From Fragmentation to Integration: Strengthening Social Protection Systems and Programs in Kenya

Abstract

Kenya prioritizes social protection as part of its development programming, and as a direct response to the social protection promise of the citizens of Kenya under Article 43 of the constitution. This has over the past decade been codified into a cluster of fundamental programmes, in which the National Safety Net Programme (NSNP) and the related cash transfers have been given keen attention. These include Older Persons Cash Transfer (OPCT), Cash Transfer or Orphans and Vulnerable Children, (CT-OVC), Persons with Severe Disabilities Cash Transfer (PwSD-CT) and Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP).

These programs are not ordinary budget items. They are lifelines to millions of vulnerable Kenyans and are put in place to cushion the most vulnerable against poverty, starvation and the vagaries of nature like drought (1, 2). The annoying reality though to policy makers, program managers, and beneficiaries alike is that these lifelines are operating independently rather than as a networked and reliable system. Despite being established under the NSNP umbrella, they remain decentralized, and operate under different rules, linked to various agencies, and use disjointed systems. This breakdown is the primary program management failure of the Kenyan social protection system (3). It represents not just an administrative inconvenience but a considerable barrier that leads to ineffective operation, undermines fairness, and dilutes efficacy.