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Country

Science in Kenya

Kenya ranks #76 of 192 countries on research quality in 2022–2025 (#66 all time), with 29k research works and 12.2% of them in the world's top 10%.

World rank, 2022–2025
#76
of 192 · #66 all time
Works, 2022–2025
29k
▲ 90% vs 2013–17
Top-10% rate
12.2%
record average 16.5%
In the world top 100
0
0 in the top 1,000
Open access
70%
world 63%

What is Kenya strongest at in science?

On research quality in 2022–2025, Kenya ranks highest in Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#32 of 126), General Agricultural and Biological Sciences (#14 of 48) and Social Sciences (#74 of 151). Relative to its size it is most specialised in Safety Research, Business and International Management and Library and Information Sciences.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorks
Agricultural and Biological SciencesField #32 of 126 21.0%3,138 Institutions
General Agricultural and Biological SciencesSubfield #14 of 48 28.6%434
Social SciencesField #74 of 151 11.6%6,094 Institutions
Environmental ScienceField #62 of 125 14.4%2,048 Institutions
MedicineField #77 of 155 13.2%3,882 Institutions
Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and SystematicsSubfield #36 of 70 26.0%345
Arts and HumanitiesField #58 of 106 14.1%720 Institutions
Plant ScienceSubfield #54 of 92 20.1%968 Institutions
MathematicsField #51 of 82 10.9%352
Health ProfessionsField #68 of 108 13.2%1,140 Institutions
EducationSubfield #73 of 115 11.4%1,539 Institutions
General Health ProfessionsSubfield #55 of 86 15.1%743 Institutions

Where its research is concentrated

Location quotient: how much more — or less — of each node it does than its size predicts. Drawn around 1×, where “twice the world share” and “half of it” are the same distance apart in opposite directions. A volume reading, which on a country axis is largely population and industrial structure.

  1. Safety ResearchSubfield · 538.5 works6.6×
  2. Business and International ManagementSubfield · 202.3 works6.6×
  3. Library and Information SciencesSubfield · 30.0 works5.3×
  4. AccountingSubfield · 849.0 works4.7×
  5. Management Information SystemsSubfield · 508.3 works4.2×
  6. AnthropologySubfield · 339.5 works4.1×
  7. Applied PsychologySubfield · 170.1 works4.0×
  8. Strategy and ManagementSubfield · 975.8 works3.8×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

The whole field profile

All 26 fields at once. A specialist and a generalist produce the same ranked list and a completely different shape.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 2.25× its world share, 3,138 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 0.45× its world share, 705 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.04× its world share, 308 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 0.17× its world share, 79 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.56× its world share, 58 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.18× its world share, 19 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.23× its world share, 106 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.59× its world share, 1,341 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.27× its world share, 126 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.53× its world share, 143 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.33× its world share, 1,445 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 1.40× its world share, 2,048 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.23× its world share, 232 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 1.02× its world share, 352 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.14× its world share, 93 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.26× its world share, 38 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 1.47× its world share, 1,140 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.69× its world share, 3,882 worksMedicineNursing: 2.73× its world share, 393 worksNursingVeterinary: 1.00× its world share, 40 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.85× its world share, 720 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 3.49× its world share, 3,299 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 2.50× its world share, 710 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 2.80× its world share, 1,762 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.22× its world share, 1,088 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.64× its world share, 6,094 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Business, Management and Accounting, 3.5×. Every wedge is a field page.

Which keywords describe research in Kenya?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Poverty Reduction, Risk Management, Sustainability, Climate Change, Social Capital, Supply Chain Management, Development and Gender Equality.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this country's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Climate Change1,559▲ 1.97×119 topics
  2. Sustainability1,516▲ 2.1×117 topics
  3. Epidemiology1,301◆ 1.12×136 topics
  4. Globalization1,096▲ 1.90×138 topics
  5. Supply Chain Management992▲ 3.6×25 topics
  6. Risk Management906▲ 6.4×16 topics
  7. Poverty Reduction904▲ 23×5 topics
  8. Innovation878▲ 2.9×76 topics
  9. Social Capital832▲ 5.4×20 topics
  10. Economic Growth798▲ 3.2×31 topics
  11. Education791▲ 1.57×115 topics
  12. Sustainable Development784▲ 1.68×93 topics
  13. Corporate Governance712▲ 3.3×28 topics
  14. Leadership665▲ 4.8×32 topics
  15. Development654▲ 6.4×20 topics
  16. Economic Development604▲ 2.5×46 topics
  17. Gender Equality584▲ 7.2×18 topics
  18. Sustainable Agriculture540▲ 5.8×16 topics
  19. Gender Inequality532▲ 13×7 topics
  20. Smallholder Farmers506▲ 7.8×6 topics
  21. Social Networks503▲ 6.4×13 topics
  22. Adaptation488▲ 5.8×14 topics
  23. Rural Development483▲ 4.7×21 topics
  24. Community Health Workers478▲ 19×2 topics
  25. Maternal Mortality471▲ 7.2×5 topics
  26. Entrepreneurship469▲ 4.1×20 topics
  27. Social Protection438▲ 32×2 topics
  28. Primary Education438▲ 36×2 topics
  29. Conditional Cash Transfers437▲ 40×1 topic
  30. School Subsidies437▲ 40×1 topic
  31. Performance Measurement433▲ 5.2×7 topics
  32. Health Inequalities414▲ 12×5 topics
  33. Socio-economic Factors402▲ 12×3 topics
  34. Child Mortality398▲ 19×1 topic
  35. Health Systems398▲ 19×1 topic
  36. Finance375▲ 6.6×4 topics
  37. Empowerment344▲ 12×5 topics
  38. Poverty Alleviation336▲ 12×3 topics
  39. Financial Constraints335▲ 11×2 topics
  40. Financial Inclusion332▲ 23×1 topic

Which universities in Kenya lead research?

University of Nairobi, World Agroforestry Centre and Kenya Medical Research Institute rank highest in Kenya on research quality in 2022–2025.

0%20%40%mean 17.42%fractional works (log) →share in the world top 10% →University of Nairobi: 3,093, 12.0%World Agroforestry Centre: 203, 30.6%Kenya Medical Research Institute: 708, 24.1%Murang'a University of Technology: 244, 14.1%Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology: 2,399, 7.8%Kenyatta University: 2,863, 8.4%International Livestock Research Institute: 311, 33.9%Moi University: 1,154, 10.7%Egerton University: 807, 10.5%International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology: 317, 33.0%Kisii University: 571, 11.5%Technical University of Kenya: 394, 14.4%Aga Khan University Nairobi: 332, 20.7%Kirinyaga University: 125, 5.8%Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: 148, 23.8%World Agroforestry C…Kenya Medical Resear…Murang'a University …University of Nairobi
above the meannear itbelow it

One dot per institution in the list below. The upper left is the interesting corner.

  1. 1University of NairobiUniversity · Nairobi · #3,493 worldwide12.0% top 10% · 3.1k works
  2. 2World Agroforestry CentreNonprofit · Nairobi · #3,637 worldwide30.6% top 10% · 203 works
  3. 3Kenya Medical Research InstituteResearch facility · Nairobi · #3,899 worldwide24.1% top 10% · 708 works
  4. 4Murang'a University of TechnologyUniversity · Murang’a · #4,885 worldwide14.1% top 10% · 244 works
  5. 5Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and TechnologyUniversity · Nairobi · #5,163 worldwide7.8% top 10% · 2.4k works
  6. 6Kenyatta UniversityUniversity · Nairobi · #5,821 worldwide8.4% top 10% · 2.9k works
  7. 7International Livestock Research InstituteResearch facility · Nairobi · #6,131 worldwide33.9% top 10% · 311 works
  8. 8Moi UniversityUniversity · Eldoret · #7,583 worldwide10.7% top 10% · 1.2k works
  9. 9Egerton UniversityUniversity · Nakuru · #7,605 worldwide10.5% top 10% · 807 works
  10. 10International Centre of Insect Physiology and EcologyResearch facility · Nairobi · #7,662 worldwide33.0% top 10% · 317 works
  11. 11Kisii UniversityUniversity · Kisii · #9,005 worldwide11.5% top 10% · 571 works
  12. 12Technical University of KenyaUniversity · Nairobi · #9,223 worldwide14.4% top 10% · 394 works
  13. 13Aga Khan University NairobiUniversity · Nairobi · #9,332 worldwide20.7% top 10% · 332 works
  14. 14Kirinyaga UniversityUniversity · Kerugoya · #10,468 worldwide5.8% top 10% · 125 works
  15. 15Centers for Disease Control and PreventionGovernment institution · Nairobi · #10,581 worldwide23.8% top 10% · 148 works

The track on each row is its top-10% rate; the tick is the world’s rate in this record, 16.5% — teal above it, red below.

All ranked institutions in Kenya

Who are the top researchers in Kenya?

Charles R. Newton, Philip K. Thornton and Manasi Kumar rank highest among researchers based in Kenya.

  1. 1 Charles R. Newton · #226 worldwide 3.8k citations · 117 works
  2. 2 Philip K. Thornton · #5,087 worldwide 1.7k citations · 137 works
  3. 3 Manasi Kumar · #12,589 worldwide 2.8k citations · 44 works
  4. 4 Bekele Shiferaw · #12,812 worldwide 887 citations · 49 works
  5. 5 Samuel Kariuki · #14,232 worldwide 648 citations · 50 works
  6. 6 Mario Herrero · #14,397 worldwide 874 citations · 101 works
  7. 7 Kevin Marsh · #17,341 worldwide 446 citations · 81 works
  8. 8 Robert W. Snow · #18,319 worldwide 365 citations · 66 works
  9. 9 Thomas N. Williams · #18,937 worldwide 1k citations · 40 works
  10. 10 Menale Kassie · #23,461 worldwide 585 citations · 50 works
Top researchers in Kenya

Which cities in Kenya are research hubs?

  1. 1 Nairobi Kenya 69k works

How open and international is Kenya's research?

70% of its research is openly available (world: 40%), and 28% is written with international co-authors (world: 18%).

openly available69.8%not open30.2%

World: 63% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors28.3%domestic only71.7%

World: 22% is written across borders.

How has Kenya's research grown?

Output in 2018–2022 was 90% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Research fields in Kenya