Marsabit County is located in the former Eastern province of Kenya and covers an area of 70,961.3 Km2. It borders Isiolo County to the South West, Samburu County to the South, Lake Turkana to the West, Ethiopia to the North and Wajir County to the North West. The County consists of four sub-counties; Laisamis, North Horr, Marsabit Central, and Moyale. Although ranked as the largest county in the country, it has an estimated population of 341,091 from an estimated 65,906 households. The county remains amongst the counties with the highest poverty index in the in Kenya and is ranked position 44 out of 47 counties with a poverty index rate of 83.2%. The county has three major livelihoods; Pastoral with 81%, agro-pastoral with about 16% and Business population at around Marsabit and Moyale towns. Other minor livelihood Zones at 3% include formal employment and fisher folk along Lake Turkana.
The County experiences poor health and nutrition outcomes which are mainly related to house hold food insecurity as a result of recurrent drought. This Integrated SMART survey was conducted to establish the current nutrition status in the Marsabit County.
