Posted on October, 16, 2018 at 09:38 am
By EDWIN OKOTH
Uneven wealth distribution and reliance on rain-fed agriculture will derail Kenya from achieving its vision 2030 that sought to eradicate extreme poverty in the next 12 years, the World Bank warns.
The bank reckons that it will be difficult for Kenya to reduce poverty annually by 6.1 per cent over the remaining 12 years given the country has cut the ranks of the poor by 1.6 per cent yearly over the past decade.
It says the growth reported over the past decade has strengthened the control of the economy by the super wealth individuals and the sluggish income growth in the dominant agro sector has condemned many to poverty.
This is in line with analysts’ forecast in 2010 that the economy had to grow by 10 per cent annually until 2030 for Kenya to achieve its vision of becoming a middle income country. Highest growth over the past five years is 6.1 per cent in 2015.
The World Bank says one in four Kenyans will be poor by 2030, up from the current 36.1 per cent captured by the government in March.
“Kenya is not on track to eradicate extreme poverty by 2030. The country’s moderately robust GDP growth over the past decade has not generated commensurate increases in household consumption and if poverty reduction continues at its current pace, the extreme poverty rate will remain above 25 percent in 2030,” the World Bank wrote in the Kenya Poverty and Gender Assessment (KPGA) report released last week.
“More effective redistributive policies, including social protection programs and initiatives designed to expand economic opportunities, could accelerate poverty reduction.”
Source: Business Daily