| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of youth empowerment programs
on national development in Vihiga County. The specific objectives of the study were: to
establish the influence of financial sustainability on national development in Vihiga County;
to assess the extent to which credit facilitation influences national development in Vihiga
County; to determine the extent market linkage influence national development in Vihiga
County and to establish the influence of capacity building on national development in Vihiga
County. Descriptive survey research design was used. The target population for this study
was 129,790 youths in Vihiga County. A sample size of 384 for the youth was considered
adequate. The study adopted purposive sampling technique so as to target a particular group,
in selecting respondents with rich cases for in depth analysis related to the central issues
being studied. Questionnaire was used as the research instruments. Data obtained was
analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively using SPSS. The questionnaire return rate was
84.90% which was considered reasonable enough for statistical generalizations. The study
found out that the respondents operate small scale business ventures mainly for maintenance.
Thus, such businesses earn only small profits which make it hard to realize business
expansion. They also experience limited growth in market share. Moreover, the businesses do
not get steady cash flow. Given that they operate in ever changing environment, they end up
spending more funds than planned for in the budget as supported by 82.2% of the
respondents. The study revealed that the respondents mainly form groups to operate joint
ventures (85.89%) due to the fact that they are funded by Uwezo funds which mainly work
with youth and women groups through table banking. The study found that Uwezo fund has
empowered the respondents to become more independent given that they can now afford
decent meals, pay rent, support their families and have some gainful employment. Most of
the businesses got more than 12,000 profits monthly as supported by 77.6%. However, when
the profit is distributed among members barely go beyond sh.1000. Only 3.1% of the
respondents got more than sh.7000. 88.6% of the respondents concurred that most businesses
are similar which resulted in stiff competition. The study also revealed that the staff shared
information on the registration of businesses, business training opportunities, and available
market opportunities including available tenders. Based on the findings, the study
recommends that the entrepreneurs in this county should scan the environment for other
business opportunities currently untapped. The grace period for the repayment of the Uwezo
Fund loan should be increased to allow the young entrepreneurs to establish their business
ventures. In addition, the government should help the young entrepreneurs expand their
markets by creating more market linkages. The study suggests that more research be carried
on the influence of management skills on the utilization of the Uwezo Fund and the impact of
Uwezo Fund on the social life of the young entrepreneurs. | en_US |
