The effectiveness of Poverty Reduction efforts in Kenya: An evaluation of Kenyan Government’s policy initiatives on poverty alleviation

Abstract

The Government of Kenya has since independence directed its efforts to fight diseases, ignorance and poverty as part of its development agenda. According to the Sessional Paper No. 10 of 1965, the government recognized poverty, disease and illiteracy as the major constraints to human development. To date, various development plans, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, Participatory Poverty Assessment Reports, National Poverty Eradication Plan, Economic Recovery Strategy and Vision 2030 policies, have spelt out the strategies to fight poverty. Despite these efforts, poverty levels continue to escalate. The government has since established the causes, constraints and the processes that engender and entrench poverty. In spite of these positive developments, poverty alleviation has remained elusive. Poor economic performance has led to increase in absolute poverty as most Kenyans go without adequate food and nutrition, and face inadequate access to basic services that include education, health facilities, safe water and decent housing. The poverty reduction efforts have been unsuccessful due to weak mapping and coordination of the lead institutions, duplication of efforts, inadequate coverage by region and even gender, competition among and between players, and lack of clear policy direction. It is against this background that this paper seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of government policies in poverty reduction programs in Kenya. The purpose of this study therefore is to analyze the capacity of development policies and institutions in addressing the poverty status, in participatory planning, budgeting and implementation of development programs. The study identifies and analyzes the policies and institutions involved in poverty eradication; and seek to determine how best institutions can network to address poverty issues. The paper further examines existing policies in poverty eradication and attempts to establish a framework that will ensure effective implementation of anti-poverty programs that are targeted, coordinated and executable. The study critically analyzes the bottlenecks to effective implementation of government policies on poverty alleviation in Kenya.

Key words: poverty Reduction, Policies, Kenyan Government