The Effectiveness of Government initiated Youth Entrepreneurship support in Busia County

Abstract

Entrepreneurship has gained increasing attention from governments and development actors across the world as an alternative source of employment and wealth creation for the youth. The Kenya government has for the last two decades invested in interventions aimed at enabling youth entrepreneurship in the economy. YEDF and AGPO are such interventions that enable youth entrepreneurs’ access to finance and government procurement opportunities respectively. The study assessed the effectiveness of government initiated Youth entrepreneurship interventions in Busia County. The objectives of the study were to determine the rural youth entrepreneurial profile; the level of access and utilization of YEDF and AGPO; establish barriers to the effective access and utilization of YEDF and AGPO and finally determine measures for enhancing effective access and utilization of YEDF and AGPO. The study population entailed YEDF beneficiaries in Busia County spanning the period between 2016- 2018. A multi-stage sampling that employed both probability and non-probability techniques was used to draw the appropriate sample for the study. The first stage of sampling employed purposive techniques in selecting the three (3) constituencies out of the seven (7) that constitute Busia County. Matayos, Funyula and Teso South were purposively selected to ensure regional and ethnic balancing in the study. Proportionate stratified sampling technique was then used to draw a sample size of 104 from a study population of 141 and thereafter convenience sampling was used to draw the sample for the study. The study findings indicate a low access and utilization of YEDF and AGPO initiatives in Busia County. Barriers were identified, the key one being the inadequacy of the initiatives models in addressing the specific entrepreneurial needs of the youth entrepreneurs within the rural contexts such as Busia County. Recommendations were made including the need for the government to review the youth entrepreneurship support models and align them to the specific entrepreneurial needs of the youth in different context for the maximum impact.