| dc.description.abstract | The existance of small scale industries has beome
an intergral part of urbanisation process both in ,
Kenya and other developing economies. Due to high
planning standards and prohibitive regulations plus
the nature of the industries, most of' these establishments
are located in areas of uncontrolled development and
markets. Available data suggests that this sector
will continue to grow as long as there is still rural to urban migration which does not correspond to employment opportunities in the modern sector.
At the same time, though the firms are small, their
capital output are high and labour-rations are low,
which provide better average Kenyan income than in
marginal agriculture and some formal sector
goods and services to the expanding low income
groups in such areas . Howevor, there has been
reluctance by the authorities to recognise and plan
for this sector and frequently some of them have been efficiently harrased.
This study is based on selected small-scale industries
in Kisumu's semi-urban areas of Nyalenda,Manyatta and
Kanyakwar aims at establishing the nature , size and
role of the firms in! the urban setting.The major
approach used was the standard universal enumeration
of the firms and wi th 25% sampling an interview was
conducted using questionnaire.
From previous data,government publications and the author's observation relevant government policies are examined from which a set of
recommendations are made.
In the study, the following conclusions were
recorded :--
1. That the sector plays an important role in
offering employment opportunities and as a
means of promoting industrial entreprneurship in
the indigenous people.
2. That some of the industries operate
efficiently and provide incomes torelably
well compared with employment in marginal
agriculture and some formal activities.
3. That the sector provides requlred goods
and services to the expanding urban population particularly the low income group.
4. That the industries exist in unsatisfactory
environment which require locational review land use zoning of towns.
5. That there is need for review of the
licensing system and building code to a
accommodate the inevitable industries in
the urban setting.
6:. There cannot be any single planning
strategy to solve the problems posed or
imposed by the sector but rather there is need coordinated planning to come up with an approach based on long-range planning. | en |
