Map 14b overlays the relative wealth of Kenya’s districts and the average district-level percentage of total household income coming from livestock production for households falling below the poverty line (households without enough income to meet their basic needs), and those that lie above it (those with sufficient income to meet household basic needs). While district averages hide a great deal of variability, this map and those following show interesting relationships, some of which do not support the conventional wisdom (district names are shown in Map 14a).
     Map 14b shows that livestock are an important source of income for households in every district of Kenya; in many districts, livestock contribute substantially to total household income (in 40% of Kenya’s districts, income from livestock contributes more than one-quarter of the total income). The contribution livestock make to total household income is as important, or more important, to households falling below the poverty line as it is to those above it in 78% of the districts. In general, in the arid pastoral districts, livestock contribute significantly more to total household income for poorer households than for those with household income levels that place them above the poverty line.
     Map 14c shows the average number of cattle owned per household by district, and by households above and below the poverty line. In most districts, the average number of cattle is the same for both categories of household, evidence that rebuts the argument sometimes made that it is only the wealthiest households that can afford to own cattle. In the northern arid pastoral zones, households below the poverty line have the same number or more cattle than the households above the poverty line, except in Garissa District where the opposite holds. In Maasailand (Kajiado, Narok and Trans-Mara Districts), households above the poverty line have more cattle than those below it.
     Map 14d shows the mean numbers of goats, sheep and pigs owned per household by district, and by households categorised above and below the poverty line. Similarly to cattle, in the majority of Kenyan districts, the number of smallstock owned by households below the poverty line is equal to the size of sheep and goat herds of the households above the poverty line. In Kajiado and Narok Districts (Maasailand), households above the poverty line have substantially larger sheep and goat herds than those with insufficient income to meet their basic needs. However, in the northern arid pastoral districts, households with income levels below the poverty threshold have more sheep and goats.
     Average landholdings per household by district and by households above and below the poverty line are shown in Map 14e. Although it might be expected that households earning sufficient income to put them above the poverty threshold would typically own or operate more land than the poor, in almost half of Kenya’s districts the opposite is true—‘poorer’ households own or operate more land than ‘less-poor’ households. This is particularly true in the poorest districts; in 43% of these, households below the poverty line own or operate more land than households above the poverty line. This is a somewhat counter-intuitive result, but could arise in districts where there are many households only slightly above the poverty line and relatively few wealthy households (that may have much larger landholdings). There are other possible explanations: there may be errors in the data or the ways of reporting on communally owned and privately owned land may not have been consistent (this may differ from district to district). It may be that the poor have more land, but the land is marginal (greater quantity, lower quality). Alternatively, it may be that the households above the poverty line are simply less involved in agriculture. Whatever the reasons, the results of both the second and third welfare monitoring surveys (WMS II and III) show that, nationally, there is no difference between households above and below the poverty line with respect to the size of land managed (Kenya Government, 1998; 2000). Further analysis with higher-resolution poverty data are needed to help explain this result.
     Map 14f shows annual per capita milk production across Kenya’s districts. The poorest districts generally correspond to those with the lowest milk production per person (and this includes milk produced for sale and for home consumption). The central highlands (least-poor) districts show relatively consistent annual milk production levels, ranging between 100 and 200 kg person^-1, with the exception of Nyandarua, which shows a much higher productivity of 515 kg person^-1. In terms of looking towards dairying to boost income levels for the poor, there appears to be much potential. In western Kenya, for example, there are striking contrasts in milk output between districts with the same production systems, for example Nandi District which produces more than 10 times as much (497 kg person^-1) as the neighbouring districts of Kakamega, Kisumu and Vihiga (27–38 kg person^-1). A comparison of milk output between households above and below the poverty line would help to shed some light on this striking contrast, but the milk production data shown in Map14f come from a source other than the WMS surveys.

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