Devolution and Poverty Reduction in East Africa: A Case Study of the Agricultural Sector in Kericho County – Kenya

Governance systems and structures are a critical determinant to whether countries will achieve their aspirations especially on matters of development. In its quest to spur development and combat challenges like marginalization and poverty, Kenya decided to shift its governance system from a more centralized to a devolved system under the new constitution that was promulgated in the year 2010. This research therefore sought to investigate whether devolution has had an impact in reducing poverty. In so doing, the research interrogates how the County Government of Kericho has handled the Agricultural Sector which is one of the main functions that were devolved to the county government. The main interest is to find out whether there has been an increase in the incomes of farming households in Kericho County as a result of interventions made by the County Government towards bolstering of the Agriculture Sector directly or indirectly. The research elected to use the Descriptive Case Study as the research design that is very effective in painting a vivid picture as regards the subject of interrogation. The approach included using questionnaires and were both quantitative and qualitative in nature that enabled the research have deeper understanding of both facts and opinions of farming households in Kericho County. The main findings of the research was that there has been negligible change in the incomes of farming households in Kericho County. Whereas there has been increased investment of resources down to the grassroots, majority of the resources have gone to infrastructure development with very little going into improving production and marketing of farm produce in the County. The farming households hold the opinion that more investment need to be directed towards improving production by supporting farmers to access credit for timely and adequate access to quality seeds, fertilizer and other farm inputs. Access to research and information through extension services will enable farmers use latest information to improve their production and eventually increase their income. This will be an effective way through which the County Government of Kericho will have alleviated poverty, and it would be a great lesson to others too.