Tharaka Nithi County   |  

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Population

Tharaka Nithi - population 

Due to declining fertility rates among women as shown by the highest percentage household size of 0-3 members at 43%, Tharaka Nithi County is at the onset of a transitional population structure in which 0-14 year olds, currently constituting 39% of the total population, are declining while the youthful population of 15-34 year olds,  constituting 33.3% of the total population is increasing.

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 41.3 up to ward level.

Table 41: Overall Employment by Education levels in Tharaka Nithi County

Education Level

Work for pay

Family Business

Family Agricultural Holding

Intern/ Volunteer

Retired/ Homemaker

Fulltime Student

Incapacitated

No work

Number of Individuals

 Total

18.2

10.7

48.7

0.7

6.7

11.5

0.5

3.0

       200,435

None

12.7

10.0

60.7

1.8

8.5

0.5

2.1

3.9

         15,512

Primary

15.1

10.7

55.1

0.5

6.9

8.6

0.4

2.7

       118,084

Secondary+

25.0

10.9

34.6

0.8

5.8

19.3

0.2

3.4

         66,839

In Tharaka Nithi County, 13% of the residents with no formal education 15% of those with a primary education and 25% 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 almost twice the level in Tharaka Nithi for those with secondary or above level of education.

Gini Coefficient

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. Tharaka-Nithi County’s Gini index is 0.398 compared with Turkana County, which has the least inequality nationally (0.283).

TharakaNithiCounty_GiniCoefficient

 

Education

TharakaNithiCounty_Education 

A total of 21% of Tharaka Nithi County residents have a secondary level of education or above. Maara constituency has the highest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above at 28%. This is twice Tharaka constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above. Maara constituency is 7 percentage points above the county average. Karingani ward has the highest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above at 38%. This is almost five times Gatunga ward, which has the lowest share of residents with a secondary level of education or above. Karingani ward is 17 percentage points above the county average.

A total of 62% of Tharaka Nithi County residents have a primary level of education only. Tharaka constituency has the highest share of residents with a primary level of education only at 64%. Tharaka constituency is 4 percentage points above Chuka/Igambangombe constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with a primary level of education only. Tharaka constituency is 2 percentage points above the county average. Three wards, Mariani, Mwimbi and Igambangombe, have the highest share of residents with a primary level of education at 66% each. This is 15 percentage points above Karingani ward, which has the lowest share of residents with a primary level of education only. Mariani, Mwimbi and Igambangombe wards are 4 percentage points above the county average.

A total of 17% of Tharaka Nithi County residents have no formal education. Tharaka constituency has the highest share of residents with no formal education at 23%. This is almost two times Maara constituency, which has the lowest share of residents with no formal education. Tharaka constituency is 6 percentage points above the county average. Gatunga ward has the highest percentage of residents with no formal education at 27%. This is three times Chogoria ward, which has the lowest percentage of residents with no formal education. Gatunga ward is 1o percentage points above the county average.

Energy  »   Cooking Fuel

Tharaka Nithi - Cooking Fuel 

Just 1% of residents in Tharaka Nithi County use liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and 2% use paraffin. 89% use firewood and 8% use charcoal. Firewood is the most common cooking fuel by gender with 90% of male female headed households and 87% o f female headed households.

Tharaka constituency has the highest level of firewood use in Tharaka Nithi County at 93%.This is 8 percentage points above Chuka/Igambangombe constituency at 85%. Tharaka constituency is 4 percentage points above the county average. Muthambi ward has the highest level of firewood use in Tharaka Nithi County at 91%.This is 36 percentage points above Karingani ward, which has the lowest share at 55%. This is 2 percentage points above the county average.

 Chuka/Igambangombe constituency has the highest level of charcoal use in Tharaka Nithi County at 10%. This is twice Tharaka constituency, which has the lowest share. Chuka/Igambangombe constituency is about 2 percentage points above the county average. Karingani ward has the highest share of charcoal use in Tharaka Nithi County at 28%. This is 25 percentage points more than Ganga ward, which has the lowest share. Karingani ward is 20% above the county average.

Energy   »  Lighting

Tharaka Nithi - Lighting Fuel 

Only 8% of residents in Tharaka Nithi County use electricity as their main source of lighting. A further 32% use lanterns, and 49% use tin lamps. 3% use fuel wood. Electricity use by gender has no significant variation with female headed households at 9% as compared with male headed households at 8%.

Chuka/Igambangombe constituency has the highest level of electricity use at 11%.That is 8 percentage points above Tharaka constituency, which has the lowest level of electricity use. Chuka/Igambangombe constituency is 3 percentage points above the county average. Karingani ward has the highest level of electricity use at 37%.That is 37 percentage points above Mukothima ward, which has the lowest level of electricity use. Karingani ward is 29 percentage points above the county average.

 

Housing   »   Flooring

Tharaka Nithi - Floor Material 

In Tharaka Nithi County, 33% of residents have homes with cement floors, while 66% have earth floors. Less than 1% has tiles and just 1% has wood floors. Maara constituency has the highest share of cement floors at 42%.That is twice Tharaka constituency, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Maara constituency is 9 percentage points above the county average. Karingani ward has the highest share of cement floors at 70%.That is almost 9 times Gatunga ward, which has the lowest share of cement floors. Karingani ward is 37 percentage points above the county average.

 

Housing   »   Roofing

Tharaka Nithi - Roof Materials 

In Tharaka Nithi County, less than 1% of residents have homes with concrete roofs, while 88% have corrugated iron sheet roofs. Grass and makuti roofs constitute 9% of homes, and none have mud/dung roofs.

 Maara constituency has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 94%.That is 16 percentage points above Tharaka constituency, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Maara constituency is 6 percentage points above the county average. Mitheru ward has the highest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs at 98%.That is 31 percentage points above Gatunga ward, which has the lowest share of corrugated iron sheet roofs. Mitheru ward is 10 percentage points above the county average.

 Tharaka constituency has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 18%.That is five times Maara constituency, which has the lowest share of grass/makuti roofs. Tharaka constituency is 9 percentage points above the county average. Gatunga ward has the highest share of grass/makuti roofs at 30%. This is 30 percentage points above Chogoria ward, which has the lowest share. Gatunga ward is 21 percentage points above the county average.

Housing   »   Walls

Tharaka Nithi - Wall Materials 

In Tharaka Nithi County, 19% of homes have either brick or stone walls. 46% of homes have mud/wood or mud/cement walls. 34% have wood walls. Less than 1% has corrugated iron or grass/thatched walls. 1% has tin or other walls.

 Chuka/Igambangombe constituency, which has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 21%. That is 4 percentage points above Tharaka constituency, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Chuka/Igambangombe constituency is 2 percentage points above the county average. Karingani ward has the highest share of brick/stone walls at 47%.That is almost seven times Gatunga ward, which has the lowest share of brick/stone walls. Karingani ward is 28 percentage points above the county average.

 Tharaka constituency has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 80%.That is almost four times Maara constituency, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement. Tharaka constituency is 34 percentage points above the county average. Gatunga ward has the highest share of mud with wood/cement walls at 89%.That is 11 times Chogoria ward, which has the lowest share of mud with wood/cement walls. Gatunga ward is 43 percentage points above the county average.

Water

Improved sources of water comprise protected  springs, protected wells, boreholes, piped water into dwellings, collected piped and rain water; while unimproved sources include ponds, dams, lake, stream/river, unprotected springs, unprotected wells, jabia, water vendors and other.

 In Tharaka Nithi County, 46% of residents use improved sources of water, with the rest relying on unimproved sources. There is a slight gender differential in use of improved sources with 47% of male headed households and 44% in female headed households using it.

 Maara constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 68%.That is twice Tharaka constituency, which has the lowest share using improved sources of water. Maara constituency is 22 percentage points above the county average. Chogoria ward has the highest share of residents using improved sources of water at 91%.That is 11 times Igambangombe ward, which has the lowest share using improved sources of water. Chogoria ward is 45 percentage points above the county average.

 TharakaNithiCounty_WaterSource

Sanitation

A total of 60% of residents in Tharaka Nithi County use improved sanitation, while the rest use unimproved sanitation. There is no differential by gender in the use of improved sanitation, with both male and female headed households at 60% each.

 Chuka/Igambangombe constituency has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 82%.That is almost twice Tharaka constituency, which has the lowest share using improved sanitation. Chuka/Igambangombe constituency is 22 percentage points above the county average. Magumoni ward has the highest share of residents using improved sanitation at 88%.That is almost five times Muthambi ward, which has the lowest share using improved sanitation. Magumoni ward is 28 percentage points above the county average.

 TharakaNithiCounty_Sanitation