Life in Kenya
36 per cent of people in Kenya live below the poverty line. They have to cover all their expenses and every meal with around €1.50 per day. Despite this, many adults go into debt to enable their children to receive an education and thus a better future.
At the same time, high HIV/AIDS rates in many areas leave behind parentless children and widowed women who are marginalised by society. Ten percent of all children in Kenya are orphans. Many cannot afford the comparatively expensive cost of schooling. This means that their chances of obtaining a degree and a secure income are slim.
80 cent of Kenyans have no health insurance. The costs of healthcare, which is often inadequate, are high.
It is clear that the people of Kenya face challenges every day that are unimaginable to us. With the texts on this page, we would like to show what reality looks like for poor people in Kenya and how we as an association can help with your support.
If you wish to terminate your sponsorship prematurely, you can contact us at any time and we will find a solution together.
Poverty in Kenya
Although Kenya is one of the African countries where poverty rates have fallen sharply in recent years, hunger, unemployment and lack of education remain a sad reality for the majority of Kenyans. There are virtually no jobs for Kenya’s young population. Only three million people are in formal employment (2019). 85% of the Kenyan population works in the informal sector. This is one of the reasons why only about 20% have health insurance.
Constantly rising prices
More than a third of Kenya’s population lives below the poverty line, with less than €1.56 per day at their disposal. That is barely enough to buy basic foodstuffs. A kilo of tomatoes costs €0.80 in the capital Nairobi, 12 eggs cost €1.31 and a kilo of rice goes for €1.13. On top of this come rent and school fees. Because state schools are poorly equipped and often have 70 children per teacher, even poor parents in Kenya send their children to private schools. Those with an average income of 500-1000 euros pay up to 40 per cent of their income in school fees.
People in Kenya are also exposed to constant, sharp price fluctuations. At 6.3 percent, the inflation rate is almost twice as high as in Germany (3.8 percent in July 2021). Since 2007, food prices in particular have risen repeatedly due to droughts, heavy rainfall and high dependence on imports.
Loss of crop yields
In rural areas, most families own a small piece of land for growing vegetables, fruit and grain, known as a shamba. Around 40 per cent of people in Kenya earn their income from agriculture. However, they are rarely able to grow more than they need to live on. Small farmers often do not own machinery, ploughs or farm animals and are too poor to improve soil quality. Nutrient depletion and soil erosion lead to lower yields. Extreme weather conditions such as heavy rainfall and endless dry seasons have repeatedly caused the loss of agricultural land and crop yields in recent years.
Uncertainty and lack of prospects
The lack of prospects in rural areas is leading to high levels of migration to the country’s cities. But even in the cities, earning opportunities are limited. Many people can barely keep their heads above water with street trading and poorly paid jobs. They usually live on just one meal a day. The economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic have made this situation even worse. The uncertainty that we in Germany are only now experiencing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic has long been part of everyday life for people in Kenya. They cannot rely on anything and have to find new ways every day to earn money for themselves and their families. This constant uncertainty makes it almost impossible to plan ahead. They do not know whether there will be enough food the next day, whether they will be able to pay their children’s school fees for the coming school year, or whether they will even be able to keep their homes.
The people of Kenya face these many challenges with strength and creativity. Nevertheless, the reality of constant struggle and lack of prospects is overwhelming.
Health system in Kenya unfortunately still insufficient
The differences between rich and poor in Kenya are particularly evident in the healthcare system. While the country’s wealthy elite receive comprehensive care in expensive private clinics and often abroad, the rest of the population has little or no access to adequate healthcare. There are various reasons for this. The decisive factor is that the Kenyan government spends only six per cent of its total budget on health. This is well below the minimum threshold of 15 per cent set by the African Union in the Abuja Declaration, which Kenya has committed itself to comply with.
Hospitals are poorly equipped
The result is a severe shortage of skilled workers and medical equipment. According to a 2018 study, 88 per cent of all hospitals lacked storage facilities for infectious waste, protective gloves and disinfectants. In other words, they lacked the basic equipment needed to prevent infections. Diagnostic equipment such as CT scanners and MRI machines are also rare in Kenyan hospitals. In addition, there is a lack of qualified personnel to operate such machines. Across the country, there is only one doctor for every 7,200 patients, most of whom work in urban areas. In the UK, one doctor cares for an average of 211 patients. The shortage of skilled workers often leads to misdiagnoses and incorrect treatment approaches.
Health inequality
This problem is even more acute in rural areas. Seventy percent of Kenyans live in rural areas. Nevertheless, most doctors work in urban centres. In rural areas, health facilities are often run by a single nurse. There are almost no doctors. To meet the WHO’s minimum standard for healthcare personnel, Kenya would need to hire around 100,000 more professionals. But with only eleven medical and dental colleges in the country, this is utopian. Patients suffer most from the consequences.
Health Reforms and Health Insurance
Despite efforts to reform the healthcare system in recent years, only 20 per cent of the Kenyan population has health insurance. Even more than 20 years after the introduction of the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), the Kenyan government’s compulsory insurance scheme, registration rates remain very low. One reason for this is that 85 out of every 100 men and women work in the informal sector and do not have an employer to pay their contributions. The initiative to register for monthly payments is particularly low among very poor people. Even though contributions are based on a percentage of income, the additional burden is almost impossible for poor households to bear. The low registration rates also reflect a lack of trust in the government. With or without insurance, people in Kenya have all too often learned that they are on their own.
During the Corona pandemic, Dentists for Africa supported local hospitals in Kenya with much-needed protective equipment.
High cost for patients
More than a third of Kenya’s population lives below the poverty line, with less than €1.56 per day at their disposal. But even Kenya’s middle class, which by definition includes people with a monthly income of between €185 and €938, can quickly find themselves unable to afford medical treatment. Those who are ill and need more than basic care often have to go into debt. Or they cannot access the services they so urgently need. Those who cannot pay are turned away. NHIF insurance only covers the most basic needs. People in Kenya therefore try to help themselves. When someone falls ill, it is common practice to collect donations from relatives and friends. With the M-Pesa mobile payment system, Kenyan mobile phone provider Safaricom provides a tool that makes money transfers quick and easy. Small amounts can be sent easily via mobile phone. Funerals are also financed in the same way.
Education in Kenya
In 2018, the World Bank rated the Kenyan education system as one of the best on the African continent in terms of results. Nevertheless, many children in Kenya do not have adequate access to education. Although eight years of primary education is provided free of charge at state schools, children from poor backgrounds can hardly afford to buy school uniforms, notebooks, pens and books. Those who turn up at school without these items are sent home. At state schools, underpaid teachers often teach classes of up to 70 pupils and have hardly any teaching materials at their disposal. Nevertheless, many teachers are highly motivated: in 2019, a Kenyan was named the world’s best teacher – for his commitment to a state school. Statistically speaking, however, private school pupils have a much better chance of graduating with good grades.
Private schools are becoming increasingly popular
That is why even poor people are increasingly trying to send their children to private schools. Education is highly valued by the people of Kenya. On average, they spend a quarter of their income on their children’s schooling, preferring to go without meals and, in some cases, getting into debt. However, many parents cannot afford to send their children to private school. After all, 36 per cent of Kenya’s population lives below the poverty line. This means that people have less than 1.56 euros at their disposal every day. They do not have enough money to pay for their children’s schooling. As a result, three out of ten primary school pupils do not manage to stay in school until their final exams.
High costs for further education
This problem is exacerbated at secondary schools and universities. Attending secondary school costs an average of one euro per day. For poor households, this is an unaffordable sum. Children from poor backgrounds also often lack the prerequisites to achieve sufficient qualifications for secondary school. They have no electric light at home, which means they have less time to study. Thirty-five per cent of all children aged 5 to 14 work, partly to cover the costs of their own schooling or to support their families in earning an income. This has a negative impact on their education. Without secondary education, they are forced to continue earning money in precarious, poorly paid casual jobs. Only 37.5 per cent of young people in Kenya make it to secondary school. 13.7 per cent of graduates then qualify to attend university. In Germany, the university entrance qualification rate was 50.6 per cent in 2019.
With a sponsorship at DFA, you can offer an orphan in Kenya a new future. We accompany the children and young people until they have completed their vocational training. More information about our sponsorship project can be found on our website.
Education for young women
Between 2009 and 2015, Kenya’s population grew by almost 10 million to 47 million. Among the reasons for this rapid population growth are the low level of education among women and poor access to contraceptives, especially in rural areas. One in five girls aged 15–19 in Kenya is pregnant or already a mother. Every year, 13,000 young women leave school because of pregnancy. Education protects young women. Completing secondary school increases their chances of finding permanent work and earning a regular income. As women’s level of education rises, the number of children they have also decreases. They also have children later and are better able to care for them. The capacity of the labour market is low. There are hardly any permanent jobs. Every year, around 750,000 young people enter the labour market, where they compete for only a few jobs. Only with a good degree do they have any chance at all.