An Investigation into the Factors that Affect Performance of Youth Group Income Generating Projects in Kenya: A case of Taita District.

Abstract

The mobilization of youth in Kenya and growth of youth group enterprise projects took centre stage in the last four years with the creation of Ministry of youth affairs and sports in the year 2005.   The Department of Youth development was established in January 2007 with an aim of spearheading the general empowerment of the youths with key objectives being; promoting Youth-owned Small and Micro Enterprise (SME) projects, promoting thriftiness and self-reliance among the youth, promoting an entrepreneurial culture among the youth, and promoting marketing of Youth Products and Services. (The national youth policy 2007). The study aims at broadening understanding about the factors that influence performance of various youth group income generating projects in Taita district. It also aimed at giving remedial measures to the problems faced by youth group initiated projects so as to improve their performance and realize their goals. The objectives included identification of the extent to which youth group management/leadership skills affect the project performance; establishing whether the nature of project activities undertaken by the youth affect the overall performance; determining if the planning and control of funds affects the performance of the youth group projects; investigate whether the support given by the government and other organizations affects the performance of youth group projects. The study was limited to youth group initiated projects which are income generating in Taita district, Coast Province.  A survey was conducted on sampled youth group projects in Taita district. The study concentrated on analyzing the factors affecting the overall performance of youth group initiated projects in Taita district. The groups were stratified according to their categories of projects/activity. From the targeted population a random sample of 60% was taken from each category to give a total sample of 35 projects. Data for the study consisted of primary data collected by use of questionnaires and secondary data based on youth group performance reports submitted to the respective group coordinators to the Provincial director in the Ministry of youth affairs, department of Youth development. The data was analyzed using statistical package of social sciences software and findings was presented in form of tables, charts and figures.

Keywords: Performance, Projects, Youth Development