This is the third and final seminar on ACEIR research on the impacts of fiscal policy on both inequality and poverty by applying an analytical framework developed by the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Institute, Tulane University.

The seminar this time focuses on Kenya’s fiscal incidence analysis that used the CEQ approach and extended the analysis to gender and children. ACEIR’s Kenya team collaborated on this study with the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA), the World Bank, and UNICEF.

ACEIR’s Prof. Damiano K. Manda and Dr James B. Ochieng from UNICEF Kenya will present key highlights of the report completed in 2025, Poverty and Distributional Impacts of Fiscal Policy in Kenya: A Commitment to Equity Assessment with Extensions to Gender and Children. The analysis in the report is based on the Kenya Continuous Household Survey (KCHS) of 2022 complemented with administrative data.

The first set of Kenya fiscal incidence studies using the CEQ approach was conducted in 2020 by the ACEIR Kenya node at the University of Nairobi in partnership with the KNBS and the CEQ Institute.

The seminar, which can be attended online or in person, is part of the weekly seminar series of the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.

About the presenters

Damiano Kulundu Manda is head of ACEIR’s research node in Kenya and an Associate Professor at the Department of Economics and Development Studies, University of Nairobi. He previously managed the Research Programme of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and was head of the Social Sector Division at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA). He obtained his PhD in Economics at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and his field of expertise includes labour markets, poverty and inequality, and development economics.

James Babu Ochieng is a Social Policy Officer with UNICEF Kenya where he contributes to analytical work on macro-fiscal policy, social protection, and public finance for children, with a focus on strengthening evidence-based policymaking and improving development outcomes (for children). Prior to joining UNICEF, James worked at the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) as a Researcher and Policy Analyst in the Macroeconomics Department. His work spans macroeconomic performance analysis, fiscal policy, and development finance. James holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Nairobi under the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) Collaborative PhD Programme, a Master’s degree in Economics and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Economics from Egerton University.