Busia County
Base | |
|---|---|
| Busia County | |
Location in Kenya | |
| Country | Kenya |
| Formed | 4 March 2013 |
| Capital and largest town | Busia, Kenya |
| Government | |
| • Type | devolved government |
| • Governor | Paul Otuoma |
| • Member of Kenyan senate | Okiya Omutatah |
| • County commissioner | Jacob Narengo |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,628.4 km2 (628.7 sq mi) |
| Population (2019) | |
• Total | 893,681 |
| • Density | 550/km2 (1,400/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Busian |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
| Website | busiacounty.go.ke |
Busia is a county in the former Western Province of Kenya. It is located directly east of the border town of Busia, Uganda, and borders Lake Victoria to the southwest, Siaya County to the southeast, and Bungoma County and Kakamega County to the east. The county is composed of six sub-counties, and had a population of 893,681 as of the most recent census in 2019.
Beginning in 1994, Busia became an epicenter of economic research as the location of one of the first successful randomized controlled trials in development economics, evaluating the efficacy of a school-based deworming program in improving health and educational outcomes. The research inspired the Deworm the World Initiative, which since 2014 has provided 1.8 billion deworming treatments to children around the world. Dean Karlan, chief economist of the United States Agency for International Development, has described Busia as the "birthplace for this [the RCT] movement", with more than 27 experiments ongoing as of 2024.