Garissa is among the poorest counties in the country with a majority of its residents struggling to meet basic needs.
According to the latest data released by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics Mandera, Turkana, Samburu, Busia, and West Pokot also form part of the poorest counties.
The study investigated whether or not members of the population could afford the basic food and non-food items and how much the individuals spent on them.
Prices of basic food commodities like sugar, rice, maize, bread, wheat flour and dry beans doubled, and in some instances tripled due to prolonged droughts that affected some counties.
The bureau of statistics said residents in these regions living in poverty are earning below Sh3,252 monthly which translate to below Sh100 every day.
The bureau director general Mr. Zachary Mwangi said the overall rate of poverty declined by about 10 percent in the 10 year period that the report covered.
Speaking in Nairobi, Mr. Mwangi attributed the drop in the rate of poverty to significant investments made in maternal and child healthcare which have in turn improved living standards and higher enrolments in schools.
“Turkana County had its figures at 52.7 percent, Samburu (42.2 percent), Mandera (38.9 percent), Busia (26.8 percent), West Pokot (26.3 percent) and Marsabit at 23.8 percent of their population living in poverty.”
“About 3.9 million Kenyans live in conditions of abject poverty and are unable to afford the minimum required food consumption basket even if they allocated all their expenditure on food alone,” Mr. Mwangi said.
The director general said that poverty level in rural areas is higher compared to urban areas where 11.4 million are poor while 4.7 million are poor in the urban area.