The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) has released a new report outlining the current statistics of the average Kenyan household.
According to the 2015/2016 Kenya Integrated Household Budget Survey, Nairobi was ranked as the county with the least prevalence of cases of poverty with Nyeri County coming in at a close second.
Meru County, Kirinyaga County and Narok County took up third, fourth and fifth positions respectively as some of the richest counties in Kenya.
Kiambu County was ranked sixth, a drastic drop from its position one ranking in a 2014/2015 report by the KNBS.
[caption caption="Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu"]
[/caption]
Machakos, Tharaka Nithi, Murang'a and Mombasa took the last four positions on the top 10 list respectively with poverty rates of between 20 to 28 percent.
KNBS studied food poverty, overall poverty and extreme poverty of over 24,000 households across the nation to come up with the list.
Turkana County was hardest hit by poverty, where according to the survey, close to 80 percent of the population cannot afford food worth Ksh1,954 per month.
The average expenditure for each household in the poorest county was found to be less than Ksh3,252.
Nationally, the proportion of the population living below the overall poverty line was 36.1%.
Overall poverty headcount was comparatively higher in rural areas (40.1%) than in peri-urban (27.5%) and core urban areas (29.4%).
[caption caption="KNBS Chart ranking counties by poverty levels"]
[/caption]
Kenya's United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) boss Werner Schultink, who spoke during the release of the survey on March 22, 2018, raised an issue with alarming statistics that half of the children in Kenya are born into abject poverty.
According to the report, 9.8 Million children are living in extreme poverty, and due to prevailing circumstances, would most likely grow to be poverty-stricken adults.
"We need to address child poverty or shackle these kids for the rest of their lives. Helping those children avoid poverty and overcome its damaging effects will make a huge difference to their lives, their families and ultimately the country," the diplomat stated.
10 People Swept Away While Crossing Flooded River News Just In
