This interactive map of Kenya highlights the following counties: Kitui, Makueni, Machakos, Tana River, Bomet, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Nyandarua, Murang'a, Kajiado and Nyeri, which were selected for the implementation of the Small Scale Irrigation and Value Addition Project (SIVAP). These eleven counties were selected based on high levels of poverty, high food insecurity, potential for agriculture and low or moderate rainfall. The project builds on the success of the Small-Scale Horticulture Development Project (SHDP-1) and it will focus on improving high-value crop production through construction and rehabilitation of twelve (12) irrigation schemes (3,205 ha) in eleven counties. Additionally, the project aims to improve access to markets, enhance agro-processing, storage and post-harvest handling technologies and strengthen community-based institutions (Farmer Associations, Irrigation Water Users Associations and Women Groups). The project is expected to improve the livelihoods of more than 100,000 households.
Data Sources:
SIVAP Selected Counties
Source: African Development Bank and GAFSP Documents.
Poverty Incidence (Proportion of population below the poverty line) (2009): Proportion of the population below the national poverty line.
Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics KNBS. "Economic Survey 2014."
Malnutrition (Proportion of underweight children under 5 years) (2014): Prevalence of severely underweight children is the percentage of children under age 5 whose weight-for-age is more than 3 three standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months.
Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Kenya Ministry of Health, Kenya National AIDS Control Council, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kenya National Council for Population and Development. Measure DHS. “Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2014.”
Total Population (2009): Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin.
Source: Kenya National Burea of Statistics KNBS. "Population and Housing Census 2009 - County Statistics."
Population Density (2009): Population divided by land area in square kilometers.
Source: Kenya National Burea of Statistics KNBS. "Population and Housing Census 2009 - County Statistics."
Livelihood Zones (2011): FEWS NET uses the Household Economy Approach (HEA) as the framework for its livelihoods work. For early warning of food insecurity, livelihoods analysis provides invaluable insight into the ability of households such as these to contend with shocks. The analysis also provides detailed information for humanitarian assistance planning and ongoing monitoring.
Source: FEWS NET - USAID. “Livelihood zoning plus activity in Kenya 2010.”
The maps displayed on the GAFSP website are for reference only. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on these maps do not imply, on the part of GAFSP (and the World Bank Group), any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
Kenya recorded a crude birth rate of 27.9 births per 1,000 population in 2019. The estimated number of live births varied among Kenyan counties. Makueni recorded the lowest rate: 19.8 births per 1,000 population, against 49.4 births per 1,000 population in Mandera.
The average household size in Kenya was 3.9 members according to the last census done in the country in 2019. Nairobi City was the county with the smallest households, formed by an average of 2.9 people. By contrast, Mandera registered the largest household size. In the county located in North Eastern Kenya, households had 6.9 members.
Nigeria has the largest population in Africa. As of 2025, the country counted over 237.5 million individuals, whereas Ethiopia, which ranked second, has around 135.5 million inhabitants. Egypt registered the largest population in North Africa, reaching nearly 118.4 million people. In terms of inhabitants per square kilometer, Nigeria only ranked seventh, while Mauritius had the highest population density on the whole African continent in 2023. The fastest-growing world region Africa is the second most populous continent in the world, after Asia. Nevertheless, Africa records the highest growth rate worldwide, with figures rising by over two percent every year. In some countries, such as Niger, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Chad, the population increase peaks at over three percent. With so many births, Africa is also the youngest continent in the world. However, this coincides with a low life expectancy. African cities on the rise The last decades have seen high urbanization rates in Asia, mainly in China and India. However, African cities are currently growing at larger rates. Indeed, most of the fastest-growing cities in the world are located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Gwagwalada, in Nigeria, and Kabinda, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ranked first worldwide. By 2035, instead, Africa's fastest-growing cities are forecast to be Bujumbura, in Burundi, and Zinder, Nigeria.
Different countries have different health outcomes that are in part due to the way respective health systems perform. Regardless of the type of health system, individuals will have health and non-health expectations in terms of how the institution responds to their needs. In many countries, however, health systems do not perform effectively and this is in part due to lack of information on health system performance, and on the different service providers.
The aim of the WHO World Health Survey is to provide empirical data to the national health information systems so that there is a better monitoring of health of the people, responsiveness of health systems and measurement of health-related parameters.
The overall aims of the survey is to examine the way populations report their health, understand how people value health states, measure the performance of health systems in relation to responsiveness and gather information on modes and extents of payment for health encounters through a nationally representative population based community survey. In addition, it addresses various areas such as health care expenditures, adult mortality, birth history, various risk factors, assessment of main chronic health conditions and the coverage of health interventions, in specific additional modules.
The objectives of the survey programme are to: 1. develop a means of providing valid, reliable and comparable information, at low cost, to supplement the information provided by routine health information systems. 2. build the evidence base necessary for policy-makers to monitor if health systems are achieving the desired goals, and to assess if additional investment in health is achieving the desired outcomes. 3. provide policy-makers with the evidence they need to adjust their policies, strategies and programmes as necessary.
The survey sampling frame must cover 100% of the country's eligible population, meaning that the entire national territory must be included. This does not mean that every province or territory need be represented in the survey sample but, rather, that all must have a chance (known probability) of being included in the survey sample.
There may be exceptional circumstances that preclude 100% national coverage. Certain areas in certain countries may be impossible to include due to reasons such as accessibility or conflict. All such exceptions must be discussed with WHO sampling experts. If any region must be excluded, it must constitute a coherent area, such as a particular province or region. For example if ¾ of region D in country X is not accessible due to war, the entire region D will be excluded from analysis.
Households and individuals
The WHS will include all male and female adults (18 years of age and older) who are not out of the country during the survey period. It should be noted that this includes the population who may be institutionalized for health reasons at the time of the survey: all persons who would have fit the definition of household member at the time of their institutionalisation are included in the eligible population.
If the randomly selected individual is institutionalized short-term (e.g. a 3-day stay at a hospital) the interviewer must return to the household when the individual will have come back to interview him/her. If the randomly selected individual is institutionalized long term (e.g. has been in a nursing home the last 8 years), the interviewer must travel to that institution to interview him/her.
The target population includes any adult, male or female age 18 or over living in private households. Populations in group quarters, on military reservations, or in other non-household living arrangements will not be eligible for the study. People who are in an institution due to a health condition (such as a hospital, hospice, nursing home, home for the aged, etc.) at the time of the visit to the household are interviewed either in the institution or upon their return to their household if this is within a period of two weeks from the first visit to the household.
Sample survey data [ssd]
SAMPLING GUIDELINES FOR WHS
Surveys in the WHS program must employ a probability sampling design. This means that every single individual in the sampling frame has a known and non-zero chance of being selected into the survey sample. While a Single Stage Random Sample is ideal if feasible, it is recognized that most sites will carry out Multi-stage Cluster Sampling.
The WHS sampling frame should cover 100% of the eligible population in the surveyed country. This means that every eligible person in the country has a chance of being included in the survey sample. It also means that particular ethnic groups or geographical areas may not be excluded from the sampling frame.
The sample size of the WHS in each country is 5000 persons (exceptions considered on a by-country basis). An adequate number of persons must be drawn from the sampling frame to account for an estimated amount of non-response (refusal to participate, empty houses etc.). The highest estimate of potential non-response and empty households should be used to ensure that the desired sample size is reached at the end of the survey period. This is very important because if, at the end of data collection, the required sample size of 5000 has not been reached additional persons must be selected randomly into the survey sample from the sampling frame. This is both costly and technically complicated (if this situation is to occur, consult WHO sampling experts for assistance), and best avoided by proper planning before data collection begins.
All steps of sampling, including justification for stratification, cluster sizes, probabilities of selection, weights at each stage of selection, and the computer program used for randomization must be communicated to WHO
STRATIFICATION
Stratification is the process by which the population is divided into subgroups. Sampling will then be conducted separately in each subgroup. Strata or subgroups are chosen because evidence is available that they are related to the outcome (e.g. health, responsiveness, mortality, coverage etc.). The strata chosen will vary by country and reflect local conditions. Some examples of factors that can be stratified on are geography (e.g. North, Central, South), level of urbanization (e.g. urban, rural), socio-economic zones, provinces (especially if health administration is primarily under the jurisdiction of provincial authorities), or presence of health facility in area. Strata to be used must be identified by each country and the reasons for selection explicitly justified.
Stratification is strongly recommended at the first stage of sampling. Once the strata have been chosen and justified, all stages of selection will be conducted separately in each stratum. We recommend stratifying on 3-5 factors. It is optimum to have half as many strata (note the difference between stratifying variables, which may be such variables as gender, socio-economic status, province/region etc. and strata, which are the combination of variable categories, for example Male, High socio-economic status, Xingtao Province would be a stratum).
Strata should be as homogenous as possible within and as heterogeneous as possible between. This means that strata should be formulated in such a way that individuals belonging to a stratum should be as similar to each other with respect to key variables as possible and as different as possible from individuals belonging to a different stratum. This maximises the efficiency of stratification in reducing sampling variance.
MULTI-STAGE CLUSTER SELECTION
A cluster is a naturally occurring unit or grouping within the population (e.g. enumeration areas, cities, universities, provinces, hospitals etc.); it is a unit for which the administrative level has clear, nonoverlapping boundaries. Cluster sampling is useful because it avoids having to compile exhaustive lists of every single person in the population. Clusters should be as heterogeneous as possible within and as homogenous as possible between (note that this is the opposite criterion as that for strata). Clusters should be as small as possible (i.e. large administrative units such as Provinces or States are not good clusters) but not so small as to be homogenous.
In cluster sampling, a number of clusters are randomly selected from a list of clusters. Then, either all members of the chosen cluster or a random selection from among them are included in the sample. Multistage sampling is an extension of cluster sampling where a hierarchy of clusters are chosen going from larger to smaller.
In order to carry out multi-stage sampling, one needs to know only the population sizes of the sampling units. For the smallest sampling unit above the elementary unit however, a complete list of all elementary units (households) is needed; in order to be able to randomly select among all households in the TSU, a list of all those households is required. This information may be available from the most recent population census. If the last census was >3 years ago or the information furnished by it was of poor quality or unreliable, the survey staff will have the task of enumerating all households in the smallest randomly selected sampling unit. It is very important to budget for this step if it is necessary and ensure that all households are properly enumerated in order that a representative sample is obtained.
It is always best to have as many clusters in the PSU as possible. The reason for this is that the fewer the number of respondents in each PSU, the lower will be the clustering effect which
Kenya recorded a crude death rate of 10.5 deaths per 1,000 population in 2019. Makueni registered the lowest rate among Kenyan counties, at 5.5 deaths per 1,000 population. On the other hand, Siaya had the highest: 15.5 deaths per 1,000 population.
WHO implemented a World Health Survey to collect comprehensive baseline data on the health of populations and on the outcomes associated with investment in health systemsThe Survey Programme was developed in individual countries through consultation with policymakers and participants in routine HIS in these countries. The overall aims of the survey are to examine the way populations report their health, understand how people value health states, measure the performance of health systems in relation to responsiveness, and gather information on modes and extents of payment for health services.
The survey has national coverage. The survey sampling frame must cover 100% of the country's eligible population, meaning that the entire national territory must be included. This does not mean that every province or territory need be represented in the survey sample but, rather, that all must have a chance (known probability) of being included in the survey sample.
Households and individuals
The target population includes any adult, aged 18 or older, living in private households. Populations in group quarters, on military reservations, or in other non-household living arrangements will not be eligible for the study. People who are in an institution due to a health condition (such as a hospital, hospice, nursing home, home for the aged, etc.) at the time of the visit to the household are interviewed either in the institution or upon their return to their household if this is within a period of two weeks from the first visit to the household.
Sample survey data [ssd]
SAMPLING GUIDELINES FOR WHS
Surveys in the WHS program must employ a probability sampling design. This means that every single individual in the sampling frame has a known and non-zero chance of being selected into the survey sample. While a Single Stage Random Sample is ideal if feasible, it is recognized that most sites will carry out Multi-stage Cluster Sampling.
The WHS sampling frame should cover 100% of the eligible population in the surveyed country. This means that every eligible person in the country has a chance of being included in the survey sample. It also means that particular ethnic groups or geographical areas may not be excluded from the sampling frame.
The sample size of the WHS in each country is 5000 persons (exceptions considered on a by-country basis). An adequate number of persons must be drawn from the sampling frame to account for an estimated amount of non-response (refusal to participate, empty houses etc.). The highest estimate of potential non-response and empty households should be used to ensure that the desired sample size is reached at the end of the survey period. This is very important because if, at the end of data collection, the required sample size of 5000 has not been reached additional persons must be selected randomly into the survey sample from the sampling frame. This is both costly and technically complicated (if this situation is to occur, consult WHO sampling experts for assistance), and best avoided by proper planning before data collection begins.
All steps of sampling, including justification for stratification, cluster sizes, probabilities of selection, weights at each stage of selection, and the computer program used for randomization must be communicated to WHO
STRATIFICATION
Stratification is the process by which the population is divided into subgroups. Sampling will then be conducted separately in each subgroup. Strata or subgroups are chosen because evidence is available that they are related to the outcome (e.g. health, responsiveness, mortality, coverage etc.). The strata chosen will vary by country and reflect local conditions. Some examples of factors that can be stratified on are geography (e.g. North, Central, South), level of urbanization (e.g. urban, rural), socio-economic zones, provinces (especially if health administration is primarily under the jurisdiction of provincial authorities), or presence of health facility in area. Strata to be used must be identified by each country and the reasons for selection explicitly justified.
Stratification is strongly recommended at the first stage of sampling. Once the strata have been chosen and justified, all stages of selection will be conducted separately in each stratum. We recommend stratifying on 3-5 factors. It is optimum to have half as many strata (note the difference between stratifying variables, which may be such variables as gender, socio-economic status, province/region etc. and strata, which are the combination of variable categories, for example Male, High socio-economic status, Xingtao Province would be a stratum).
Strata should be as homogenous as possible within and as heterogeneous as possible between. This means that strata should be formulated in such a way that individuals belonging to a stratum should be as similar to each other with respect to key variables as possible and as different as possible from individuals belonging to a different stratum. This maximises the efficiency of stratification in reducing sampling variance.
MULTI-STAGE CLUSTER SELECTION
A cluster is a naturally occurring unit or grouping within the population (e.g. enumeration areas, cities, universities, provinces, hospitals etc.); it is a unit for which the administrative level has clear, nonoverlapping boundaries. Cluster sampling is useful because it avoids having to compile exhaustive lists of every single person in the population. Clusters should be as heterogeneous as possible within and as homogenous as possible between (note that this is the opposite criterion as that for strata). Clusters should be as small as possible (i.e. large administrative units such as Provinces or States are not good clusters) but not so small as to be homogenous.
In cluster sampling, a number of clusters are randomly selected from a list of clusters. Then, either all members of the chosen cluster or a random selection from among them are included in the sample. Multistage sampling is an extension of cluster sampling where a hierarchy of clusters are chosen going from larger to smaller.
In order to carry out multi-stage sampling, one needs to know only the population sizes of the sampling units. For the smallest sampling unit above the elementary unit however, a complete list of all elementary units (households) is needed; in order to be able to randomly select among all households in the TSU, a list of all those households is required. This information may be available from the most recent population census. If the last census was >3 years ago or the information furnished by it was of poor quality or unreliable, the survey staff will have the task of enumerating all households in the smallest randomly selected sampling unit. It is very important to budget for this step if it is necessary and ensure that all households are properly enumerated in order that a representative sample is obtained.
It is always best to have as many clusters in the PSU as possible. The reason for this is that the fewer the number of respondents in each PSU, the lower will be the clustering effect which increases sample variance and effectively reduces our estimating power. WHO requires an absolute maximum of 50 respondents per PSU, and ideally would suggest 20-30. This means that for a sample size of 5000 respondents, 100- 200 PSU clusters should be taken into the sample. Calculating that, roughly, one fifth of the total number of PSU clusters in a country will be randomly selected into the survey sample, the sampling frame should consist of 500-1000 PSU clusters.
PROBABILITY SAMPLING
Probability sampling means that every single individual in the sampling frame has a known and non-zero chance of being selected into the survey sample. Non-probability methods of sampling such as quota or convenience sampling and random walk, may introduce bias into the survey, will throw survey findings into question, and are not accepted by WHO.
The probability of selection into the survey sample for each cluster will be proportional to its relative size. Systematic Sampling Systematic sampling is the ordered sampling at fixed intervals from a list, starting from a randomly chosen point. Typically, systematic sampling is not used at the first stage of sampling (selection of PSUs) because it renders the estimation of sampling error difficult.
Systematic sampling is recommended at the SSU, TSU, and household selection stages of sampling. Systematic sampling may be linear or circular.
SELECTION OF HOUSEHOLDS
The Household is a device used to get at the individual. The household is the sampling unit while the individual is the observational unit. While it would be preferable to randomly select from a list of all eligible persons in a country, such lists, with a few exceptions, are not available, so we must employ a final cluster, the household, to get at our observational units.
Households will be selected from lists of dwelling units. Non-probabilistic methods of household selection such as the random walk are not acceptable. Such lists are typically available from population registries, household listings, voter lists and census list. As it is essential to include all households in the sampling frame, an assessment of the methodology employed to select households must be made: - How much has the population changed since these lists were made? - Completeness of coverage. Are there unregistered populations (e.g. slums) - Population shifts - Changes in Registry
QUALITY
Almost all lists will suffer from routine problems. WHO recommends that survey institutions manually enumerate all the households
As of 2018, roughly 35 million people in East Africa were living in slums. Ethiopia had the highest number of slum residents, approximately 14 million, followed by Kenya with 6.4 million. In contrast, Djibouti and Burundi had the smallest slum population in terms of absolute numbers, 490 thousand and 700 thousand, respectively.
In 2025, nearly 11.7 percent of the world population in extreme poverty, with the poverty threshold at 2.15 U.S. dollars a day, lived in Nigeria. Moreover, the Democratic Republic of the Congo accounted for around 11.7 percent of the global population in extreme poverty. Other African nations with a large poor population were Tanzania, Mozambique, and Madagascar. Poverty levels remain high despite the forecast decline Poverty is a widespread issue across Africa. Around 429 million people on the continent were living below the extreme poverty line of 2.15 U.S. dollars a day in 2024. Since the continent had approximately 1.4 billion inhabitants, roughly a third of Africa’s population was in extreme poverty that year. Mozambique, Malawi, Central African Republic, and Niger had Africa’s highest extreme poverty rates based on the 2.15 U.S. dollars per day extreme poverty indicator (updated from 1.90 U.S. dollars in September 2022). Although the levels of poverty on the continent are forecast to decrease in the coming years, Africa will remain the poorest region compared to the rest of the world. Prevalence of poverty and malnutrition across Africa Multiple factors are linked to increased poverty. Regions with critical situations of employment, education, health, nutrition, war, and conflict usually have larger poor populations. Consequently, poverty tends to be more prevalent in least-developed and developing countries worldwide. For similar reasons, rural households also face higher poverty levels. In 2024, the extreme poverty rate in Africa stood at around 45 percent among the rural population, compared to seven percent in urban areas. Together with poverty, malnutrition is also widespread in Africa. Limited access to food leads to low health conditions, increasing the poverty risk. At the same time, poverty can determine inadequate nutrition. Almost 38.3 percent of the global undernourished population lived in Africa in 2022.
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This interactive map of Kenya highlights the following counties: Kitui, Makueni, Machakos, Tana River, Bomet, Meru, Tharaka Nithi, Nyandarua, Murang'a, Kajiado and Nyeri, which were selected for the implementation of the Small Scale Irrigation and Value Addition Project (SIVAP). These eleven counties were selected based on high levels of poverty, high food insecurity, potential for agriculture and low or moderate rainfall. The project builds on the success of the Small-Scale Horticulture Development Project (SHDP-1) and it will focus on improving high-value crop production through construction and rehabilitation of twelve (12) irrigation schemes (3,205 ha) in eleven counties. Additionally, the project aims to improve access to markets, enhance agro-processing, storage and post-harvest handling technologies and strengthen community-based institutions (Farmer Associations, Irrigation Water Users Associations and Women Groups). The project is expected to improve the livelihoods of more than 100,000 households.
Data Sources:
SIVAP Selected Counties
Source: African Development Bank and GAFSP Documents.
Poverty Incidence (Proportion of population below the poverty line) (2009): Proportion of the population below the national poverty line.
Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics KNBS. "Economic Survey 2014."
Malnutrition (Proportion of underweight children under 5 years) (2014): Prevalence of severely underweight children is the percentage of children under age 5 whose weight-for-age is more than 3 three standard deviations below the median for the international reference population ages 0-59 months.
Source: Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Kenya Ministry of Health, Kenya National AIDS Control Council, Kenya Medical Research Institute, Kenya National Council for Population and Development. Measure DHS. “Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2014.”
Total Population (2009): Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship except for refugees not permanently settled in the country of asylum, who are generally considered part of the population of their country of origin.
Source: Kenya National Burea of Statistics KNBS. "Population and Housing Census 2009 - County Statistics."
Population Density (2009): Population divided by land area in square kilometers.
Source: Kenya National Burea of Statistics KNBS. "Population and Housing Census 2009 - County Statistics."
Livelihood Zones (2011): FEWS NET uses the Household Economy Approach (HEA) as the framework for its livelihoods work. For early warning of food insecurity, livelihoods analysis provides invaluable insight into the ability of households such as these to contend with shocks. The analysis also provides detailed information for humanitarian assistance planning and ongoing monitoring.
Source: FEWS NET - USAID. “Livelihood zoning plus activity in Kenya 2010.”
The maps displayed on the GAFSP website are for reference only. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any other information shown on these maps do not imply, on the part of GAFSP (and the World Bank Group), any judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.