Factors affecting poverty levels in Kenya: case study Busia county.

Abstract

Poverty has been a key challenge and has remained persistently high in Kenya.Several measures have been undertaken towards poverty alleviation. However,poverty has remained pervasive in many parts of the country.In Busia county poverty rate has remained persistently high.To alleviate poverty,it is important to understand the specific factors affecting poverty in the specific areas or counties. This paper presents an analysis of factors affecting poverty in Busia County with an aim of contributing to efforts towards poverty alleviation. The logistic model isused to analyze factors affecting poverty in Busia using the KIHBS 2005/6 data. The results indicate that age, marital status, family size and ownership of assets such as land and livestock significantly affect the poverty status. The variables that are negatively correlated with poverty include age of the household head and asset(land and livestock) ownership. Marital status and size of the house hold are positively correlated with the probability of being poor.Religions, education, other income sources, practicing agriculture, transfers, access to credit do not significantly affect poverty status in the county.The study recommends that the government should enhance assistance to farmers by providing education, market, subsidies, extension services, research and development together with other support required to improve in their productivity and income growth. Policy makers should also focus on family planning awareness campaigns to reduce the dependency ratio and promoting investment amongst the youth these efforts will lead to increased income and poverty reduction in the county .