Manifestations of Deprivation and Self-Help Coping Strategies to Urban Poverty in Eldoret Municipality, Kenya

Abstract

The preoccupation with rural development and poverty alleviation in Kenya has obscured the plight of the urban poor. The assumption has been that poverty is a rural phenomenon. Although this may appear true given the high incidences of rural poverty the rapid urbanization coupled with economic factors have led to increased concentration of poverty in urban centres in Africa in recent years. Yet, the analysis of the dynamics of urban poverty and alleviation measures continues to be given little attention at the policy level. Consequently, while rural poverty is well understood, information on urban poverty dynamics is largely not understood and at best speculative. Hence, the qualitative nature of urban poverty largely remains unknown and its dimensions unclear. There is now a growing recognition that poverty is multidimensional and has many faces, and that poverty and deprivation results from processes and interactions between social, economic, cultural and political dynamics of a society. A comprehensive understanding of the many faces of poverty and poverty alleviation measures need to extend beyond income to include the way the poor perceive their situation, its causes and remedial measures. This paper discusses the findings of a household study on the perceptions of poverty conducted in Eldoret Municipality Kenya .The study adopted a wide view of urban poverty that focuses on what people see as the causes of their poverty, its various manifestations and the way people respond to their depressed circumstances.

Keywords: Urban poverty, self-help groups, Eldoret municipality