This country report is a contribution to the study of PRSP institutionalisation in eight African countries commissioned by the PRSP Process and Poverty Monitoring Task Teams of the Strategic Partnership with Africa (SPA). The study as a whole is concerned with the extent to which poverty-reduction policies, programmes, practices and monitoring systems are being institutionalised in those HIPC and non-HIPC countries in the region that have committed themselves to preparing PRSPs. Kenya is the single country in the set of eight where PRSP preparation is not linked to the conditions for Enhanced HIPC debt relief, but is a condition for access to new concessional lending from the IMF and the World Bank.

The Kenya country study was completed in two parts. An initial “scoping” mission took place in November 2000, at which point Kenya’s Interim PRSP had been endorsed and the process leading to the preparation of a full PRSP was just beginning. The work was completed with a second phase of teamwork by the consultants and further follow-up research starting in the second quarter of 2001. This covered the consultation processes and the culminating stages of full-PRSP preparation.