Transcript YOUTH POPULATION AND POLICIES IN RELATION TO RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA BY GEORGE OUMA 27 JANUARY 2010 Brussels Rural Development Briefings.

YOUTH POPULATION AND POLICIES
IN RELATION TO RURAL
DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA
BY
GEORGE OUMA
27 JANUARY 2010
Brussels Rural Development
Briefings
ABOUT DSW
German Foundation for World Population (DSW)
is an international development organization
focusing on sustainable development of
populations in different parts of the world.
DSW Kenya is particularly committed to
addressing the sexual and reproductive health
(SRH) needs of youth throughout Kenya.
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DSW – WESTERN REGION
KAKAMEGA
DSW – EASTERN REGION
EMBU
DSW – KENYA COUNTRY
OFFICE
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DSW – COAST REGION
MOMBASA
1.3 DSW AREAS OF CONCERN
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)
7)
8)
ASRH
Youth Club Sponsorship
HIV/AIDS Prevention
Youth Friendly Services
Info – Resource Networks
Advocacy
Capacity Building RH Stakeholders
Poverty Alleviation
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WHY THE EMPHASIS ON YOUTH
• Africa population are remarkably young on average because for
some years birth rates have remained high while life expectancy is
still low at 47 years .
• The continent ’s population of 967 million is growing at about 2.4
percent per year and was expected to reach 1 billion time in 2009.
• Africa ’s population s projected to double in size between 2008
and 2050.
• The high population growth rate in conjunction with the declining
infant and mortality rates accounts for the largest number of
dependent children.
• Africa ’s birth rates remain quite high and its population very
young, with 43 percent of sub-Saharan Africa ’s population below
the age of 15.
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Cont.
• This has placed a heavy burden on the
economically active population since the care
of children costs much more than that of the
small percentage of old people.
• This is important to note because of its
implication to socioeconomic development
(infrastructure, physical facilities and services
are tremendous) demographic consequences
and high dependency ratio.
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Kenya’s Population.
• Kenya’s population was enumerated at 28.7 million
(1999), estimated at 37 M in 2007 and was projected
to reach 40 million in 2010 at a growth rate of 2.8
• Young people aged 10–24 years makes up about
36 % of the population
• Those aged 18 years and below were enumerated at
19 million (66 % of the population)
• 60% form the bulk of the human resource
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Source: PRB Fact Sheet 2007
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Source: PRB Fact Sheet 2007
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Cont.
• Kenya has however shown the decline in the
TFR from a high of 8.1 births per woman in
1975-78, to 4.7 in 1995-97, followed by a rise to
4.9 in 2000-02 and a decline to 4.6 for 2006-08
(KDHS 2008).
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Cont.
KDHS 2009
Urban
Rura
Total
280
238
248
216
197
175
146
92
147
135
118
107103
104
60
56 50
28
7 13 12
15-19
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20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
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40-44
45-49
Cont.
• The 20-24 year age cohort has the
largest absolute difference. The rate
among rural women in this age cohort is
280 births per thousand women,
compared to an urban rate of 146 births
per thousand.
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TFR
Chart Title
TFR
5.2
4.6
2.9
urban
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rural
total
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Population and Development Inter-Linkages
Economy
•Economic performance
•Wealth distribution
•Supply and demand
•Employment opportunities
•Education levels
•Income and Poverty levels
Population Factors
Environment
•Natural resources
availability
•Degradation
•Waste generation
Fertility
Morbidit
y
Mortality
Migratio
n
PRACTICE
•
Agriculture is the back born of Kenya’s development and is the main
source of livelihood for the rural communities .
•
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 with only 20%
out of total land cover is arable in Kenya.
•
Kenya is faced with a high dependency burden with about 81% people in
the age 0-14 and 65 and above depending on 100 people in the range 15
to 64 years.
The high population growth has put pressure on available resources as
the number of young people keeps on rising at a high rate.
•
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POPULATION MOMENTUM AND ITS EFFECT ON YOUTH
.
Migration and Refugees
• Reproduction and migration are a bigger contributor to population explosion in
urban centres and uneven distribution in the rural.
• Challenges in rural development include: Distribution and marketing agricultural
produce, Distribution of farm input, monitor and plan development. Diminishing
land size, conflict over land, poor infrastractures (eg road, rail, storage etc)
Education
• Current population growth and large numbers of children of school going children is
a burden to the Kenyan tax payer with large budget.(congestion in schools, few
teachers and lack of teaching aid/facilities, low ICT penetration), Large disparity
between primary and secondary( 700,000 verses only 300,000 spaces available in
sec). Technical schools are weak and inadequate- most youth become
unemployable because they lack skills)
• Appropriate skills vis a vie labour market
• School/ college drop out
.
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Cont.
Unemployment and Underemployment
• Only about 25% absorbed into job market the rest the 75% bear the
burden of unemployment.
• Low jobs and high qualification
Health
• HIV prevalence at 33%
• Poor access to health services – very few YF facilities, unreliable
funding mechanisms-leading to periodic shortages
• Alcohol and drug abuse
• Female genital mutilation and teenage pregnancy –unsafe abortion
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Security
• Crime - gangs
• Deviant behaviour
• Abuse and exploitation- political
ICT
• Limited access to ICT due to unavailability in
rural areas and high cost.- Youth cannot exploit
career, biasness and education opportunities
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Areas to be addressed
 Inadequate resources to provide services and
spur growth in rural areas
 Sustained negative effects of HIV and AIDS
 Poverty and its effects
 Need to support policies that target vulnerable
groups in society (orphans, PWDs, youth, and
aged)
 Need to reposition FP in today’s changing
landscape
 Zero Tolerance to corruption
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Areas to be addressed
…….
• Responsive health care systems
targeting the woman, the child and
youth
• More investment aimed at youth and
women’s empowerment initiatives
• Public-private sector partnerships
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Note
• We must appreciate that the impact of reduction
in population growth on the improvement of
human well being depends upon the way
education, health and economic policies are
formulated and implemented in a country.
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Policy Environment
So far GOK and stakeholders have
come together to develop the following
policies to address challenges;
• Adolescent Reproductive Health
• National Gender and Development policy
• National Youth and Development Policy
• Population and Development Policy
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Cont.
• Respective Action Plans for different policies
• Youth communication strategy
• National HIV/AIDS strategic plan 2009 to 2013
• Millennium development Goals
• Vision 2030
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Focus
• Africa - Kenya included are faced with populationrelated challenges, such as the impact of HIV/AIDS on
populations in their prime ages of productivity, and the
current unprecedented rate of urbanization and its
attendant social, economic, and environmental ills.
• All these trends will require the development of
comprehensive, innovative and integrated strategies to
ensure sustainable rural development.
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Population and Development
Inter-relationships
“Population is the point of reference from
which all other elements (of geography)
are observed and from which they all,
singly and collectively, derive significance
and meaning”
Trewartha, 1953
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END
THANK YOU
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