Sanitation | Kenya Inequalities

Sanitation

Sanitation

Access to safe human waste disposal methods is crucial for the health and wellbeing of a community. Lack of access to safe human waste disposal facilities leads to higher costs to the community through pollution of rivers, ground water and higher incidence of air and water borne diseases. Other costs include reduced incomes as a result of disease and lower educational outcomes.

Nationally, 61.1 percent of the population has access to improved methods of waste disposal (Table 5.6). Improved waste disposal modes include connection to main sewer, septic tank, cesspit, ventilated-improved pit (VIP) latrine, and covered pit latrine. Unimproved sources include uncovered pit latrine, bucket latrine, bush and other sources. Improved methods of waste disposal are dominated by covered pit latrines, which are the main waste disposal mode in both rural and urban settings, with the same proportion of the population in both male and female headed households having access at 46.6 percent.

Table 5.6: Proportion of total population by main mode of waste disposal

	Overall			Male headed			Female headed
Source	Kenya	Rural	Urban	Kenya	Rural	Urban	Kenya	Rural	Urban
Main Sewer	5.9	0.1	18.6	6.3	0.1	19.0	5.0	0.1	17.6
Septic Tank	2.8	0.4	8.0	3.0	0.4	8.3	2.2	0.3	7.2
Cess Pool	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.2	0.1	0.6
VIP Latrine	4.6	4.0	5.9	4.6	4.0	5.9	4.5	4.0	5.9
Pit Latrine	47.6	48.9	44.8	47.6	49.1	44.7	47.6	48.5	45.1
Improved Sanitation	61.1	53.5	78.0	61.8	53.7	78.6	59.5	53.0	76.4
Pit Latrine Uncovered	20.9	22.3	17.7	20.7	22.2	17.4	21.4	22.6	18.4
Bucket	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.3	0.1	0.7	0.3	0.1	0.7
Bush	17.6	24.0	3.4	17.1	23.9	3.1	18.7	24.2	4.3
Other	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.1	0.2
Unimproved Sanitation	38.9	46.5	22.0	38.2	46.3	21.4	40.5	47.0	23.6
Population	37,919,647	26,075,195	11,844,452	26,755,066	18,016,471	8,738,595	11,164,581	8,058,724	3,105,857

Access to improved waste disposal methods is high in urban areas compared with rural areas for both male and female headed households. However, across all modes, the proportions mask huge differentials in numbers as 12.7 million people in male headed households use pit latrines compared with 5.3 million in female headed households. Only 5.9 percent of the country’s population is connected to main sewers, with the population in male headed households at 6.3 percent compared with female headed households at 5.0 percent. The proportion is also higher in urban areas at 19.0 percent for male headed and 17.6 percent for female headed households.

Figure 5.2: Household access to sanitation by type and county

A higher proportion of the population in female headed households uses unimproved modes of waste disposal compared with male headed households. Use of the bush accounts for 17.5 percent of the population, reflecting lack of basic infrastructure or household initiatives towards the use of alternative forms of waste disposal. The proportion of households that are female headed use the bush slightly more at 24.2 percent compared with male headed households at 23.9 percent. Female headed households’ use of improved modes of waste disposal is higher than that for male headed households in urban areas.

Nairobi County has the highest proportion of the population with access to improved modes of waste disposal at 87.9 percent, much higher than the national average of 61.2 percent due to the fact that Nairobi is an urban county with a sewer system, hence a high percentage of access by the population. Wajir County on the other hand has the lowest access to improved modes of waste disposal at 6.8 percent (Table 5.7).

The lower ranked counties with the least proportion of the population with access to improved waste disposal methods are Mandera (16.1 percent), Turkana (9.7 percent), and Wajir (6.8 percent). Use of the bush is most prevalent in Turkana (85.5 percent), Wajir (77.4 percent), Samburu (75.3 percent), and Tana River (71.9 percent). From these indicators, individuals in Wajir are 15 times less likely to access an improved mode of waste disposal than individuals in Nairobi, where access to adequate and safe methods is highest.

Table 5.7: Level of access to improved sanitation by county and gender of household head

Overall			Male headed			Female headed
County	Improved sanitation	Number of HH members	County	Improved sanitation	Number of HH members	County	Improved sanitation	Number of HH members
Top 10 counties
Nairobi	87.9	3,078,180	Nairobi	87.7	2,408,483	Nairobi	88.9	669,697
Vihiga	86.5	548,949	Vihiga	86.6	341,695	Vihiga	86.5	207,254
Kakamega	84.0	1,646,502	Kakamega	83.9	1,138,805	Kakamega	84.0	507,697
Kirinyaga	83.0	521,025	Kirinyaga	82.9	389,010	Kirinyaga	83.0	132,015
Mombasa	81.7	920,121	Mombasa	81.8	719,887	Mombasa	81.5	200,234
Kiambu	80.0	1,602,754	Kiambu	80.3	1,200,557	Kiambu	79.0	402,197
Meru	78.3	1,337,483	Meru	78.6	1,012,329	Meru	77.4	325,154
Uasin-Gishu	77.9	869,422	Uasin-Gishu	78.1	635,386	Uasin-Gishu	77.3	234,036
Nakuru	75.8	1,564,872	Nakuru	76.0	1,107,488	Nakuru	75.4	457,384
Trans-Nzoia	74.4	808,851	Trans-Nzoia	74.5	584,630	Trans-Nzoia	74.3	224,221
Median County
Machakos	61.0	1,084,631	Busia	61.7	492,476	Busia	60.4	244,405
Bottom 10 counties
Narok	35.0	839,659	Narok	37.2	567,077	Narok	30.5	272,582
Kwale	29.7	642,609	Kwale	31.1	438,764	Garissa	30.5	98,770
West Pokot	27.0	509,587	West Pokot	27.0	346,815	Marsabit	29.1	95,091
Marsabit	26.9	288,413	Marsabit	25.8	193,322	West Pokot	27.1	162,772
Tana River	21.7	238,688	Samburu	21.4	124,552	Kwale	26.7	203,845
Garissa	21.7	476,627	Tana River	21.1	174,506	Tana River	23.2	64,182
Samburu	19.7	221,285	Garissa	19.3	377,857	Mandera	21.2	178,322
Mandera	16.1	1,022,794	Mandera	15.0	844,472	Samburu	17.5	96,733
Turkana	8.5	814,953	Turkana	8.7	539,905	Wajir	9.0	111,412
Wajir	6.7	657,855	Wajir	6.3	546,443	Turkana	8.1	275,048

Some counties have large differences between male and female headed households with access to sanitation. Nairobi, Vihiga and Kakamega have the highest proportion of the population with access to improved sanitation for both male and female households, with minor differences between genders. The lowest ranked counties for male headed households are Mandera at 15.0 percent, Turkana at 8.7 percent and Wajir at 6.3 percent. Among female headed households, the bottom three counties are Samburu at 17.5 percent, Wajir at 9.0 percent and Turkana at 8.1 percent

Table 5.8: County ranking by variance in improved sanitation between male and female headed households

County	Male headed		Female Headed		Difference
County	Improved sanitation	Number of individuals	Improved sanitation	Number of individuals	Difference
Top 10 counties
Kajiado	60.5	469,415.0	44.3	207,337	16.1
Narok	37.2	567,077.0	30.5	272,582	6.7
Laikipia	70.5	259,438.0	64.3	132,159	6.2
Migori	54.2	604,178.0	48.1	303,321	6.1
Kwale	31.1	438,764.0	26.7	203,845	4.4
Samburu	21.4	124,552.0	17.5	96,733	3.9
Kisumu	58.1	634,841.0	54.4	317,804	3.8
Bomet	68.7	522,652.0	65.6	200,638	3.1
Machakos	62.1	699,433.0	59.1	385,198	3.0
Homa Bay	42.6	591,940.0	39.7	363,120	3.0
Median County
Nyandarua	74.0	408,095.0	73.4	181,225	0.6
Bottom 10 counties
Nandi	72.0	551,406.0	73.0	191,134	(1.0)
Isiolo	39.7	89,044.0	40.8	50,352	(1.0)
Nairobi	87.7	2,408,483.0	88.9	669,697	(1.3)
Taita-Taveta	66.5	183,089.0	68.6	91,739	(2.1)
Tana River	21.1	174,506.0	23.2	64,182	(2.2)
Wajir	6.3	546,443.0	9.0	111,412	(2.7)
Marsabit	25.8	193,322.0	29.1	95,091	(3.4)
Lamu	55.1	74,370.0	61.2	25,096	(6.1)
Mandera	15.0	844,472.0	21.2	178,322	(6.2)
Garissa	19.3	377,857.0	30.5	98,770	(11.2)

Table 5.9: Level of access to improved sanitation by constituency and gender of household head

Overall			Male headed			Female Headed
Constituency	Improved sanitation	Number of HH members	Constituency	Improved sanitation	Number of HH members	Constituency	Improved sanitation	Number of HH members
Top 10 Constituencies
Kangema	98.5	76,333	Kangema	98.6	49,548.0	Kangema	98.4	26,785
Mathioya	97.8	87,877	Mathioya	97.9	56,264.0	Mathioya	97.7	31,613
Embakasi West	97.5	157,232	Embakasi West	97.5	121,161.0	Embakasi West	97.3	36,071
Embakasi Central	96.8	190,344	Embakasi Central	96.9	150,828.0	Embakasi Central	96.8	39,516
Embakasi North	96.7	180,781	Embakasi North	96.7	140,502.0	Kamukunji	96.5	58,285
Kamukunji	96.0	202,062	Kiharu	96.0	117,272.0	Embakasi North	96.4	40,279
Kiharu	95.7	178,322	Kamukunji	95.8	143,777.0	Limuru	95.4	34,186
Limuru	95.5	129,609	Limuru	95.6	95,423.0	Kiharu	95.2	61,050
Gatundu North	94.3	100,119	Gatundu North	94.3	69,941.0	Gatundu North	94.4	30,178
North Imenti	92.2	144,275	Sabatia	92.5	77,883.0	Makadara	93.1	45,926
Median Constituency
Bomet Central	65.6	125,310	Sotik	66.1	117,918.0	Kuresoi North	64.7	36,628
Bottom 10 Constituencies
Balambala	6.0	72,951	Wajir East	5.7	84,314.0	Turkana West	6.8	65,156
Wajir East	5.6	111,350	Balambala	5.5	61,121.0	Tarbaj	6.1	16,841
Tarbaj	4.9	111,781	Tarbaj	4.7	94,940.0	Eldas	5.5	12,282
Wajir West	4.0	90,888	Tiaty	4.1	83,408.0	Wajir East	5.4	27,036
Lagdera	3.9	92,235	Kacheliba	4.1	100,517.0	Wajir West	5.3	13,373
Tiaty	3.5	132,070	Lagdera	3.8	80,466.0	Lagdera	4.7	11,769
Kacheliba	3.4	155,562	Wajir West	3.7	77,515.0	Turkana North	2.9	49,572
Eldas	3.2	78,871	Turkana North	2.8	94,483.0	Tiaty	2.4	48,662
Turkana North	2.9	144,055	Eldas	2.8	66,589.0	Kacheliba	2.2	55,045
Loima	1.9	119,906	Loima	2.0	73,028.0	Loima	1.8	46,878

The leading three constituencies in terms of access to improved waste disposal methods for both male and female headed households are Kangema (98.5 percent), Mathioya (97.8 percent), and Embakasi West (97.5 percent). The constituencies display insignificant variations based on the gender of the household head (Table 5.9). Similarly, the variance between male and female headed household is minimal for the worst constituency, Loima (1.9%). However, the high number of individuals in male headed households implies that, in absolute terms, there are significantly higher population of persons with and without improved sanitation facilities for male headed compared with the female headed population.

Table 5.10: Constituency ranking by variance in improved sanitation between male and female headed households

Constituency	Male headed		Female Headed		Difference
Constituency	Improved Sanitation	Number of HH Members	Improved Sanitation	Number of HH Members	Difference
Top 10 Constituencies
Kajiado West	40.8	73,688	25.2	40,760	15.6
Kajiado East	70.6	97,362	57.6	35,817	13.0
Kajiado Central	36.4	59,585	23.4	43,234	13.0
Narok West	30.4	81,453	18.6	51,732	11.8
Narok South	36.8	121,117	26.9	59,836	9.9
Laikipia North	43.0	49,115	34.5	29,708	8.5
Kajiado South	44.7	88,306	36.8	46,435	7.9
Uriri	55.4	74,963	48.0	39,627	7.4
Awendo	63.9	71,074	57.1	36,882	6.8
Samburu West	35.5	45,017	28.8	37,095	6.7
Median Constituency
Gem	56.2	97,322.0	55.4	61,977	0.8
Bottom 10 Constituencies
Lamu West	51.9	61,146	57.1	19,781	(5.2)
Mandera North	15.1	138,525	20.8	30,835	(5.7)
North Horr	11.9	56,230	17.7	18,439	(5.8)
Lamu East	70.0	13,224	76.5	5,315	(6.4)
Fafi	8.3	27,137	14.8	9,599	(6.5)
Wajir South	10.6	108,361	17.7	21,244	(7.1)
Garissa Township	59.3	80,267	66.9	33,535	(7.6)
Moyale	35.9	71,604	44.6	31,301	(8.7)
Mandera East	30.2	99,523	40.0	35,252	(9.8)
Isiolo South	30.6	30,355	40.6	12,342	(10.0)

Date And Time

NATIONAL REPORT

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