Job creation and skills development for youth in Kenya

DCA Kenya

The Issue

Kenya’s youth aged 15 – 35 years constitute about 35% of the total population of 49.7 million. However, youth unemployment which stands at 42 percent remains the biggest challenge. With between 500,000 to 800,000 Kenyan youth entering the job market each year, the economy has not been able to provide the necessary employment opportunities both in formal and informal sectors. 

There are a few missing ingredients that DCA feels are essential to have a more meaningful impact on the lives of youth. These elements include career counselling, coaching, mentorship, and – perhaps most significant – encouragement and inspiration.  

The Project

The Ajira Poa! project is an innovative blend of stimulation of demand (jobs), enrichment of supply (skills), and a foundation of guidance from a range of public and private sector partners to help young Kenyans navigate the world of work and guide them toward a path that makes sense for their own personal journey.  

DCA working in consortium with QUERCUS group, ADS-North Rift, Growth Africa, and College of Career Guidance and Development (CCGD) is implementing a job creation and skills development project for youth, in Nakuru, Nyandarua, and West Pokot counties. DCA is working with Fabo to adapt and roll out an eLearning site, chatbot and an eMentorship platform.

The intervention areas include:

• Soft skills development – training the youth on how to navigate the economic/employment environment by first identifying oneself, relationships with others, and achievement of both personal and organisational goals. Under this package, the project is training youth on various skills including digital literacy, career guidance, life skills, entrepreneurship, and financial literacy.
• Technical and Vocational Training – the project is linking the youth with the existing vocational and technical education institutions to gain employable skills.
• Internship, apprenticeship, and job placements – the project is linking youth with employers in both formal and informal spaces.
• Enterprise development – the project is training youth on business skills and supporting them through business incubation, market activation, and financial linkages to assist start-ups to grow into sustainable business enterprises.

The Results

• The project has mobilised and onboarded 2019 youth. 1141 accessed career guidance and counselling that facilitated them to choose their career pathways.
• 1457 were trained on digital literacy through a blended learning approach, i.e., using the Digital Literacy Course content uploaded in Fabo and face-to-face sessions.
• 552 youth trained on financial literacy. Five (5) youth business forums anchored on pooling resources to finance their businesses have been established and supported. Additionally, 339 youth have been trained by project team on Resilient me, a drill on saving and insurance and how it practically applies in daily lives of youth pursuing various livelihoods.
• 1143 have been trained on life skills using a blended learning approach.
• To link the enrolled youth to guidance/talks on sexual and reproductive health (SRH) and good citizenship (GC), a local NGO, Liverpool VCT (LVCT), was engaged and trained 602 youth combining in Nakuru and Nyandarua counties.
• 549 placed in TVET institution training as part of support testing and delivery of short courses linked to specific value chain-related market opportunities.