Hardcore poverty headcount rate for individuals reduced by more than half

Poverty prevalence in Turkana County has dropped by about 10 per cent in the last decade, the Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey 2015/16 has revealed.

According to the survey, the overall poverty incidence in the county now stands at 79.4 per cent, down from 92.6 per cent in 2005/06.

Although Turkana still leads in poverty across the country, analysts commend the reduction of poverty levels.

“The fact that there is a drop in the percentages of the absolute poverty by about 13 per cent is something we cannot ignore.

“The food poverty observed in Turkana in the survey released a decade ago was at 92.6 per cent and currently it stands at 66.1 per cent,” said Jeremiah Apalia, an economist.

Apalia said this means the Government and its partners have made major efforts in ensuring a majority of the citizens can now afford the basic needs.

Turkana County has been marginalised since independence, a situation some analysts have blamed on Sessional Paper number 10 of 1965 which advocated for more development in more productive regions.

The report released last week reveals that the overall poverty headcount rate for individuals nationally reduced by 10.7 per cent from 46.8 per cent in 2005/06.

The overall number of the poor also declined marginally from 16.6 million in 2005/06 to 16.4 million in 2015/16.

The food poverty headcount rate for individuals at the national level declined by 12.4 per cent from 44.4 per cent in 2005/06 to 32.0 per cent in 2015/16.

Extreme or hardcore poverty headcount rate for individuals reduced by more than half from 19.6 per cent in 2005/06 to 8.6 per cent in 2015/16.