Busia, Kenya

Busia is the western Kenya town in Piles of cash and a town of solutions in Kenya, Nigeria (Summer School) where Planet Money locates a key chapter in modern Development Economics. The episode describes it as a place where Michael Kremer and later economists used Randomized Controlled Trials to test education, health, and poverty interventions.

Busia’s importance is not only academic. The source follows Carol Nkesa from survey-data work into research leadership, making the town a case in how local staff can become institutional builders rather than only data collectors for visiting economists.

Connections

• Kenya - country context.
• Michael Kremer, Carol Nkesa, Ted Miguel, and Pascaline Dupas - people tied to Busia studies.
• Remedial Education Targeting, Deworming as Human Capital Investment, and Development Research Ethics - source concepts grounded in Busia.