Tag Archive for: Poverty in Kenya

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Renewable Energy in Kenya

Renewable Energy in KenyaThe great rift valley running through the heart of Kenya spans 6,400 kilometers from Jordan to Mozambique. Below its surface, water effortlessly seeps through, encountering heated rocks situated 1-3 kilometers beneath the earth’s crust. This interaction yields a combination of superheated water and steam, constituting 75% and 25%, respectively, with temperatures averaging 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit) and pressures reaching 1,000 PSI. Remarkably, these conditions prove optimal for harnessing geothermal energy.

In the 21st century, particularly in the past few years, Kenya has begun to harness this geological advantage to become a global powerhouse in clean energy. With a total geothermal power capacity of 988.7MW, of which 799MW stems from the Great Rift Valley, Kenya is the 6th largest producer of geothermal energy worldwide. According to KenGen, there is potential for this capacity to rise to 10,000MW, with a view to Kenya being powered entirely by renewable energy by 2030.

What Does This Mean for the World?

In a declaration by Kenyan President William Ruto, who is leading the campaign for the country’s shift from fossil fuel reliance, he claimed that: “Despite Africa having an estimated 40% of the world’s renewable energy resources, only $60bn or 2% of $3tn renewable energy investments in the last decade have come to Africa.”

Increases in foreign aid investments could be mutually beneficial for both Kenya and Western nations. If foreign aid budgets increased in focus on expanding upon Africa’s renewable energy infrastructure, for example, by helping to expand operations in Kenya, this could potentially provide a solution to the West’s continued reliance on fossil fuels and give a boost to the West’s efforts in fighting the climate crisis through trade alliances with African nations.

What Does This Mean for Kenya and Africa as a Whole?

A substantial economic boost could be anticipated with increased foreign aid investment into renewable energy infrastructure projects in Africa. Infrastructure projects will likely require a significant uptake in local workers to assist with building power plants and wellheads, providing local people with new employment opportunities and the prospect of newfound wealth in the region.

The potential transformation of Africa’s power grid through these investments also cannot be understated: “According to the U.N., more than half of the sub-Saharan population does not have access to power, making it the lowest region due to the lack of a grid that distributes power to consumers. Large African economies like Nigeria and South Africa rely heavily on fossil fuels to supply their booming population.”

For decades, Africa’s troubles with poor power grid infrastructure have constrained the continent’s capacity for economic growth. Manufacturing, infrastructure and retail sites cannot operate without a sufficient and reliable power supply. Therefore, the economic boost these developments could provide is unequivocally huge, as well as the employment opportunities that are so desperately needed.

Kenya’s geothermal operations already provide enough to power approximately 3,800,000 homes through state and private commercial projects. It is, therefore, relatively simple to imagine the extraordinary impact further investment from Western states could have on alleviating millions of Kenyans and Africans across the continent out of poverty.

– Ethan Leyden
Photo: Flickr

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Water Crisis in Turkana, Kenya

Water Crisis in TurkanaThe largest county in Kenya, Turkana, is situated in the northwestern corner of the country, bordering Ethiopia, South Sudan and Uganda. Turkana is widely recognized as “the cradle of mankind” as prolific evidence of the existence of hominids has been found here, dating back to over four million years ago. The people inhabiting this region are nomadic pastoralists, relying on the animals they raise for food and income.  They move two to three times a year to avoid exhausting the land’s resources and traditionally chase the rain with their livestock. 

As explained in “The Journal of African History,” published by Cambridge University, the Turkana people actively resisted and defied the occupation of their land by imperial forces of British-occupied East Africa during the 1920s and ‘30s. This resistance followed a series of conflicts with 19th century traders and explorers.  During Britain’s colonization of Kenya, the Turkana region was largely left untouched. In addition to the people’s opposition to British rule, the arid climate was unfavorable to colonizers and deemed without value to anyone besides the Turkana people themselves. 

Effects of a Long-Lasting Drought

Droughts have been well documented in the Turkana region of Kenya since the 1960s, projected to occur every five years. However, droughts have become an annual occurrence since the 1990s. The most recent drought began in 2020 and had killed an estimated 439,400 livestock by mid-2022. Considering the importance of livestock in this region, a crisis of hunger and water scarcity has catapulted conflicts over vital resources between pastoralists. 

Vegetation cannot withstand the extreme temperatures of the desert and livestock is unavailable to slaughter or sell, positioning Turkana’s residents in a threatening situation. According to the Rockefeller Foundation, 60% of Turkana’s population is experiencing acute hunger and food insecurity, which places their lives in immediate danger if food cannot be accessed and consumed. It is not uncommon for people to subsist on local fruit trees and insects.

The Impacts of Corruption

Most of the Turkana people rely on boreholes constructed by the government or development organizations. According to the Water, Peace and Security report, water in Kenya is drilled by the government and handed down to elected water user officials who regulate the use of the water points. A combination of poor borehole management and limited rainfall has lowered the water table of wells, exacerbating the water crisis in Turkana.  People often travel long distances to access these points of water, which are often high in salinity and low in water quantity.  It is not uncommon for locals to climb into these wells to access water.  These people are subject to extreme danger, risking falling or getting trapped below the Earth’s surface, as these wells may reach hundreds of feet deep.

In addition to these challenges, water cartels, known as Nakanas, are prevalent. Though water is ideally managed by regional committees, these cartels regularly redirect water to themselves for sale, preventing people from accessing water points. Influential businessmen and politicians also guard access to boreholes, illegally diverting water for their benefit.

Scare Resources Drive Conflict

The largest permanent desert lake in the world, Lake Turkana is at the fingertips of Northern Kenyans. The river stretches into Southwestern Ethiopia, feeding into the Omo River. The Omo River is subject to rising water levels due to deforestation and erratic rainfall in Ethiopia. Overflow from the Omo permeates Lake Turkana, altering the salinity of the water and thus changing breeding patterns among fish.  Fishing communities have been forced to migrate to new areas to sustain their livelihoods, creating conflicts between the Turkana people and those residing along Ethiopia’s border. Intercommunal conflicts along the Turkana-West Pokot and Samburu-Baringo borders also exist as tribes compete over scarce resources. 

Amid the water crisis in Turkana, multiple organizations are committed to improving the lives of those impacted by the drought. Several teams have been working on the ground to improve the food and water security of the population.  

Keep IT Cool

A Google-backed startup based in Nairobi, known as Keep IT Cool, is transforming the food industry in Northern Kenya. The organization operates as a decentralized cold-chain company and food distributor. Keep IT Cool serves Turkana’s pastoralists by providing fisherfolk with reliable transportation and freezers to prevent spoilage during the transport to Nairobi. To help fisherfolk support themselves and their families, the company also pays 20-30 more Kenyan shillings per kilogram of fish than the local asking price.

WaterCredit Initiative

Water.org’s WaterCredit Initiative is helping people in 11 countries access affordable loans for clean water. The organization works with in-country financial companies and water service providers to add loans for water and varying sanitation solutions to their businesses. Water.org has been working to tackle the water crisis in Turkana and other regions throughout Kenya since 2005. The initiative has successfully provided 6.6 million people access to clean water and sanitation.

– Sophia Loizos
Photo: Flickr

Kenya’s Hunger Safety Net Program for Drought-Hit Homes

Hunger Safety Net ProgramHostile climates can greatly affect poverty, restricting people’s ability to make a living, provide for themselves and survive amid extreme temperatures. In Kenya, when harsh environments impede the ability to survive financially, the government steps in to help. The Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP), run by the National Drought Management Authority of Kenya (NDMA), is a program that aims to provide unconditional financial support through cash transfers for the eight most dry and poverty-vulnerable counties in Kenya: Turkana, Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, Garissa, Isiolo, Samburu and Rana River.

Drought-Driven Poverty

HSNP focuses on these “arid or semi-arid lands (ASALs)” because they are prone to food insecurity and poverty. Severe drought makes farming and food production extremely difficult, leaving families starving without income to buy food and relying on emergency food aid. Drought along with failing rain seasons chronically exacerbates poverty and the threat of death from starvation. With money from HSNP, families can purchase enough food and varied ingredients to feed their families and pay for education, keeping them from dropping into life-threatening circumstances. The government disburses Ksh537 million ($3 million) to poor families to mitigate the effects of drought.

Evaluation of the Kenya HSNP, Oxford Policy Management

In 2009, the HSNP  began as a collaboration effort between the NDMA and the Department for International Development. The initial pilot phase started in the same year, focusing on providing cash transfers to households in arid regions of the country. After this success, more phases followed, with the second launching in 2013 to expand coverage and introduce additional components like livelihood support. The third phase began in 2019, aiming to enhance resilience and sustainability.

How the Hunger Safety Net Program Works

There are two groups of HSNP beneficiaries: those who receive money bi-monthly and direly need help and those who only receive funds in case of emergency like a sudden drought or economic shock. For all applications, one person must be in the household with a national identity card to receive the money, and the climate must suffer from drought. Submissions are evaluated by a PMT, or Proxy Mean Test, an “electronic selection based on set predetermined socioeconomic parameters to generate a household livelihood condition score (HLCS).”

Once accepted, beneficiaries set up a bank account with a Mastercard through which they receive money. To ensure the transfers reach the correct households safely, a fingerprint scan identifies them before they can receive the first transfer.

Impact

The program has successfully achieved its goals of helping reduce drought-driven poverty and starvation. HSNP alone provided funds to 68,621 homes; the current version supports 101,800 homes. The HSNP has big plans for the future. On that list is an expansion to support 32,000 more households in ASALs.

– Emily Shapiro
Photo: Unsplash

USAID Revitalizes Oldonyiro Market in Kenya

USAID Revitalizes Oldonyiro Market in Kenya About 30% of Kenyans live below the national poverty line, a figure that has gradually decreased over the years. However, Kenya continues to grapple with conflicts that exacerbate the disparity between the wealthy and the poor. Specifically, many Kenyan families, particularly women and girls, remain vulnerable to economic shocks, which droughts and floods can trigger. Agriculture and livestock markets, like Oldonyiro Market, significantly drive Kenya’s economy, making it susceptible to downturns during crises. The absence of adequate market spaces can jeopardize people’s food and financial security when facing economic shocks.

Oldonyiro Market

Oldonyiro Market, situated in Laikipia County in northern Kenya, acts as a crucial hub for nearby rural communities to trade consumer goods. On alternate days, vendors and buyers exchange livestock, produce, clothing and household items, offering local farmers and entrepreneurs a venue to sell their products and earn a living. However, the market’s operations are vulnerable to climatic conditions, posing challenges to maintaining a stable trading environment. Droughts, floods, theft and extreme temperatures threaten the market’s security, impacting the community’s ability to sustain a steady income.

Feed The Future

Feed the Future is a United States (U.S.) initiative, spearheaded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), aimed at addressing global hunger by tackling its underlying causes. It focuses on enhancing agricultural-led growth, resilience and nutrition in countries facing significant challenges and opportunities for improvement. Feed the Future has been instrumental in assisting millions of individuals in vulnerable communities worldwide. Its efforts have resulted in reductions in hunger and malnutrition, as well as the augmentation of incomes through agriculture, fostering economic opportunities both within and beyond farming sectors.

USAID’s Help

Through Feed The Future, USAID partnered with the government of Kenya to revamp Oldonyiro Market for the benefit of the surrounding communities’ economic growth and agricultural security. USAID built the market by constructing covered buildings, market stalls, shops and informal eateries to better secure the trading center, allowing the people to trade even in times of severe drought. This gave them hope and safety, making for booming business and a steadier income.

It is important to note that markets like Oldonyiro contribute to the broader agricultural economy of Kenya by providing a platform for farmers and traders to buy and sell goods, thereby stimulating economic activity at the grassroots level. Additionally, the agricultural sector is a major contributor to Kenya’s economy, employing a significant portion of the population and generating income from both domestic consumption and export.

Looking Forward

Kenya’s journey toward economic resilience and food security, exemplified by the transformation of Oldonyiro Market, highlights the power of collaborative initiatives like Feed the Future. By fortifying the infrastructure necessary for agricultural and economic stability, such efforts are paving the way for a future where Kenyans can thrive despite environmental and economic challenges. This model of development, fostering both local entrepreneurship and agricultural productivity, offers a blueprint for sustainable progress in communities across the globe.

– Tristen Jerkins
Photo: Unsplash

 

USAID experts to discuss White House cuts

Kilimo Salama: Microfinance To Lift Kenyan Farmers Out of Poverty

Kilimo SalamaRural poverty accounts for 84% of all poverty. Smallholder farmers struggle to meet their basic monetary needs. This is due to the low yield and productivity that they can obtain with the methods that are affordable and accessible to them, often manual and obsolete. Due to the low margins these farmers make, a bad harvest season can mean plunging into deeper poverty and not being able to survive. In response to this pressing issue, Kilimo Salama, a microfinance insurance scheme, was introduced in Kenya in 2009. The primary objective of this initiative is to protect smallholder farmers from the adverse impact of extreme weather-induced crop loss. Notably, Kenya, where this scheme originated, has, as of 2022, 7.8 million people living on less than $1.90.

Insurance for Crop Loss Due To Extreme Weather

The soil in several African countries requires sustainable farming practices to prevent degradation. However, human activities, primarily mining, have resulted in significant nutrient depletion in African soils. This depletion, intensifying over the past decade, has further decreased the already low harvest output. Another key characteristic of smallholder farming in Africa is its heavy reliance on rainfed agriculture.

The combination of soil nutrient depletion and the unreliable weather patterns countries like Kenya have been experiencing in the past decades, ranging from drought to extreme rain, makes harvests unpredictable. This puts smallholder farmers at risk of falling into extreme poverty and not being able to afford to harvest next season.

Kilimo Salama

Kilimo Salama, which means safe farming in Swahili, was created based on the learning of a pilot in Kenya’s Laikipia district. The Laikipia district’s largest economic sector is agriculture at an estimated 35.5 billion Kenyan Shillings or $217.791.410. The region experiences dry and wet seasons, causing challenges such as droughts and excessive rainfall for small-scale farmers. In the first pilot in Kenya, hundreds of maize farmers were insured against drought in 2009. Following the drought that season, the initiative compensated all farmers between a 30% to 80% payout, depending on the extent of the drought.

Kilimo Salama holds significant importance for smallholder farmers, recognizing that the effects of a bad harvest season do not end in that season, affecting subsequent seasons. By providing insurance coverage, Kilimo Salama enables smallholder farmers to continue earning money, actively engage in the local and global economy and pursue cultivation in the following seasons despite setbacks caused by drought or excessive rain. This pivotal support prevents smallholder farmers in the eight countries where the program operates from plunging further into poverty. Instead, it empowers them to generate income that can be invested in adopting more efficient farming techniques or acquiring higher-yielding seeds.

Conclusion

Programs like Kilimo Salama can help tackle rural poverty. These microfinance insurance programs are highly tailored to the needs of the communities they serve, are more accessible and are designed to be affordable and easily understood.

– Sara del Carmen Navarro Galvan
Photo: Pexels

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Onesmus Okamar on Art and Education in Kenya

Onesmus Okamar“There are many people with great talents that only lack information. If you don’t know where to take your work to sell or how to approach galleries or individual clients – how to relate to them – that becomes the biggest challenge and an obstacle for many artists and people in all fields.” The Borgen Project interviewed Onesmus Okamar, a self-taught Kenyan artist, discussing his work with the Kobo Trust, art as a tool for alleviating poverty and education in Kenya.

About Onesmus Okamar

Born in Teso-North, Busia County, Kenya, Okamar is an award-winning visual artist based in the country’s capital city, Nairobi. With no formal training, Okamar began pursuing art at age 17. Two years later, in 2014, Okamar received a commendation for the Mask Prize, an award celebrating the creativity and innovation of African youth.

While discussing art and education in Kenya, Onesmus Okamar states that one of the biggest problems that Kenyans face is an insufficiency of information and access to resources, explaining that a particular struggle for creatives is to find “a physical space where they can work and where they can invite clients to get to know their art.”

The Kobo Trust

According to Onesmus Okamar, the Kobo Trust, a charitable foundation and nonprofit founded by Kobo Safaris Ltd. in 2011, works both with artists and children from disadvantaged backgrounds, seeking to create a solution to this problem. The Kobo Trust provides a creative space for artists to use while educating, rehabilitating and sheltering children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Okamar describes that many “kids end up in the streets because they don’t have anything to do when they finish school.” However, the Kobo Trust sponsors children through their primary, secondary and tertiary levels and “empowers them by getting them involved in businesses of their own.”

Having worked as an artist for the Kobo Trust since 2017, Okamar explains that the foundation receives 20% of any sale from its exhibitions while the remainder profits the artist directly. Through a circular scheme, the 20% returned to the Kobo Trust funds further investment in the foundation’s children, projects and partnerships.

Art as a Tool 

The Kobo Trust is dedicated to sponsoring both children and artists. However, its primary goal is to use arts and culture as a tool for alleviating poverty. The foundation achieves this by using art as a tool for healing traumas while empowering, transforming and building resilience.

When asked how art can practically translate to alleviate poverty, Okamar says, “First and foremost, art must be used as a tool to find an individual’s inner voice, to help expand creativity and freedom of expression.”

The Kobo Trust encourages the freedom of expression as a means to address issues and traumas associated with poverty. It provides an outlet for children and young people to respond positively to their circumstances through art. In doing so, individuals learn that art can be used to overcome a wide variety of challenges and are edified about art as a tool to amplify wider discussions of social, economic and political concerns.

In a brief given by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) discussing the role of art in alleviating poverty, Dr. Kessous, UNESCO artist and ambassador for peace, described it as this: “The impact of art is underestimated today. We have a limited view of an artist as someone who produces beauty devoid of social conscience. In response, many artists decide to combine activism and art to become ‘artivists’ – offering their talents to alleviate suffering, promote peace and prevent war.”

Education in Kenya

Since 2005, Kenya’s economy has steadily grown, transcending from a low-income to a middle-income country. However, disparities in wealth distribution and access to education and health care have created a large divide between Kenya’s rich and poor. Okamar explains that “at times, even the people who may have finances around them lack the information that can help them in their careers.”

When discussing whether art is supported in the Kenyan education system, Okamar laughs, saying that “most parents in Kenya still want their children to become lawyers and doctors.” While this remains prevalent in many countries worldwide, a 2020 study showed that only 19% of Kenyans enrolled in tertiary education, indicating 23% less than the global average.

According to Onesmus Okamar, the latest curriculum does include art but doesn’t address it to be beneficial for development beyond the educational level. He states that “they [students] don’t know anything about the finance part of it. They’re not taught about marketing or using it as an income.” He likens the current system to “giving someone the equipment without giving them the manual on how to use it.”

Alleviating Poverty

Increasing education and access to resources has been proven as a way of reducing poverty. However, when combined with art, it creates a positive medium to address issues synonymous with poverty while increasing awareness and visibility of this suffering. By engaging people in the arts, disadvantaged individuals are encouraged to find their voices and positively contribute to the world around them. Art transforms mentalities, making it a powerful tool in the battle against poverty reduction.

– Zoe Winterfeldt
Photo: Courtesy of Onesmus Okamar

How Semiconductor Manufacturing in Kenya Reduces Poverty

Semiconductor Manufacturing in KenyaKenya struggles with high unemployment and poverty rates. In 2014, Kenya’s unemployment rate for citizens aged between 15 and 35 was 67%. Throughout the past decade, Kenya has seen significant developments due to Konza Technopolis, a government-sanctioned project to make Kenya an industrialized nation. By emphasizing the industrial aspect of Kenya’s economy, the nation can stimulate its economy and thereby improve the living conditions of impoverished Kenyans. Now, thanks to a three-year-old startup company, semiconductor manufacturing in Kenya has progressed even further and the nation is currently the premier semiconductor manufacturer across all of Africa.

Semiconductor Technologies Limited

Although most semiconductors are made in the United States, China and other heavily industrialized nations, Kenya is beginning to enter the semiconductor manufacturing sphere through the startup company Semiconductor Technologies Limited.

Semiconductor Technologies Limited, or STL, is succeeding in its mission to be the leading organization for semiconductor manufacturing in Kenya. The company was founded by Anthony Githinji, who started work on semiconductors in the United States in 1997 before bringing his knowledge back to Kenya. Githinji also strives to integrate technology into his local community. For instance, he helped to establish a computer lab in a village near Mount Kenya in hopes that it would educate children and help their families.

STL also strives to promote the female workforce in semiconductor manufacturing in Kenya. Of the roughly 100 engineers employed at STL, 70% are women. The company inspires women in the STEM field, thanks partly to the STL’s strong human resource development program. STL hopes to cultivate new talent by encouraging internships and by collaborating with other universities in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda in the future.

What Are Semiconductors?

Semiconductors are small materials that conduct electricity and are often found on circuit boards in electronics. As the “brain” of the electronic system, they are a necessary component in most electronic devices and related products. Semiconductors can be found in many consumer products, such as refrigerators, microwaves, laptops, mobile phones and video game consoles. Manufacturing semiconductors is in high demand, as the products made with those chips are near-essential in everyday modern life. 

What Is Silicon Savannah?

Konza Technopolis, also known as “Africa’s Silicon Savannah,” is Kenya’s hub for technological innovation and development, located 60 miles southeast of Nairobi. Much like San Francisco’s Silicon Valley, the Kenyan government strives to use the Konza Technopolis project to make the country a technological powerhouse on the level of other industrialized nations. Semiconductor Technologies Limited is one of many successful projects in Silicon Savannah, but the company is especially unique in its potential role in fighting Kenyan poverty.

STL’s Impact on Poverty

Significant evidence is that semiconductor manufacturing in Kenya may impact the nation’s poverty level. Between 2011 and 2012, Kenyan Internet bandwidth per user increased from 4500 megabits per second to 24000 megabits per second. The African mobile phone boom of the 2010s resulted in more families having access to functioning mobile phones than clean water or electricity. This opportunity allowed development researchers such as the International Centre for Tax and Development to use mobile phone software for development in the country. In particular, several of Kenya’s impoverished communities benefited from convenient phone applications for texting, health care and banking. In 2014, 66% of non-cash-based transactions in Kenya were done through mobile money payment systems.

By manufacturing semiconductors in Africa, Semiconductor Technologies Limited has a golden opportunity to help develop Kenya and fight against poverty. Technology is proven to assist in developing impoverished communities in the country, and therefore, the investment in additional technological efforts can only lead to a brighter future for Kenya.

– Liam Kahan
Photo: Unsplash

Broadening Internet Connectivity in Kenya

Internet Connectivity in KenyaKenya’s government is set to begin constructing 100,000km of fiber-optic cable throughout the country as part of a nationwide project to broaden internet connectivity in Kenya. Their approach implements a unique blend of private- and public-sector construction that has caught the eye of many experts in the field.

Internet Access in Kenya

According to the World Bank, less than a third of Kenyans had internet access in 2021. The largest data service provider in Kenya, Safaricom, still remains largely inactive in most rural areas. Internet connectivity in Kenya is strongest in Nairobi.  
 

To address Kenya’s internet deficiency, the government has begun Phase 1 of the multi-phase Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project, a plan to broaden internet connectivity in Kenya. From this year to 2028, 100,000km of fiber-optic cable will be built across all 1450 wards in the country, targeting areas outside major cities. Furthermore, this cable network will be connected to 25,000 public “Digital Village Smart Hubs,” ensuring more citizens living in rural communities can access internet services. 

Rather than working alongside the private sector in a joint national venture The ITC, Kenya’s Ministry of Technology and Communication, has commissioned private-sector companies like Safaricom to construct about half of the cable network itself, while the government oversees construction of the remaining 50%. Though structurally complex, experts believe this approach could speed up construction, lower costs and create over 1.5 million jobs. Additionally, the fiber-optic cable uses quartz fiber, which is lightweight, resilient and loses 100 million times less transmit power than traditional cables. 

Safaricom has already completed 27% of its share of the construction. Moreover, the World Bank has committed nearly $400 million of the $600 million needed to complete the network. 

All Africa Digital Economy Moonshot (Bigger Plans for Africa)

A broader conduit for funding is the joint All Africa Digital Economy Moonshot of the World Bank and African Union. This is a broad goal of bringing Africa online, as well as a digital overhaul of African financial and public services by 2030. 

Phase 2 of the KDEAP will run from 2026–2030 and involve building the infrastructure and digital environments to digitize government services. By 2030, the Kenyan government should be able to offer e-services like 3-minute digital credit lines and digitized fingerprint/photo records of citizens, enabling secure, speedy access to thousands of planned public services. 

Economic Benefits

About a quarter of Kenya’s population currently lives in extreme poverty. Increasing internet connectivity in Kenya could reduce poverty by improving education and expanding job opportunities. Furthermore, many African leaders note that there is a strong desire amongst African countries to strengthen trade between each other, not just internationally. However, the lack of digital payment systems, credit lines, speedy internet connection and other information technologies has hampered efforts to build trade networks on the continent. Hopefully, as more countries are brought online this decade, they will be able to reap the economic benefits of improved trade and production.

The push for greater internet connectivity in Kenya looks to be going well. Hopefully, the government and its private-sector partners will continue to be successful in the future.

– Finneas Sensiba
Photo: Pixabay

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Shining Hope on Poverty in Kenya 

Poverty in KenyaKenya has been leading the way as one of the fastest-growing economies in East Africa for the past decade, with an average growth of 5.7% each year. Unfortunately, this has been benefiting the country unevenly; with millions of Kenyans still living in severe poverty. Hope was sparse until an NGO called Shining Hope on Communities emerged from the slums but it is making a difference regarding poverty in Kenya.

Africa’s Largest Slum

Kibera sits on the southern edge of Nairobi and is home to more than 250,000 Kenyans in a space no larger than 2.5 km2. Considered a landmark for sightseers, thousands of men, women and children are victims of starvation and disease.

The area is a slum with dire living conditions, posing safety and disease threats to all inhabitants. It lacks clean water, electricity and sufficient food access while containing no proper housing and holds the constant threat of eviction at any time as an informal settlement. Mostly though, it has robbed most inhabitants of opportunities to educate themselves and to escape to a better life.

The Birth of SHOFCO

The Kibera slum is where it all began when a young Kennedy Odede was born into the tough, unsafe and cruel reality of poverty in Kenya. Odede managed to escape at the age of 10 to a life of sleeping rough and teaching himself with big dreams for a better future for Kenyans.

In 2004, and with nothing but a 10p coin, a football and an idea, the doctor sought out and found a way to support those he had left behind. He created Shining Hope for Communities from the ground up.

Now, the globe recognizes him as a social entrepreneur and is commending him for his achievements. He was crowned one of Forbes’ ’30 under 30’, and has received an Echoing Green Fellowship, among others. Odede still advocates and sits on various foundation boards to give a voice to those still suffering in silence.  

SHOFCO Today

With offices in the U.S. and Kenya, Shining Hope For Communities has taken a grassroots approach to reducing poverty in Kenya by working directly with communities and informal settlements. They work closely with communities suffering the most to provide essential services, including water, safety and other basic survival needs.

SHOFCO then supports the further development of these areas, with education and development opportunities. It encourages and helps individuals access opportunities to improve their futures and through this, begin to develop healthy and self-sufficient communities.

So far, almost 20 years down the line, the organization has reached and achieved the following:

  • SHOFCO’s efforts have impacted 17 urban slums in Kenya.
  • The organization has helped 2.4 million Kenyans living in informal settlements.
  • It helped six health clinics open between the Kibera and Mathara slums.
  • The initiative granted 954 young people access to jobs and internships.
  • The youngest organization in history to receive the Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize.

SHOFCO & Female Empowerment

Historically, females in the urban slums of Kenya were disregarded when it came to education and opportunities. SHOFCO launched Girls Leadership Academies in Kenya’s two largest slums, Kibera & Mathare. The academies have managed to reach 656 of the slum’s inhabitants. 

The academies offer free education up to the eighth grade and opportunities far better than were previously accessible. Opportunities waiting outside the confines of the slum. 

The girls are also granted access to free health care, supplies, uniforms and food, to ensure that the opportunity for a better future can be fully seized.

Since the launch of the education programs, the amount of girls contracting and suffering from HIV within the slums has reduced significantly. Higher survival rates have also been seen among infants with fewer but healthier children born. The students have gone on to continue advocating for change themselves; to earn more than ever expected and invest more than 90% of earnings into their families, further improving the future of these communities.

Looking Ahead

There is still a long way to go in eradicating poverty in Kenya, but this is only the beginning. SHOFCO is an example of an organization that has provided hope and opened up a future for the residents of Kibera and Mathare that had never existed and it does not have to stop there.

– Lucy Blake
Photo: Flickr

The Positive Impacts of Mobile Banking in Kenya

Mobile Banking in KenyaFor the past 18 years, mobile banking in Kenya has helped thousands of people gain control over their money while reducing the country’s poverty rates. The phone-based mobile money service named M-PESA, started by Vodafone in cooperation with Safaricom, has expanded financial inclusivity by allowing access to financial services for even the unbanked through the convenience of a mobile phone. According to the Vodafone website, “M-PESA offers a safe, fast and low-cost way to pay, receive, transfer and store money.” Through local M-PESA agents, individuals are able to withdraw, send or deposit cash, negating the need to visit a bank that may be located far away from a community.

More than Mobile Banking

One of the main benefits of M-PESA is that a bank account is not necessary for using its services. This is a significant advantage to impoverished people in rural, remote areas who cannot afford hefty bank fees, do not earn enough to warrant the opening of a bank account, do not have the formal documentation necessary to open a bank account or simply reside too far away from a bank, making bank services costly and inconvenient.

M-PESA transaction fees are low and M-PESA resolves the need for individuals to travel long distances with physical cash to give to another, which could also be potentially dangerous. With many M-PESA agents, typically local small businesses or vendors, situated across Kenya, individuals can easily transact whenever necessary.

M-PESA was officially launched in Kenya in 2005, and by 2016, Kenya had 40,000 M-PESA agents operating in the country and more than 20 million M-PESA users in a country of 47 million people at the time. A study published in 2016 by Georgetown economics professor Billy Jack, and a colleague at MIT, Tavneet Suri, highlights the impacts of M-PESA on poverty in Kenya. The researchers conclude that between 2008 and 2014, MPESA “increased per capita consumption levels and lifted 194,000 households, or 2% of Kenyan households, out of poverty.”

Statistics from the World Bank confirm the poverty reduction progress during this period. The percentage of Kenyans living under the poverty line dropped from 46.8% to 36.1% over a period of one decade ranging from 2005 to 2015. Kenya’s rural areas noted the most significant decrease as poverty declined from around 50% in 2006 to about 38.8% in 2016, marking a decrease greater than 10%.

Empowering Women

The study by Jack and Suri states, “The impacts, which are more pronounced for female-headed households, appear to be driven by changes in financial behavior — in particular, increased financial resilience and saving — and labor market outcomes, such as occupational choice, especially for women, who moved out of agriculture and into business.”

In the report, Suri mentions that the service helped about 185,000 female farmers move out of farming jobs and into business or retail, giving them a more secure income considering the volatility of the agricultural industry due to changing weather patterns.

Other Issues Impacting Kenya

Despite mobile banking in Kenya bringing poverty rates down, Kenya is currently grappling with the impact of severe droughts, and this is affecting the financial and food security of farming families.

A press release by the International Rescue Committee in February 2023 highlights that the current drought in Kenya has the potential to leave 5.3 million Kenyans facing acute food insecurity from March to June 2023. The report notes that 2.4 million livestock have died due to recent droughts, putting pastoralist families out of work and diminishing their food security.

A United States Agency for International Development (USAID) press release in February 2023 reports that the Horn of Africa has experienced a fifth failed rainy season and Kenya’s cumulative rainfall is now 70% lower than the country’s 30-year average. On top of previous aid measures, USAID intervened in February 2023 with a provision of more than $126 million in emergency food aid to cover the needs of about 1.3 million Kenyans in drought-affected areas.

People will receive food aid in the form of physical food items or cash-based assistance, depending on whether or not local markets are operational. Cash-based assistance will not only allow families to purchase food items according to their needs and preferences but will also help boost local economies as local vendors will see an increase in sales.

Looking Ahead

In spite of the challenges posed by drought and food insecurity, mobile banking in Kenya, particularly through the M-PESA service, has made significant strides in reducing poverty rates and empowering marginalized communities. By providing easy access to financial services and enabling secure transactions, M-PESA has helped lift thousands of households out of poverty and fostered financial resilience, particularly among women. As Kenya continues to tackle the impact of droughts, ongoing support from organizations like USAID will help alleviate food insecurity and further boost local economies through cash-based assistance programs.

– Samuel Kalantzis
Photo: Pixabay