Research Briefing Vol 1: Socio-Economic Conditions in Turkana West, Kenya

These briefs are based on a study designed to establish prevailing socio-economic conditions, the nature of businesses and the local economic development in Turkana West, and the trends of urbanization in North Rift Kenya. Turkana West is an arid and semi-arid sub-county in Turkana County, where Kakuma and Kalobeyei refugee settlements are located. By the end of 2020, the sub-county’s combined population of refugees and host communities exceeded 500,000 persons. But the population face multiple socio-economic challenges and vulnerabilities, with the economy in Kakuma-Kalobeyei area, the largest human settlements cluster in Turkana West, dependent on humanitarian programming. Pastoralism is the main livelihood strategy for the host community, the Turkana people, with many practising nomadism. The study involved desktop research and primary data collection in 2020, that entailed interviewing key informants, focus group discussions, quantitative household questionnaires, and research feedback sessions with local communities. The research is available as three volumes: (1) Volume 1 focused on Households’ Socio-Economic Conditions, (2) Volume 2 is on Businesses and Local Economic Development (LED), and Volume 3 is a profile of the Urbanization Trends in North Rift region of Kenya. For each Volume, there is a Brief and a Full Report.