Rural poverty in Kenya

In this post we will see about the rural poverty in Kenya,

Over the past 30 years, poverty has been on the rise in Kenya. Poverty seems to be a paradox in a country that has the best-developed economy in eastern Africa, with relatively advanced agricultural and industrial sectors and substantial foreign exchange earnings from agricultural exports and tourism. Yet Kenya is a low-income country, with per capita income averaging about US$360. It ranks 148th among 177 countries in the United Nations Development Programme’s human development index, which measures a country’s development in terms of life expectancy, educational attainment and standard of living.

More than half of the country’s 31.3 million people are poor, and 7.5 million of the poor live in extreme poverty. About 80 per cent of the population, including three out of four poor people, live in rural zones. Most Kenyans live in areas having a medium to high potential for agriculture, which comprise about 18 per cent of the country’s territory. Population density in high-potential areas is more than six times the country’s average of 55 persons per km². While the poorest of the poor are found in the sparsely populated arid zones of the country, mainly in the north, over 80 per cent of rural poor people live in higher-potential areas surrounding Lake Victoria and in the Mount Kenya region.

Since 1979, IFAD has invested a total of US$115.0 million in 12 loan-financed projects/programmes and three grant-financed programmes supporting the Government’s efforts to reduce rural poverty. Investments include US$18.0 million in grants under the Belgian Survival Fund Joint Programme (BSF.JP). IFAD has also mobilized additional cofinancing of about US$68.0 million from other donors. The Government of Kenya and project beneficiaries have contributed about US$56.0 million and US$11.0 million respectively.

What is the Government doing?

Najivunia Kuwa Mkenya...

A friend of mine sent me a very interesting read yesterday. Here it is and I hope you will agree with him (tongue-in-cheek!):

Technology
After digging to a depth of 100 meters last year, Russian scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1000 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network one thousand years ago.

So, not to be outdone, in the weeks that followed, American scientists dug 200 meters and headlines in the US papers read:
"US scientists have found traces of 2000-year-old optical fibers, and have concluded that their ancestors already had advanced high-tech digital telephone 1000 years earlier than the Russians."

One week later, the Kenyan newspapers proudly reported the following:
"After digging as deep as 500 meters, Kenyan scientists have found absolutely nothing. They have concluded that 5000 years ago, their ancestors were already using wireless technology!"
Na ndio maana najivunia kuwa Mkenya. Wewe je?
Are you proud to be Kenyan despite all the madness (Mungiki, insecurity etc) that's been going on?