We study the poverty-economic growth nexus in Kenya using the Ravallion-Datt-Shapley
approach to decompose changes in poverty into growth and redistribution components; and link
institutional factors to poverty and inequality. Pro-poor growth indices and growth incidence
curves are used to assess whether economic growth between 1994 and 2006 was pro-poor. We
find that changes in mean income, rather than redistribution accounted for the largest variation in
poverty; and establish that economic growth in Kenya is not always accompanied by poverty
reduction. In particular, growth was pro-poor over 1997–2006 but less so over 1994–1997; and
there are instances where growth seems to have been pro-rich. Furthermore, we find that access
to fuel, water, and educational attainment have the largest positive impacts on levels and growth
in well-being and are key drivers of inequality. Institutional endowment as well as access to
institutional services has important implications for pro-poor growth in Kenya.