Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs

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Kenya - The Arid Lands Resource Management Project

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2005-02) Mohan, P.C.

The project ( 1996-2001 - US$22 million credit ) was uniquely designed as a risk management instrument - it conceived the establishment of a viable, government-run system of drought management, through early warning systems, contingency plans, mitigation and quick response. The design also devolved responsibility to the district and community level, encouraging civil servants and other district development actors to empower local communities in the design and implementation of development projects. The project built on the experience of others before it such as the Netherlands-supported Drought Management Project ( DMP ) and subsequently, the Drought Preparedness, Intervention and Recovery Project ( DPIRP ). The IDA-financed Emergency Drought Recovery Project (EDRP ) also provided useful insights.
Helping Parliaments to Help the Poor

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2003-01) Stapenhurst, Frederick C.

One of the key features of the PRSP process is that, while government led, there should be broad consultations within countries and wide participation by civil society, to ensure "country ownership." The involvement of Parliaments could be even more pervasive, however, given that, in many countries, parliaments have become key pressures for government reform, aiming to see that governments work more effectively, efficiently, and openly. How this was done depended on circumstances and opportunities to achieve positive change. The strengthening of parliamentary committee capacity seems to offer the most promise, but significant improvements in performance which committees work to achieve are often necessary to have such an impact.
Assessing Poverty in Kenya

(Washington, DC, 1996-01) World Bank

About half of Kenya's rural population (approximately 9 million people) was the poverty line in 1992, a proportion unchanged from 1982. In urban areas, approximately a million and a quarter persons or 30 percent of the population was below the poverty line. In the early 1980s, Kenya's social indicators were distinctly more favorable than those of most countries in the region, and there was further progress. But many indicators stagnated in the early 1990s. There are also persistent differences between rural and urban areas and between the poor and the non-poor. These are the findings of the Kenya poverty assessment (March 1995) which is one of the few studies in the region to document and measure changes in poverty indicators over a decade. Using data from a number of sources, it shows that while Kenya achieved some improvement in its social indicators, the lack of sustained per capita income growth resulted in continued poverty for an increasing number. And that the benefits of good health and education did not accrue to all.