Strategizing the decennial census of housing for poverty reduction in Kenya.

Abstract

As the world gropes for an understanding of and solutions to poverty, one of its typologies that has come to the fore is housing poverty. Housing poverty afflicts developing countries in particular, and solving it may bring about solutions to other forms of poverty. One of the strategies that can be used to promote the understanding of housing poverty, and hence show the way to its reduction, is the decennial census of housing. This essay intends to determine whether the decennial census of housing can be used as a strategy for the reduction of housing poverty in Kenya. It evaluates the whole census business and recommends that some of the missing UN-recommended housing topics be incorporated in order to give a complete picture of housing poverty in the country. It also recommends that the analysis and reporting of the census survey should be more sensitive to the geographical and social extents of housing poverty. This would transform the decennial census of housing into an effective strategy for poverty reduction in Kenya and, for that matter, in any developing country in the world.