Export Horticulture and Poverty in Kenya
Year: 2002
Type: report
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The reduction of absolute poverty has become a central goal of the international community including the governments of many developing countries. However, the appropriate strategy for achieving pro-poor growth in any given country remains an open question. In sub-Saharan Africa, the promotion of export horticulture has often been proposed as a pro-poor development strategy due to its intensive use of land and unskilled labour. However, few studies have examined the linkage between export horticulture and poverty reduction. This paper reports the results of a household survey in Kenya undertaken explicitly to compare the incomes of households involved in export horticulture with those which are not. We find evidence that households involved in export horticulture are better off than those which are not, particularly in rural areas. A simulation exercise shows that enabling more households to participate in the sector could reduce poverty substantially in both urban and rural areas. However, analysis of the determinants of participation in export horticulture suggests that some households may face important constraints to participation in the sector. JEL Codes: O13, I32, O18, O19 We gratefully acknowledge funding for this research from the Department for International Development’s Globalisation and Poverty Research Programme. We are also grateful to Mr. David Nalo, Director of the Central Bureau of Statistics and his staff for permitting our household survey to proceed and to Dr. Aus Schek, Social Policy Advisory Service, Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, Nairobi, for providing detailed information on poverty monitoring in Kenya. We are indebted to Rod Evans and Dicky Evans from Homegrown, John Karuga of Everest, James Cartwright of VegPro, Nipul Dodhia of East Asian Growers, Tiku Shah of Sunripe, and numerous members of the staff of these companies, for generously giving their time to assist our research. Jane Likimani and Cosmas N’Kyengo of FPEAK and the staff of the Horticultural Crop Development Authority provided us with invaluable insights into the horticultural sector in Kenya. Mary Omosa of IDS Nairobi also helped to co-ordinate a qualitative survey with our survey. Our principle debt is to Leonard Obidha and his team of enumerators who conducted the survey diligently despite sometimes difficult circumstances. All errors remain our responsibility. 1 Correspondence should be sent to Neil McCulloch at [email protected].
Source: Figshare
Authors: Neil McCulloch, Masako Ota
Institution: Institute of Development Studies
Language: English
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1487366482