Administration, Public Service and E-government

Administrative and subdivision
The county has 5 administrative Sub-Counties (Districts) and 11 Divisions.  Nandi County has a total of 99 locations and 299 sub-locations.

Its absolute opportunity to serve the public and  ensure H.E Governors Stephen Sang Agenda  for transformation is achieved, through proper Management and  Coordination. As the Chief Officer for Public Service, I am honoured to be building on our County’s commitment to deliver core value. I am also pleased to lead a department that is firmly dedicated to support and honour the staff welfare of this great County.

Together with the stakeholders, we are committed to transform the department, to Enhance and simplify the existing complex procedures by introducing new technologies in all county operations so as to have timely access of information and swift service delivery the people of Nandi County deserve.

Agriculture and Corporative Development

Main Crops produced
The main food crops produced in the region are maize, beans, Finger millet, Sorghum, Sweet potatoes and cassava which cover a total of 105, 087 Ha. The main cash crops are tea, coffee and sugar cane.
Acreage under Food and Cash crops.
The main food crops cover a total of 105, 087 Ha. The main cash crops under smallholder production cover a total of 28,294 Ha.

Apiculture (Bee keeping)
Bee-keeping is a low input-high income enterprise in the county. There are about 23,740 hives, 56% are log hives, while the rest are improved hives –longstroth and Kenya Top Bar Hive (KTBH). Current productivity is 8Kg/hive/year and 15 Kg/hive per year, for log hives and longstroth/KTBH, respectively. This is half the potential in the county. The total honey production is 296,564 Kgs worth Ksh. 35.6 million annually. The main challenges facing the enterprise include mismanagement of hives, lack of access to improved hives and markets for honey and its products.

Agricultural Extension, Training, Research and Information Services.
The County’s extension services are currently being provided to Ward level by 224 extension staff in-post. There are approximately 143,000 farming households requiring extension services. This gives a ratio of 1: 638 which is grossly inadequate compared to Extension staff to Farmer ratio of 1:400 as recommended by Food and Agricultural Organisations (FAO). There is need to attain the optimum establishment calculates of 358 extension staff to provide efficient extension services up to village level.

Main Livestock Breeds and Facilities.
Dairy and beef cattle are the main livestock bred in the county. Other livestock types are poultry, goats, sheep, pigs and bees. Livestock production and population projected from the KNBS 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census and a Livestock Survey and subsequently survey conducted by the County’s Livestock Production Directorate in 2011.

Tourism, Culture and Social Welfare

Main tourist attractions and activities
The main National Reserve in Nandi County is the Bonjoge National Reserve in Nandi South Sub-County. There are plans to upgrade its status into a National Park so as to attract more funds for conservation and reclamation. The other attraction sites in Aldai Sub County are the Nandi Rock and the South Nandi Forest. The South Nandi forest requires huge investment in conservation and maintenance to turn it into a tourist attraction with huge benefits to the county. This could be done by encouraging eco- tourism which earns revenue and ensures that the forest resource is conserved.

Main wildlife
Nandi County has a variety of wildlife species found in the Bonjoge game Reserve, Kingwal swamp and the South and Nandi forests. The main wildlife species found in the bonjoge Game reserve include baboons, velvet monkeys, gazelles and dik dik. Sitatunga is a rare brown antelope found in the attractive Kingwal wetland and is a rare animal that can be of great attraction to both domestic and international tourists. Further, the county hosts the cerval cat species found across the county and over 247 recorded bird species including the black and white casqued Hornbill, Great comorant, African darter, Hamerkop, sacred ibis, Glosy ibis, Egyptian goose, African Goshwalk, Tawny eagle, helmeted Guineafowl, ross turaco, African wood owl, Speckled mousebird, African Paradise fly catcher and the silver bird mainly found in the Nandi South and Nandi north forests, caves and escarpments.

Museums, Heritage and Cultural sites
Nandi County is rich in cultural heritage which needs to be developed, promoted and, preserved for social and economic gains. Infrastructure such as museums, art and cultural centres, multimedia media and recording studio need to be developed to aid the county in harnessing its cultural heritage. There is one major museum in county that is Koitalel Samoei which is ran and managed by the National museums of Kenya. The National Government has set aside some money for construction of a new modern museum in Koitalel Samoei University. There are also numerous cultural sites, monuments and shrines across the county and are in private hands /lands. However there is an urgent need to capture and profile them for the purpose of protection. Despite the vast and rich cultural heritage in Nandi, little research has been conducted. The residents rely on information captured by Europeans who encountered purely indigenous culture during the onset of colonialism. Some native scholars have tried to document various elements of culture but more still needs to be done. Cultural artefacts, which are the relics of the past have not been collected and documented and are at a risk of decaying due to natural attrition. Some of it have been traced in British and American museums.

Education, Research and Vocational Training

Pre- School Education (Early Childhood Development Education)
The County has a total of 2,462 ECDE centres with 79 percent of them being publicly owned. Mosop Sub-county has the highest number of privately owned ECDE schools (85) followed by Emgwen (68). The total enrolment in ECD is 42,470 which represent a Gross Enrolment Rate (GER), of 32%. The ECDE sub-sector employs a total of 2,035 teachers with 96% being female. The teacher: pupil ratio is 1:29; and the drop-out rate being 9.84%. Owing to the high number of pupils ready to join pre-primary, the county Government of Nandi is currently constructing 60 ECDE Centres and will build in the 2018/2019 financial year.

Primary Education
The County has a total of 832 primary schools with 651 being publicly owned as reflected in Table 20. The total enrolment in primary schools is 251,730 with boys and girls’ enrolments being almost equal (only a difference of 415). A total of 7,851 teachers were employed in 2017, giving a teacher: pupil ratio of 1.32. The average drop-out rate is 4.73%; although it is higher at 5.08 percent in public schools. A significant proportion of primary schools in the County are mud-walled; a situation that needs to be addressed under the plan period.

Non formal Education – Information needed
Non formal education is any organized system of learning outside the formal education system. It addresses the learning needs of groups of the population who may be children or adults. Some of the non-formal schools receive government grants in form of teachers, textbooks, and school feeding programmes. However, in Nandi county, such schools need to be revived as they sector have been neglected.

Technical, Vocational Education and Training

Nandi County has 15 registered polytechnics/Vocational Training Centres offering Vocational Education and Training (VET) namely Kaplamai, Sigilai, Kurgung Tangaratwet, Sirwa Yala,Kaptel, School for Deaf, Serem, St. Augustine Kipsebwo, Meteitei, Cheptarit, Mugen, Chepsire, Chemundu, and Poto Poto. Establishment of additional vocational training centres is a vital strategy to equip our youths with the necessary skills for improved economic productivity. Establishment of vocational training centres with specialized corses will be priority in a bid to align vocational training with the needs of the industry.

Secondary Education
As at December 2017, there were only 8 privately owned secondary schools, and five of these were located in Nandi Central Sub-county. Nandi South and Tinderet Sub- counties had none. Enrolment in the secondary subsector is too low at 37,845 or 60% GER.

Tertiary Education
Nandi County has 19 colleges offering tertiary education. Efforts to establish a public university in the county has borne fruits with the establishment of Koitalel University College with a main campus in Nandi hills. The University is an affiliate of Nairobi University and it is expected to be fully operational by 2022. There is one private university in the county, named; University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. Other university colleges operating within the county are the Kisii University and Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology.

Transport and Infrastructure

Roads and Transport subsector:

The sub-sector is responsible for road infrastructure development and maintenance, road traffic regulation and safety, industry development as well as road engineering and related standards.

Directorate of Public works:

The public Works Directorate facilitates provision and maintenance of buildings and other public works within the County. It also oversees development of designs for public buildings, preparation of bill of quantities for building projects and other public works. The Directorate provides project and contract management services to public building projects.

Lands, Environment, and Natural Resources

Land is the most important factor of production, besides labour and capital in Kenya. It is not only a critical resource, but also the foundation of economic development for the country. Land use refers to the activities to which land is subjected to and is often determined by; economic returns, socio-cultural practices, ecological zones and public policies. The major land types in Nandi are forests, woodlots, wetlands, rivers, open grasslands with vegetation, the Nandi escarpment, valleys and hills, tea plantations and the Kapsabet plateau. These are used for agriculture, water catchments, nature reserves, urban and rural settlements, industry, mining, infrastructure, tourism, recreation. Other uses include cultural sites, fishing, forestry, energy. A larger population in the county derives their livelihoods from land based activities.

Settlement Patterns
Rural settlements are generally characterized by a dispersed pattern of homesteads and low population density while urban settlements are compact and densely populated. The rural population mostly depends on the natural environment for their livelihood through primary production in agriculture and livestock keeping among others while the urban dwellers are primarily dependent on manufacturing industry and services sector.
Rural areas are characterized by poor social and physical infrastructure which includes roads, education, health and recreation facilities while the as opposed to urban areas. Majority of urban dwellers are low-income earners hence face enormous challenges in terms of lack of secure land tenure system, housing, water and sanitation. This shortfall in housing results in proliferation of squatters and informal settlements.

Health and Sanitation

Health workforce:
The department has 7 consultants (medical specialist), 22 medical officers,4 Dentist, 490 nursing officers, 116 public health officers, 10 pharmacists among many other employees in different units. These numbers are not adequate to achieve the WHO recommended staff: patient ratio. To achieve this, the county government plans to employ additional staff to bridge the existing gaps in human resource for health. Health facilities and their distribution per sub-county.
The health facilities in the county are distributed widely. However, the WHO recommended distance to health facility has not been achieved. the breakdown of health facilities and their distribution across the sub counties. To improve the average distance to a health facility from the current 7 km to less than 5 km, the county government plans to construct additional health facilities and operationalize those that have stalled within the next 5 years.

Sanitation
Sewerage coverage within the county is very low. Only Kapsabet town has a functioning sewer system which is inadequate to cater for the needs of the entire town population. The facility is dilapidated hence it needs to be upgraded. Other upcoming urban areas like Nandi Hills, Mosoriot, Kabiyet, kobujoi and Baraton lack sewer facilities. The rural population often depend on pit latrines often constructed with wood and iron sheets.

Finance and Economic Planning

The Finance and Economic Planning sector is charged with the responsibility of ensuring prudent financial management of county resources through enforcement of existing laws and regulations, formulating and reviewing fiscal economic policies to facilitate socio – economic development, resource mobilization, control of public financial resources, Budget coordination & control and tracking implementation of county development programs.

Subsector Composition
The sector comprises the following sections: Revenue; Financial reporting and accounting; Supply Chain Management; Internal Audit; Economic Planning; Budget and Monitoring & Evaluation.

Trade, Investment, and Industrialization

There are 223 trading centres under the jurisdiction of County of Nandi, 34 under the Urban Council of Kapsabet and 12 under the Urban Council of Nandi Hills.

Industrial parks
There are no industrial parks in the County. However, the county government through the department of Trade, investment and Industrialization in partnership with EPZA is setting up an industrial park in Chemase. There also exist Jua Kali shed that are operational in the two major towns i.e. Nandi Hills and Kapsabet. The intention of setting up the industrial park is to create employment, improve agro processing and value addition to the locally produced agricultural products and improve the general economy of the county’s residents.

Major industries
There are 15 major tea factories in the County, and a number of cottage industries are coming up. They include timber lumbering, coffee, milk, honey value addition and other agro processing cottage enterprises. The county government is in the process of setting up an EPZ zone in Chemase. There is also a coffee factory coming up in Mlango in Chesumei Sub County. Several milk cooling plants exist throughout the county and a major cooling plant belonging to Kenya Cooperative creameries is located in Namgoi Emgwen Sub County. Various collection points for sugar factories exist within the county. A textile apparel unit is being set up through the department of Trade, Investment and Industrialization.

Sports, Youth Affairs and Arts

Talent Academies
The county is currently constructing one modern training camp based in Kapsabet town. There are 12 training camps which are privately owned with residential and facilities for local and international athletes. Nandi County prides itself as a source of champions due to its prowess in producing world record beaters. Because of its hilly topography and high altitude, which is conducive for training, the county attracts a huge number of national and international athletes. Nandi hills, Kapsabet and Mosoriot towns are the major hosts for athlete trainees. Because of long and outstanding performance in athletics, the county needs to put more emphasis in this sector. Volleyball is also proving to be another discipline that is attracting a lot of interest. This is exhibited by the high number of players from Nandi County participating in club.

Sports facilities
The County has three stadia which are currently under Construction nmely; Kipchoge Keino, Nandi Hills and Kaptumo. Also, there are other ten standard community fields at ward level which are being upgraded so as to promote sports activities within the county. This requires more investments to tap more talents within the county. Other facilities include basketball and lawn tennis courts, which are found in schools participating in the respective sports.

Museums, Heritage and Cultural sites
Nandi County is rich in cultural heritage which needs to be developed, promoted and, preserved for social and economic gains. Infrastructure such as museums, art and cultural centres, multimedia media and recording studio need to be developed to aid the county in harnessing its cultural heritage. There is one major museum in county that is Koitalel Samoei which is ran and managed by the National museums of Kenya. The National Government has set aside some money for construction of a new modern museum in Koitalel Samoei University. There are also numerous cultural sites, monuments and shrines across the county and are in private hands /lands. However there is an urgent need to capture and profile them for the purpose of protection.