The topic of research was to determine the effects of poverty on secondary students’ academic performance in Mariani Ward Tharaka Nithi county. The basis of this study was to determine how poverty has affected the school performance in Tharaka Nithi county, Mariani ward. Poverty, which influences a certain culture and way of life, is progressively turning into a significant social issue in Kenya. Over time, there has been a rise in the number of Kenyans living in poverty. Poverty can be generally referred to, as the degree of deprivation experienced by an individual. For most people, poverty continues to hinder them from achieving their right to education. This study aimed to investigate how school academic performance in Mariani ward, Tharaka Nithi County, is affected by poverty. The goal of the study was to highlight the obstacles that poor children must fight in order to pursue education, which mostly causes them to drop out of school. The research questions were what effect does insufficient school resources have on the students’ academic performance? How has lack of food affected the academic performance of students in Mariani ward. Structured questionnaires, and document analysis were used to collect data. Some of the limitations of the study were lack of cooperation from the students and bad weather. The research study used a descriptive research design and simple random sampling technique. The target population of this research was 1000 students. This was achieved through frequent surveys done by the researcher. Some of the findings were; students that had sufficient school resources are able to perform better than those who lack these resources. The research also found out that students who come from humble backgrounds do not perform like those whose parents are employed. Finally, on the findings, the research proved that lack of food at home and in school has affected students’ academic performance in Mariani ward Tharaka nithi county. The research concluded that poverty has really been a problem in Mariani Ward and it has mostly affected the education sector. The research recommended that bursaries to be given to every student that is unable to pay the school fees, and also the government should provide the necessary school resources to smoothen the learning process of the students.