Assessing People’s Perceptions of Youth Enterprise Development Fund in Employment Creation towards Poverty Reduction in Meru, Kenya
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Date
2018-05
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International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science
Abstract
Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) is a national government program in Kenya
providing financial services to unemployed youth to facilitate them initiate income generating
business activities. Majority of unemployed youths are vulnerable to poverty characterized by
lack of basic needs in life, and they do not have assets to serve as collateral in accessing
bank loans. Therefore, the YEDF offers soft loans to enable them initiate business enterprises
for employment creation and poverty reduction. The targeted youth groups are trained on
entrepreneurship skills before being given the money. However, the rates of unemployment
and poverty levels among youths continue to be high, indicating gaps in YEDF program. The
objectives of the study were to; assess the role of YEDF in offering business start-up capital,
study the role of YEDF in employment creation, and assess the efficacy of YEDF in poverty
reduction. Literature on the functional role of entrepreneurship from the YEDF experience,
and its role in poverty reduction was covered. The study applied mixed methods with
quantitative and qualitative techniques of data collection and analysis. The population of the
International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science ISSN: 2307-924X www.ijlass.org
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study included members of the youth social groups benefitting from YEDF in Meru County,
Kenya. The study found that 68 percent of respondents felt that YEDF facilitated in offering
business start-up capital which enabled employment creation and poverty reduction.
Therefore, the study recommended for scaling up of YEDF to help more youths access
business start-up capital to initiate and manage income generating enterprises, create
employment opportunities and reduce poverty. From the findings of this study, 48 percent of
the respondents reported that they received YEDF loans without any form of training, hence
the need for capacity building on effective utilization of these funds before they are given to
the youth.
Description
Journal Article
Keywords
Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF),, , Employment Creation, , Poverty Reduction
Citation
Mogute, M.,Assessing People’s Perceptions of Youth Enterprise Development Fund in Employment Creation towards Poverty Reduction in Meru, Kenya., 2018., International Journal of Liberal Arts and Social Science., 6(4)., p15-28