National Council for Population and Development (NCPD) has urged stakeholders to plan for the youthful population in the country which constitutes 75.1 percent of Kenya’s population as per the 2019 Census.
During a stakeholders’ forum convened in Narok on Thursday by NCPD that drew all stakeholders from Government and non-governmental players in the field of population and development they discussed the socio demographic profile in Narok county.
The regional population coordinator in charge of the South Rift region, Janet Lunayo said the stakeholders discussed the indicators that need the attention of different players so that the population is well managed, that will realise population development in the country.
Lunayo said the size of the population in Narok county as per 2019 census is 1.2 million people, adding that the population is growing.
The Coordinator added that the nature of the population is a youthful population where most of the people are aged 34 years and below constituting 81.9 percent of the entire population in Narok County.
She said there is need to plan for the youthful population, but however, added that there is an implication of this population of which is a high dependency population that requires it to be well managed.
In Narok county, the dependency ratio is 105:100 which is high compared to the country’s dependency ratio of 75:100 and added this needs to come down.
“High dependency ratio means that we cannot be able to save to realise economic development,” Lunayo said.
Among other issues discussed is teenage pregnancy that Kenya stands at 15 percent of young women between the ages of 15-19 who are already mothers, whereby in Narok there is slight improvement as it stands at 28 percent down from 48 percent in 2022.
She urged all stakeholders to work around matters of teenage pregnancy, female genital mutilation (FGM), early marriages and protect these young girls from these issues so they can stay in school.
In addition, Lunayo said child malnutrition is another issue that needs to be addressed in the country as the statistics stand at 18 percent while in Narok county it stands at 22 percent.
“If children are too short as per their age, it is either they are not growing right and as they grow to adulthood they might not fully participate in the economic development, as such care for children aged two years and below is critical as they grow to adulthood,” Lunayo added.
Maternal mortality rate is another issue affecting Narok county where the statistics stands at 522 per 100,000 high compared to the recommended figure by World Health Organisation which is 71 per 100,000.
Lunayo said the contributing factors of these deaths include, issues of FGM, women facing difficulties during delivery, issues of early marriages, early pregnancies, women not delivering in health facilities among others.
By John Kaleke
