Isiolo County is at the heart of Kenya, a crucial and strategic gateway between Northern and Southern Kenya. Isiolo’s strategic position in Kenya has made it irresistible and attractive to local and international investors
As a result, the country is poised to become an economic giant, an industrial hub, and an international trading center. The County boasts abundant land, tourist attraction sites, and minerals, the major economic resources. Livestock production remains the biggest economic activity with approximately 80% of the population relying on it. The remaining 20% rely on agro-pastoral, trade, and casual laboring activities.
The County has its fair share of natural wealth such as the three-national game reserves namely; Shaba, Buffalo Springs, and Bisanadi. . The population consists largely of Cushitic Communities (Oromo-speaking Borana and Sakuye), Turkana, Samburu, Meru, Somali, and other immigrant communities from other parts of the country. The Isiolo urban population will increase once the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) Corridor project is complete.
The County is a member of Frontier County Development Council (FCDC), a regional economic bloc composed of the County governments of Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Marsabit, Isiolo, Turkana, Samburu and West Pokot.
Location and Size.
Isiolo County borders Marsabit County to the North, Samburu, and Laikipia Counties to the West, Garissa County to the South East, Wajir County to the North East, Tana River, and Kitui Counties to the South, and Meru and Tharaka Nithi Counties to the South West. It covers an area of 25,605 km2.
Climatic Conditions
Isiolo County is generally an arid and semi-arid area with low-lying plains in most parts of the region. Non-arable land covers 80% (22,000 km2) and is used for grazing while agro-pastoralism is practiced in a few areas. The County has three agroecological zones (AEZs): semi-arid (5% of the total land in the County), arid (30%), and very arid (65%). The short rain season occurs between October and December with a peak in November while the long rain occurs between March and May with a peak in April.
Demographic Features
Population Size, Composition, and Distribution
According to the 2019 Population and Housing Census, Isiolo County recorded a total population of 268,002 with a population density of 11people/Km2. The county average Growth rate between 2009 and 2019 -2.8%, Higher than national rate of 2.2%. The high growth rate is attribute to: in-migration, increasing fertility rates, low mortality rates, and higher life expectancy. 43% of the population resides in rural areas.
The projected growth by 2027 -345,871, as a result of a ripple effect of national projects such as the LAPSSET corridor subsidiary projects, the Resort City, and the upgrading of Isiolo Airport to an International Airport.
Population with disability.
The most common type of persons with disability in the county are visual and mobility; whereas the least common is communicating. The disaggregated disability data is essential for differential planning for specific disability groups and ages.
Education
The county has 240 ECD centers (165 public, 75 private), 156 primary schools, 38 secondary schools 5 vocational training centers. The teacher-pupil ratio in public ECDE schools is 1:55, which is higher than the required ECDE norm of 1:25. In secondary school, the actual county enrolment of 17% is very low due to lack of enough schools and the majority of parents prefer schools from other counties because they post better results. However, still, a great number of students have to walk/travel for 5 km and above to reach the nearest secondary school.
Vocational enrolments are still low for example, enrolment at County technical facilities is 352 (2022). This means fewer youth acquire technical skills within the County. There instructor-student ratio stand at 1:59.
Health.
The health sector envisions providing quality, accessible, affordable health services to all residents of Isiolo County. The department made notable strides in organizing health service delivery through the expansion of services from 42 health facilities in 2018/19 to 49 in 2020/21, thus 17% increase to improve health services across the County. The county established a fully equipped ICU for COVID-19 with specialized health personnel and Installed of oxygen plant in Isiolo and Garbatulla hospitals.
The County invested in human resources for health effectively by increasing the total number of human resources for health from 439 in 2018 to 660 in 2022. The ratio of doctors to population increased from 1.1/10,000 to 1.3/10,000 population. The core health worker’s density per 10,000 populations has improved from 8.8 in 2018 to 9.6.
Source KNBS-2019, CIDP 2023-2027.