Institute for Development Studies, University of Nairobi

One reason why employment growth rate in Kenya has been rather disappointing despite impressive growth of output and capital stock is because in the recent past Kenya has experienced technological progress which is biased against labour usage. Capital per worker is far in excess of capital per head of population. The mode of job creation has been very capital-expensive. An attack on the problem from the point of view of reducing population growth could only be effective in the long run because most of the working population for fifteen or so years to come has already been born. In order to increase the supply of positions for these workers, ways and means have to be devised for reducing the capital cost per job. One major recommendation is that institutional and educational measures be undertaken to hasten the development and adoption of efficient labour intensive technologies.