Employment

The 2009 population and housing census covered in brief the labour status as tabulated below. The main variable of interest for inequality discussed in the text is work for pay by level of education. The other variables, notably family business, family agricultural holdings, intern/volunteer, retired/homemaker, fulltime student, incapacitated and  no work are tabulated and presented in the annex table 37.3 up to ward level.

 Table 37: Overall Employment by Education levels in Samburu County

In Samburu County, 5% of the residents with no formal education, 14% of those with primary education and 37% of those with a secondary level of education or above are working for pay. Work for pay is highest in Nairobi at 49% and this is 12 percentage points above the level in Samburu for those with secondary or above level of education.

In this report, the Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of consumption expenditure among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Gini index of '0' represents perfect equality, while an index of '1' implies perfect inequality. Samburu County’s Gini index is 0.318 compared with Turkana County, which has the least inequality nationally (0.283).

Less than 1% of residents in Samburu County use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and 1% use paraffin. 81% use firewood and 17% use charcoal. Firewood is the most common cooking fuel by gender with 77% of male headed households and 85% in female headed households using it.

 Samburu North constituency has the highest level of firewood use in Samburu County at 92%.This is 24 percentage points above Samburu West constituency, which has the lowest share. Samburu North is 11 percentage points above the county average. Wamba North ward has the highest level of firewood use in Samburu County at 99%.This is 53 percentage points above Maralal ward at 46%. Wamba North ward is 18 percentage points above the county average.

Samburu West constituency has the highest level of charcoal use in Samburu County at 30%.This is 22 percentage points above Samburu North constituency, which has the lowest share. Samburu West constituency is 13 percentage points above the county average. Maralal ward has the highest level of charcoal use in Samburu County at 51%.This is 50 percentage points more than Wamba North ward, which has the lowest share. Maralal ward is 34 percentage points above the county average.

Only 6% of residents in Samburu County use electricity as their main source of lighting. A further 11% use lanterns, and 19% use tin lamps. 61% use fuel wood. Electricity use is mostly common in male headed households at 8% as compared with female headed households at 4%.

Samburu West constituency has the highest level of electricity use at 14%.That is 14 percentage points above Samburu North constituency, which has the lowest level of electricity use. Samburu West constituency is 8 percentage points above the county average. Maralal ward has the highest level of electricity use at 27%.That is 27 percentage points above Ndoto, Wamba West, and Wamba North  wards, which have no level of electricity use. Maralal ward is 21 percentage points above the county average.

In Samburu County, 16% of residents have homes with cement floors, while 83% have earth floors. Less than 1% has wood or tile floors. Samburu West constituency has the highest share of cement floors are 27%.That is 20 percentage points above Samburu North constituency, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Samburu West constituency is 11 percentage points above the county average. Maralal ward has the highest share of cement floors at 43%.That is 42 percentage points above Wamba North ward, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Maralal ward is 27 percentage points above the county average.

In Samburu County, less than 1% of residents have homes with concrete roofs, while 22% have corrugated iron sheet roofs. Grass and makuti roofs constitute 23% of homes, and 38% have mud/dung roofs.

 Samburu West constituency has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 38%.That is 28 percentage points above Samburu North constituency, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Samburu West constituency is 16 percentage points above the county average. Maralal ward has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 60%.That is 30 times Wamba North ward, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Maralal ward is 38 percentage points above the county average.

Samburu North constituency has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 31%.That is twice Samburu West constituency, which has the lowest share of grass/makuti roofs. Samburu North constituency is 8 percentage points above the county average. Nachola ward has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 61%. This is 30 times Lodokejek ward, which has the lowest share. Nachola ward is 38 percentage points above the county average.

In Samburu County, 6% of homes have either brick or stone walls. 72% of homes have mud/wood or mud/cement walls. 8% have wood walls. 1% has corrugated iron walls. 5% have grass/thatched walls. 9% have tin or other walls.

 Samburu East constituency has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 9%.That is twice Samburu North constituency, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Samburu East constituency is 3 percentage points above the county average. Waso ward has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 19%.That is 19 percentage points above Baawa ward, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Waso ward is 13 percentage points above the county average.

 Samburu West has constituency has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 90%.That is 29 percentage points above Samburu East constituency, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement walls. Samburu West constituency is 18 percentage points above the county average. Two wards, Porro and Lodokejek, have the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 96% each. That is almost thrice Nyiro ward, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement walls. Porro and Lodokejek are 24 percentage points above the county average.

Improved sources of water comprise protected  spring, protected well, borehole, piped into dwelling, piped and rain water collection while unimproved sources include pond, dam, lake, stream/river, unprotected spring, unprotected well, jabia, water vendor and others.

 In Samburu County, 34% of residents use improved sources of water, with the rest relying on unimproved sources. There is no significant gender differential in use of improved sources as 35% of male headed households and 33% in female headed households.

 Samburu West constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 46%.That is almost twice Samburu North constituency, which has the lowest share using improved sources of water. Samburu West constituency is 12 percentage points above the county average. Maralal ward has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 72%.That is 12 times Porro ward, which has the lowest share using improved sources of water. Maralal ward is 38 percentage points above the county average.

A total of 20% of residents in Samburu County use improved sanitation, while the rest use unimproved sanitation. Use of improved sanitation is slightly higher in male headed households at 21% as compared with female headed households at 18%.

 Samburu West constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 33%.That is three times Samburu North constituency, which has the lowest share using improved sanitation Samburu West constituency is 13 percentage points above the county average. Maralal ward has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 52%.That is 51 percentage points above Wamba North ward, which has the lowest share using improved sanitation. Maralal ward is 32 percentage points above the county average.