CONTRIBUTION OF OLDER PERSONS CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMME ON FOOD SECURITY OF THE ELDERLY IN WAJIR COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

The Fraction of Kenyan population accounted for the elderly (people of 65 years and above), is steadily on rise as per recent statistics. This fraction of the people vulnerable as their ability to contribute economically and socially to the community has been underpinned by their age. The situation is worse in marginalized areas of Kenya, where even productive population is vulnerable. There thus exists a need to come up with mechanisms that can cater for the needs of elderly and vulnerable. One such mechanism is the Older People Cash Transfer Program (OPCT), initiated and active in Kenya. Regrettably, given the challenge of catering for the elderly and vulnerable, there is very little research done on contribution of the OPCT program on the socio-economic empowerment. This thus necessitated need for this study, whose aim was to establish the contribution of the Older Persons Cash Transfer Program (OPCT) on food security among the elderly in Wajir County. The study used a cross-section survey design that targeted persons aged 65 and above in Wajir County.  The sample size was determined to be 363 participants from the constituencies of Wajir County.  Data was collected using a structured questionnaire and results were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. The results indicated that OPCT contributed to the food security of the elderly in Wajir County. However, the study also found that the amount disbursed was too little and thus unable to be used for some essential food security activities like subsistence farming and acquiring food storage facilities. The study recommended that the government should address this by increasing the amount disbursed to the elderly.