Conceptualizing and analyzing rural poverty in Kenya: interrogating Kenyan experience using development theories, environmental justice concepts, and a case study of the shrinking Mau Forest Complex
Date
2025
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Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
Poverty reduction worldwide has become one of the most pressing challenges of our time, particularly in Sub-Saharan African countries (Hasell et al., 2022). However, we must understand that poverty is not a lack of money but rather a lack of economic options that the poor require to escape poverty (Bailey et al., 2019). As a result, poverty manifests itself in numerous forms and at various levels of society, thereby endangering the very foundations of society, including changes in planetary and ecological systems (Richardson et al., 2023). It is a multidimensional phenomenon whose causes are complex to calibrate and challenging to tackle (Kabubo-Mariara, 2023). However, adequate evidence suggests that considerable attention has been devoted to rural poverty, although there is a need to consolidate and integrate the findings into a multidimensional approach to effectively reduce poverty and its impact on the rural poor (Rodney, 2022). Furthermore, it is essential to recognize that poverty in Africa, like apartheid and slavery, is artificially programmed and can be reprogrammed and solved with enough political goodwill and care for the environment. ☐ This dissertation examines the relationship between rural poverty in Kenya and the embedded structures of colonial administration (Piketty, 2014). Policies and programs that lead to continued economic growth and environmental degradation can weaken and destroy livelihoods, ultimately leading to increased poverty (Mohajan, 2013). Economic growth models promoted in the developing world by classical development theorists often lead to a degraded environment, which is the foundation and backbone of rural livelihoods (Chemelil et al., 2024). As a result, there is an increase in environmental injustices, income disparity, and poverty worldwide (Fosu, 2023). The historical trend of rural poverty in the country shall underpin this study, focusing on three eras of poverty development in Kenya: pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial. Facts continue to show that poverty in Kenya originates from European countries' imperial invasion and partition of Africa (Devine, 2021). The attack disrupted and destroyed African social, economic, and political systems and, in its place, introduced alien systems that persist in indiscriminately exploiting African resources even to this very day (Wiener, 2015). The Industrial Revolution and the indiscriminate extraction of natural resources, particularly fossil fuels, have led to environmental degradation and climate change, resulting in food insecurity across rural and marginalized communities (Bruckner et al., 2022). The introduction of money and the emergence of a money market economy have accelerated environmental degradation and the exploitation of African resources, as well as skewed global trade relationships in favor of the developed world, ultimately leading to climate change and a decline in livelihoods (Lal, 2000). ☐ Poverty development has been particularly significant and dehumanizing across Sub-Saharan Africa and the rest of the developing world (Musa et al., 2022). Kenyan rural communities and urban slum dwellers have struggled to meet their daily basic needs. Ironically, this happens on a continent endowed with abundant natural resources, including minerals and fertile lands (Desai & Levitt, 2020). As the saying goes, African poverty exists not because the continent cannot feed its poor, but rather because the continent cannot meet the consumption demands of the decadent West (Andrade & Sotomayor, 2018). Studies and evidence suggest that gross bureaucratic malaise, particularly in governance, politics, and resource allocation, is a significant contributor to poverty in Kenya (Smith, 2013). Colonial legacies and institutions inherited during independence have been misused for political patronage and neo-patrimonialism, resulting in corruption, tribalism, and other causes of social disequilibrium (Kunjufu, 2014). ☐ It would be unwise to ask Kenyans at this juncture to rebuild their damaged pre-colonial social and economic systems, which had guaranteed equal rights of access to shared resources, thereby thwarting the development of poverty and squalor among individuals and communities. This study suggests that the Kenyan government deemphasizes economic growth as the panacea toward poverty reduction (Wambu et al., 2018). This dissertation argues that, rather than emphasizing economic growth as a strategy to combat rural poverty, a ‘carbon-positive’ sustainable development model should be adopted to address environmental degradation, climate change, and food insecurity (Bruckner et al., 2022). For sixty years since independence, the classical economic growth strategy has not improved the quality of life for the poor in the country or elsewhere in the developing world (Petrucciani, 2022). Instead, capitalism and its economic growth strategies continue to destroy the environment, cause climate change, and threaten lives and livelihoods (Bruckner et al., 2022). It makes sense to start emphasizing non-monetary measures of welfare, such as reduced mortality rates, clean drinking water, accessible sanitation systems, low fertility rates, access to education and technology, and stewardship of a sustainable environment away from the monetary measures that are trickier and more demanding (Arndt et al., 2016). This study shows that improvement of livelihoods, especially in the agricultural sector and informal enterprises, the provision of quality healthcare and education, protection of the natural environment, and the accessibility to policy-making processes are among the core factors that, once fully reformed and utilized, would be able to reduce incidences of poverty among households (Kapur, 2018). There is a need to enhance participatory democracy and sustainable systems and governance institutions to prevent the wasteful use of public resources and empower the citizenry to shape their social, economic, and political destiny (Sy, 2018). Until then, poverty in Kenya would continue to be an everyday trauma. ☐ The issue of how society relates to the environment is of profound importance to environmental justice and the eradication of rural poverty (Byrne et al., 2002). Environmental management, or the lack thereof, plays a significant role in mitigating or exacerbating the problem. Continuous extraction of natural resources cannot continue unabated, as it destroys the ozone layer, leading to climate change and erratic hydrological systems (Sultana et al., 2023). Overall, economic growth and anthropogenic activities are unsustainable in the Earth’s limited ecosystem, which must be kept healthy and balanced for the sake of survivability, biodiversity, and livelihoods (Daly, 1990). Most Kenyan people live in rural areas and depend on a healthy environment to earn a living (Becker, 2019). Rainfall is a great resource whose reliability and consistency are crucial to unlocking wealth creation and poverty eradication (Arora, 2019). Kenya possesses immense carbon sink potential in its forests and grasslands, which the government can leverage to support rural communities in combating poverty (Kairo et al., 2021). There is a need to initiate climate-positive development strategies that not only conserve the country’s natural carbon sink resources but also adapt appropriate technologies to minimize the increase in carbon emissions into the atmosphere (Fankhauser et al., 2022). The country must shift to a new development paradigm with appropriate policies and programs that support the conservation of Kenya’s natural carbon store and equally ensure that emissions are significantly reduced to sustain a climate-positive development (http://illuminem.com/). ☐ Deforestation significantly impacts the environment and the livelihoods of rural Kenyan communities (Goodstein, 2011). Deforestation of water towers has recently accelerated, resulting in a decline in forest cover throughout the country. Kenya currently has five notable water towers with Indigenous forests, of which the Mau Forest Complex (MFC) is the largest (Chaudhry, 2019). The importance of these water towers in supporting livelihoods, mainly farming and other human economic activities, cannot be overemphasized. In the short run, the destruction of water towers and other forests in the country will increase economic growth but perpetually continue to create poverty and destroy livelihoods among the rural Kenyan people (AFP, 2022). It is necessary to address this issue correctly and urgently if the problem of rural poverty and its far-reaching implications are to be handled or even addressed. Economic growth and industrial expansion lead to imbalances in the planetary system, resulting in environmental degradation, climate change, and reduced food production. This is a recipe for food shortages, diminished biodiversity, and widespread poverty (Bruckner et al., 2022). ☐ The figure below shows the overall poverty rates in the country as indicated by the counties. These rates are based on a 2022 survey, which identified the percentage of adults in the counties whose average total consumption equivalent per day was less than one dollar in rural areas and less than two dollars in urban areas. Figure 1. Overall Poverty Rate in Kenya by County ; Source: KNBS (2024). Nairobi, Kenya. ☐ The headcount poverty index indicates that Turkana County has the highest poverty level (82.7%), whereas Nairobi County has the lowest headcount poverty index (16.5%). Arid and semi-arid counties, such as Turkana, Mandera, and Wajir, have higher poverty index levels than Nairobi and other agriculturally rich counties. Agriculturally affluent counties, endowed with good soil and reliable rainfall, such as Kirinyaga, Kiambu, Nyeri, Meru, and Narok, have continued to excel in combating poverty, thereby mitigating rural poverty conditions. The gains made in reducing poverty in rural areas have sometimes regressed due to prolonged drought conditions that affect agricultural production and food security. Therefore, adopting proper policies and pro-poor programs that incorporate climate-smart agriculture is essential to increase productivity, save livelihoods, and mitigate vulnerability to climate change, particularly in arid and semi-arid areas (Wambua, 2019). ☐ The 2022 household survey indicates that the poverty rate in the country increased to 39.8 percent, compared to previous years when there was a downward trend. The prolonged droughts and the COVID-19 global pandemic affected farmers and businesses, reducing household incomes (Siringi, 2021). The poverty situation in the country worsened due to uncertainties regarding the 2022 national elections, where communities were pessimistic following previous election-related instability that led to the destruction of property and livelihoods. The data, therefore, provides valuable information on what policies need to be crafted to tackle poverty in the country. The key among them is the use of climate-smart strategies to mitigate the impact of severe drought conditions, as well as the implementation of participatory democracy, where peaceful and fair elections are guaranteed to every citizen and community (Korir et al., 2020). Research has shown that there is an increase in poverty rates in the country in every election cycle, resulting from political intimidation and inter-ethnic conflicts (Berdal & Sherman, 2023).
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Keywords
Poverty eradication, Colonial administration, Environmental degradation