Influence Of Entrepreneurship Training Programmes On Performance Of Youth Enterprises In Murang’a Location, Muranga County, Kenya.

Abstract

While the number of entrepreneurship training programmes is growing, their effectiveness in changing the fortune of the participant in terms of improved enterprise performance is still under-researched. This study aimed at contributing to the understanding of the influence of entrepreneurship training on the performance of the youth enterprises in Murang’a Location in Murang’a County. The study identified four objectives namely: to establish the influence of curriculum on the performance of Youth enterprises in Murang’a Location, to assess the influence of training methodology on the performance of Youth enterprises: to establish the influence of capacity of trainers on the performance of the youth enterprises: determining the extent to which the capacity of trainers of entrepreneurship training programmes influence the performance of the youth enterprises and to establish the influence of training environment on the performance of the youth enterprises. The study used a descriptive survey research design. Stratified random sampling technique was used to draw a sample of size of 166 youth entrepreneurs from 293 trained. A purposive sampling method was used to pick two trainers one from each training programme. Data was collected by use of questionnaires and an interview schedule. Data obtained from the field was sorted, edited and organized using Statistical Package of Social Sciences and the results were presented using tables, percentages and a brief explanation. The results of the study showed that majority of the respondents had been trained on business and financial management. Majority of the respondents highly recommended the internships as the most preferred method of training. Most of the trainers were found to have professional background and were experienced in agricultural economics, agribusiness, community development and sociology. Most of the respondents rated the training venue as good. The study concluded that training had helped in increasing profitability to a moderate extent. Therefore the study recommended that resources should be provided to enable consistency in the training programmes to enhance the performance of the enterprises. It also recommended that the training curriculum should be developed, harmonized and installed online to enable the youth access the contents from the comfort of their businesses or wherever they are since it isn’t possible to train each and every youth out there. The Youth Enterprise Development Fund and Equity bank trainers should partner with Ministries of Higher education and Trade and Enterprise Development to be provided with trained personnel to reinforce their training capability. Further the study recommended that training should be done at the work place so that the trainees can relate their training with the performance of the enterprises. The findings of this study will be of benefit to the policy makers and designers of the training programmes as it will inform on the relevant content to include and how to deliver the content to achieve greater impact. The youth may use the report findings to lobby for effective and relevant entrepreneurship trainings. The empirical findings may be used by other researchers for further research.