Samburu County

Introduction

Samburu County had a total population of 358,000 people in 2024. According to the Kenya Population and Housing Census, Samburu had a total population of 310,327 people in 2019, comprising 65,910 households. The average household size in the county was 4.7 people per household.

Samburu County has a total land area of 21,065.1 square kilometers and a population density of 15 people per square kilometer.

Samburu County is bordered to the North by Marsabit, the East by Isiolo, the South by Laikipia, the South West by Baringo, and the West by Turkana County.

Samburu County has three sub-counties: Samburu Central, Samburu East, and Samburu North.

Samburu County Economy

Samburu County had an average Gross County Product at current prices of Ksh 33.9 billion, representing an average county contribution to Gross Value Added of 0.3% between 2018 and 2022.

Samburu County contributed, on average, 0.2% to agriculture, forestry, and fishing activities. The county's contribution to manufacturing activities was 0.1%, while its contribution to service activities was 0.4%.

Samburu County had a Gross County Product per capita of Ksh 100,013 in 2022.

Poverty Rates

The overall poverty rate in Samburu County was 66.2%, with an estimated 217,000 people living in poverty. Kenya’s overall poverty rate in 2021 was 38.6%.

The share of the population living in hardcore poverty in Samburu County was 30.3%, with roughly 99,000 people living in extreme poverty. The hardcore poverty rate in Kenya was 5.8% in 2021.

Samburu had a food poverty rate of 60.2%, with an estimated 197,000 people living in food poverty in 2021. In the same year, Kenya had an estimated food poverty rate of 30.5%.

The map below shows the distribution of poverty by Constituency in Samburu in 2019: Samburu East 79.5%, Samburu North 69.3%, and Samburu West 24.8%.

The mean monthly food and non-food expenditure in Samburu County was Ksh 2,394 and Ksh 1,614, respectively, in 2021. The expenditure on food was 64.3%, while the share on non-food items was 35.7%.

In 2021, the major food sources in Samburu County were purchase or stock (81.8%), own production (13.2%), and gifts (5%). 

The mean and median per adult equivalent expenditure in Samburu County was Ksh 4,008 and Ksh 3,318 in 2021.

Samburu County Demographics

The total number of people in Samburu County was 310,327 in 2019, comprising 156,774 males, 153,546 females, and 7 intersex. Samburu had a median age of 14 years in 2019.

The table below shows the population distribution in Samburu by sex and sub-county. 

Marital Status

The percent distribution of women aged 12 and above in Samburu County who were never married in 2019 was 33.3%, while those who were married monogamously were 44.3%. On the other hand, those who were in polygamous unions in Samburu in 2019 were 14%, while the widowed were 4.9%. The county's distribution of the divorced and separated was 0.5% and 0.8%, respectively.

Among men aged 12 and above in Samburu, those who were never married were 56.4%, while those in monogamous unions were 34.3%. The distribution of men in the county in polygamous unions was 7.9%, while the widowed were 0.4%. The share of men in Samburu County who were divorced and separated were 0.2% and 0.3%, respectively.

According to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022, the median age at first marriage among women aged 20-49 in Samburu County was 18.2 years. Among women aged 25-49 in the county, the median age at first marriage was 17.7 years. Among men in Samburu County aged 30-54 in 2022, the median age at first marriage was 28 years.

Polygyny

The percentage of currently married women in Samburu County aged 15-49 who had one or more co-wives in 2022 was 30.7%. Those with a single co-wife were 21.9%, while those with more than two co-wives were 8.8%. The share of women without co-wives in Samburu was 68.9%.

Among married men aged 15-49 in Samburu County, the proportion with more than two wives in 2022 was 14.7%, while those with only one wife were 85.3%.

Marriage Registration

The distribution of married women in Samburu County whose current marriage was registered with the civil authorities in 2022 was 6.9%, while those whose current marriage was registered with civil authorities and had a marriage certificate was 5.9%.

Teenage Marriages

The proportion of married males aged 12-15 in Samburu County was 5% in 2019, while the proportion of married females in the same age group was 7.5%. The proportion of married females aged 12-18 in Samburu was 13.4%.

The rate of teenage pregnancies in Samburu County, comprising of women aged 15-19 who have ever been pregnant, was 50.1% in 2022.

Total Fertility Rate

Samburu County had a Total Fertility Rate of 4.9 births per woman in 2019, a decline of 16.3% from 5.8 births per woman in 2009. Kenya’s Total Fertility Rate in the same period was 3.4 births per woman in 2019, a decline of 28.6% from 4.8 births per woman in 2009.

The total youth fertility rate in Samburu County, comprising women aged 15-24, was 1.5 births per woman in 2019. Kenya's Total Youth Fertility Rate in the same year was 1 birth per woman.

Samburu had a Crude Birth Rate of 33.1 births per 1,000 population in 2019, a decrease of 30.8% from 47.8 births per 1,000 population in 2009. Overall, Kenya had a Crude Birth Rate of 27.9 births per 1,000 population in 2019, a drop of 27.2% from 38.4 births per 1,000 population in 2009.

Place of Birth and Notification Status

The share of recent births in Samburu County that occurred in a health facility was 45.1%. In comparison, those that occurred in non-health facilities were 54.5% in 2019. In Kenya, the share of recent births in health facilities in 2019 was 85.8%, while those in non-health facilities were 14%.

The share of recent births in Samburu that were notified in 2019 was 69.8%, while those not notified were 29.9%. Overall, the share of recent births in Kenya that were notified in 2019 was 90.4%, while those not notified were 9.3%. 

Place of Death and Notification Status

In 2019, 42.9% of deaths in Samburu County occurred in a health facility, while 56.1% occurred in the community. In Kenya, 59% of deaths in 2019 occurred in a health facility, while 40% did not occur in a health facility.

The share of deaths in Samburu County that were notified in 2019 was 53.3%. Overall, the share of deaths that were notified in Kenya in 2019 was 85.6%.

Samburu County had a Crude Death Rate (CDR) of 11.2 deaths per 1,000 population in 2019. Overall, Kenya had a Crude Death Rate of 10.5%.

Religious Affiliation

The majority of residents of Samburu County are Catholic 176,566, followed by Protestants 54,349, and Traditionists 30,433.

Development

1. The Rural Access Index (RAI) in Samburu County was 11%, representing the share of the population living within two kilometers of an all-weather road in 2019.
2. Household access to electricity in Samburu County was 14.6% in 2019, up from 6.2% in 2009.
3. Household access to improved sanitation in Samburu County was 29.6% in 2019, up from 21.6% in 2009.
4. Household access to safe drinking water in Samburu County was 36.7% in 2019, up from 35.2% in 2009.
5. Samburu had 24.5% of its public primary schools connected to electricity, ranking 43^rd nationally in 2019.

The share of the population in Samburu County owning mobile phones in 2019 was 27.2%. Among women, 66.5% owned any type of mobile phone in Samburu County in 2022, while 20.4% owned a smartphone.

Among men, 83.5% in Samburu owned any kind of mobile phone in 2022, while 44.4% owned a smartphone. The percentage of men and women who had used a mobile phone for financial transactions in the year preceding the 2022 KDHS survey was 88.8% and 63%, respectively^.

See Also

1. Turkana County
2. West Pokot County
3. Baringo County 

References

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5. KNBS. (2023). 2023 Gross County Product: Measuring the economic evolution of counties (pp. 8-10).
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19. Commission on Revenue Allocation. (2022). Kenya County Factsheet (3rd ed., p. 120).