Kakamega is a town in western Kenya lying about 30 km north of the equator. With a population of 80,000 Kakamega is the 10th largest town/city in Kenya. It is located 55 km northeast of Kisumu, the third largest city in Kenya and a port city on Lake Victoria.
Kakamega is Kenya’s second most populous county after Nairobi. The county has 9 constituencies in total namely Butere, Mumias, Matungu, Khwisero, Shinyalu, Lurambi, Ikolomani, Lugari and Malava.
Local inhabitants are mostly the Luyha tribe, whose economic activity is mainly farming and fishing. They are almost all subsistence farmers, with a sprinkling of small-scale business initiatives like kiosks (storefronts), cereal (grain) vending, and sewing businesses. The major cash crops are sugar cane and corn. Lack of knowledge of sustainable and organic farming methods (crop rotation and soil conservation) reduces crop yield.
The biggest problems that are not addressed in the community are lack of health care, clean water, adequate roads, education services and support for orphans. Acute poverty is pervasive in this rural area of Kenya. The majority of both men and women live on between 10 and 50 Kenya Shillings a day, the equivalent of between 11 and 55 cents. Just over a third of the women have either five or six children in their family of origin. A handful complete college and many do not complete primary school. Two-thirds of those beginning primary school will not complete the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). A large majority of the women (80 percent) collect “fuel wood” from the forest on a daily basis. Sustaining the family is still the major concern of the residents.
Kakamega serves as the headquarters of Kenya’s largest sugar producing firm, Mumias Sugar, located in the village of Mumias. Kakamega was the scene of the scene of the Kakamega gold rush in the early 1930s. After discovering gold in the Kakamega Forest, the British evicted the indigenous people from the forest and they resettled first toward the west, then the south and eventually all around on the edge of the forest, forming what is now Kakamega. In recent years mining conglomerates from North America and Europe are re-exploring the area.
Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) was established in 2006. Located in the heart of Kakamega town on the Kakamega-Webuye road, its student population of 5,000 creates a unique center for higher learning.
The Crying Stone of Maragoli located along the highway towards Kisumu is a 40 metres high rock dome resembling a human figure whose “eyes” drop water. The myths surrounding this stone has contributed to the local tourist industry.
The Kakamega National Reserve is the main tourist destination in the area. The Kakamega Forest is Kenya’s only remaining patch of the Guineo-Congolian rainforest, an equatorial rainforest that once spanned West and Central Africa. It is a 36 km2 reserve, situated at the north end of the Kakamega Forest. At an elevation of about 1560 meters, it borders the northeastern edge of the Lake Victoria basin.
The Kakamega Forest is very wet, with an average of 2.08 meters of rain per year. Rainfall is heaviest in April and May (“long rains”), with a slightly drier June and a second peak roughly in August to September (“short rains”). January and February are the driest months. Temperature is fairly constant throughout the year, with mean daily minimums of about 11 C and mean daily maximums of about 26 C.
Along its eastern edge rises the partially forested Nandi Escarpment which runs along the western edge of the Rift Valley. The Kakamega Forest is the only rainforest in Kenya. The Forest and Reserve are world renowned for their biodiversity of bird and butterfly life, and are a popular destination for tourists and scientists. More than 400 species of birds have been found in the Kakamega rainforest. Kakamega is also home to Africa’s largest and most aggressive cobra, the Kakamega Forest cobra. Now considered a forest island, the Kakamega Forest originally covered all the area around Kakamega.
