About MESPT
- Micro Enterprises Support Programme Trust, Tausi Lane 01, Westlands
- Nairobi P.O Box 187 - 00606 Kenya
- +254 722 207905 / 735 333154
- info@mespt.org
PROGRAMME OVERVIEW
Challenge Fund for Youth Employment (CFYE) is a 6-year programme funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It targets the private sector, civil society, and knowledge institutions.
The focus is on initiatives that address specific challenges to create scalable solutions for more and better jobs for youth. The key thematic areas include digital business development, scaling up green jobs and the creative sector. The goal of the CFYE is to support robust and innovative ideas for creating or improving decent work prospects for youth, especially young women. For the purposes of this program, youth is defined as between the ages of 15 – 35. The Programme overall will enable young people to access new or better employment, including wage or salary jobs, or self-employment. https://fundforyouthemployment.nl/thefundexplained/
THE FUND IN KENYA CONTEXT
The Challenge: Kenya’s Job Market & Youth
Kenya has a large population of job seekers that grows every day. More than 35% of Kenya’s youth population (17 million) is unemployed or underemployed. For young women, this figure can even reach 50%. There are not enough jobs available to decrease the current volume of unemployed young Kenyans or even for all young people entering the labour market.
In Kenya, youth (18-34) make up around 29% of the total population, 35% of whom are either unemployed or underemployed. The country’s economy is struggling to produce enough productive jobs for young people. It is estimated that the recent global economic recession and lockdown will further exacerbate the unemployment rate. Although the latter affects youth in different categories, urban youth face significant unemployment, ranging between 35% to 60%.
Youth in Kenya have diverse aspirations regarding the sectors they want to find employment in, including transport, manufacturing, agriculture, tech/digital, and the creative industry. Many young Kenyans also have great ambitions for participating in meaningful economic activities through self-employment.
LOW HANGING FRUIT FOR YOUTH EMPLOYMENT IN KENYA PROJECT
Under the CFYE Programme, a consortium comprising of MESPT, Ripple Effect, Feast Foods, and Yielder is implementing a project titled, “Low Hanging Fruits for Youth Employment”.
This is a two-year project geared towards improving the productivity and market access of three key fruit value chains namely mango, passion fruit and pineapple. The project will be implemented in Kwale, Kilifi and Mombasa Counties.
Youth getting jobs as a result of capacity by CFYE initiates. Identification of hiring partners to absorb the trainees.