NAIROBI, 11 September 2009 (IRIN) - Rapid urbanization is fuelling poverty among the urban poor in Kenya, an estimated four million people, almost a third of whom are in the capital Nairobi and unable to meet basic nutritional, health and other needs, says a new report.

"[Despite] a reduction in the level of absolute/overall poverty since 1997... food poverty and hardcore poverty... have actually [increased]," states an Oxfam GB September report, Urban Poverty and Vulnerability In Kenya.

"Urban food poverty increased from just over 38 percent in 1997 to nearly 41 in 2006, while the percentage of hardcore poor rose slightly from under 8 to just over that percentage," it said, adding that in cities such as Nakuru and Mombasa, half the population is now food poor.

A household is deemed to be overall poor if it is not able to meet its nutritional and other basic requirements, food poor if it cannot meet all its nutritional needs due to expenditure on other basic non-food essentials, and hardcore poor if unable to meet basic food needs even by foregoing other essentials.

Food crisis

High food prices, blamed on poor rains, among other factors, have "led a majority of slum dwellers to decrease the frequency and size of their meals as well as [pushed] people into high-risk livelihood activities in order to meet their basic needs", states the report. These include sex work, crime, scavenging and child labour.

With the costs of basic health services, fuel and water up by 16, 65 and 114 percent respectively, expenditure on items such as water, soap, sanitation and education has also dropped.

Oxfam warns that such coping strategies have gradual long-term adverse effects such as asset-erosion, higher illiteracy and crime.

Already, most of the slum population spends at least 75 percent of their income on staple food alone.

In the past year, the price of maize has risen 133 percent while average household incomes have fallen by 21 percent. Over-reliance on markets for food and non-food items has increased susceptibility to external shocks.

Disease burden

Disease and poor social support systems stalk the urban poor. For example, Nairobi residents are twice as likely to be HIV-positive as their rural counterparts; child and neo-natal mortality rates in the slums are also above the national average.

Low immunization coverage, inadequate access to prohibitively costly clean water and poor sanitation also breed disease in slums. Pit latrines, where available, may serve up to 500 people per day.

"Relative to rural areas, ‘social capital’ is thought to be weak in Nairobi and consequently people do not have the same kin and support networks," says the report, which also found the levels of inequality in urban areas to be dangerously high. Social capital refers to family networks, and relationships of trust and reciprocity.

Income disparities have also widened in Kenyan cities. "Rising inequalities can severely hamper both poverty reduction efforts and economic growth, as well as leading to increased conflict and violent crime."

Added to this are some about 2.5 million jobless youth, according to a 2008 World Bank report.

Oxfam recommends that good urban governance should be promoted through an enhanced policy environment; building government and community capacity and improving access to critical urban services such as water and sanitation.

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