Influence of Youth Enterprise Development Fund on Small Business Development of Youths in Marakwet West Sub-county, Elgeyo Mmrakwet County, Kenya.

Abstract

Small businesses are increasingly seen as playing an important role in the economies of many countries. Despite the launching of different youth development funds in Kenya. Many economic and financial reforms as well empowerment interventions put in place from the recent past till the present time to salvage the youth predicament did not yield significant results. The study sought to explore the influence of YEDF on the small business development with reference to Marakwet West Sub-County, Elgeyo Marakwet County. The study was guided by the following research objectives; To assess how loaning from YEDF influence small businesses development of youth in Marakwet West Sub-County; To determine how YEDF training influence small business development of youth in Marakwet West Sub-County; To examine how YEDF saving mobilization influence small business development of youth in Marakwet West Sub-County and to assess how lending/funding framework of YEDF influence small business development of youth in Marakwet West Sub-County. The study was limited to Elgeyo Marakwet County, Marakwet West Sub-County; it focused only on the study objectives. Youths who have benefited from the fund and those who have not formed the unit of analysis. Questionnaires were the primary data collection tool. It adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study that is under consideration are the youths (18-35yrs) viable for empowering through development funds like the YEDF and Youth fund officers. The target sample was 480 youths and 10 youth fund officers. Using Mugenda‟s formula the sample size was 144 youths and 10 youth fund officers. Simple random sampling was used to select the youth. Questionnaires was used to collect data from respondents. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) aided the data analyis. Ethical considerations was exercised in all manners. The findings revealed that majority 45.5 % of the respondents strongly agreed that YEDF have led to increased business creation and expansion among youths. The findings indicated that majority (85%) of the youth benefiting from the YEDF were being trained quarterly. The results further indicated that 53.6% of the youths strongly agreed that Savings assists us in generating revenues/profits. Further, majority 70.6% of the respondents strongly agreed that there is a lot of corruption in order to access the funds. From the findings it was concluded that loaning from YEDF largely influences small business developments. Youth training is also found to help small business grow or develop. As revealed in the study, it is noted that most youths receive training on business development and also on financial management. It is further concluded that it enables them acquire skills which are used to run. The study found that the youths save profits and majority of them saving five hundred shillings daily. This is good however small to enable them grow their businesses and manage business risks. Youth funding framework was another factor identified as influencing small business development. It was noted that high collaterals, unfriendly repayment periods, corruption in accessing funds and little sensitization of availability of funds affects youths in developing their businesses. The study recommended that the government in collaboration with small business enterprises should intensify training on both areas in business management including financial management and marketing, also the government should consider the funding framework of the YEDF to be friendly so as to enable them manage their businesses and that youths with small businesses should consider managing their funds by saving in order to allow them maximize profits.