Globally 2 billion people amounting to over 61% of the working population are in the informal sector of the economy, with 93 % of this informality being in the emerging and the developing Countries.

In Africa 85.8% of employment is within the informal sector. In Kenya roughly over 15 million individuals are employed in the informal sector translating to over 80% of the working population. Our agriculture sector has the highest levels of informality with 90% of employment being informal. The huge sector makes it a significant player in our country’s economic growth due to its capacity to create massive employment, generate and distribute incomes, reduction of poverty and supporting millions of livelihoods across the country.

An ILO report has shown that “the poor face higher rates of informal employment and that poverty rates are higher among workers in informal employment” and therefore poverty is both a cause and a consequence of informality. This fact necessitates an urgent need to tackle informality as envisioned in SDG 8 (Target 8.3) to enhance better livelihoods, this would be by ensuring decent working conditions are provided, financial exclusivity is realized and social protection for over 15 million Kenyans is guaranteed.