STATEMENT
BY
MR. STEPHEN WAINAINA
ECONOMIC PLANNING SECRETARY MINISTRY OF PLANNING AND NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA ON POPULATION MONITORING WITH A FOCUS ON ITS DISTRIBUTION, URBANIZATION, INTERNAL MIGRATION AND DEVELOPMENT PRESENTED AT THE 41ST SESSION OF THE UN COMMISSION ON POPULATION AND DEVELOPMENT ON 7-11TH APRIL, 2008
Mr. Chairman,
Members of the Commission,
Distinguished guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great pleasure to address this 41st session of the Commission on Population and Development when the important theme of population monitoring with a focus on distribution, urbanization, internal migration and development is being discussed.
Let me begin, Mr. Chairman, by commending you, Members of the Bureau and the Population Division on your work in preparation of this Session. In particular I wish to express our appreciation to the Secretary-General for the detailed and informative reports on the theme of this session. We reaffirm our commitment to support the work of the United Nations in review and implementation of the recommendations made regarding the principles and objectives of the programme of action of the International Conference for Population and Development (ICPD).
The Kenya delegation associates itself with the statements delivered by the representatives of Antigua and Barbuda and Congo on behalf of the Group of 77 and China and, the African Group respectively.
Mr. Chairman,
It is important that we continue to move forward with the collective vision that population and development is about people of all ages, their spatial distribution, rural or urban; and it is our responsibility to support and improve their lives, to ensure they reach their full potentials and realize their human rights.
It is therefore important, that we hold firm to the commitment to address the issues of population, for us to achieve greater and sustainable socio-economic development. I wish to take some time to share with you Kenya’s experience in: population distribution, urbanization, internal migration and development.
1. Levels and trends in population distribution
Mr. Chairman,
Just like the experiences encountered in other parts of the world today population growth rates have declined but the net gains are still high, the population of Kenya has more than tripled since independence; from 9 million in 1964 to an estimated 34.7 million in 2007 and is projected to be 36.5 million by 2010 at an estimated population growth rate of 2.1%
However, the population age structure reveals that 42% of the total population is under age 15 and persons aged 65 years and above are 4%. This youthful population poses high demand for the provision of socio-economic services such as education, health, food, and shelter, among other requirements.
Not withstanding the adverse effects, the youth aged 15 to 24 years form a critical human resource, an invaluable asset, for our future economic and social development.
Given the sheer size of the youth in the population, it is important for us, to invest in young people’s health/education employment and development by highlighting the potential benefits in terms of human capital and capitalizing on the demographic dividends. Investing in human capabilities converts human liabilities into human assets and it is envisaged to break the intergenerational cycle of poverty.
Mr. Chairman,
The 2007 spatial population distribution in Kenya indicates that 41% live in urban areas and 59% in rural reflecting the Africa scenario of the population living predominantly in rural settlements. Although the world is rapidly urbanizing, the number of rural dwellers is still high.
Kenya’s average population density is 50.6 persons per square kilometer. However, this varies widely within the country with high densities in urban centres and arable lands. The spatial distribution of population has featured prominently on the policy agenda of the Government.
Prior to ICPD, Kenya had adopted explicit policies and programmes to foster a more balanced spatial population distribution in an integrated manner. These measures include policies to reduce migration to urban areas such as the implementation of District Focus for Rural Development Strategy, rural electrification, rural works and rural access roads and the Rural – Urban Balance Strategy, which are aimed at shifting the skewed population distribution from the larger urban to medium and small urban centres.
2. Urbanization and growth
Mr. Chairman,
The year 2007 marked a new milestone for human population growth; for the first time more people worldwide are living in cities than in rural areas. This perennial trend is still driven by rural- urban migration fuelled by rural poverty and dwindling of the per capita ownership of farming and grazing land; reclassification of rural areas as urban due to population growth; and urban populations growing and expanding their boundaries to incorporate land that was formerly classified as rural.
Urbanization in Kenya has proceeded tremendously over the past four decades, especially after political independence in the early 1960s. In 1962, for example, only one Kenyan out of twelve lived in urban centres. However, by 1999, the proportion had increased to 34.5% affirming that one out of every three Kenyans live in urban areas. Moreover, this percentage is expected to increase to 50% of the total population by the year 2015.
It is also important to note that during the 1989-1999 intercensal periods, the country’s urban population more than doubled by increasing from 3.88 million to 9.90 million. This represents an increase of 155% while the absolute number of urban centres also increased from 139 to 194, representing an increase of 40%.
Urbanization is still largely attributed to rural- urban migration owing to socio-economic disparities between the rural and urban areas, and perceptions of broader opportunities in urban centres.
Mr. Chairman,
The urbanization process in the country has been dominated by one primary city-Nairobi, which is four times bigger than the next largest urban centre- Mombasa. There are also wide disparities in the level of urbanization and the distribution across the regions. To correct this imbalance and spread the benefits of urbanization across the country, an effective capacity for regional and urban planning flagship projects cutting across the major metropolitan regions are essential.
The critical point to note is that the proportionate share of the urban population is set to rise and the growth of urbanization will continue in the 21st Century. The main challenge is how to cope with rapid urban growth as it is a response to economic growth. This is depicted by the high correlation between a country’s level of development and the proportion of national population that is urbanized.
In Kenya, urbanization is perceived both negatively and positively. Urban areas are positively seen as centers of prosperity and thus are engines of growth. The concentration of activities in the urban centres allows for specialization and exchange processes that are essential to economic growth. This has been proven by the fact the city of Nairobi alone contributes up to 50% of the GDP in the country.
Mr. Chairman,
The negative attributes of urbanization are manifested in mushrooming of the slums and informal settlements which are unplanned. The slums provide unsatisfactory living conditions; they are inadequately served with essential infrastructure such as electricity, roads, housing, unreliable access to safe drinking water and poor sanitation, environmental degradation, crowded conditions and abject urban poverty. Uncontrolled land use has led to the mushrooming of illegal structures on public land which has now become hotbeds of social unrest and disorder. Let me point out that prior to the ICPD Programme of action which called for enhanced management of urban agglomerations, the management of urban centres in Kenya had been the responsibility of local government authorities.
The government policy pivoted in the MDGs is to improve the living condition of slum dwellers and is already anchored in the on-going Kenya slum upgrading programme. The Population, Urbanization and Housing plan within the Kenya Vision 2030 framework aims to provide the population with adequate and decent housing in a sustainable environment.
3. Internal Migration
Mr. Chairman,
Internal migration in Kenya is predominantly in search of employment either in the urban areas or in the rural agricultural plantations; others are in search of pastures, while others flee conflicts as internally displaced persons. Between 1989 to 1999, in-migration contributed to 17 percent of the Nairobi Population and 16 percent of Mombasa population. In Kisumu District, on the other hand, more than 10 percent of the population out-migrated.
Mr. Chairman,
Majority of the population in Kenya still reside in the rural areas and hence the types of migration in the country are rural-urban and rural-rural migration. Urban- urban is limited to transfers of employees in formal employment and to traders and businesspeople seeking for viable economic activities while the urban-rural is mainly associated with retirees to their rural homes. Settlement schemes for the landless and the subdivision of land as a result of increasing population has increased rural-rural migration due to demand for more arable land and, to some extent, displacement of persons as a result of tensions among communities.
Mr. Chairman,
It is important to note that this enormous movement of people is changing the demographic composition of both host and sending communities, and building new connections between them, with profound implications for economic, cultural and political life.The rural- urban migration patterns previously dominated by young males with fewer females comparatively and the urban – rural migration being the domain of the retirees (55 year and above) is currently dynamic and extremely complex.
Mr. Chairman,
The complexity is depicted by an increasing feminine migration trends, diversification of migration destinations, transformation of labor flows into commercial migration, men along with women; increasingly participate in migration as a family survival strategy. In the 1979 and 1989 census the male dominance in rural- urban migration streams resulted in a high sex ratio in favour of males in all urban centres. This pattern in 1999 population census, though consistent with the previous censuses, has consistently dropped from high to low values, confirming that the size of female rural- urban migration has been on the increase.
At the same time an increasing scarcity of traditional male labor has also promoted new roles for the women they leave behind. As the job market in regions of destination became tighter and remittances thinned out due to high urban cost of living, many families rely on women and their farming activities for day-to-day support. These women become the resource managers and decision makers, particularly within the agricultural sector. The gendered division of family labor has also been upset by the loss of male employment through urban job retrenchment and structural adjustment, forcing women to seek additional income-generating activities to support their families.
Mr. Chairman,
There is also an overall trend away from labor migrants towards formal employments in cities and major towns but men and women migrate as entrepreneurs who are self-employed in the informal sector. These emerging scenarios not only affect the demographic composition but also the economic and social consequences on the productive sectors, at the household, community and at the national levels.
Mr. Chairman,
The rapid changes due to internal migration have constrained resources in the existing urban centres since services did not grow concurrently with the growth of the population. The task of resolving the unemployment crisis posed by the rapidly growing youthful population and to productively engage the increasingly educated but unemployed, and generally unskilled, young people who need innovative programmes.
For the internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the ICPD programme of Action called on the governments to provide adequate protection and assistance to the IDPs particularly women, children and the elderly.
The progress made so far for the 1994-2004 internally displaced persons whose root causes were natural disaster and ethnic economic tensions, banditry and cattle rustling, has been the putting in place a national Disaster Management policy, provision of the IDPs with adequate protection and basic services and supported community level peace initiatives.
The recent post-election violence, that saw unprecedented destruction of property and infrastructure in both small and major urban centres, indeed was a major unforeseen post- independence challenge. Close to 300,000 people were internally displaced and sought refuge in IDP camps. However most of these IDP camps have been closed following the signing of the National Reconciliation and Peace Accord by the National Leaders.
Another looming task is to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, which is taking a huge toll on the human resources especially in the urban areas. According to 2003 Demographic and Health survey, the HIV prevalence among women and men aged 15-49 in urban areas was 12.3 percent and 7.5percent respectively. In rural areas, the prevalence was 7.5 percent for females and 3.6 percent for males. Overall HIV prevalence was 10.0 percent in urban areas compared to 5.6% in rural ones.
It is important to note that the Government currently lays emphasis on rural development using different strategies to not only make rural- urban migration more dynamic and selective in nature but also open up untapped opportunities for men and women in the rural areas. These different strategies have been articulated in the National Population Policy for Sustainable Development formulated in the year 2000, whose implementation is guided by its respective plan of Action
Conclusion and way forward
Mr. Chairman,
As I conclude, let me point out that Population issues continue to be one of our national challenges and we must all work together to improve the well-being of our people. This is a noble task that will require both national and international commitment to implement successfully. Failure is not a desired option. We owe all this to our present and future generations.
I therefore wish to state Kenya’s two main expectations of the UN Population Commission as follows:
- To be a platform where member countries share experiences and make recommendations and action plans to address pertinent population and development challenges in our respective countries and regions
- To sieve out from these deliberations innovative approaches to enhance sharing and up scaling the best practices and experiences in the population field
Finally, Mr. Chairman, may I appeal to the international community, through this commission, to continue collaborating with Kenya by investing in capacity building in data collection, advocacy and research on population dynamics and urbanization. This will go along way in strengthening the national capacity to address the needs of our people and facilitate national development. Thank you.
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