Potential for poverty reduction strategies to address community priorities: Case study of Kenya

Poverty reduction strategies show promise for more transparent and rational delivery of public services to meet the needs of Africa's rural poor. An analysis was conducted to determine how closely Kenya's Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) matches with the problems and priorities articulated by residents of 80 rural communities in 10 districts of Western Kenya. The results suggest that there was a good match between national PRSP priorities and priorities generated from the 80 rural communities, but poor matches between district level PRSP priorities and community priorities, and between national PRSP priorities and the national PRSP implementation plan. The results imply the need for a stronger multiscale approach to poverty reduction, with special emphasis on the mesoscales of locations and districts. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.