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Kenya

Gudrun Kopp and Patrick Otieno Lumumba. Copyyright: BMZ

Content

Corruption
Economic development
Droughts
Development potential
Priority areas of German cooperation with Kenya
Private sector development in agriculture
Improving the water supply
Health sector support

Situation and Cooperation

After President Daniel arap Moi was replaced in 2002, the new Kenyan government faced a difficult situation. The economic, social and political situation in the country had deteriorated dramatically since the early 1990s. Many donor countries, including Germany, had reined back their support or withheld payments. It was no longer possible to guarantee that the money would reach those it was intended to reach.

Slum area in Nairobi. Copyright: BMZAfter an ex­em­pla­ry dem­o­crat­ic hand­over of power, the new govern­ment under President Mwai Kibaki launched major political, economic and social reforms starting in 2003. The international community responded with a show of con­fi­dence and stepped up its commitments to Kenya sub­stan­tially in com­par­i­son with the Moi era.

Ultimately, however, the government did not succeed in effectively breaking down the entrenched power structures or combating clientelism and corruption. In the run-up to the elections at the end of 2007, Kenyan politicians tried to exploit ethnic allegiances for the purposes of their political power struggle – with grave consequences for Kenya's political stability, as the violent clashes in early 2008 showed.

Three Kenyan children. Copyright: BMZThe peaceful solution to the crisis brokered by Kofi Annan, the former UN Sec­re­tary-General, and other African fig­ure­heads was the formation of a grand coalition. Cooperation be­tween the former rival parties has so far progressed in a relatively stable manner. This state of affairs may be destabilised when action is taken, as agreed, to investigate the violence committed following the 2007 elections. Leading members of the coalition government will then have to give an account of the role they played during the violent clashes before the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

In August 2010, Kenya's new constitution came into force. Two thirds of the population had approved it in a national referendum. The constitution includes a set of basic rights and provides for the re-structuring of Kenya's centralist state into a federal republic. This will give new impetus to efforts to reform the judiciary, the police and land ownership, amongst others.

Corruption

Thanks to international support, public administration in Kenya has become more professional and more effective in some areas. However, corruption is still widespread and often goes un­pun­ished. The poor in particular still have to pay substantial bribes in order to be able to access public services which are supposedly free.

Amid allegations of corruption against ministers and other high-ranking politicians, the new coalition government has also been hit by a credibility crisis. On the Corruption Perceptions Index published in 2010 by the non-governmental organisation Transparency International, Kenya ranks 154th out of the 178 countries indexed. By adopting a new constitution and completely changing the make-up of the anti-corruption commission, Kenya's government has shown its willingness to make strenuous and effective efforts to fight corruption. The main obstacle to fighting corruption is the continued lack of criminal penalties for such offences.

Economic development

Children in front of a shop in a slum area.Agriculture is the mainstay of the Kenyan economy. Seventy per cent of the population earn their living in the agricultural sector. Hor­ti­cul­tural produce (es­pe­cial­ly cut flow­ers), tea and coffee are the country's main exports. Rising exports, tourism and trade, transport and communications have contributed to the economic upswing in recent years. Yet unemployment and poverty have hardly declined. Pressure on the job market is severe: almost 60 per cent of the population is under the age of 20.

The economic and financial crisis mainly impacted on Kenya's tourism sector and cut flower industry. Revenue from these sectors fell sharply. Since 2009, however, the economy has been recovering strongly, and 2011 is expected to show growth of around 5 per cent.

Kenya is not one of the countries taking up the HIPC Initiative for highly indebted poor countries, because its relatively high export earnings allow it to service its debts. Only around five per cent of Kenya's national budget is financed by international donors.

Droughts

Parts of the country, particularly the north and north-west where many livestock farmers and smallholders are to be found, are frequently hit by droughts. In the worst hit regions, many people find themselves regularly dependent on food aid. The Kenyan government is not able to deal with these problems alone and is working with the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and in­ter­na­tion­al donors to help those in need.

The last extended period of drought occurred in 2008/2009. According to World Bank forecasts, a further severe drought in 2011 could result in economic growth being two percentage points lower than expected.

Development potential

Millet seed and a Kenyan farmer. Copyright: BMZIn June 2008, the Kenyan govern­ment presented a new, long-term strategy paper on socio-economic development, Kenya Vision 2030. The goal of this plan is to create, by 2030, a globally com­pet­i­tive and thriving country with a high quality of life and to move up into the category of emerging economies. To ac­com­plish this, huge development and reform efforts are to be made in the economic, social and political sectors. However, political stability, national reconciliation and unity, governance that is clearly de­vel­op­ment-oriented, along with enhanced security and infrastructure will also be needed if Kenya is to achieve its ambitious Vision 2030.

Compared with other African states, Kenya has a solid economic basis and a well-trained workforce in the manufacturing sector. The de­vel­op­ment of the agricultural sector and the tapping of new markets could allow the country to escape from its dependence on global sales of tea and coffee.

Kenya is a founder member of and a driving force behind the East African Community (EAC), to which also belong Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. In July 2010, the Common Market Protocol signed by the EAC States entered into force. This Protocol officially established a common internal market, with free movement of goods and people benefiting the 130 million inhabitants of the five member countries. The EAC's long-term goal is political union along the lines of the EU.

Priority areas of German cooperation with Kenya

Germany is an important bilateral donor to Kenya. At the government negotiations in 2010, Germany pledged new funds totalling 138 million euros to Kenya for the period from 2010 to 2013. Of this, 112 million euros was allocated to Financial Cooperation and 26 million to Technical Cooperation. The following priority areas of cooperation have been agreed upon with the Kenyan government:

  • Private sector development in agriculture

  • Improvement of the water sector

  • Health sector support

Other areas in which the two countries are working together are good governance, reform of public financial management, education in deprived urban areas, and use of renewable energies and energy efficiency. Furthermore, in response to the violence which erupted after the parliamentary and presidential elections in December 2007, German development cooperation is making a contribution to analysing the main causes of the election crisis, as well as to conflict prevention and reconciliation.

The priority areas of German cooperation are aligned with the goals of the Kenyan development strategy, Vision 2030. In 2007, the donor community and the Kenyan government agreed a joint support strategy (Kenya Joint Assistance Strategy, KJAS). This sets out a frame of reference for development cooperation with donor countries and international organisations. German development cooperation operates within this frame of reference.

Private sector development in agriculture

Kenyan people selling flowers. Copyright: BMZAgriculture is the mainstay of the Kenyan economy and thus has a crucial role to play in poverty reduction. Since growth in the agricultural sector was long unable to keep pace with population growth, poverty in rural regions grew. It took until 2004 to turn this trend around. Nevertheless, the level of poverty has remained stubbornly high. At the same time, overexploitation is resulting in a marked decline in soil fertility. In the late 1990s, the Kenyan government took the decision to withdraw from large segments of agricultural production, and to privatise the govern­ment agencies which market agricultural products.

Germany is engaged in activities at several levels. At the national level, the aim is to improve the legal framework for private enterprise in the agricultural sector. At intermediate level, efforts are geared towards extending the range of services offered to SMEs. At local level, advice is given to farmers' associations on ways of boosting productivity and better exploiting their market potential whilst practising sustainable management in order to conserve natural resources. Germany is working within the framework of Financial Cooperation to support the development of irrigation systems and marketing infrastructure (rural road networks, markets).

Furthermore, the BMZ is providing two million euros to support an initiative by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment to help adapt agriculture in Kenya's highlands to the effects of climate change.

Improving the water supply

Woman with water tank. Copyright: BMZMore than 40 per cent of the people living in Kenya's towns and cities lack direct access to clean drinking water, and around 45 per cent of the population have no satisfactory access to sanitation.

It is considered unlikely that the government will achieve the relevant Millennium Development Goal and be able to reduce by half the number of people without access to drinking water and sanitation by 2015.

The German government is sup­porting the reform of the water sector with the aim of improving the health of the population in Kenya whilst, at the same time, conserving natural water resources. Germany's involvement in the sector focuses specifically on the thematic area of urban water supply and sanitation, and in geographic terms on the long-neglected region of Western Kenya. Key areas of involvement are:

  • Reform and improvement of the enabling environment within the sector:
    This includes, for example, providing advisory services to help Kenya develop a system of tariffs which both covers costs and is socially acceptable.

  • Improving access to water supply and sanitation in medium-sized towns and deprived urban areas:
    Here, Germany is helping its partner country to improve its infrastructure and the capacity of water authorities and suppliers, as well as to develop environmentally sound plans for dealing with wastewater and sanitation.

  • Integrated water resource management:
    The aim is to protect the most important watersheds from further degradation.

Germany is engaged, in the water sector, in close cooperation with other bilateral and multilateral donors, such as the World Bank, the African Development Bank and the European Commission.

Health sector support

The Biafra clinic in Eastleigh, a slum area of Nairobi. Copyright: BMZ/KielarKenya's health system is wholly inadequate. There are high rates of maternal and infant mortality. Poor social security systems mean that illness causes financial hardship, par­tic­u­larly for the poor population, and some people are excluded from medical care altogether. Many people have no means of accessing family planning services. At the same time, the high population growth rate is threatening to undo efforts to fight poverty.

The Kenyan government has launched extensive reforms in the health sector since 2004. Nevertheless, Kenya is unlikely to achieve the health-related Millennium Development Goals unless the reforms are implemented with greater urgency and vigour, and public spending on health is increased considerably.

Germany is involved in promoting reproductive health and family planning, as well as the prevention of HIV and AIDS and gender-based violence in Kenya. It is also supporting the Kenyan government in developing a strategy for sustainable funding of the health sector.

Under its programme of financial cooperation, Germany is making important contributions by financing and supplying contra­ceptives. The introduction and financing of vouchers to subsidise health services (e.g. midwifery care), is making it possible for the poorest members of the population to access affordable care.

Within the scope of Technical Cooperation, German support is concentrated on providing policy advice and developing capacities in partner institutions, as a contribution to the swift im­ple­mentation of reform policies. Within this process, support for health authorities and health care facilities at regional and local level is becoming increasingly important, as Kenya's new constitution provides for a comprehensive process of decentralisation, which will also have a profound impact on the structures in the health sector.

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