Feature: Survival tactics of a single mother in Kenya

At the crack of dawn every day, Sarah Nasimiyu normally leaves her home in Kawangware, a shanty district on the west of Kenyan capital Nairobi, to scout for jobs in the neighboring middle-income homes.

Nasimiyu searches for any work but most of the time she is lucky to wash clothes for at least two different families at between 1.6 U.S. dollars and 2.7 dollars each, depending on the heap.

Once she is paid, the single mother of two, budgets, ensuring that the money caters for all her needs that include food, rent, clothing and paying for her babies stay at a day care center.

"The money caters for all my needs although I supplement it with income from other jobs, but I can say my three-year-old twins do not lack anything," she said on Tuesday.

Nasimiyu is among the poor Kenyans in the capital Nairobi and other towns who have learned how to live on about a dollar per day.

After getting her pay, the 34-year-old normally visits a market in the shanty district and buys groceries cheaply.

"I buy the cheapest tomatoes and onions: those that are about to go bad, which they sell at 0.01 dollars each. I just buy what I use for that day only, spending about 0.11 dollars," said Nasimiyu, who has grown some vegetables in sacks at home where she gets her supplies.

She then visits a posho mill where they sell maize flour from as low as 0.22 dollars. The mother normally buys 0.33 dollars worth of flour, which lasts her about two days.

"If I want to eat meat, I have two choices; I can buy chicken remains that go from 0.11 dollars each or mutura (roasted offals), " she said.

She also buys kerosene, charcoal and milk in small quantities that fit her budget. The milk, which is adulterated and she does not mind, according to Nasimiyu, goes for 0.11 dollars a cup.

"When I am tired of cooking in the evening, I just buy a mixture of beans and maize worth 0.43 dollars, which is enough for my family for supper and breakfast. This enables me to save time, cooking fuel and fat."

At the end of every week, she pays 3.2 dollars for the day care services, as she saves for rent, expenses that she has been able to meet comfortably.

"I ensure I pay for the day care because if I do not, I would not be able to leave home for work."

Her life mirrors those of many poor Kenyans, particularly in Nairobi, who have populated over 20 shanty districts in the capital.

"They certainly do not deserve such a life, but man has a way of devising his own schemes to survive. In this case, the poor have found survival tactics, which may not be good but have ensured they fend for themselves even on less than a dollar a day, " said economic lecturer Henry Wandera.

"They walk to work or hang behind vehicles for transport and look for grocery bargains in open air markets, among other things, which ensure they have a life," added Wandera.

Going by the crime incidences in Nairobi, Wandera noted that most poor people in Kenya are law abiding citizens.

"Nairobi has millions of poor people that if only about a quarter were engaging in crime, then we would not have a city. Crime rates are low because people have learned to live on less than a dollar a day," he said.

However, despite the survival tactics, high inflation remains the biggest enemy for the poor.

According to Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, while the high-income earners' inflation in Nairobi is at 1.74 percent, that of the poor and middle-income stands at 5.22 percent and 3.23 percent respectively. Endi