Inua Jamii : towards a more effective national safety net for Kenya

The goal of social protection is to ensure that all Kenyans live in dignity and are able to exploit their human capabilities for their own social and economic wellbeing. Investing in social assistance improves the livelihoods of beneficiaries and in turn contributes to national development. The Government of Kenya has made social protection a priority in its policy and programming. As part of the government’s initiatives to improve and enhance social protection in the country, much focus and attention has been placed on the cash transfer social assistance programs through the establishment of the National Safety Net Program (NSNP) in 2013. The NSNP is an important contribution of the government’s efforts to reduce poverty and the vulnerability of the population to economic, social and natural shocks and stresses. This 2016 report examines the progress that has been made in the National Safety Net Program since its inception. The report’s findings reaffirms that the NSNP cash transfers have made a profound difference in the lives of beneficiary households by improving their welfare and increasing their resilience. Therefore, this report is a midterm assessment of the status of the program. The report finds that clear progress has been made over the past two years towards the achievement of the NSNP objectives and towards reducing poverty and vulnerability among our most disadvantaged households. The report also highlights some challenges that have been experienced in delivering this large and complex program and identifies areas in which our ministries can improve on the program. To conclude, as the cash transfer sector has grown in the past few years as evidenced by this report, there is now a need for the government and its development partners to consider the shape of the social protection landscape beyond 2017.