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Improving Living Conditions in Kenya’s Informal Settlements

In brief

Published on

KISIP
© Nyasha Kadandara / AFD

The rapidly growing populations of Kenya’s towns, cities and informal settlements have placed additional pressure on basic services, with many lacking access to basic water and electricity services. AFD and the Kenyan Treasury have signed an agreement for a new 45 million-euro project to improve infrastructure and people’s living conditions in settlements across 33 Kenyan counties.

Kenyan cities are facing rapid urbanization, often to the detriment of their inhabitants: it is estimated that about 60% of the country's urban households live in precarious neighborhoods, where living conditions are severely degraded. Poor households were even more affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic, as they are mainly employed in informal jobs, and typically do not have the option of social distancing or working from a distance. 

Reinforcing infrastructure

To meet these challenges, AFD is financing a second program to improve Informal settlements (KISIP 2) for a total of €45 million. This program will be co-financed with the World Bank (€130M) and the European Union. It aims to improve the living conditions of more than 1.2 million inhabitants in 154 Informal settlements in Kenya by financing infrastructure (roads, drainage, water and sanitation tracks, public lighting) and by improving land tenure security through the issuance of property titles.

Read more: Improving living conditions in Kenya's settlements

KISIP 2 will also include activities such as the development of community development plans, the implementation of micro-projects such as the rehabilitation of public spaces, solid waste management, and the training of youth in the use of digital tools to collect information useful for neighborhood rehabilitation. 

The mobilization of European funds will allow for the testing of new participatory approaches in the implementation of community plans, in an effort to maximize economic and social inclusion.

Following up on an ambitious program

This program follows the success of KISIP 1, implemented between 2010 and 2020, during which 1.3 million residents in 14 urban areas saw their living conditions improved, 125,525 property titles were issued, and 220 kilometers of access roads were built. The program has demonstrated the central government's ability to institutionalize an effective countrywide response model and provide solutions to mitigate the socio-economic impacts of the pandemic.

"We are proud to sign the second phase of this program, which will bring lasting improvements to the lives of people living in informal settlements in many Kenyan cities,” said Bertrand Willocquet, AFD's Country Director in Kenya. “This project is fully in line with AFD's strategy in the country, which aims to fight poverty and inequality."