CHALLENGES THAT KENYA FACE WHILE ERADICATING POVERTY

please the assignment must be related to the attachment. Please I need like 3 sentences in every picture ( JUST DO MY PART PLEASE ) DUE IN 5 HOURS
READ THE ATTACHMENT AND FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS :
1.What is your thesis statement? What is your argument? 
2.What topic(s) did you concentrate on? 
What were the challenges you were facing? Any rewards? 
Each blog group will create a pecha kucha (http://www.brainshark.com/Ideas-Blog/2015/April/20-slides-20-seconds.aspx) this is a style of presentation that uses 20 slides, timed to rotate in 20 second increments. ( we are 4 people ) You need to decide what information to use that highlights the most pressing problem and its impact on the future of the region. 
This means that each group has about 7 minutes! Set up your slide show at 20 second increments and practice your commentaries for each slide.
See examples from the 20/20 RagTag events, in particular Scott’s talk on thrift store art – you can see the art work at his ice cream store in town, Sparky’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK7Z6V_JnJ0&index=1&list=PL245E382A040F807B
Slides should not have text (pictures, graphs, headlines) and you need to speak freely but can use notes with bullet points.
Running Head: POVERTY
TITTLE: POVERTY
SUBTITTLE: CHALLENGES THAT KENYA FACE WHILE ERADICATING
POVERTY
AUTHOR NAME: INSERT YOUR NAME HERE
1
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THE DIFFICULTIES DEVELOPIING COUNTRIES FACE IN THEIR ATTEMPT TO
END POVERTY (Kenya). ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 2
Introduction ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 3
Causes of poverty ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 4
Challenges Kenya face while fighting poverty ………………………………………………………………… 8
Pen Organization ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10
Challenges that PEN is facing ………………………………………………………………………………………. 11
How PEN is dealing with the challenge…………………………………………………………………………. 12
Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 13
References …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14
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Introduction
Poverty is a state or a condition in which an individual or a society lacks the financial
resources and requirements for a better standard of living. Poverty means that the income level of
income is so little that human basic needs cannot be achieved. Human basic needs include food,
housing, and clothing. Poverty has also faced a problem in its definition. Poverty has been
further compounded by noneconomic connotations acquired. Poverty in terms of resources
means that not having access to or power over resources that can be used to maintain decent
living standards and improves one’s life. Material and non-material are some examples of
resources-, valued income, capital, educated or trained, professional skills, being healthy.
Being poor in terms of opportunities and choice concerns what possibility you have to
develop and use your resources to move out of poverty. Access to social services, land,
infrastructure, capital or natural resources affects the opportunities and choices. Being poor
through a lack of power and voice relates to the ability of people to articulate their concerns,
needs and right in an informed way and take part in decision making that relates to these
concerns. Power helps an individual to understand social-cultural hierarchies and relations like
gender being one. Reducing discrimination on such may increase an individual or groups of
people’s chances of escaping poverty.
Poverty in terms of human security implies that violence and insecurity are constraints to
different groups and individuals to exercise their human rights and to find paths out of poverty.
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Causes of poverty
Poor education
Inadequate education is one of the main causes of poverty in Kenya. This means that a
large number of children are cramped in classrooms, due to the lack of enough classrooms or
schools. There is a shortage of teaching materials like books; there are minimal service providers
like teachers, with a little teacher to student ratio. Children who learned differently end up not
getting to catch up with others; this is because one teacher cannot get enough to reach each
student. Those children left behind in classes remain in school until they can catch up with the
rest, provision of more resources needed since there is not an even number of new students to
graduate students. Inadequate education also entails a lack of well-trained personnel like teachers
and mentors thus leading to low productivity levels. This means that the students will not be well
trained in their various disciplines.
Conflicts
Conflict is a total disagreement or misunderstanding between individuals or a group of
people living together. Conflicts too can be a disagreement between two or more countries.
Conflicts can be both internal and external depending on the area affected. Internal wars and
conflicts between individuals or within a country lead to higher levels of poverty. Again external
wars between societies or countries lead to underdevelopment of economies hence leading to
poverty.
Once violence occurs, it affects the needy the hardest: social welfare is depleted as goods
and services are taken to the war-prone areas; roads and railways are damaged in the violence
areas, and justice and security provision retracts into urban areas and leading to disruption of
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peace. Conflicts cause increase in poverty. First, it reduces human labor and human capital, then
it destroys valuable products and financial wealth of individuals then lastly conflicts erodes the
public funds and government cooperation’s upon which political and economic systems rely on.
Conflict leads to misplacement and mismanagement of a country’s people and resources.
Many families break up and some of them run away to other countries for safety thus becoming
refugees. A country’s resources are destroyed hence leading to high poverty levels. Those
exposed to violence faced long-term poverty and deprivations compared to those spared. Lastly,
those participating in armed groups are hurt, as they face education challenges, stigma and
psychologically stressed that leads to economic downfall and socially marginalized (Brainard, &
Chollet, 2007).
Unemployment
Lack of or no access to livelihood or jobs increases the poverty level. Joblessness brings
about no income, hence most of the societies or individuals fail to cater to their basic needs and
wants. Lack of jobs means there is a high dependency ratio in a country. This causes
indebtedness from requesting money to support one’s need, use of saved money or even
homelessness and malnutrition if individuals are unable to find other sources of finance. With
unemployment adults, children are more likely to drop out of schools and enter the workforce.
Without completion of the necessary education, a lower level of human capital is obtained
leaving this child in an unstable working environment thus the generation of poverty (Johanson
& Adams, 2004).
Unemployment has led to the rising poverty level in the sense that, high criminal activity
in areas affected by poverty. Especially youth unemployment areas are likely to face a high level
of crimes and vandalism. When individuals are unable to provide for their families, they tend to
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be criminals and end up in violent activities. When individuals escape poverty by being
criminals, their chances of remaining criminals increase and with crimes and violence, the
political instability of a nation grows. Crimes will affect the educational attainment and access to
health care hence increasing poverty level.
Inadequate access to clean water and nutritious food
In Kenya, most of the people do not have clean water at their homes and most of them
suffer from hunger. If persons do not eat enough food, they do not have enough strength and
energy needed to work. Lack of access to clean water may lead to a break out of disease and
illness like diarrhea or other waterborne diseases that arises due to dirty water. People travel to
far clinics and spend the little money left for drugs; it affects the already vulnerable population of
assets and money and can increase the family level of poverty.
Most places with sufficient clean water are distanced far from local communities, thus
making people walk far distances to fetch clean water. This time could be used for education that
will help them secure better jobs in the future. Most parts especially the northern parts of Kenya
face a great challenge of hunger. This is due to droughts and famine hence there is low
productivity to places affected. Lack of food and water leads to less production in a country since
there will be loss produce to the market compared to the population of a country (UNESCO, &
World Water Assessment Programme 2006).
Climate change
Day to day changing of climate has greatly increased the poverty level of a nation.
Climatic changes like droughts, floods, and strong storms have disproportionately impacted
communities already living in poverty. Many communities in Kenya rely on farming, and
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pastoralism hence when agricultural products and animals are affected by drought and floods
they will stay poor. Droughts cause the death of the animals and even individual, again leading to
a low harvest of agricultural produce hence causing poverty. Floods cause destruction of
buildings, roads and causing permanent destruction of the land. Individuals have to rebuild and
construct other buildings due to this hence using their savings instead. Floods also destroy farm
produce by sweeping them away, this leads to low production levels when harvesting hence
increasing the poverty level of individuals and nations (Hallegatte, S.2016).
Corruption
Corruption is an act of dishonesty and unfairness dealing performed by those in power
typically involving in bribery. In Kenya, corruption has increased over a long period thus
affecting the growth of an economy. Misuse of government funds and resources has led to the
low and inefficient supply of services in the country. Inequality in the job offering to the
individuals through government officials leads to loss of trust of people to its government, as
most of those involved in recruitment and hiring processes receive bribes to offer a job to an
individual. This makes people fail to get the opportunities that they deserve as they are forced to
pay for their jobs. People do not have money to pay as a bribe.
Corruption corrodes the roots of society. It undermines people’s trust in economic and
political systems, institutions and leaders. Most leaders use public funds or money for their own
gain hence leaving the poor to remain poor. Corruption costs people’s health, money and
sometimes their lives (Hope, 2012).
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Causes of poverty
5th qtr
6%
6th qtr
5%
4th Qtr
8%
3rd Qtr
9%
1st Qtr
52%
2nd Qtr
20%
1st Qtr
2nd Qtr
3rd Qtr
4th Qtr
5th qtr
6th qtr
Key
1st Qtr – unemployment
2nd Qtr – Corruption
3rd Qtr – Poor education
4th Qtr – conflicts
5th Qtr- poor water supply and nutritious food
6th Qtr- climate change
Challenges Kenya face while fighting poverty
High mortality rates
Kenya’s population continues to grow, reaching some 20 million 13 million in rural areas,
where small-scale subsistence agriculture can survive. Citizens living far from Nairobi find that
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the state’s involvement, effectiveness, and presence in their lives are weakened as distances
widen. Kenya’s population continues to grow, reaching over 40 million and 13 million living in
rural areas, where small-scale subsistence agriculture can survive. Citizens living far from
Nairobi find that the state’s involvement, effectiveness, and presence in their lives are weakened
as distances widen. This might cause those living in rural areas not able to access many
government opportunities and not distributing effectively towards them. High mortality rates
lead to a high dependency ratio and this leading to a challenge in fighting poverty in Kenya.
Difficulties in public management
Two major limitations affect the standard of living of the population: the illicit wealth of
minorities linked to the power structure and the lack of public policies to promote a family
income capable of providing an economically stable life and meeting basic needs. Inequality in
jobs and low wages continue to be the main cause of extreme poverty. Due to the increasing
levels of corruption, inequality, and corporatism in the public sector, the public administration is
unable to perform its duties effectively. Another issue like overpopulation is a public
management thing. Trying to manage people who are crowded in areas with limited resources
becomes a challenge in fighting poverty. Some places are overpopulated and distributing
resources to them equally becomes a challenge.
The lack of transparency in the administration, the lack of training and technical
knowledge, as well as the ineffectiveness of auditing and monitoring of government management
have contributed to the weak implementation of the plans drawn up since 1992 when the General
Peace Treaty put an end to the civil war. The decentralization strategy for district governments
reveals the challenges in the assessment, planning, and execution of public projects for rural
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areas where the majority of the population lives and where state-provided facilities are
inadequate.
Inadequacy of resources
The Government has made efforts to address the issue of eradicating extreme poverty and
hunger, as demonstrated in its latest MDG report. Kenya’s plan faces challenges related to the
inadequacy of funding resources and the existence of economic and socio-cultural practices that
have hindered the achievement of some MDGs. There are also adverse climate changes affecting
weather patterns, re-emergence of polio and increased cancer cases, and geographical
inequalities in critical areas such as school enrolment, gender equality and access to health
services among different segments of the Kenyan population. Government resources should be
equal to the country’s population and when this ratio is unbalanced then there will be the
inadequacy of supply of such resources thus becoming a challenge to eradicate poverty.
PEN Organization
PEN is a Kenyan registered public benefit organization which partners with citizens ‘ groups and
public institutions at district, national and regional level to shape the development agenda of
their communities and the country as a whole. PEN engages development actors in projects
aimed at improving their capacity to reduce poverty and improve governance and accountability
processes, with the ultimate aim of enhancing service delivery to both county and national
people. PEN builds the capacity of citizens ‘ organizations and key public institutions to shape
the community development agenda and to engage and track the performance of governments at
all levels to ensure improved service delivery to citizens (Strauhs, 2013).
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PEN is implementing various projects across a number of counties in Kenya in the fields of the
Effectiveness of Civil Society Organizations, Democracy and Governance and Public Resilience
to the Environment-Related Shocks. Since its inception, PEN has carried out various projects
across the counties in Kenya that have affected target communities with various successes noted.
Projects have cut around our programmatic regions.
PEN was founded for the specific purpose of strengthening citizens ‘ organizations and citizens ‘
organizations in East Africa. The founders realized that a number of grassroots development
projects and community-based citizens ‘ groups had closed their shops after the initial motivation
and enthusiasm behind their founding had subsided. By active initiatives, PEN has increased
public participation in new democratic dispensations. PEN, along with other prominent CSOs,
pioneered the creation of standards for CSOs and the establishment of an autonomous institution
to promote CSO quality and voluntary certification in Kenya.
Challenges that PEN is facing
PEN believes that a strong civil society is essential to the development of any country and its
ability to have a sustainable impact on poverty. However, the position of the Civil Society has
not always been satisfactory due to a multitude of challenges ranging from a weak organizational
framework. A weak capacity to demonstrate their effectiveness, capacity issues, and insufficient
regulatory framework and lack of common voice in the sector has undermined the role of the
sector. In addition, PEN has been also facing a challenge in trying to reduce the gap between the
rich and poor. This is caused by several factors like income levels, unfavorable government
policies that only favor the rich, level of education and more others.
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How PEN is dealing with the challenge
PEN focuses its work on enhancing the capacity of CSOs to address these challenges. They are
implementing projects at the local, national and regional levels that have a positive impact on
poverty reduction, alleviation, and eradication. They promote holistic, human-centered,
community-driven and rights-based approaches to development; emphasize self-reliance,
sustainable results and the optimal use of local resources for maximum impact. PEN seeks to
continue the process of improving the enabling environment for the Civic Society Sector, in
particular through the implementation of relevant legislation, such as the PBO Act, 2013 and the
development of improved and enabling policies and practices at the county and national level.
This is because the civil society of Kenya has tried to fight poverty. PEN has also tried to
distribute resources to almost all parts of the country. The opening up of small enterprises helps
to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. Formulation of favorable government policies
that favors both the rich and poor is another way of trying to solve such problems.
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Conclusion
It is possible for Kenya to end poverty. A strong economy, investment in family
economic security and new civil rights protections can help reduce poverty. Poverty is inevitable
as long as nothing is been done to fight it. The government should build a political will to enact
policies that will increase economic security, expand opportunities and grow the middle class.
Poverty is one of the obstacles towards a country’s economic growth and to eradicate it, the
government should formulate strategies and techniques. Many developing countries face poverty
as a big challenge affecting them from economic growth and most of them have come up with
ways of eradicating it.
Poverty makes people in a country to suffer. However, most at times it is not their wish
but circumstances, which lead them. A major cause of poverty is corruption, which cuts across
all sectors. Corruption is practiced everywhere including in offices and even in the government.
You find that tribalism is practiced and even nepotism. Most at times people owning companies
favor people of their tribe or their relatives.
This is a rampant activity in Kenya. It is very much practiced and it brings us down as a
country. This is because people who are employed have no qualifications in the jobs that they are
given leading to low production thus bringing down the economy of Kenya and the qualified
people do not get the jobs of their choice. They are left to suffer as they lack a source of income.
Education is very low thus people do not compete thus they lack the proper education to be
employed in offices. They are left to do the blue-collar jobs and their wages are low.
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References
Brainard, L., & Chollet, D. H. (2007). Too poor for peace? Global poverty, conflict, and security
in the 21st century. Washington, D.C: Brookings Institution Press.
Hallegatte, S. (2016). Shock waves: Managing the impacts of climate change on poverty.
Washington, D.C: The World Bank.
Hope, K. R. (2012). The political economy of development in Kenya. New York: Continuum
International Pub. Group.
Johanson, R. K., & Adams, A. V. (2004). Skills Development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Washington, D.C: World Bank.
Strauhs, D. (2013). African literary NGOs: Power, politics, and participation. Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.
UNESCO, & World Water Assessment Programme (United Nations). (2006). Water: A shared
responsibility. Paris, France: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO).