IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jecomi/v13y2025i4p103-d1627935.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Access to Livelihood Assets and Vulnerability to Lower Levels of Well-Being in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Mary Nyambura Kinyanjui

    (African Economic Research Consortium, Nairobi P.O. Box 62882-00200, Kenya)

Abstract

This paper investigates the role that access to livelihood assets plays in reducing vulnerability to lower levels of well-being, especially for camp-based refugees. We develop the multidimensional vulnerability index using the 2019 Kakuma socioeconomic survey to provide a comprehensive and holistic approach to measuring vulnerability. The fractional regression results suggest that the household head’s age and education level determine the vulnerability of refugees to lower levels of well-being. In addition, access to finance and employment substantially reduces refugees’ vulnerability. Although remittances from abroad are a prevalent source of finance among refugees, we find that remittances from abroad only lessen the prevalence of vulnerability by 1.1%. Therefore, we recommend camp refugees adopt more self-reliant ways of accessing sustainable finance. The multidimensional vulnerability index reveals a high level of food insecurity in camps caused by the influx of refugees over the years. We recommend the inclusion of refugees in farming and training on climate change to provide sustainable solutions around food security to them and the host community.

Suggested Citation

  • Mary Nyambura Kinyanjui, 2025. "Access to Livelihood Assets and Vulnerability to Lower Levels of Well-Being in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya," Economies, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-21, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:13:y:2025:i:4:p:103-:d:1627935
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/4/103/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7099/13/4/103/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sabina Alkire & Maria Santos, 2013. "A Multidimensional Approach: Poverty Measurement & Beyond," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 112(2), pages 239-257, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jose Cuesta & Jon Jellema & Lucia Ferrone, 2022. "Correction to: Fiscal Policy, Multidimensional Poverty, and Equity in Uganda: A Child-Lens Analysis," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 571-572, February.
    2. Md. Hashibul Hassan & Lubna Jebin, 2018. "Comparative Capability of Migrant and Non-Migrant Households: Evidence from Rural Bangladesh," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 8(5), pages 618-640, May.
    3. Rachel Nishimwe-Niyimbanira, 2018. "Multidimensional Poverty among the Villages of the South African Former Homeland of Qwaqwa," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 8(3), pages 241-249.
    4. Giulia Greco, 2018. "Setting the Weights: The Women’s Capabilities Index for Malawi," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 457-478, January.
    5. Anh Thu Quang Pham & Pundarik Mukhopadhaya, 2022. "Multidimensionl Poverty and The Role of Social Capital in Poverty Alleviation Among Ethnic Groups in Rural Vietnam: A Multilevel Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 159(1), pages 281-317, January.
    6. Laura Valadez-Martínez & Matt Padley & María Fernanda Torres Penagos, 2018. "A Dignified Standard of Living in Mexico: Results of a Pilot Study of the Minimum Income Standard Approach," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 140(2), pages 695-714, November.
    7. Ranajit Ghosh & Prolay Mondal, 2024. "Unveiling the Complex Facets of Poverty: Unidimensional and Multidimensional Insights from Rural Areas of Suri Sadar Sub-Division, Birbhum District, Eastern India," Societies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-16, April.
    8. Tomson Ogwang & Jean-François Lamarche, 2024. "Hybrid measures of multidimensional poverty," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 67(3), pages 1211-1233, September.
    9. Sanjay K. Mohanty & Guru Vasishtha, 2021. "Contextualizing multidimensional poverty in urban India," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(3), pages 234-253, September.
    10. Mitchell, Paul Mark & Roberts, Tracy E. & Barton, Pelham M. & Coast, Joanna, 2015. "Assessing sufficient capability: A new approach to economic evaluation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 71-79.
    11. Hyesun Hwang & Su-Jung Nam, 2020. "Differences in Multidimensional Poverty According to Householders’ Gender and Age in South Korea," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 15(1), pages 147-165, March.
    12. Tommaso Agasisti & Sergio Longobardi & Vincenzo Prete & Felice Russo, 2018. "Multidimensional poverty measures for analysing educational poverty in European countries," Working papers 73, Società Italiana di Economia Pubblica.
    13. Amlaksetegn Zenebe Ede'o & Jibril Haji Ketebo & Badassa Wolteji Chala, 2020. "Feminization of multidimensional urban poverty in sub‐Saharan Africa: Evidence from selected countries," African Development Review, African Development Bank, vol. 32(4), pages 632-644, December.
    14. Dorota Weziak-Bialowolska, 2016. "Spatial Variation in EU Poverty with Respect to Health, Education and Living Standards," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 451-479, January.
    15. Alemayehu A. Ambel & Getachew Yirga Belete & Oliver Fiala, 2024. "Fiscal Policy and Child Poverty in Ethiopia," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 17(1), pages 221-259, February.
    16. Igor Barahona, 2018. "Poverty in Mexico: Its relationship to social and cultural indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(2), pages 599-627, January.
    17. Miraj Ahmed Bhuiyan & Zhihui Liu & Fanqiang Meng, 2023. "Multi-period Analysis and Household Registration Differences of Multidimensional Poverty Among Migrant Workers," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 671-696, September.
    18. Mateusz Piwowarski & Danuta Miłaszewicz & Małgorzata Łatuszyńska & Mariusz Borawski & Kesra Nermend, 2018. "Application of the Vector Measure Construction Method and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity Ideal Solution for the Analysis of the Dynamics of Changes in the Poverty Levels in the European ," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-24, August.
    19. Cecilia Rubio & María Clara Rubio & Elena Abraham, 2018. "Poverty Assessment in Degraded Rural Drylands in the Monte Desert, Argentina. An Evaluation Using GIS and Multi-criteria Decision Analysis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(2), pages 579-603, June.
    20. Carunia Mulya Firdausy & Dwi Andayani Budisetyowati, 2022. "Variables, Dimensions, and Indicators Important to Develop the Multidimensional Poverty Line Measurement in Indonesia," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 162(2), pages 763-802, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jecomi:v:13:y:2025:i:4:p:103-:d:1627935. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.