Some 19.1 million Kenyans are living below the poverty line, the National Treasury has revealed.

At least 15.1 million people are food poor, according to Treasury.

Poverty line is the minimum expenditure on consumption required by an individual to fulfill his basic food and non-food needs.

This means that over 19 million Kenyans are unable to meet their basic food and non-food needs.

As of 2021, an individual living in an urban area who spends less than Sh7,193 per month was considered to be poor.

Similarly, an individual living in rural Kenya who spends less than Sh3,947 per month is considered poor.

“Different poverty lines are applied in rural and urban areas because of different consumption patterns,” said National Treasury Cabinet Secretary, Njuguna Ndung’u in a statement. 

Quoting reports by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), Ndung’u said as of 2021 the poverty rate in the country was 38.6 per cent, a reduction from 42.9 per cent recorded in 2020.

More money

The 2021 poverty rate has, however, increased compared to 2015/2016 financial year when it stood at 36.1 per cent.

As has been the trend over the years, more people in rural areas (40.7 per cent) live below the poverty line compared to urban areas (34.1 per cent).

KNBS changes the poverty line from year to year.

For those living in urban areas, the overall poverty line has risen steadily from Sh5,994 per month in 2019 to Sh7,193 in 2021 an indication that one needs more money to meet basic food and non-food needs now that they did in 2019.   

Similarly, for those living in rural areas, the overall poverty line has risen from Sh3,255 in 2019 to Sh3,947 in 2021.

Food poverty stood at 30.5 per cent in 2021 from 32 per cent in 2015/2016 financial year, meaning that 15.1 million Kenyans were food poor as of 2021.

Food poverty refers to having inadequate food to provide minimum calorific energy required per person per month.

Any individual living in rural areas who was unable to spend Sh2,331 on food per month in the year 2021 was categorized as being food poor.