survey - Geographic Dimensions of Well-Being in Kenya: Who and Where are the Poor? - which covers Kenya's 210 parliamentary constituencies. The report was released by the Minister of Planning and National Development Prof Peter Anyang' Nyong'o in Nairobi on November 1, 2005.

Poverty in Western Province ranges from 50 per cent in Amagoro to 72 per cent in Ikolomani. In Nyanza Province, 65 per cent of the people are poor. Eighteen of the Nyanza's 32 constituencies have a poverty rate that is above the provincial average.

In Eastern Province, poverty ranges from 34 per cent in Ntonyiri Constituency to 76 per cent in Kitui South. Rift Valley province has a poverty incidence of 48 per cent, ranging from 34 per cent in Subukia to 64 per cent in Turkana Central.

In Nairobi, poverty ranges from 31 per cent in Westlands to 59 per cent in Makadara. The report says households headed by individuals with secondary education or above have less poverty than those headed by individuals with primary education, or none.