Tinesha Howell
Dr. Baugus
ECON 360
5 September 2021
Milestone 1: The Nation of Kenya
For my project in ECON 360 I will be highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the nation of Kenya and devising a plan to essentially fix many of its problems. I choose Kenya because I was born in Guyana which is a nation who experiences many of the same drawbacks as Kenya. Kenya is the leading nation in Eastern and Central Africa but most of its population lives beneath the poverty line, and Kenya’s unemployment rate is extremely high (Odhiambo, 2019). Additionally, to many people Kenya is doing fairly well but in retrospect the nation is struggling. One-third of the nation’s GDP is credited to agriculture since most Kenyans are working in the agricultural sector to make a living. This exposes a long-term drawback for Kenya because delays in the rain season shows an economic weakness. (Bakhtsiyarava et al., 2018).
Moreover, although Kenya has managed to raise assets in the global bond market, it has not been able to successfully address poverty and unemployment within the nation. Donors and financial institutions are the principal reason why Kenya’s economy has managed to remain stable. Also, since the government took over three small unethical banks in 2016, the interest rate of banks became limited which has caused a decline of credit within the economy. Kenya is a nation who has great potential and deserves a chance to rise up and achieve its potential. My goal is to provide optimism within Kenya’s economic prospects and provide measures to reduce poverty, constructively distribute funds within the health and education sector, and ultimately provide a plan to eliminate the effects of wealth concentration within the nation.
References
Bakhtsiyarava, M., Grace, K., & Nawrotzki, R. J. (2018). Climate, Birth Weight, and Agricultural Livelihoods in Kenya and Mali. American Journal of Public Health, 108(S2), S144–S150. https://doi.org/10.2105/ajph.2017.304128.
Odhiambo, F. O. (2019). Assessing the Predictors of Lived Poverty in Kenya: A Secondary Analysis of the Afrobarometer Survey 2016. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 54(3), 452–464. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909618822668.
Hey Tinesha,
I really enjoyed reading your milestone post! Kenya is a fascinating nation rich with resources, but that does not change the fact that the nation is struggling economically. While they are struggling, there is evidence of improvements are being made. According to the World Bank (2021), from 2015-2019, Kenya’s economic growth averaged 5.7%, making it one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, but that does not erase the problems of poverty and inequality that Kenya faces. In your suggestions to make improvements, how do plan on distributing health care and education? I am very much looking forward to seeing how your project takes shape!
Resources
(2021). “The World Bank in Kenya”. World Bank. https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/kenya/overview.