French Beans in Kenya
French beans provide a rich source of vitamins, fiber, proteins and minerals and is one of the major crops planted for export in Kenya. Kenya is a developing country in East Africa with an abundance of resources and vast plains (Mwangi, et al. 7).
Economic Challenges and Exporting Perishable Commodities
Since independence, the country has struggled to dominate economically due to lack of adequate capital to invest in major projects as disease and poverty are a huge problem for the government. In recent developments, the government has placed greater efforts in exporting perishable commodities such as French beans to transform the country into a competitive export-led and efficient domestic economy and in the process fostering internal trade and enhancing economic stability as an income earner and increasing employment opportunity for the youth in this region. The annual total earnings from vegetable exports in Kenya exceed Sh. 13 billion from which over Sh. 4 billion is accounted for by the French beans sales composing 29% of the total share (Mwangi, et al. 10). The prevalence of good growth conditions in the region have led the Kenyan French beans to be among the best and the most sought after worldwide. The region has enough rainfall, optimum temperatures and well drained soils rich in organic matter that ensure smooth growth to maturity attaining the highest market qualities.
Poverty and Wealth Gap in Kenya
Millions of people are still affected by poverty in Kenya despite an impressive economic growth since 2006. The wealth gap in the country has reached its extremities with less than 1% of the population being wealthier than 99% of the bottom population (Gịthịnji 88).
Income Distribution and Class Inequality
Income distribution is among a major cause of the wealth gap as the poorest earn 23 times lesser than the richest in the country. This issue has caused increased class inequality despite efforts to boost economic performance in the region. This is partly due to a huge proportion of the income generated being channeled to the minority wealthy individuals leaving the poorest to the mercies of the trickle down economic growth, which has increasingly held back women and youth economic empowerment due to unequal access to opportunities as economic policies create class inequalities. The impact on the education system as rife as the country has recorded the ninth highest number of primary school-aged children out-of-school worldwide. Ironically, since the early 2000s, the budgetary allocation to the education sector has continued to decline each year despite lack of adequate measures to curb poverty among the lowest of the social class (Gịthịnji 91). Families with higher incomes have the capacity to meet the demands of school education and provide a suitable environment that supports continued improvements all which are lacking among the poorest class in Kenya. Wealthy families have the resources to send their children to better schools and superior opportunities unlike families on the lower side of the income distribution graph. In addition, the character and attitude towards life installed on a child’s personality are greatly exerted by the family. The upbringing of the child helps facilitate the adjustment they require as they transition through school education. Children among poor families in Kenya end up as poor performers in school and in most cases abandon school to pursue material objects for which they perceive in the modern families. Such situations do not present themselves among the wealthy families and therefore widens the class gap every year.
Comparison with the US
The US on the other hand is the largest economy in the world and technologically the most powerful (Blau 13). This has allowed for income distribution among the population and consequently reduced gap between the social classes. Income distribution enables families to meet the nutritional status of their children, afford above average resources and schooling facilities, and generally improve the child's perception towards school and life in general a system which is lacking in Kenya. Unlike in the US, infrastructure development in most Kenyan schools is below average. The US economy has empowered the family background increasingly the probabilities of school enrolments and enabling children to attend the highest education levels in the country unlike Kenya where the huge percentage of the economy benefits a minority few (Blau 17). School systems in the US follow up on children performance and provide feedback to the parents and other institutions, a prospect which is lacking in Kenya. Corruption in Kenya has hampered a unified economic development leaving the rest of the population to rely on several primary commodities whose market prices have consistently remained low.
Responsibility of Developed Nations
When it comes to the issue of developed countries helping those that are developing, the point lies in the unequal distribution of resources and the essence of the developed nations to enhance uniformity in the underprivileged sectors of such economies (Mountjoy 10). In varied cases, certain situations that present themselves in developing nations are a result of the decisions and the programs that have been developed in the economically empowered nations. Such have resulted in hardships and injustice for which the developed nations have an obligation to help the upcoming economies in tackling the shortcomings. This, for example, raises the issue of historical responsibility of industrialized nations in causing global warming. The effects of global warming in developed nations may not be severe but they could be devastating for a country like Kenya which increasingly relies on agriculture and the climate for economic development. While the US may have contributed to a greater percentage of global warming than Kenya, it is Kenya that suffers more. Hence, the developed economies should focus on developing programs that will spur economic growth in other countries (Packenham 11). Such efforts include international trade and industries decentralization to reduce barriers for technological change.
Works Cited
Blau, Francine D. "Gender, inequality, and wages." OUP Catalogue (2016).
Gĩthĩnji, Mwangi. "Erasing Class/(Re) Creating Ethnicity: Jobs, Politics, Accumulation and Identity in Kenya." The Review of Black Political Economy 42.1-2 (2015): 87-110.
Mountjoy, Alan B. Industrialization and Underdeveloped Countries. Routledge, 2017.
Mwangi, Samuel C., Oliver Mbatia, and Jonathan Makau Nzuma. "Effects of Exchange Rate Volatility on French Beans Exports in Kenya." (2014).
Packenham, Robert A. Liberal America and the Third World: Political development ideas in foreign aid and social science. Princeton University Press, 2015.
World Bank Group. World development indicators 2014. World Bank Publications, 2014.
