student training for enterpreneurial promotion (step) evaluation … · 2018-06-11 · 1.3...

STUDENT TRAINING FOR ENTERPRENEURIAL

PROMOTION (STEP)

EVALUATION REPORT

OCTOBER 2017

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Table of Contents

ACRONYMNS ……………………………………………………………………………….4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY …………………………………………………………………………. 5 CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………. 7

1.0 Preamble ................................................................................................................................................... 7

1.0.1 VISION ................................................................................................................................. 7

1.0.2 MISSION .............................................................................................................................. 7

1.0.3 CORE VALUES ................................................................................................................... 7

1.0.4 MANDATE AND FUNCTIONS ....................................................................................... 8

1.1 Introductory Overview to STEP in Kenya .................................................................................................... 8

1.1.1 Aim of STEP programme ................................................................................................. 10

1.1.2 Components of the STEP programme Curricula .......................................................... 10

1.1.3 Objectives of the evaluation ............................................................................................. 11

1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE EVALUATION ...................................................................................... 11

1.2.1 START-UPS ........................................................................................................................ 12

1.2.2: THEORIES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP ........................................................................ 12

1.2.3 MOTIVES OF RUNNING BUSINESSES ........................................................................ 12

1.2.4 GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS THAT PROMOTE YOUTH

ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN KENYA ........................................................................................ 12

1.2.5 YOUTH ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT FUND ......................................................... 13

1.2.6 UWEZO FUND ................................................................................................................. 13

1.2.7 WOMEN ENTERPRISE FUND ....................................................................................... 14

1.3 MONITORING AND EVALUATION OBJECTIVES .................................................................................... 14

1.4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 16

1.5 SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION ............................................................................................................... 16

1.6 ORGANISATION OF THIS EVALUATION REPORT.................................................................................. 17

CHAPTER TWO: APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY …………………………………18

2.1 Activity Schedule and Timelines ............................................................................................................... 18

2.2 Sampling .................................................................................................................................................. 18

2.3 Sources of Information ............................................................................................................................ 19

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2.3.1 Documentary analysis ...................................................................................................... 19

2.3.2 Stakeholders Consultation ............................................................................................... 19

2.3.3 Evaluation Exercises ......................................................................................................... 20

2.4 WORK PLAN FOR THE EVALUATION EXERCISE ............................................................. 20

2.5 Data Collection and Development of Evaluation Tools ............................................................................. 21

2.6 Delivery of Evaluation Tools ..................................................................................................................... 21

2.7 Data Entry Management and Analysis ..................................................................................................... 22

2.8 Limitations ............................................................................................................................................... 22

2.9 Deliverables ............................................................................................................................................. 23

2.10 Ethical Considerations ............................................................................................................................ 23

CHAPTER THREE: IMPACT INDICATORS AND EVALUATION FINDINGS …………24

3.1 OUTCOME AND IMPACT INDICATORS ............................................................................................... 24

3.2. Evaluation Findings ................................................................................................................................. 25

3.2.1 Sampling and Sampling Distribution............................................................................. 25

EFFECTIVENESS OF STEP PROGRAMME ............................................................................... 27

RELEVANCE OF STEP PROGRAMME .................................................................................... 29

3.1.3 Effectiveness of Y-STEP Programme .............................................................................. 37

RELEVANCE OF Y-STEP PROGRAMME ............................................................................. 38

Effectiveness of Y-STEP Programme ....................................................................................... 51

Relevance of Y-STEP Programme ............................................................................................ 53

Effectiveness of Y-STEP Programme ....................................................................................... 66

Relevance of Y-STEP Programme ............................................................................................ 68

3.3 Conclusions .............................................................................................................................................. 77

3.4 Lessons Learned ....................................................................................................................................... 77

CHAPTER FOUR: LESSONS LEARNT, CHALLENGES, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION ……………………………………………………………………………..79

LESSONS LEARNT ........................................................................................................................................... 79

CHALLENGES .................................................................................................................................................. 80

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RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 81

CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................................. 83

APPENDIX A1: CATEGORIES OF STEP TRAINEES ENTERPRENEURS ……….. 85 APPENDIX A2: EVALUATION TOOLS ………………………………………………… 86 STEP PROGRAMME INTERVIEW GUIDE ……………………………………………………. 91 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND STEP EVALUATION REPORT AUTHORS ………………. 95

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ACRONYMNS

GEA: Graduate Enterprise Academy

MKU: Mount Kenya University

KU: Kenyatta University

KNATCOM: Kenya National Commission for UNESCO

SDGs: Sustainable Development Goals

SMEs: Small and Medium Enterprises Development Goals

STEP: Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion

UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

YEDF: Youth Enterprise Development Fund

Y-STEP: STEP for the Youth (this referred to the STEP program for the youth at the counties).

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Executive Summary

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) commissioned an

individual consultant in October 2016 to carry out a transparent and objective evaluation to

determine the impact of the German Leuphana University-based Student Training for

Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) in Kenya.

The target population was STEP beneficiaries in three different counties and one university.

The purpose of this evaluation was to monitor and evaluate the impact of entrepreneurship

trainings conducted through STEP from 2012 to 2016 for future planning. This report ultimately

highlights the findings and recommendations with targets that are required to enhance

managerial processes with UNESCO’s stakeholders in order to facilitate greater performance

of STEP in future both in Kenya and beyond. Thus, the report presents the findings of the

evaluation on STEP Programme as conducted between 2012 and 2016 in four Counties and

at one university in Kenya; a task that was accomplished and led to the generation of the

results herein presented as well as a presentation of practical recommendations within this

report. The three counties and one university targeted in the study were namely, Kiambu

County, Nakuru County, Mombasa County and Kenyatta University (KU).

The evaluation covered the key performance indicators focusing on the number of STEP

beneficiaries who were trained, the number of training workshops carried and the impact

that the training had on the performance of SMEs with regard to business planning, records

keeping, access to finance and growth. The exercise entailed developing evaluation tools,

administering a questionnaire for trainers and trainees, conducting Focused Group

Discussions (FGDs) and holding strategic meetings/discussions with key stakeholders and

partners.

Amongst the findings of the study were various revelations, namely, among many others;

Before trainings, some STEP beneficiaries did not know they could commence on a start-

up, however small it may be, grow it and reach a business of their dream. They were not

aware that it is possible to have a business. They thought to be an entrepreneur one must

have a lot of money.

The STEP training shifted the mind-set towards more aggressive initiatives. The trainees

were no longer afraid of entrepreneurship and also, they were able to successfully cover

their projects. It is in that context that, 65.2% of trainees created their businesses or grew

their start-ups to the next level.

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Most of the businesses were related to livestock keeping (26.7%), crop production (19.4%),

trading of crop products (17.5%) and services oriented (10.5%).

In addition, age was found to be an important variable of business creation.

The main triggers for creating a business included unemployment (32.9%), generation of

new ideas (31.5%) and overall satisfaction (27.2%). Moreover, the motivation underlying

the capacity to hold on to a business were found to be, namely, the desire to earn much

more money (33.7%), overall satisfaction (25.1%) and the market opportunities (22.4%).

The main hindrances to new start-ups were found to be related to lack of capital (58.8%),

insufficient skills (58.8%) and lack of collateral (29.4%). These barriers were, most of the

time, encountered by young people, and particularly those from Kiambu County and

Kenyatta University.

In relation to the above, respondents advanced a number of suggestions to promote

entrepreneurship. These included, a dire need for establishment of a regular monitoring

system especially at the start-up stage of the businesses (30.0%), regular refresher trainings

on annual basis (18.5%), advocacy to the financial institutions to facilitate obtaining of

loans for ongoing businesses (13.6%) and financial assistance to start new businesses

(13.5%).

Amongst the recommendations given in this study were the identification of an existing

equivalence to STEP that could provide regular post-STEP refresher trainings since STEP

program as it is designed ends at the closing ceremony. However, STEP involves regular

evaluation which could be effected at the Counties as has regularly happened with

University students including those trained at Kenyatta University. Additionally, the study

recommends that, the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) and other funding

organizations be looped into the STEP program to offer loan facilities by being invited to be

part of the wider STEP stakeholders. As a concluding recommendation, the Graduate

Enterprise Academy (GEA) which resembles STEP and is ongoing at Mount Kenya University

(MKU), is presented as a possible option through which all past and future STEP beneficiaries

could be introduced into for the sole purpose of synergetic post-STEP mentoring and

networking as requested by the STEP beneficiaries themselves. This is because GEA, unlike

STEP, provides an indefinite post training mentoring and networking which could benefit all

STEP beneficiaries in future.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.0 Preamble

UNESCO is responsible for coordinating international cooperation in education, science,

culture and communication. It strengthens the ties between nations and societies, and

mobilizes the wider public so that each child and citizen:

Has access to quality education; a basic human right and an indispensable

prerequisite for sustainable development;

May grow and live in a cultural environment rich in diversity and dialogue, where

heritage serves as a bridge between generations and peoples;

Can fully benefit from scientific advances;

And can enjoy full freedom of expression; the basis of democracy, development and

human dignity.

UNESCO is represented in the member countries by the National Commissions for UNESCO

where in Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM – UNESCO) is a parastatal

under the government of Kenya. The following are the Vision, Mission, Core Values and

Mandate/ functions of KNATCOM – UNESCO as outlined on their web link,

http://www.unesco.go.ke/

1.0.1 VISION

A leading organization in the advancement of peace, sustainable development and

intellectual collaboration.

1.0.2 MISSION

To promote building of peace, eradication of poverty, sustainable development and

intellectual dialogue through education, sciences, culture, communication and information

1.0.3 CORE VALUES

The operational environment is governed by a set of moral standards which constitute the

desired organizational culture. These values are:

Integrity: Committed to operate in an honest, accountable and transparent manner

in all undertakings.

Professionalism: Commitment to the highest levels of achievement obtainable

through competence and critical skills.

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Teamwork: Embracing teamwork and collaboration both within the KNATCOM for

UNESCO and partners

Excellence in Service: Upholding the highest standards in service delivery to all

Courtesy: Endeavouring to be courteous to all clients at all times.

Fidelity to law: Commitment to respecting the rule of law in all undertakings.

1.0.4 MANDATE AND FUNCTIONS

Kenya National Commission for UNESCO derives its mandate and functions from;

The UNESCO Constitution;

The Charter of the National Commissions for UNESCO; and

The Kenya National Commission for UNESCO Act of 2013.

Generally, the Functions of the National Commission Are To;

1. Ensure permanent presence of UNESCO in Kenya;

2. Disseminate information on UNESCO;

3. Coordinate ratification of UNESCO related international conventions and protocols;

4. Coordinate, Kenyan delegations to all UNESCO international forums;

5. Participate in the planning and execution of UNESCO activities;

6. Collaborate with other National Commissions in UNESCO globally;

7. Participate in the search for candidates for UNESCO international prizes and awards;

8. Participate in the search for candidates for UNESCO jobs,

9. Assist in the placement of UNESCO fellowship holders;

10. Foster close liaison between institutions concerned with education, the sciences,

culture and communication &information;

11. Coordinate capacity building in education, sciences, culture, communication and

information;

12. Support mobilization of resources for implementation of UNESCO programmes and

activities and to the evaluation thereof; and

13. Provide expert advisory service to the government in education, sciences, culture,

and communication and information.

1.1 Introductory Overview to STEP in Kenya

Student Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) is a ten to twelve-weeks intensive

training course, administered by trained university based staff and faculty who are certified

STEP trainers. STEP at the universities is aimed at imparting entrepreneurial skills and

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knowledge to students from all disciplinary backgrounds, while still enrolled in their respective

academic programmes. It is a hands-on, skills and research-oriented programme aimed at

training youth in entrepreneurship and ultimately enhance their employability or even starting

their own businesses.

In Kenya, the STEP programme was first introduced at Kenyatta University in 2012, through a

partnership involving the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO and German National

Commission for UNESCO. Between 2012 and 2015, the programme had trained more than

500 students, many of who went on to establish their own business enterprises, upon

graduation from college.

The introduction of the pilot project on youth empowerment through entrepreneurship

education in Kiambu County, Kenya, in December, 2014, called Student Training for

Entrepreneurial Promotion for Youth (STEP4YOUTH) is a partnership involving UNESCO Regional

Office, Kenyatta University, the KNATCOM - UNESCO, the County Government of Kiambu

and the Youth Enterprise Development Fund, specifically targeting out of school youth. This

project was designed with the primary intension of moving STEP programme beyond the

university, and subsequently reach a much wider youth population. It was thus hoped that,

this will be instrumental in mitigating the challenges of unemployment and youth

marginalization. The 2014 pilot project trained about 100 youth over a six-week period. The

programme has since been extended to Mombasa County, where in March, 2016, a training

was organized for about 100 youth, in a partnership involving the Mombasa County

Government, UNESCO Regional Office, and the Kenya National Commission for UNESCO and

Kenyatta University. More counties in Kenya have subsequently expressed interest in the

programme, as one of practical means of addressing challenges of youth unemployment in

their respective counties. However, moving forward, it is useful to first evaluate the

performance of the programme over the past five years, with a view to clearly

understanding its successes and challenges, as well as developing a country-wide strategy

that will guide implementation over the next five years.

Since 2012, Students Training for Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP), through KNATCOM –

UNESCO collaboration with Kenyatta University has been providing entrepreneurship trainings

to the targeted group composed of youth who are potential entrepreneurs.

The trainings are organized in the selected counties to enable the recipients not only to

acquire the entrepreneurship skills, but also to encourage them to be entrepreneurs and to

uplift their living conditions. This evaluation exercise therefore aims at monitoring the

outcome of these trainings.

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1.1.1 Aim of STEP programme

A key aim of the STEP programme is to sustain and demystify entrepreneurship while

developing entrepreneurial literacy as a tool for poverty alleviation in developing countries.

This STEP programme has three main goals for learners:

(i) Improvement of entrepreneurial knowledge

ii) Development of entrepreneurship skills.

iii) Through action training, and using real money for real business, STEP programme counters

the tendency of entrepreneurship to remain theoretical and therefore inconsequential in

mitigating the joblessness among the graduates and youth in Kenya. STEP aids in enhancing

skills of STEP trainees through engaging them in practical business activities at the initiation of

the training and finally registering a business at the end of the training. STEP training does not

simply introduce theoretical approach in entrepreneurship but it stimulates the participants

to utilize their entrepreneurial skills in practical businesses. The STEP programme also offers

trainees the opportunity to learn the skills necessary to access capital in the small-business

sector and generate an income, thus becoming productive and self-reliant, and creating

opportunities for employment thus participating in developing the nation.

1.1.2 Components of the STEP programme Curricula

STEP programme focuses on both literacy skills and poverty alleviation, with a focus on mind-

set change from ‘job seeking to job creation’.

Participation in the STEP programme gives the trainees a better understanding of the basic

principles of running a business. This is partly because STEP training emphasizes on action

training and activities that involve collaborative work by group members. The trainer uses the

action work sheet to encourage more discussion and participation from the trainees.

It contained twelve Modules each of which is covered every week, namely:

I. Identifying Business Opportunities,

II. Finding Starting Capital,

III. Marketing I,

IV. Leadership & Strategic Management,

V. Planning and Implementing Plans,

VI. Book-keeping I,

VII. Marketing II,

VIII. Managing Finances,

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IX. Book-keeping II,

X. Overcoming Barriers and Networking,

XI. Persuasion & Negotiation,

XII. Writing a Business Plan, and,

XIII. Registering and Starting the Business.

1.1.3 Objectives of the evaluation

The activity aims at monitoring and evaluating the impact of entrepreneurship trainings

conducted by STEP from 2012 to 2017 for future planning.

Specific objectives of the evaluation

a. Examine the trainings’ contribution to the increase of entrepreneurship skills;

b. Examine the trainings contribution to the increase of SMEs start-ups, growth and job

creation;

c. Identify the existing constraints and gaps in terms of business start-ups and

management;

d. Formulate the recommendations.

1.2 BACKGROUND OF THE EVALUATION

Over the past decade, youth unemployment has continued to pose a significant challenge

in Africa. While some countries have experienced economic growth, they have been unable

to generate sufficient jobs to keep pace with an expanding youth population. Low literacy

and education levels have left young people with limited skills for entry into the job market.

Furthermore, neither the public nor private sectors have provided adequate support for job

creation. The result has been high youth unemployment and underemployment which is

exacerbating levels of poverty.

A review of the 1999-2008 National Youth Policy found that young people were most

concerned about gaining employment but this had been hampered by insufficient training

and skills. The little training provision that exists in the country has been centered on the

acquisition of vocational skills - assumed to be the major skill deficit within the young person –

and has overlooked generic life skills, pre-training and post-training support needs.

This study aimed at assessing the impact of STEP’s as an entrepreneurship training in

increasing start-ups, growth and job creation from 2012 to 2016. The findings demonstrated a

positive contribution to awareness and new start-ups.

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1.2.1 START-UPS

The main objective of these trainings is to contribute to the increase of SMEs start-ups, growth

and job creation. The impact assessment focused not only on the prepared and converted

projects, but also on the jobs created.

Entrepreneurship is vital for developed and developing economies. Small business creates

jobs, generates social welfare, decentralizes economic power, gives people stake in the

future, innovates and produces special goods and services.

The source of funds is mainly personal saving (61.9%), sales (20.6%), family assistance (20.3%).

Only 24.0% of the entrepreneurs benefited from financial institutions.

1.2.2: THEORIES OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

According to the Principles of entrepreneurship, (2000), most economists today agree that

entrepreneurship is a necessary ingredient for stimulating economic growth and employment

opportunities in all societies. In the developing world, successful small businesses are the

primary engines of job creation, income growth, and poverty reduction.

There is no one definitive profile of an entrepreneur. Successful entrepreneurs come in various

ages, income levels, gender, and race. They differ in education and experience. But

research indicates that most successful entrepreneurs share certain personal attributes,

including: creativity, dedication, determination, flexibility, leadership, passion, self-

confidence, and smarts (common sense joined to knowledge and experience).

1.2.3 MOTIVES OF RUNNING BUSINESSES

In various studies, respondents are asked their motives in everyday running business. Most of

them are interested in earning more money. Others indicate they have an overall satisfaction

in running business or simply the fact that their businesses are thriving because of availability

of the market.

Other motives include; having a profitable business, uplifting the living conditions, self-

reliance, always having money, helping others in finding jobs or catering for the family.

1.2.4 GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS THAT PROMOTE YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN KENYA

According to Bowman, (2011), an entrepreneur is an individual who identifies opportunities in

the marketplace, allocates resources, and creates value. Entrepreneurship is the capacity

and willingness to undertake conception, organization, and management of a productive

new venture, accepting all attendant risks and seeking profit as a reward. Entrepreneurship is

a vital component of economic growth and development. The creation of new business

entities not only generates value added, fiscal revenues, employment and innovation, but is

an essential ingredient for the development of a vibrant small- and medium-sized business

sector—the core of most competitive economies. It has the potential to contribute to

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specific sustainable development objectives, such as the employment of women, young

people or disadvantaged groups (Bowman, 2011).

Entrepreneurship development (ED) refers to the process of enhancing entrepreneurial skills

and knowledge through structured training and institution-building programmes. ED aims to

enlarge the base of entrepreneurs in order to hasten the pace at which new ventures are

created. This accelerates employment generation and economic development.

Entrepreneurship development focuses on the individual who wishes to start or expand a

business. Small and medium enterprise (SME) development, on the other hand, focuses on

developing the enterprise, whether or not it employs or is led by individuals who can be

considered entrepreneurial. (Lundsrom & Anders, 2005).

1.2.5 YOUTH ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT FUND

Youth Enterprise Development Fund was established in 2006 with an aim of addressing youth

unemployment challenge by providing loans to youthful persons (18-35) are in business. The

loans are channeled directly through financial institutions such as banks and microfinance

institutions in various loan products. These include Kenya Commercial Bank, National Bank

among others.

The Youth Fund provides skills through capacity building in Entrepreneurship to the youth

running businesses to be able to identify and tap into business opportunities, while embracing

modern business management techniques. The Fund uses various mechanisms to achieve by

organizing marketing events locally and internationally. This is done in collaboration with

county governments and other institutions. Conferences, Trade Fairs, exhibitions are held to

allow the youth to network and market what they offer. The Fund also initiates partnerships

between youth owned enterprises and established entrepreneurs through market linkages

such as business mentorship, outsourcing, Subcontracting and business trainings. (Youth fund

.n.d).

1.2.6 UWEZO FUND

The Uwezo Fund is a flagship programme for Vision 2030 under the social aspect. It was

established in 2013 with an aim of enabling women, youth and persons with disability to

access finances to promote their enterprises at their constituency level since they have

offices at every constituency. This was to enhance economic growth and realization of the

Millennium Development Goals which are to eradicate poverty promote gender equality.

The Fund provides mentorship opportunities to enable the Youth, Women and Persons with

Disability take advantage of the government procurement preference reservations of 30%.

This is done through Capacity Building Programmes to offer incubation services to enterprises,

encourage innovation, promote industry, create employment, and grow the economy.

(Uwezo n.d).

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1.2.7 WOMEN ENTERPRISE FUND

Women Enterprise Fund is a Semi-Autonomous Government Agency in the Ministry of

Gender, Children & Social Development established in August 2007, to provide accessible

and affordable credit to support women start or expand business for wealth and

employment creation. The Fund also provides business support services such as capacity

building, marketing, promotion of linkages and infrastructure support. The fund has been able

to extend loans to women amounting KS. 2.6B to over 645,825 women entrepreneurs. The

Fund has trained 116,372 women in loan management and business skills.

The Fund has continued to market and promote local and international marketing of goods

and services produced by women entrepreneurs. The Fund sponsored a team of 20 women

entrepreneurs in partnership with the Export Promotion Council (EPC) to Dar es Salaam

International Trade Fair (DITF). Their excellent participation contributed to the Kenyan stand

winning the award in the category for the Best Foreign Exhibitor. The dazzling performance is

illustrated by the commercial sales of KS.3.9 M and negotiated orders and inquiries

amounting to KS. 7 M. (W.E.F n.d).

1.3 MONITORING AND EVALUATION OBJECTIVES

The objective was to conduct a formative evaluation to assess the efficiency, effectiveness,

relevance, and impact of the STEP Programme over the past five years (2012-17). The

evaluation report provides a collection, analysis and interpretation of the Student Training for

Entrepreneurial Promotion (STEP) data in terms of expected results/outcomes, effect/impact

by use of a qualitative and quantitative approach. It highlights the alignment and

complementarity of the STEP initiative with national priorities and Sustainable Millennium

Goals (SDGs).

This study explores the sustainability mechanism of the STEP program in increasing

entrepreneurship competencies among the youth. In addition, this study examines the extent

of the program’s benefits in alleviating poverty, creating employment opportunities and also

seeks to determine how the STEP programme can be improved providing meaningful and

clear direction for future program development and strategic interventions.

This report presents the findings of the UNESCO STEP funded evaluation carried out in June

2012 and July 2016 at county levels and Kenyatta University in Kenya. The purpose of the

evaluation was to determine the impact of the program by assessing the progress towards

achieving programme outcomes.

The evaluation covered the key performance indicators focusing on the trainers, trainees,

administrators, and the impact the training had on the performance of new and existing

SMEs with regard to Business Planning, Record keeping, access to finance and growth. The

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exercise entailed undertaking developing evaluation tools, administering a questionnaire for

trainers and trainees, arranging Focused Group Discussion (FGDs) and having

meetings/discussions with key stakeholders and partners.

The evaluation report provides a list of challenges, lessons learned and recommendations to

support and reinforce the continuation of STEP initiative implementation.

The evaluation was designed to answer several questions under five indicators:

1. Efficiency

Have the outputs been delivered in a timely manner?

Could the activities and outputs have been delivered with fewer resources without

reducing their quality and quantity?

Have the institution’s organizational structure, managerial support and coordination

mechanisms effectively supported their delivery?

2. Effectiveness

What has been the progress made towards achievement of the expected outcomes

and expected results?

What are the reasons for the achievement or non-achievement?

To what extent have beneficiaries been satisfied with the results?

Is the programme cost-effective, i.e. could the outcomes and expected results have

been achieved at lower cost through adopting a different approach and/or using

alternative delivery mechanisms?

Does the programme have effective monitoring mechanisms in place?

3. Relevance

Are the programme objectives addressing identified needs of the target group(s)?

Are they in line with national priorities?

Do the activities address the problems identified?

4. Impact

In what ways – socially, economically, politically, environmentally and in terms of

attitude has the project impacted the intended beneficiaries and other

stakeholders?

To what extent can the changes that have occurred as a result of the programme be

identified and measured?

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5. Sustainability

Are the activities stated in the program sustainable after the cessation of the

institutions support?

Do the beneficiaries continue to benefit from the programme?

What is the likelihood that the benefits from the programme will be maintained for a

reasonably long period of time if the programme were to cease?

Is the programme supported by local institutions and integrated with local social and

cultural conditions?

1.4 METHODOLOGY

The evaluation was carried out on appropriately selected three counties and Kenyatta

University in the country. To enable the potential entrepreneurs to have the necessary time to

think, start and run their business, the evaluation exercise covered the beneficiaries of

entrepreneurship training program.

The simple random sampling method, with two levels, was used. At the first level, 2 counties

(Kenyatta University, Kiambu) were selected. At the second level, 2 more counties (Nakuru,

Mombasa) were selected. Then, all trainees of the selected sector were included in the

sample.

1.5 SCOPE OF THE EVALUATION

The evaluation covered several counties in the country with sessions in areas where the

trainings were undertaken. In this regard, assessments were undertaken in the following

counties: Kenyatta University, Kiambu, Nakuru and Mombasa. The clusters enabled the

consultants get comprehensive qualitative and quantitative information on demographic

and socio-economic characteristics of the STEP beneficiaries with regard to how they have

benefited from the programme, the changes in their businesses, their persistent/recurring

needs and problems, and determine probable intervention dynamics that could further

harness the potential of the SME sector to better contribute to an efficient private sector and

national development.

The evaluation targeted the partner institutions, the trainers, the administrators at county

levels, the entrepreneurs (trainees) who benefited under the program and the supporting

institutions, including Kenyatta University. The evaluation focused on the sustainability of the

programme by looking at the delivery capacity of STEP in terms of effectiveness and

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efficiency and the capacity of the beneficiaries to own the program outputs and build on

them. This report presents the findings of the evaluation.

1.6 ORGANISATION OF THIS EVALUATION REPORT

This report is comprised of 5 Sections. Section 1 is the Introduction while Section 2 discusses

the Approach and Methodology. Section 3 presents Outcome and Impact Indicators,

Section 4 presents Evaluation Findings as an analysis of the performance of the programme,

challenges and constraints, while section 5 presents the conclusions, recommendations,

challenges and lessons learnt during the evaluation.

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CHAPTER TWO: APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY

2.1 Activity Schedule and Timelines

The Work Plan for the evaluation exercise followed an activity based process. A summary of

this process model would suffice here.

ACTIVITY NO:

1. Preliminary activities: contract signing, resource mobilization, briefings,

communication and familiarization

2. Documents/Literature Review

3. Inception Report preparations and submission

4. Preparations of Data Collection Instrument/Questionnaire

5. Sampling activities

6. Field Data collection

7. Data coding and entry

8. Data Analysis and Interpretations

9. Draft Report Preparations and submission to client for comments and suggestions

10. Preparation of Draft Final Report

11. Incorporation of stakeholders comments/suggestions

12. Final Report preparation and submission to UNESCO

2.2 Sampling

The study population of this evaluation exercise consisted of STEP trainees, trainers and

administrators who were directly involved in the program. The consultants sampled all the

respondents in order to ensure accurate and more realistic results. Stratified random

sampling technique was used to effectively capture the differences by category from the

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study population. The benefit of stratification was that it allowed the team to control the

stratum and ensure a defined level of statistical precision and comparability.

Under the STEP programme, 400 beneficiaries were trained in four counties. The evaluation

randomly selected 3 counties and Kenyatta University that covered the major areas where

training has been undertaken under STEP.

To fully evaluate the impact of the project, a target of 60% of the trainees was set to be

evaluated. Accordingly, the targeted sample size was 167 trainees randomly selected from

the 3 counties out of the total 300 beneficiary entrepreneurs trained over the three year

period.

This was to enable the evaluation team get feedback on the training, the training content,

analysis of the trainee entrepreneurs, time spent during the training and the feedback, if any,

from the trainees to the trainers.

2.3 Sources of Information

The consultant was aware that information on STEP was of specific importance to its program

Improvement. Qualitative and Quantitative approaches were used. Primary data were

collected using questionnaires and guideline/checklist attached in appendices and

secondary data was obtained from the following sources as a minimum:

Step Training Materials

UNESCO Website

Kenyatta University-Chandaria Incubation Centre

Materials obtained from the trainees

2.3.1 Documentary analysis

The consultants reviewed various reports under STEP. These included the Program Design

materials with specific focus of the Work-plans and Progress Reports. Also reviewed were

materials of the various trainings that were undertaken with specific focus on the training

evaluations which gave the analysis of the training by the trainees and trainers.

2.3.2 Stakeholders Consultation

The evaluation team undertook stakeholder consultation to get diverse views on progress

towards the attainment of the evaluation goals and their indicators. The key stakeholders

consulted constituted two groups: the programme management partners and the program

implementation team.

Under Program management, the evaluation team collected data from the leadership of

UNESCO (both AT THE East African Regional Office and KNATCOM) in order to assess progress

on indicators, including institutional issues that affected the achievement of program

20

indicators. The team also collected data from the implementers at Kenyatta University as well

as the relevant coordinators from Youth Enterprise Development Fund and that the Counties

level. Additionally

Data was collected from Kenyatta University trainers through Focus Group Discussions who

gave a deep insight into how trainers were identified, the arrangements and delivery of the

training sessions to the trainees, the challenges met and recommendations for improving

service delivery under future programmes of a similar nature.

2.3.3 Evaluation Exercises

Evaluation Exercises were held in the three counties and at Kenyatta University (targeting

Kiambu, Nakuru, Mombasa, and Kenyatta University). The trainers and the trained

entrepreneurs participated in these Exercises. The workshops generated feedback from the

project beneficiaries with regard to the performance of the programme (how they have

benefited) and also attracted recommendations on future work. For comprehensiveness,

Focused Group Discussions (FGDs) were held in these Exercises to ensure quality assurance.

2.4 WORK PLAN FOR THE EVALUATION EXERCISE

Table 2.1: Time Schedule for Performance of the Service

No MAIN ACTIVITY/STEP MONTHS

0 1 2 3 4

1. Preliminary Activities

2 Literature Review

3 Developing Draft Evaluation

exercise Instruments

4. Inception Report Submission

5. Incorporating Client’s comments

and suggestions in the Inception

Report and Evaluation exercise

Instruments

6 Recruitment and training of

enumerators

7 Pretesting of Evaluation exercise

tools

8 Field Work and actual primary data

collection

9 Data Analysis, interpretations and

Reporting

10. Draft Evaluation exercise Report

11 Incorporating Client’s Comments in

Final Report

21

2.5 Data Collection and Development of Evaluation Tools

The main tool for capturing primary data (qualitative and Quantitative) during the evaluation

were questionnaires. The tools are attached in Appendices. Data collection was undertaken

using self-filled and guided approach. The questionnaire was framed along core dimensions

of STEP’s impact. The questionnaire contained both closed and open-ended questions.

In order to get qualitative information from the programme beneficiaries and stakeholders, a

series of evaluation tools were developed for use by the evaluation team. These included the

following:

I. An interview guide for Project Managers and Stakeholders; the interviews were

conducted through structured questionnaires to derive quantitative data.

II. A questionnaire for trainees (entrepreneurs);

III. A questionnaire for Trainers;

IV. Focus Group Discussions for trained entrepreneurs. This extended discussion with

respondents was in order to supplement the structured findings of the questionnaires

with qualitative information as well.

V. Key Informant Interviews (KII): The research team, comprised of the lead consultant

and interviewer/enumerators, who conducted one-on-one KIIs with individual

respondents to gather information on constraints, opportunities and improvements

that can be made within STEP training programs.

2.6 Delivery of Evaluation Tools

A structured questionnaire was used for the generation of information from and about the

trained entrepreneurs (and the performance of their businesses subsequent to the training).

These questionnaires targeted entrepreneurs who were trained under STEP with a view to

determining how they benefited both during the training and after the training (impact on

business start-up or better business management). Four Focused Group Discussions (FGDs)

were also held with the trained entrepreneurs at the Evaluation meetings in the selected

Evaluation counties.

In-depth interviews and Focus Group Discussions were used to gather information from key

informants who included the project administrators at Kenyatta University and at county

levels and programme trainers.

12. Final Report submission

22

2.7 Data Entry Management and Analysis

The data for the evaluation was obtained from both primary and secondary sources. The

primary sources included administered questionnaires to beneficiaries, focus group

discussions with beneficiaries, key informant interviews with the programme Staff,

representatives of partner organisations, and the trainers. The secondary sources included a

review of the project documents including but not limited to the existing work plans,

preliminary reports, and other relevant project literature.

The collected questionnaires were sorted, cleaned, and coded. Once coded, the data was

keyed into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for analysis. Descriptive statistics

was used to analyse the quantitative data and findings were presented in frequency tables,

pie charts and bar charts for easy understanding. Qualitative data from the open-ended

questions was summarized using a thematic framework. The dominant themes were

identified through content analysis where systematic sorting of data was done according to

the research objectives.

Quantitative and qualitative data from the field was entered, cleaned using EPI info and

analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) Version 16.0. The data was

segmented and coded for analysis purposes. Results of the Focused Group Discussions (with

open ended questions) were analysed manually as they were meant to bring out project

impact from the side of the beneficiaries and key stakeholders. The Data Analyst used

percentages and frequencies to determine and describe categorical and nominal variables

for quantitative data. Other measures of change included the mean, mode, median and

range. The data analysis exercise was meant to bring out the causal and effect relationship

of the various variables at play due to the STEP interventions.

2.8 Limitations

A number of limitations were encountered during the data collection period and these

include:

I. Beneficiaries not showing up despite communication of their input in the evaluation

process;

II. Some beneficiary entrepreneurs may not have given truthful information especially if

there had not been a significant change in their lives since the training.

This was largely so when no business had been started since the training or the lack of

prevalent improvement in the existing business;

23

2.9 Deliverables

A final report will be presented to UNESCO on the overall evaluation findings and submit 2

bound hard copies, a soft copy in MS Word and PDF format.

2.10 Ethical Considerations

Permission was sought from The Vice Chancellor Kenyatta University, The Youth Fund and

County Government of County’s represented to carry out this impact evaluation. County

Authorities in the towns where the evaluation was conducted were informed about the

activities and some were interviewed as key informants regarding the STEP programme.

24

CHAPTER THREE: IMPACT INDICATORS AND EVALUATION FINDINGS

3.1 OUTCOME AND IMPACT INDICATORS

Program Management and Accountability

Activities carried out under the STEP were both appropriate and effective in meeting the

needs of beneficiaries and the objectives of the programme. To this end, STEP has won the

praise of beneficiary trainees and institutional partners for its comprehensive approach to

entrepreneurship development in the country.

Project Sustainability

From the beginning of the project, the direct beneficiaries and the stakeholders were

involved in planning and implementation through an open dialogue and joint planning with

the project team. For example, the generation of the training materials was undertaken in

wide consultation.

There is availability and willingness of the partners to sustain activities through the

mainstreaming of the STEP activities in their regular work plans. This partnership has led to the

building of capacities of partner organizations to implement the activities at the county level

sustainably.

Increasing Efficiency

The use of County programs in the areas targeted for training has proven to be a most

sustainable and efficient way of increasing productivity and cost effectiveness under the

Programme. This has also translated into continuous use of the skills gained remain more

relevant and effective.

Impact on Management Practices

The Program has already had significant impact on how the beneficiaries are running their

enterprises. Maintaining records of transactions and inventory was one of the biggest

changes brought on by the program. Prior to the intervention, few beneficiaries were

maintaining any records. After the intervention, most of the beneficiaries started keeping

track of their transactions.

Special praise was shared by the beneficiaries for the support provided by STEP’s trainers on

records management and writing a business plan.

25

Impact and effectiveness of evaluation

The evaluation of the STEP Entrepreneurship Program, delivered at Kenyatta University and at

County level, found that participation in the programme had a positive impact in terms of:

risk-taking and the formation of new ventures; increasing the likelihood of becoming self-

employed; income; the growth of firms; promoting the transfer of technology from the

university to the private sector; and, less strongly, job satisfaction. Most beneficiaries have

reported an improvement in their socio economic conditions as a results of the program.

As a result of the STEP trainings, the beneficiaries gained improved capacity in employability,

entrepreneurship, and service learning. The beneficiaries expressed satisfaction with the

training received from STEP. By the time of assessing the program impact, the number of

youth beneficiaries who took part in the training had gained improved skills.

The analysis of data collected from review of the documents, interviews, visits, and focus

groups resulted in lessons learned in the areas of management and program

implementation; training

Evaluation of the Youth Entrepreneurship Development Program.

3.2. Evaluation Findings

The evaluation exercise findings were categorized into four counties. These were Nakuru,

Kenyatta University, Mombasa and Kiambu.

3.2.1 Sampling and Sampling Distribution

No. STAKEHOLDER’S

REGION

SUCCESSFUL RESPONSE NO.OF

RESPONDENTS

1. Kenyatta University 462 600

2. Mombasa 45 100

3. Kiambu 51 100

4. Nakuru 70 100

628 900

The summary below highlights the major findings of the evaluation:

3.2.1.1. KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

STEP training at Kenyatta University commenced in September 2012 and had three waves of

trainees from 2012, 2013 and 2014. Each wave trained 200 students mainly in the graduating

class of fourth, fifth and sixth years, depending on the courses the students were undertaking.

The training sessions are summarized in figure 1.

26

The general aim of STEP Kenyatta University was to train students in entrepreneurship. Other

objectives included:

Change the mind-set: self-employment after graduation should become a real

option for the students.

Increase start-up rate: Boost the number of new ventures founded

Students should be job creators and not job seekers

Figure 1: Training groups at Kenyatta University 2013-2014

The total number of STEP 2014 trainees at the university were 462 applicants where 73% male

and 27% female. Random process was used to select 216 participants for STEP (73% male;

27% female). In addition, statistical analyses showed that there were no significant

differences between the participants of the training group and the other students. This

indicates that the two groups were equivalent before the STEP training. In terms of

attendance, 53% of the students regularly attended STEP which was relatively high drop-out

rate compared to previous implementations of STEP at the University.

STEP TRAINING: EFFICIENCY

This section aimed at addressing two main questions:


Have the institutional’s organizational structure, managerial support and coordination


Since the STEP training at the university was institutionalized, the university administration was

responsible for the organization at implementation of the training.The STEP trainers were

therefore asked whether the STEP training was delivered in a timely manner at Kenyatta

T1

Aug 2013

483 students

Questionnaire T1

T2

Dec 2013

413 students

Questionnaire T2

T3

Oct-Dec 2014

325 students

Questionnaire T3

Training

Sep-Nov

2013

27

University. The trainers felt that since STEP at Kenyatta University was conducted from 5.00 pm

to 7.00 pm after classes it ensured that the regular academic program was not interrupted.

This hour was considered suitable for both the students and the trainer lecturers to train and

travel to their homes in good time.

Kenyatta University administration also ensured that each of the lecturers was given a

facilitation fee after the training for each module handled. These trainers felt that this amount

paid to them was adequate since they did not incur extra expenses in training the STEP

trainees at the university. The University administration also ensured all the facilitation required

was given to the programme. These included:

The Deputy Vice Chancellor Academics (DVC Academics) was in charge of the STEP

KU program on behalf of the Vice Chancellor of the university.

Managerial support was provided through monetary support for trainers, meeting

refreshments, logistics in attending closing ceremony

During the initial training for the trainers, a certificate of completion for a trainers

signed by Leuphana University and Kenyatta University administration.

EFFECTIVENESS OF STEP PROGRAMME

This section summarizes the findings as based on the five research questions, which were as

follows:

What progress was made towards achievement of the expected STEP outcomes and

expected results?




What progress was made towards achievement of the expected STEP outcomes and

expected results?

PROGRESS TOWARDS THE ACHIEVEMENT OF STEP OUTCOMES

The number of students selected to be in the first cohort of the STEP program in 2012 were 400

students in which 200 students received the training while 200 were used in the control group.

This was considered a very small percentage of the university population (less than 7%) of the

students. The Leuphana team could only use this number in their study due to logistics and

financial constraints.

Each trainee section had a maximum of 50 students and since it involved using Action

training, larger groups could not be accommodated. Secondly, each group of trainees (5-7

students) was given 100USD as startup capital and the program could not afford to finance

28

larger groups. This population was insignificant with regard to the number of graduating

students each year. This was a challenge in the training because the impact was minimized.

The trainers were asked what the expected outcomes for the STEP training at Kenyatta

University were. They felt that the STEP training in Kenyatta University was aimed at:

1. Changing the attitudes of the trainees towards entrepreneurship among the

graduating students and adoption of a positive attitude towards developing a

business. It was noted that building a business is challenging and therefore the right

attitude is required to succeed. It was reported that, a lot of the students became job

seekers after graduation. It was expected that the STEP training would result in

behaviour change and more students would start their own businesses.

2. Although many youth had started businesses, the survival rate of these businesses was

very low. It was expected that the STEP training would give these entrepreneurs the

skills and resilience to overcome the challenges in building a business and increase

the survival rates of these enterprises. It was noted that the graduates did not have a

positive perception towards hustling. It was hoped that the STEP training would

change their perception and help the graduates start small business become

streetwise and also understand how to run a business. The STEP training was viewed as

a way of enriching the students’ understanding of entrepreneurship and creating an

entrepreneurial mindset. In addition, the latter would enable the students become

more employable and enhance their entrepreneurial skills.

Additionally, the STEP trainers felt that there were other incidental outcomes that resulted

from the STEP trainers. These outcomes included:

STEP gave an entrepreneurial capacity to the trainers since they were empowered to

undertake coordination of entrepreneurship program and become leaders. As a

result of the STEP training some trainees have started their businesses and become

more interested in entrepreneurial ventures, negotiating skills and managing the

outcomes of different businesses. Individual trainers are becoming entrepreneurial

ambassadors

The trainers became more of counsellors and helped the students to become more

than just trainees but also improve their academic and social lives.

The students and trainers also felt that the reason for such high achievement in the STEP

training programme at the university was because of diligence in the training duration by

trainers who adhered to the schedule as per Leuphana University guidelines for the KU

students. This schedule was based on a researched and tested methodology that had

yielded positive results in countries such as Uganda, Liberia, Tanzania, Lesotho and Rwanda.

29

The trainers were also well trained in a rigorous trainer of trainers program conducted by the

Leuphana team. The trainers therefore insured that they covered the content, had makeup

for any missed sessions and adhered to the time allocated for the training.

SATISFACTION OF THE BENEFICIARIES

The trainers felt that the STEP training in KU was satisfactory since the trainees were very

enthusiastic during the session as well as insisting to join the training and not the control

groups for the STEP research. The number of applicants for the 2012 and 2014 trainee cohorts

was higher than the required numbers of 200 students.

Over 90% of the students reported that they were very satisfied STEP training since it had

demystified entrepreneurship and given them hands on entrepreneurial experience. Some

of the students interviewed in this evaluation gave the following comments on email:

[email protected]:

“Am so glad about STEP. I have begun a new business at home courtesy of STEP.I humbly

employed my mum to watch over my business.am grateful for the chance and expertise

that i gain from you. God bless STEP”

[email protected]:

"I greatly appreciate to your documents sent as said early during the launch of

the STEP training programme at Kenyatta University .I want to sincerely say that we've really

learnt from your materials, we’ve earned a good experience on managing such a capital

that seemed small to start a business initially, only to find it enough to earn profits and even

lead to Company formation. The work presented to us by our lecturers on various STEP topics

is also quite good”.

[email protected]:

"Trust me it’s really fun with the training and we learning a lot thanks guys...."

[email protected]:

"Congratulations for the innovative idea to transform the world."

It was further reported by Prof. M. Gielnik, a key implementer of STEP from Leuphana

University that STEP evaluation carried out by his team had shown a positive impact of STEP in

the short run and in the long run. The STEP students created more businesses after the training

and in the long term.

RELEVANCE OF STEP PROGRAMME

This section summarizes the findings as based on three research questions, which were as

follows:




mailto:[email protected]



30

ARE THE PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES ADDRESSING IDENTIFIED NEEDS OF THE TARGET GROUP(S)?

It has been estimated that eighty percent of Kenyans are less than 35 years old, making the

population relatively young. The highest unemployment rates are among youth of 20 years

old, at 35%. 1The STEP training objectives addressed the needs of the target group to

become job creators of improve their businesses skills and grow their businesses. For instance,

the STEP program at Kenyatta University was aimed at changing the students’ mindset

towards entrepreneurship and the trainers felt that this was successfully attained as discussed

in the achieved outcomes.

These objectives were in line with the national priorities of capitalizing on the demographic

dividend of the youth and equipping them with skills to create jobs and not become job

seekers. Such national policies include Kenya’s Vision 2030 Medium Term Plan (MTP) which

established the Youth Fund is to offer a variety of loans and financing products, as well as

training and mentoring. http://www.youthfund.go.ke/. Another a flagship program for Vision

2030 called UWEZO fund was also created with the aim of expanding access to finances

and promote women, youth and persons living with disability led enterprises at the

constituency level. This fund is aimed at supporting the incubating of enterprises, catalyzing

innovation, promoting industry, creating employment, and growing the economy. It provides

loans to qualifying groups, and is administered locally http://www.uwezo.go.ke/

The problem experienced by graduating students was lack of gainful employment after

graduation. It was through such training that these students were able to consider

entrepreneurship as an alternative to job creation.

IMPACT OF STEP TRAINING

This section summarizes the impact of the STEP training by answering the various questions:


attitude has the project impacted the STEP trainees?



LONG-TERM EVALUATION KENYATTA: SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON START-UPS AND JOBS

The longitudinal studies carried out on STEP trainees showed that:

STEP students low in taking responsibility for their lives started 62% more businesses.

STEP students employed 89% more people after the training; this holds in particular for

full-time employees.

http://www.youthfund.go.ke/

31

STEP achieved its goals with respect to start-up rate (for students low in taking

responsibility) and job creation even the students of the control group received

starting capital for the same period of time.

1. 26 UNDP. Kenya’s Youth Employment Challenge. January 2013.

http://www.undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Poverty%20Reduction/Inclusive%20

development/Kenya_YEC _web (jan13).pdf

Figure 2: Are you currently the owner of a business after the STEP training? (Courtesy of

Leuphana University)

Repeated measures ANOVA: Interaction training * wave * rejection of control significant at

p < .10; Eta2 = .013.

T-test for total: t = 2.06, p < .05; T-test for full-time: t = 1.65, p < .10; T-test for part-time: t =

1.43, non-significant

32

Figure 3: How many full/ part time employees do you have? (Courtesy of Leuphana

University)

The analysis found that the weekly STEP training sessions are an integral part of the

entrepreneurship and it was evident that only providing starting capital is not sufficient for

successful business startup among the students. To further prove the impact of STEP, the

training was successfully planned and implemented in 2014. STEP was offered to 216 students

mainly in their last year of study in the university. The students were motivated to follow the

training concept and attend the sessions. Starting capital was given to all the students and

83% of the starting capital was repaid.

With regard to entrepreneurial mindset, STEP changed students’ entrepreneurial mind-set, as

the students reported that they identified more opportunities, were more confident, had

stronger entrepreneurial intentions, and showed more entrepreneurial actions. The effects

replicate the findings from the first and second round of STEP training indicating that the

positive impact of STEP is generalizable across time.

The STEP trainees identified 30% more opportunities to create a business than non-trainees

(Kenyatta 2013: 29%). STEP students had 10% stronger entrepreneurial intentions to start a

business (Kenyatta 2013: 7%). The STEP training caused a 30% increase in entrepreneurial

activities performed to start a business (Kenyatta 2013: 12%).

SUSTAINABILITY OF STEP AT KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

This section aimed to answer the following key questions:








Since the STEP training was sponsored by UNESCO- KNATCOM and Leuphana University at

the university level, it did not continue after the Leuphana team left Kenyatta University. In

addition, the students that were trained had graduated and were no longer students at the

university. These meant therefore that there were no sustainable post-STEP mentoring plans

after the cessation of the institutions support.

33

The trainers agreed that there was need to strengthen monitoring programs for both STEP in

the university and mainstream the training into university activities. Some of the suggested

monitoring platforms include the use of interactive social media and interactive apps and

platforms to create STEP trainee alumni where the trainees can interact and share

opportunities and experiences. A STEP TRAINERS CLUB-KENYA needs to be formed for

networking of the trainers both locally and regionally.

The trainers suggested that institutional sustainability of STEP could be achieved through:

Inclusion of other partners and stakeholders

Kenyatta University can mainstream STEP into the university curriculum and seek

sponsors who are willing to support the program as a Corporate Social Responsibility

or Private Public partnership Initiatives

Kenyatta University could integrate more directorates within the university and make

STEP a community outreach initiative to help mitigate the joblessness among the

youth.

Counties can also participate by partnering with the university to design STEP training

programs that addresses unique challenges in each county. The STEP content for

each of the counties needs flexibility e.g. modules need to upgrade to suit the

changes such as ICT developments globally.

3.2.1.2 NAKURU, KIAMBU AND MOMBASA COUNTIES.

3.2.1.2.1 CASE OF KIAMBU COUNTY

Kiambu County was selected for the pilot training after discussions with various county

representatives, Kenyatta University and UNESCO. 100 trainees were selected for the training

through the Youth – for STEP (Y – STEP) in March 2016. These youth had to either be in business

or hoping to start a business soon. The training session lasted 12 weeks and the M&E was

carried out in July 2017. These findings are based on the 51 trainees that were available at

the time of the M&E exercise.

Demographic data of the Y-STEP Trainees

Most of the Y-STEP trainees who completed the questionnaire were male (58.8 per cent) and

41.2 per cent female. This finding is summarized in Table 1. Majority of the respondents (96.1

per cent) were within the 31-35 age groups, and 3.9% were within 25-30 years old.

Table 1: Gender of Trainees

Gender Frequency Percent

34

Male 30 58.8

Female 21 41.2

Total 51 100.0

In terms of education levels 7.8% of the trainees had primary school level as their highest level

of education, 15.7% were of secondary level while a greater percent of 54.9% had attended

middle level colleges. A significant number represented by 21.6% of the trainees were of

university level. These findings are summarized in figure 1.

Figure 1: Academic levels of the Trainees

In terms of their marital status, 49.0% of the trainees were single and a similar percentage was

married. Only a smaller percentage of 2.0% were divorced as shown in figure 2.

Primary SecondaryMiddle Level

CollegeUniversity

Percentage 7.8 15.7 54.9 21.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Per

cen

tag

e

Academic levels of Trainees

35

Figure2: Marital status of Trainees

With regard to their employment status, majority of the respondents (76.5 %) were self-

employed, while17.6% were employed and ran a business on the side. A small percentage of

5.9% was employed and did not have a business at the moment as shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Employment Status of the Trainees

Employment Status Frequency Percent

Self-employed 39 76.5

Employed 3 5.9

Employed and run a Business 9 17.6

Total 51 100.0

Y-STEP TRAINING: EFFICIENCY



Have the institutional’s organizational structure, managerial support and coordination


On whether Y-STEP program was delivered in a timely manner, majority of the respondents

agreed that the venue was suitable and accessible for them during the training (56.9 SA % &

33.3 A %) while only 9.8 % gave a neutral response. These findings are summarized in figure 3.

Married Divorced Single

Percent 49 2 49

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Per

cen

tag

eMarital Status of Trainees

36

Figure 3: Accessibility and suitability of the training Venue

In terms of suitability of the time, the Y-STEP trainees felt that the training was done at a

time the trainees were free/available (60.8. % A & 35.3% SA). In addition, the trainees felt that

the Y-STEP training done in the county fairly done to all including youth with special needs

(52.9.% A &29.4.%SA); there was only 5.9% who disagreed that the training was fairly done to

include youth with special needs, while 11.8% were neutral on the matter. With regard to

coordination, the respondents agreed that the Y-STEP training was well coordinated by the

trainers and the organizing team (SA 64.7.% &A 35.3.%).

The trainees stated that Y-STEP training done in the county integrated with ICT and other

resources to make the training effective (SA 41.2%A &31.4% respectively). However, there

was a significant percentage (23.5%) of the trainees who gave a neutral response while only

3.9% did not feel that the Y-STEP training done in the county did not effectively integrate ICT

and other resources to make it effective. Additionally 23.5% of the respondents were neutral.

With regard to follow-up after the training, a significant percentage (35.3% & 5.9%) did not

feel that there was effective follow-up after the training. A significant percentage (19.6%)

gave a neutral response while cumulatively, 35.3% either agreed or strongly agreed that

there was a dire need for a follow-up after the training to ensure business success. A

summary of these findings are shown in Table 3.

Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

percentage 9.8 33.3 56.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

per

cen

tag

e

Was the training done in a suitability of the

venue

37

Table 3: Efficiency of Y-STEP Training

Indicators

Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

n

Re

spo

nse

Tota

l

Accessibility of the

venue

56.9 33.3 9.8 0 0 0 100

Timing Suitability 35.3 60.8 3.9 0 0 0 100

Inclusion(Youth with

special needs)

29.4 52.9 11.8 5.9 0 0 100

Coordination of the

Training

64.7 35.3 0 0 0 0 100

Integration of ICT in

training

41.2 31.4 23.5 3.9 0 0 100

Follow-up after the

training

11.8 23.5 19.6 35.3 5.9 3.9 100

3.1.3 Effectiveness of Y-STEP Programme


follows:

What progress was made towards achievement of the expected Y-STEP outcomes







To determine the effectiveness of the Y-STEP training, the respondents were asked whether

the training was sufficient in addressing their entrepreneurial challenges. Majority of the Y-

STEP trainees reported that the Y-STEP training content was sufficient in addressing their

entrepreneurship challenges (SA 31.4% & A 56.9. %). In addition Y-STEP training content was

delivered in adequate time (A 60.8%& SA 19.6%) to ensure the content of the key areas in

operating a business were covered within the training period. Competency of the trainers

was also an important element towards the achievement of the Y-STEP outcomes. The

trainees felt that Y-STEP training content was delivered by the trainers in a way that was easy

to understand (A 37.3%& 62.7%) and was delivered in a manner that enhanced

comprehension by all including youth with special needs (A33.3% & SA39.2%).

38

One of the expected outcomes was that the training was relevant in helping the trainees

improve their current businesses. The trainees felt that Y-STEP training content was useful in

helping them to get new ideas to for their business (A29.4. % & SA58.8%) whilst 45.1% A and

52.9%SA that Y-STEP training content had helped them to get new business ideas. These

findings are summarized in Table 4.

Table 4: Effectiveness of Y-STEP Training

INDICATORS

Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

n

Re

spo

nse

Tota

l

Sufficiency of Y-STEP content

31.4 56.9 11.8 0 0 0 100

Delivery of the content

19.6 60.8 19.6 0 0 0 100

Delivery to make it easy to understand the Y-

STEP content

62.7 37.3 0 0 0 0 100

Relevance of the content to improve my

business

58.8 29.4 9.8 0 2.0 0 100

Useful in helping me to get new ideas to for my

business

52.9 45.1 0 0 2.0 0 100

The Y-STEP programme, aims to build both intrapreneurial and entrepreneurial competencies

of the trainees, enabling them to get better jobs or run their own ‘small enterprises

successfully’. The programme also improves the chances of such businesses in overcoming

challenges in a competitive marketplace while also providing wider opportunities for

partnership-building and mobilizing resources, including human resources. Evidently,

increases in entrepreneurial skill and knowledge are linked to increase in incomes and per

capita incomes of the youth, which in turn leads to reduction in poverty in the country.

RELEVANCE OF Y-STEP PROGRAMME


follows:




39

To determine the relevance of the Y-STEP programme to the trainers, it was necessary to

establish whether the trainees had businesses before the training. From the responses 88.2%

had businesses while 11.8% had no businesses at the time of the training. This is summarized in

figure 4.

Figure 4: Number of trainees running a business before the training

Among those trainees who had businesses their reasons for establishing these businesses

included:

For income generation and job creation

Lack of employment

The decision to take a risk and venture into business

The need to be independent and be self employed

As a means of making profits and catering for family needs

As a way of improving their economic status and life in general

They had entrepreneurial skills which they wanted to practise

To offer solution and produce quality products

The trainees were asked what challenges they faced in their businesses and their main

challenges were:

Financial constraints such as lack of capital

High inflation rate in the county

A volatile market that is highly competitive

Lack of linkages to markets

0 20 40 60 80 100

Yes

No

Yes No

percentage 88.2 11.8

Did you own a business before the

training?

40

High competition in the market place

Some people took advantage of their skills and knowledge

The trainees were asked whether the Y-STEP programme addressed the needs in their

businesses. Majority of the trainees (96.1 %) agreed that Y-STEP had enabled them address

various challenges in their businesses. Additionally, 98.0% of the respondents agreed that the

Y-STEP programme had met their expectations in as far as entrepreneurial training is

concerned. The findings are summarized in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Y-STEP programme addressed the needs in their businesses and met trainees’

expectations

The main areas that the respondents felt Y-STEP training had met their expectations included

the following:

The trainees were able to plan better for their businesses

They were able to come up with new business ideas and concepts

They had gained knowledge on how keep their financial records

They gained knowledge on how to manage challenges in their business

They gained skills on how serve their customers better and network

They learned how their businesses run competitively in the market and succeed

They learned the relevant skills and knowledge required to set up a business.

Yes No

Address identified needs of

your business96.1 3.9

STEP training met your

expectations98 2

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

Per

cen

tag

e

STEP Training addressed identified business needs &

met Trainees' expectations

41

In order to improve Y-STEP training in future, it was necessary to get the trainees’ views on

how often the post-STEP training should be carried out and which areas can be enriched in

the Y-STEP programme. Majority of the respondents (43.1%) felt that the training should be

conducted after 3 months, 29.4% felt that is should be biannual while only 25.5% wanted the

training to be done annually. This finding is summarized in Figure6.

Figure 6: Suggested frequency of Y-STEP training

To further make the Y-STEP programme more impactful to the youth, the respondents gave

the following suggestions:

They should bring on board successful entrepreneurs to motivate the trainees

Make follow up on the trainees’ businesses after the training

Offer more training and training days for the youth

Partner with organisations that offer capital to nascent businesses

Is Y-STEP programme in line with national priorities?

Here, the research sought to find out whether there were entrepreneurship programs in the

county that were in line with national priorities of increasing job creation among the youth

and how Y-STEP programme complimented these entrepreneurship programmes. According

to the results, 60.8% of the respondents were aware of entrepreneurial programs in the

county that enhance youth entrepreneurship. Another 19.6% of them said that there were no

programs that promote youth entrepreneurship while 17.6% were not aware of such

programs. This finding is summarized in figure 7.

After 3

months

After 6

monthsYearly No response

Percentage 43.1 29.4 25.5 2

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Per

cen

tag

e

Suggested Frequency of STEP Training

42

Figure 7: Are there other entrepreneurship programs in the county?

Those who were aware of the entrepreneurship programs listed the following;

Establish Biashara funds

Boda Boda fund

Iko Biz

Mobicash Biashara funds

Uwezo fund

YEDF programme

The trainees were further asked whether they had attended the programs. A greater

percentage (51.1) of the trainees said they had attended an entrepreneurship program

while 45.1% said they had not attended any of these programs. Only 3.9% of the trainees did

not respond to the question. The findings are summarized in figure 8.

Yes No Don't know No response

percentage 60.8 19.6 17.6 2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Per

cen

tag

e

Are there other Entrepreneurship programmes in your

county?

43

Figure 8: Have you attended other entrepreneurship programs in the county?

To ascertain whether Y-STEP was in line with national priorities in entrepreneurship, the trainees

were also asked if the Y-STEP training complemented the county programs on

entrepreneurship. It was evident that Y-STEP was somewhat complementary with a 60.8%

responding in the affirmative while only 17.6% disagreed and 21.6 percentage did not

respond to the question.

Figure 9: Is Y-STEP Programme in line with National priorities?

Yes No Noo Response

Percentage 51 45.1 3.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Per

cen

tag

e

Have you attended any of these

Entrepreneurship programmes?

Yes No No response

Percentage 60.8 17.6 21.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Per

cen

tag

e

Is STEP Programme in line with National

priorities?

44

IMPACT OF Y-STEP TRAINING:

This section summarizes the impact of the Y-STEP training by answering various questions:

Are you running a business after the Y-STEP training & has the business grown since the

training?

Has your business grown by over 10% after the training?

In what ways – socially, economically, politically, environmentally and in terms of attitude

- has the training impacted the Y-STEP trainees?



In order to access the impact of the Y-STEP training in the counties, it was necessary to find

out whether the trainees had businesses in this evaluation phase. The Y-STEP trainees were

required to state whether they were running businesses currently. There was a significant

increase of the number of trainees running businesses from 88.2 % during the training to 94.1%

were currently running businesses. Only 5.9% did not have businesses. Majority of the trainees

(92.2%) said that their businesses had grown since the training while only 2.0% felt to the

contrary. There were some who did not respond to the question which was represented by

5.9%. These findings are summarized in Figure 10.

Figure 10: Are you running a business after the Y-STEP training & has the business grown since

the training?

Yes No No response

currently operating a business 94.1 5.9 0

Business has it grown since the

STEP training92.2 2 5.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Per

cen

tag

e

Currently opperating a business & there is growth

since the Training

45

The trainees were asked whether their businesses had grown by over 10% since the training

and it was noted that 51.0% and 9.8% of the respondents agreed and strongly agreed

respectively, that their businesses had grown since the training. It was worth noting however

that 31.4% of the respondents gave a neutral response implying that they were not sure if

there was growth in their businesses. Only 2.0% SD and 2.0% disagreed that their businesses

had grown by over 10%.

Figure 11: Has your business grown by over 10% after the training?

Their reasons for business growth included:

The ability to manage capital and keep financial records

Network with other youth entrepreneurs

Skills in attracting customers

Improved their managerial skills

Stock taking and managing dead stock

Acquired skills to plan for the business

Business expansion due to increased profits

Create more employment opportunities for other youth

Another indicator for business growth was the creation of employment for other youth by the

trainees. It was reported that some of their businesses had created employment

opportunities for other youth after the training where 31.4% agreed and 41.2% strongly

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Strongly

Disagree

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly Agree

No response

Strongly

DisagreeDisagree Neutral Agree

Strongly

AgreeNo response

percentage 2 2 31.4 51 9.8 3.9

Has your business grown by over 10% since the

training?

46

agreed. Only 3.9% of the trainees strongly disagreed while a significant percentage (23.5%)

was neutral, implying perhaps that there was no change in their business. Further to this, the

youth felt the training had helped them become more financially empowered and were

able to support remit tax from their businesses, where 41.2% agreed and 23.5% strongly

agreed with the statement. Their businesses had also helped the trainees remit tax as

summarized in table 5.

Another social impact was that the trainees were able to run their businesses more

effectively and therefore reduce crime rates among them. In this regard, 33.3% agreed and

21.6% strongly agreed that they were less susceptible to crime related incidences since they

could operate their businesses more effectively. A significant percentage (33.3%) of the

trainees were neutral to this matter, while only 9.8% and 2 % either disagreed or strongly

disagreed that the Y-STEP training had led to reduction in crime rate of the trainees since

they were able to run their businesses more effectively.

On the environmental impact of Y-STEP, 56.8% of the respondents felt that the Y-STEP training

had enabled them to create environmentally friendly businesses, while only 23.5% either

disagreed or strongly disagreed. This finding could be due to the new business opportunities

that the trainees were able to identify after learning the skills in the Y-STEP training. The


Table 5: Economic, social and environmental impact on the Y-STEP trainees

Indicators

Y-STEP training has:

Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

re

spo

nse

Tota

l

Enabled me to create employment for

other youth in my business

41.2 31.4 23.5 0 3.9 0 100

Enabled my business remit tax 23.5 41.2 25.5 3.9 2.0 3.9 100

The trainees are less susceptible to crime

related incidences

21.6 33.3 33.3 9.8 2.0 0 100

Economically stable 27.5 60.8 5.9 3.9 2.0 0 100

Run my businesses more effectively 29.4 56.9 5.9 0 5.9 2.0 100

Trainees have create environmentally

friendly businesses

23.5 33.3 17.6 13.7 9.8 2.0 100

According to these Y-STEP trainees, their expectations were met because:

They had learned the skills in financial management and record keeping.

47

They had created employment and expanded their businesses

Their businesses had stabilized

They were able to network and create partnership with other entrepreneurs

They were able to improve their saving and stock taking skills

They were able to transform an idea into a business

Sustainability of Y-STEP Programme in the County









The research sought to know whether the program was supported by local institutions in the

county and whether the trainees would recommend it for other youths in the county. It was

evident that a significant percentage of 37.3% agreed that the program was being

supported by local institutions. However an almost similar percentage (56.9%) did not know

what support mechanisms existed in the county for the Y-STEP programme and only 5.9% said

the program was not supported by local institutions.

Figure 12: Is the Y-STEP programme supported by local institutions?

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Yes

No

Don' t Know

Yes No Don' t Know


Is STEP Programme supported by local

institutions in your county?

48

On the aspect of the policies that would enhance prosperity for the youth, 70.6% of the

trainees acknowledged that they were aware of policies that ensure youth prosperity in the

future. A small minority of 21.6% did not feel that there were government policies that

focused on youth prosperity while a small percentage (7.8%) did not respond to the question.

A significant number represented by 96.1% said that they would recommend the training for

youth in other counties because they felt that this training gave them knowledge job

creation and reduction of crime, helped to create more awareness to become and

become self-employed.

The trainees further recommended that Y-STEP training could be made more effective in

achieving the expected outcomes and sustainability of entrepreneurship by:

Having more and frequent follow up visits to their businesses

Creating a platform where these trainees can exchange ideas and information.

Providing avenues for the youth to access capital.

Support the business proposals made by the entrepreneurs.

3.2.1.3 Y-STEP EVALUATION REPORT: CASE OF MOMBASA COUNTY

CASE OF MOMBASA COUNTY

Mombasa County was selected for the second training after discussions with various county

representatives, Kenyatta University and KNATCOM UNESCO. 100 trainees were selected for

the training in March 2016. These youth had to either be in business or hoping to start a

business soon. The training session lasted 12 weeks and the M&E was carried out in July 2017.

These findings are based on the 45 trainees that were available at the time of the M&E

exercise.



37.8 per cent female. Most of the respondents (53.3 per cent) were within the 31-35 age

groups, 40.0% aged between 21-24 years old, 6.6 per cent were within the 15-20 years old.

This finding is summarized in Table 1.



Male 28 62.2

Female 17 37.8

Total 45 100.0

49

In terms of education levels 13.3% of the trainees had primary school level as their highest

level of education, 35.6% were of secondary level while a greater percent of 33.3% had

attended middle level colleges. Only 15.9% of the trainees were of university level. These

findings are summarized in figure 1.


In terms of their marital status, 73.3% of the trainees were single and only a smaller

percentage of 26.7% were married as shown in figure 2.

Primary SecondaryMiddle Level

CollegeUniversity No response

Percent

Per

cen

tag

e


Married Single

Percent

Per

cen

tag

e

Marital Status of Trainees

50



employed, 6.7% were employed while 31.1% were not employed. A small percentage of

2.2% were employed and running a business concurrently as shown in Table 2.




Employed 3 6.7

Unemployed 14 31.1


Total 45 100.0




Have the institutional’ s organizational structure, managerial support and coordination

mechanisms effectively supported their delivery


agreed that the venue was suitable and accessible for them during the training (48.9 SA % &

37.8 A %) while only 2.2 % disagreed. These findings are summarized in figure 3.


Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree No response

Percent

Per

cen

tag

e

Was the Training Done in a suitable and Accessible

venue?

51


time the trainees were free/available where 55.6. % A & 28.9% SA. In addition, the trainees

felt that the Y-STEP training done in the county fairly done to all including youth with special

needs (37.8. % A &51.1. % A).With regard to coordination, the respondents agreed that the Y-

STEP training was well coordinated by the trainers and the organizing team as (SA 53.3. % &a

37.8. %).


resources to make the training effective (SA 48.9%A &31.1.% respectively). However, the a

larger percentage of the trainees did not feel that the Y-STEP training done in the county was

effectively followed-up by the organizing team to ensure my business success (SD26.7%&

D20.0%). Additionally 15.6% of the respondents were neutral question implying that they were

not aware of any follow-up programs conducted after the training. A summary of these

findings are shown in Table 3.


Indicators

Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

n

Re

spo

nse

Tota

l


venue

48.9 37.8 6.7 2.2 0 4.4 100

Timing Suitability 28.9 55.6 8.9 2.2 2.2 2.2 100


special needs)

51.1 37.8 2.2 4.4 2.2 2.2 100

Coordination of the

Training

53.3 37.8 4.4 4.4 0 0 100


training

31.1 48.9 4.4 8.9 4.4 2.2 100

Follow-up after the

training

20.0 11.1 15.6 20.0 26.7 6.7 100

Effectiveness of Y-STEP Programme


follows:

52










STEP trainees reported that the Y-STEP training content was sufficient in addressing

entrepreneurship challenges (SA 22.2% & A 64.4.%). In addition Y-STEP training content was

delivered in adequate time (SA 33.3%& A 35.6%) to ensure the content of the key areas in

operating a business were covered within the training period. Competency of the trainer was

also an important element towards the achievement of the Y-STEP outcomes. The trainees

felt that Y-STEP training content was delivered by the trainers in a way that was east to

understand (SA 37.8%&A48.9%) and was delivered in a manner that to acceptable to all

including youth with special needs (SA51.1% &A35.6%).



helping me to get new ideas to for my business (SA42.2.% & A51.1% ) whilst 42.2% SA and

51.1%A that Y-STEP training content had helped them to get new business ideas. These



Indicators

Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

n

Re

spo

nse

Tota

l

Sufficiency of Y-STEP content 22.2 64.4 11.1 2.2 0 0 100

Delivery of the content 33.3 35.6 22.2 6.7 0 0 100


STEP content

37.8 48.9 8.9 2.2 0 2.2 100


business

42.2 51.1 2.2 4.4 0 0 100

53


business

42.2 51.1 4.4 0 2.2 0 100



successfully’. The programme also improves the chances such businesses to overcome





Relevance of Y-STEP Programme


follows:





establish whether the trainees had businesses before the training. From the responses 40%

had businesses while 57.8% had no businesses whilst 2.2% did not respond to the question.


0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Yes

No

Non Response

Yes No Non Response

percentage 40 57.8 2.2


training?

54


included:

Earning a living and improve their economic status

Lack of employment

Need to be self employed

The need to be independent or own boss


challenges were:

Financial constraints on lack of capital

High inflation rate in the county

Political interference especially during elections

Not getting adequate assistance from the county government

High competition in the market place

Challenges accessing the youth fund

Poverty among the locals who are unable to purchase their products



various challenges in their businesses .Additionally, 82.2% of the respondents agreed that the



55


expectations


the following:

They had better understanding on how to manage finance, book keeping

They were able to understand the needs of the potential customer and start a

business that catered for these needs

They had gained knowledge on how to start business ideas and were encouraged to

be entrepreneurial

They gained skills for networking and engaging with various stakeholders

They gained skills on how to get capital for their businesses and manage challenges

They learned how to plan, get customers, marketing and making a profit in their

businesses

They learned the relevant skills and knowledge required to set up a business.


how often the training should be carried out and which areas can be enriched in the Y-STEP

programme. Majority of the respondents (42.2%) felt that the training should be conducted

after 6 months, 35.6% felt that is should be at every quarter while only 22.2% wanted the

training to be done annually. This finding is summarized in Figure6.

Yes No non response

Addressed identified

business needs84.5 8.9 6.6

Training met your

expectations82.2 17.8 0

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Per

cen

tag

e

STEP Training addressed identified

business needs & met Trainees'

expectations

56




There should be done regularly and follow up made after the youth have been

trained

There is need to link Y-STEP with capital supporting stakeholders

More training is needed as the youth runs their businesses to help them overcome the

challenges their encounter

Assist the youth in writing business proposals and business plans

Invite investors during the training

Make the training available in the county

Tailor-make the training to suit the needs of various youth in business and those

seeking to start businesses.



county were in line with national priorities of increasing job creation among the youth and

how Y-STEP programme complimented these entrepreneurship programmes. According to

the results, 40.0% of the respondents were not aware whether there were any programs in

the county that enhance youth entrepreneurship. Another 24.4% of them said that there

were no programs that promote youth entrepreneurship. A significant number (35.6%) of the

trainees said that there were programs in the county that enhanced youth entrepreneurship.

This finding is summarized in figure 7.

After 3 months After 6 months Yearly


0

10

20

30

40

50P

erce

nta

ge

Suggested Frequency of STEP Training

57



Revolving funds, youth development funds and disability funds

Imarisha Vijana.

KEPSA and KECOSO

Women funds project

Uwezo funds


percentage (42.2%) of the trainees said they had attended an entrepreneurship program




Yes No Don't know

Series1 35.6 24.4 40

0

10

20

30

40

50

per

cen

tag

eAre there other Entrepreneurship

programmes in your county?

Yes No No response

Series1 42.2 48.9 8.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Per

cen

tag

e



58




responding in the affirmative while only 44.4% disagreed and 15.6 percentage did not




This section summarizes the impact of the Y-STEP training by answering the various questions:


attitude - has the project impacted the Y-STEP trainees?






increase of the number of trainees running businesses from 40% during the training to 64.4%

were currently running businesses. Only 35.6% did not have businesses. Majority of the trainees

(51.1%) said that their businesses had grown since the training while only 33.3% felt to the

contrary. These findings are summarized in Figure 10.

Yes No No response

percentage 40 44.4 15.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

per

cen

tag

e


priorities?

59

Figure 10: Are you running a business after the Y-STEP training?


and it was noted that 28.9% and 11.1% of the respondents agreed and strongly agreed



there was growth in their businesses. Only 4.4% SD and 18.6% disagreed that their businesses

had grown by over 10%.



The ability to raise capital

Book keeping skills and how to utilize their available resources

Skills in managing finances and boot strapping/ saving money

Yes No

percentge 64.4 35.6

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70p

erce

nta

ge

Are you currently running a business?

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Yes

No

No response

Percentages

Res

po

nse

s

Has your business grown by over 10% since

the training?

percentage

60

Solving challenges and overcoming barriers

Implementing business ideas

Managing their customers

Implementing a business idea

Business expansion due to increased profits

Create more employment opportunities for other youth



opportunities for other youth after the training where 40% agreed and 11.1% strongly agreed.

Only 17.8% of the trainees disagreed while a similar percentage was neutral, implying

perhaps that there was no change in their business. Further to this, the youth felt the training

had helped them become more financially empowered and were able to support remit tax

from their businesses, where 17.8% agreed and 13.3% strongly agreed with the statement.

Their businesses had also helped the trainees remit tax as summarized in table 5.



22.2% strongly agreed that they were less susceptible to crime-related incidences since they

could operate their businesses more effectively. A significant percentage of the trainees

were neutral (22.2%) to this matter, while only 15.6% either disagreed or strongly disagreed

that the Y-STEP training had led to reduction in crime rate of the trainees since they were

able to run their businesses more effectively.

On the environmental impact of Y-STEP, 51.2% of the respondents felt that the Y-STEP training

had enabled them to create environmentally friendly businesses, while only 17.8% either

disagreed or strongly disagreed. This finding could be due to the new business opportunities

that the trainees were able to identify after learning the skills in the Y-STEP training. The



Indicators


Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

re

spo

nse

Tota

l



11.1 40.0 17.8 15.6 2.2 13.3 100

Enabled my business remit tax 13.3 17.8 31.1 15.6 2.2 19.9 100

The trainees are less susceptible to crime 22.2 35.6 22.2 8.9 6.7 4.4 100

61

related incidences

Economically stable 17.8 31.1 28.9 15.6 0 6.7 100

Run my businesses more effectively 20.0 48.9 13.3 15.6 0 2.2 100


friendly businesses

15.6 35.6 24.4 11.1 6.7 6.7 100


They had learned the skills to keep a track of their businesses especially in book

keeping.

They had learned how to keep their business records and manage their businesses

more effectively.

They could be able to be accountable on their finances, separate their business

earnings from personal income and therefore keep their financial records

They were able to identify a market, prospective customers and choose the right

products to meet that market’s needs

They were able to improve their marketing skills

They were able to register a business and seek for tenders

It was also worth noting that there were some trainees whose businesses had failed after the

training. Among those did not have businesses (35.6%) at the time of the evaluation as shown

in Figure 10, their main challenges included:

Their businesses collapsed due to lack of capital

County hindrances

They had not registered their businesses and they felt they did not have adequate

skills to do so.

This finding was a significant because it represented 35.6% of the trainees that participated in

the evaluation exercise.








62



The research sought to know whether the program was supported by local institutions in the

county and whether the trainees would recommend it for other youths in the county. It was

evident that a significant percentage of 46.7% agreed that the program was being

supported by local institutions. However an almost similar percentage (37.8%) did not know

what support mechanisms existed in the county for the Y-STEP programme and only 8.9% said

the program was not supported by local institutions. A small percentage of 6.7% did not



On the aspect of the policies that would enhance prosperity for the youth, 31.6% of the


future. A small minority of 13.2% did not feel that there were government policies that

focused on youth prosperity while a large majority (55.3%) was not aware of these policies.

All the trainees (100%) agreed that they would recommend the training for youth in other

counties because they felt that this training gave them knowledge in managing their

business and enhanced their business skills, helps to reduce unemployment and enhanced

their entrepreneurial skills to start businesses. In addition, it was felt that the training would

help to reduce crime rates due to employment opportunities that would be created and

many youth will not idle around.

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Yes

No

Don' t Know

No response

Percentages

Res

po

nse

s



percentage

63



Having regular follow up and frequent visits from the trainers. They also proposed a

way through which they could access the trainers easily when encountering

challenges.

Another priority area was to develop a skills portal as a platform for iteration between

the trainee and the trainers.

Focusing on more training in building the business and have frequent communication

between the trainee and the trainers.

3.2.1.4 Y-STEP EVALUATION REPORT: CASE OF NAKURU COUNTY

CASE OF NAKURU COUNTY

Nakuru County was selected for the second training after discussions with various county

representatives, Kenyatta University and KNATCOM UNESCO. 100 trainees were selected for

the training in March 2016. These youth had to either be in business or hoping to start a

business soon. The training session lasted 12 weeks and the M7E was carried out in July 2017.

These findings are based on the 70 trainees that were available at the time of the M&E

exercise.



38.6 per cent female. Most of the respondents (42.9 per cent) were within the 31-35 age

groups, 24.3% aged between 21-24 years old, 15.7 per cent were within the 15-20 years old

and 17.1 percent were between ages 25-30 years old. This finding is summarized in Table 1.



Male 43 61.4

Female 27 38.6

Total 70 100.0

In terms of education levels 13.3% of the trainees had primary school level as their highest

level of education, 48.6% were of middle level college while a 28.6 percent had attended

university. For the secondary and primary levels, they were represented by 17.1% and 5.7%

respectively. These findings are summarized in figure 1.

64


In terms of their marital status, 74.3% of the trainees were single and only a smaller

percentage of 18.6% were married. It was interesting to note that 2.9% of the trainees were

divorced while 4.3% did not respond to the question as shown in figure 2.



employed, 6.7% were employed while 31.1% were not employed. A small percentage of

2.2% were employed and running a business concurrently as shown in Table 2.




Employed 10 14.3

Unemployed 31 44.3

Primary Secondary

Middle

Level

College

University

percentage 5.7 17.1 48.6 28.6

0102030405060

Axi

s T

itle


Married Divorced Single No response

percent 18.6 2.9 74.3 4.3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Per

cen

tag

e

Marital Status of Trainees

65


Total 70 100.0




Have the institutional’ s organizational structure, managerial support and coordination

mechanisms effectively supported their delivery


agreed that the venue was suitable and accessible for them during the training (45.7 A% &

42.9 A%) while only1.4% disagreed. A total of 10% of the respondents gave a neutral

response. These findings are summarized in figure 3.



time the trainees were free/available (25.7. % A & 47.1% SA). In addition, the trainees felt that

the Y-STEP training in Nakuru county was fairly conducted to all including youth with special

needs (21.4. % A &64.3. % SA).With regard to coordination, the respondents agreed that the

Y-STEP training was well coordinated by the trainers and the organizing team (SA 64.3. % &a

31.4. %).

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree

percent 1.4 10 45.7 42.9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

per

cen

tag

e

Was the Training Done in a suitable and

Accessible venue?

66


resources to make the training effective (SA 45.7%A &32.9. % respectively), however, the a

larger percentage of the trainees were neutral on whether Y-STEP training done in the

county was effectively followed-up by the organizing team to ensure their business success

(Neutral 27.1%) while 25.7% strongly agreed with the statement. The neutral response could

imply that they were not aware of any follow-up programs conducted after the training. A

summary of these findings are shown in Table 3.


Indicators

Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

n

Re

spo

nse

Tota

l


venue

42.9 45.7 10.0 1.4 0 0 100

Timing Suitability 47.1 25.7 20.0 7.1 0 0 100


special needs)

64.3 21.4 7.1 5.7 1.4 0 100

Coordination of the

Training

64.3 31.4 1.4 2.9 0 0 100


training

45.7 32.9 15.7 2.9 0 2.9 100

Follow-up after the

training

25.7 22.9 27.1 15.7 5.7 2.9 100

Effectiveness of Y-STEP Programme


follows:






67





STEP trainees reported that the Y-STEP training content was sufficient in addressing their

entrepreneurship challenges (SA 42.9% & a 40%). In addition Y-STEP training content was

delivered in adequate time (SA 41.4%& A 44.3%) to ensure the content of the key areas in

operating a business were covered within the training period. Competency of the trainers

was also an important element towards the achievement of the Y-STEP outcomes. The

trainees felt that Y-STEP training content was delivered by the trainers in a way that was easy

to understand (SA 70%& A 22.9%) and was delivered in a manner that to all including youth

with special needs (SA 62.9% &A32.9%).



helping them get new ideas to for their business (SA74.3. % & A21.4 %) whilst 52.9% SA and

40%A that Y-STEP training content had helped them to get new business ideas. These findings

are summarized in Table 4.


Indicators

Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

n

Re

spo

nse

Tota

l

Sufficiency of Y-STEP content 0 100

Delivery of the content 70.0 22.9 2.9 2.9 0 1.4 100


STEP content

55.7 44.3 0 0 0 0 100


business

52.9 40.0 2.9 0 0 4.3 100


business

74.3 21.4 4.3 0 0 0 100



successfully’. The programme also improves the chances such businesses to overcome


68




Relevance of Y-STEP Programme


follows:





establish whether the trainees had businesses before the training. From the responses 40%

had businesses while 57.8% had no businesses whilst 2.2% did not respond to the question.



included:

To be their own boss

To increase their income and meet their goals

As a means of self employed

It was considered a job opportunity

Unemployment


challenges were:

Financial constraints on lack of capital

Competition in the market place

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Yes

No

Yes No

percentage 32.9 67.1


training?

69

Lack of adequate resources

Difficulty in pricing

Inadequate stock

Inadequate skills to operate a business

Lack of networking and customer relations skills

Fear of taking risks



various challenges in their businesses. Additionally, 88.6% of the respondents agreed that the




expectations


the following:

They had better understanding on how to take calculated business risks

They were able to source for and raise capital for their business

They had gained knowledge on how to keep their business records

They gained skills for networking and engaging with various stakeholders

They became self-dependant

They learned how to plan, get customers, marketing and making a profit in their

businesses

They learned the relevant skills and knowledge required to set up a new business.

Yes No No response

Addressed identified business

needs92.9 7.1

Training met your expectations 88.6 8.6 2.9

0102030405060708090

100

per

cen

tag

e

STEP Training addressed identified business

needs & met Trainees' expectations

70


how often the training should be carried out and which areas can be enriched in the Y-STEP

programme. A similar percentage of the respondents (37.1%) felt that the training should be

conducted after 3 or 6 months respectively while 22.9% wanted the training to be done

annually. This finding is summarized in Figure6.




An increase on the training period, organise seminars, workshops and the frequency

of training

There is need to link Y-STEP with capital supporting stakeholders

Have follow up on the businesses

Have regular visits to the businesses

Make the training available in the county

Tailor-make the training to grow their businesses further



county were in line with national priorities of increasing job creation among the youth and

how Y-STEP programme complimented these entrepreneurship programmes. According to

the results, only 24.3% of the respondents were not aware whether there were any programs

in the county that enhance youth entrepreneurship. Majority of 58.6% of them said that there

After 3

months

After 6

monthsYearly No response

percentage 37.1 37.1 22.9 2.9

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

per

cen

tag

e

Suggested Frequency of STEP

Training

71

were no programs that promote youth entrepreneurship in their county. A significant number

(17.1%) of the trainees said that there were not aware whether there were programs in the

county that enhanced youth entrepreneurship. This finding is summarized in figure 7.



Youth development funds

CDF Fund

Uwezo funds


percentage (64.3%) of the trainees said they had attended an entrepreneurship program




Yes No Don't know


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

per

cen

tag

e

Are there other Entrepreneurship

programmes in your county

Yes No No response


0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

per

cen

tag

e



72




responding in the affirmative while only 20.0% disagreed and 22.9% did not respond to the

question.



This section summarizes the impact of the Y-STEP training by answering the various questions:


attitude - has the project impacted the Y-STEP trainees?






increase of the number of trainees running businesses from 32.9% during the training to 51.4%

were currently running businesses. A significant percentage of 48.6% did not have businesses.

Majority of the trainees (44.3%) said that their businesses had grown since the training while

only 15.7% felt there was no growth in their businesses. These findings are summarized in

Figure 10.

Yes No no response

percentage 57.1 20 22.9

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

per

cen

tag

e


priorities?

73

Figure 10: Are you running a business after the Y-STEP training?


and it was noted that 12.9% and 30% of the respondents strongly agreed and agreed



there was growth in their businesses. Only 15.7% strongly disagreed that their businesses had

grown by over 10% as is summarized in Figure 11.



The ability to market better and increase sales

They learned how to bootstrap and save funds from their salary

Yes No No response

Are you currently a business

owner51.4 48.6

Has you business grown? 44.3 15.7 40

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Per

cen

tag

e

Are you currently a business ower and has

your business grown since the training?

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Disagree

Neutral

Agree

Strongly Agree

No response

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly Agree No response

Percentage 15.7 31.4 30 12.9 10

Has your business grown by over 10% since the

training?

74

They were able to start new businesses such as a kiosk and a saloon

Networking had helped the youth entrepreneurs to get many tenders

Networking has helped them get new clients



opportunities for other youth after the training where 15.7% agreed and 17.1% strongly

agreed. Only 15.7% of the trainees cumulatively disagreed/ strongly disagreed while a

significant percentage of 35.7% was neutral, implying perhaps that there was no change in

their business. Further to this, the youth felt the training had helped them become more

financially empowered and were able to support remit tax from their businesses, where 31.4%

agreed and 12.9% strongly agreed with the statement. These findings are summarized in

table 5.



24.3% strongly agreed that they were less susceptible to crime related incidences since they

could operate their businesses more effectively. A significant percentage of the trainees

were neutral (22.9%) to this matter, while only 8.6% either disagreed or strongly disagreed that

the Y-STEP training had led to reduction in crime rate of the trainees since they were able to

run their businesses more effectively.

On the environmental impact of Y-STEP, a surprising cumulative number 71.5% of the

respondents felt that the Y-STEP training had enabled them to create environmentally friendly

businesses (SA22.9% &A 48.6%), while only 17.8% either disagreed or strongly disagreed. This

finding could be due to the new business opportunities that the trainees were able to identify

after learning the skills in the Y-STEP training. The findings are summarized in Table 5.


Indicators


Str

on

gly

Ag

ree

d

Ag

ree

d

Ne

utr

al

Dis

ag

ree

d

Str

on

gly

Dis

ag

ree

d

No

re

spo

nse

Tota

l



17.1 15.7 35.7 11.4 0 15.7 100

Enabled my business remit tax 12.9 31.4 32.9 11.4 1.4 10 100

The trainees are less susceptible to crime 24.3 44.3 22.9 8.6 0 0 100

75

related incidences

Economically stable 20 47.1 17.1 10 0 5.7 100

Run my businesses more effectively 24.3 47.1 18.6 1.4 0 1.4 100


friendly businesses

22.9 48.6 10 10 4.3 4.3 100


They had learned the skills to improve their creative way of thinking in business

They had learned how to network and meet other entrepreneurs

They were able to manage their finances better

They were able to identify customer needs, provide the right solutions and face

business challenges

Some of the youth had finally got the courage to start their own businesses

Create partnerships and share resources with other entrepreneurs in the same

industry

Bootstrap, have personal savings, take loans and keep good records.

Have the resilience to continue in business in spite of the challenges

It was also worth noting that there were some trainees whose had not started businesses had

said that they were still in school.










This part of the research sought to know whether the program was supported by local

institutions in the county and whether the trainees would recommend it for other youths in

the county. It was evident that a significant percentage of 81.4% agreed that the program

was being supported by local institutions. However an almost small percentage (14.3%) did

not know what support mechanisms existed in the county for the Y-STEP programme and only

8.9% said the program was not supported by local institutions.

76


On the aspect of the policies that would enhance prosperity for the youth, 30% of the


future. A small minority of 4.3% did not feel that there were government policies that focused

on youth prosperity while a large majority (65.7%) did not respond to the question implying

perhaps that they were not aware of these policies.

All the trainees (100%) agreed that they would recommend the training for youth in other

counties because they felt that this training gave them knowledge in managing their

business and enhanced their business skills, helps to reduce unemployment and enhanced

their entrepreneurial skills to start businesses. In addition, it was felt that the training would

help to reduce crime rates due to employment opportunities that would be created and

many youth will not idle around.



Create an online platform that can link trainee and trainers in Y-STEP.

Regular consultation on business growth

Rewarding the best businesses annually.

Regular follow-up and monthly evaluation of the business.

Finding opportunities for the youth to do business

Providing capital or linking the youth with bodies that provide capital

Create networking avenues and visiting the business premises

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Yes

No

Don' t Know

Yes No Don' t Know

Series1 81.4 4.3 14.3



77

3.3 Conclusions

This report on the Y-STEP programme found that, overall, the programme has been successful

in achieving its goals. In terms of the five research questions, the study found that:

The Y-STEP programme enables youth entrepreneurs to gain the skills needed to

increase their income and thus become job creators.

The trainers of the Y-STEP programme were well qualified and delivered the content in

a way that the trainees felt that they enriched their entrepreneurial skills and

knowledge.

However, the trainers need to develop monitoring mechanisms to enhance the

trainees’ entrepreneurial journey. The creation of networks for knowledge-sharing was

therefore imperative.

The Y-STEP management can further facilitate the financing of youth entrepreneurs

through developing networks and partnerships with government funding bodies and

equipping with skills to access finance whilst strengthening inter-county networks and

partnerships, to reduce cost of running a business and open new markets for the

youth entrepreneurs.

Participation in the Y-STEP training gave the trainees a better understanding of the basic

principles of running a business. This is partly because Y-STEP training emphasizes on action

training and activities that involve collaborative work by group members, which is vital role

for the success of session and experiences/ lessons are drawn from each of the trainees. The

trainer therefore becomes a facilitator and uses the action work sheet to encourage more

discussion and participation from the trainees.

3.4 Lessons Learned

From these conclusions, the lessons learned are as follows:

The study found that in order to achieve entrepreneurial success among the youths, Y-STEP

stakeholders need to:

Develop networks and continuous cooperation between the trainers and the trainees

to facilitate knowledge sharing and capacity building of all Y-STEP trainees even after

the training via appropriate mentoring approaches.

Facilitate the networking of Y-STEP stakeholders with other entrepreneurship

programmes and partnerships to increase knowledge-sharing and capacity building

of entrepreneurship.

78

Create monitoring mechanisms for the Y-STEP trainees since entrepreneurship

challenges differ regionally as well as the stage of business for each entrepreneur

from learners.

79

CHAPTER FOUR: LESSONS LEARNT, CHALLENGES, RECOMMENDATIONS AND

CONCLUSION

This section highlights the lessons that have been learnt during the evaluation and feedback

from beneficiaries/stakeholders that could guide future evaluations and/or the design of

other Entrepreneurship training programmes. It also puts forward the consultant’s view with

regard to the future of STEP Entrepreneurship Training with regard to general actionable

recommendations as well as specific recommendations, while incorporating the role of

partners and stakeholders.

LESSONS LEARNT

The study found that in order to achieve entrepreneurial success among the youths, STEP

stakeholder’s needs to consider the following:

i. It was also learnt that there is need to continue harnessing the potential and

capacities of businesses started as a result of the activities under the STEP. This is

necessary for the development of success stories, but also the development of

centers of excellence.

ii. Kenyatta University has been implementing the programme through the design of the

training materials, delivery of training and providing on-site advisory services to

entrepreneurs. The key lesson to learn here is that maintaining partnership makes

program implementation relatively easier as you tap into the expertise of various

players.

iii. After training entrepreneurs, there has been an identified need of linking trainees to

financial institutions for access to lines of credit and other grants and/or subsidies that

entrepreneurs can tap into.

iv. It has also been noted that entrepreneurs who have been trained need continuous

guidance, mentorship and handholding on how to manage their businesses. This

would help them internalize the latest business management skills while boosting their

confidence as business owners and as entrepreneurs.

v. The evaluation team also learnt that even educated people (for example first degree

graduates) do not necessarily know how to prudently manage their businesses. As a

result, continuous skills building in form of training and client handholding contributes

to an improvement to the SME sector’s performance.

vi. The networking among trained entrepreneurs to share experience and to know each

other for purposes of improving their businesses as had been envisaged in the STEP

program has not been effective. Facilitate the networking of STEP stakeholders with

other entrepreneurship programmes and partnerships to increase knowledge-sharing

and capacity building of entrepreneurship.

80

vii. Develop networks and cooperation with other counties to facilitate knowledge

sharing and capacity building of all STEP trainees.

viii. Strengthen inter-county coordination and cooperation to allow the trainees access

new markets and exchange ideas with their counterparts.

ix. Create monitoring mechanisms for the STEP trainees since entrepreneurship

challenges differ regionally as well as the stage of business for each entrepreneur.

x. Initiate networking programmes using ICT platforms to maintain the enthusiasm and

increase the impact to other youth who want to venture into entrepreneurship

xi. Given the abrupt ending of the STEP training at the Closing ceremonies, there is a

need to identify a programme / strategy of ensuring continuous mentoring and

regular refresher training opportunities.

CHALLENGES

i) Baseline

The STEP project at the Counties did not conduct a baseline study at the start of the project.

As such, there were limited means from which to gather an evidence based perception of

how life was like prior to the start of the project. One of the greatest challenges to

understanding the significance and impact of the project had been this lack of data; more

time should have been spent during the planning and data collection stage in establishing

this baseline information.

ii) Sampling

Contacting the beneficiaries a number of months after an intervention has been completed

is challenging and therefore impacts on the sampling process selected which in this case

was designed to be a random sample covering 75% of direct beneficiaries reached.

iii) Preparation

Insufficient time was allocated to prepare in-country with local partners (Youth Fund, County

representatives, and Kenyatta University and Key Informant persons) to develop a

conceptual understanding about the difference between a programme end-of-project

evaluation and an Impact Assessment, as well as develop and pilot tools.

iv) Logistics

Undertaking a multi-county Impact Assessment with the evaluation team split into two groups

to collect data simultaneously was extremely challenging.

v) Analysis

The process of analyzing qualitative data, in particular stories of change, is challenging when

trying to capture the richness of a wide range of stories. The team spent a significant amount

of time discussing how to best incorporate the data from individual stories of change and

81

case studies into the overall analysis and decided on tagging stories based on the quality of

life indicators identified by beneficiaries. Whilst it is expected that this should capture a good

depth of the qualitative data collected, all team members highlighted the analysis of the

stories of change as the most challenging task.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. Provide Business Mentorship and Caching

The program should go beyond training and focus on Business Mentorship for the

beneficiaries for outputs to be transformed into real impact on the businesses over time. It is

recommended that Trainers offer coaching and advisory services to entrepreneurs in the

field of business plan development, record keeping, marketing, etc., on a need-basis. The

beneficiaries should approach STEP trainers with a need for handholding and recommend a

hands-on trainer competent in the identified areas. The consultant/trainer should offer on-

spot coaching to the entrepreneur weekly (a maximum of two hours) and in any case not

more than 10 hours’ worth of coaching over the mentoring period (2 months). The trainer

should be compensated with a professional fee and transport refund based on a specified

deliverable/output e.g. a business plan or a marketing strategy. The details of such an

exercise can be worked out and agreed on before implementation.

2. Partner with Government Funding Bodies

Develop mechanisms and partnerships between government funding bodies and non-

governmental organisations to assist the youth access finance for their businesses. This

includes Youth Fund, Women Enterprise Fund, and Uwezo Fund and at County level.

Linking the trainees with investors so that they can be able to seek financial support from

them to grow and expand their businesses.

3. Proper traceability of trainees

Making a follow up to the trainees as a monitoring process was cited as an important

ingredient to sustain the success gained from the STEP training.

The office in charge of youth in the various counties of the country plays a key role in the

entrepreneurship process by collaborating with the Youth Fund to organize the trainings. To

optimize their monitoring, the County youth office should have the complete list of trainees to

facilitate their work on the field and advocate for the loan application to financial

institutions. Moreover, this traceability would enable the follow-up of trainees.

4. STEP Program Scale-up

82

Based on the feedback from the beneficiaries and stakeholders, it is the recommendation of

the evaluation team that the STEP program be scaled up to cover the rest of the country

and reaching out to more Counties. These will give an opportunity to others to also benefit

from this worthwhile programme. The design of the extension should consider Key

Performance Indicators (KPIs) that will guide in performance tracking, monitoring and

evaluation. This will help in progress reporting for the program. At the national level, the scale-

up of the programme will contribute and act as a catalyst to the Government efforts of

eradicating poverty, reducing unemployment through job creation instead of job seeking.

5. ICT Networking Platforms

Integrating ICT networking platforms in the monitoring to create a strong network of youth

entrepreneurs who can reach more youths and expand the success outcomes of

entrepreneurial success in Kenya.

6. Business Development Center

Benefits of entrepreneurship skills building normally take time to be internalized, practiced

and manifested in the outcomes of private businesses. Consequently, building their

capacities requires various methodologies including the usage of Business Development

Center. Business Development Center can be erected in different regions so that

entrepreneurs in these areas can be handheld and advised in these centers. More so, it is

with these centres that there can be a generation of more success stories under the

programme, which will have massive tangible results including creation of role models as a

consequence of participating in the programme.

7. Enhance the role of Monitoring and Evaluation

As more and more trainings are held, the role of quality assurance on STEP training becomes

vital. There is need for UNESCO to put emphasis on activity supervision by budgeting for the

monitoring (on-spot checks) of the trainings and other advisory services. Simple reporting

format for the quality assurance spot checks can be developed and implemented as a

means of documenting this activity. Additional tools such as videos, photographs, video

recorders to capture training sessions can be used.

8. Build the Trainers’ capacity

During the evaluation, trainers indicated the need for additional training in the areas of

strategic planning, assessing profitability, taxation, risk management and e-business. This

should be done as part of Trainers’ refresher trainings to make the trainers more

knowledgeable and versatile to address business issues when confronted with such

83

challenges individually. E-business should also be introduced so that key attributes of e-

business like telephone (SMS) marketing, uses of the internet, etc. are introduced.

9. Develop a simple quarterly reporting tool

The evaluation found that reporting was done after five years which is long a time for

program reporting and ensuring collective action if need be. In this regard, it is

recommended that STEP should generate a simple reporting format that is based on the Key

Performance Indicators (KPIs) in the program logframe. This will ease on the time spent on

reporting and will also ensure that progress to indicators is assessed. This can be done on an

annual basis.

10. Widen the Scope of the Training Materials

There is need to improve on the materials used by the programme to adjust to the changing

needs of entrepreneurship governed by Political, Economic, Social, Technological,

Environmental and Legal factors.

11. Identify a post training refresher and mentoring strategy

A satisfactory strategy needs to be identified that ensures continuous mentoring of the

beneficiaries as they also encounter with trainees from other programmes both within the

country and outside the country for benchmarking purposes. This could take place in various

ways as could be discussed and suggested by the consultants and stake holders. One of

these would be introduction of the STEP beneficiaries to a programme which is known to

enhance post training mentoring opportunities so that they too can gain from that. As

example of such a programme which is highly recommended is the Graduate Enterprise

academy at Mount Kenya University.

CONCLUSION

The evaluation team contends that the project was very successful and recommends that all

efforts should be made to work out ways of sustaining the initiated interventions. Against this

background, the consulting team recommends that the key project implementing partners

should explore the possibilities of sustaining the momentum gained through various sources

including financial interventions. As resources for further implementation are being solicited,

interim measures should be instituted to maintain the project team and other activities

necessary for its continuation.

As a conclusion, it is worth highlighting the following points:

a) Strengths:

84

The trainings have raised an awareness for entrepreneurship;

Undeveloped formal sector enables small business to pursue their opportunities without being

blocked by larger companies;

Easy registration of business.

b) Weakness:

Lack of knowledge among existing and aspirant entrepreneurs restricts them from taking

calculated risks to start and stretch their business (fear of failure);

Market opportunities are very limited.

c) Opportunities:

Contribution to skills development and service delivery;

Contribution to job creation and uplifting of their living conditions and standards.

d) Threats:

Failure of trainees to obtain a loan to start a business or support an existing business;

Weak entrepreneurial culture associated with stigma for people who failed may discourage

potential entrepreneurs to start a business.

85

Appendix A1: CATEGORIES OF STEP TRAINEES ENTERPRENEURS

A. PROFESSIONS

1. SCIENTIFIC: Accounting, economy, finance, management, mathematics, chemistry, ICT,

biology;

2. SOCIAL WORK: Social work, administration, clinical psychological, secretariat, hotel,

journalism, languages;

3. TECHNICAL: Electronic, electricity, architecture, veterinary, agronomy, masonry, carpentry,

plumbing, mechanics;

4. EDUCATION: Teacher

5. BUSINESS: Tailoring, haircut, trade, bar, photography, transport, handcraft, self-employed,

entrepreneur;

6. AGRICULTURE: Crop production, livestock.

B. OCCUPATIONS

1. TECHNICAL: Veterinary, agronomy, nursery.

2. EMPLOYEES: Cleaning, security guard, waiter, receptionist, hotel, employee, secretariat; 3.

STUDENT: Student;

4. EDUCATION: Teacher;

5. BUSINESS: Tailoring, self-employed, haircut, trade, transport, handcraft, welding, carpentry,

masonry, electricity, photography;

6. AGRICULTURE: Crop production, livestock, honey production.

C. ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES

1. CROP PRODUCTION: Beans, cassava;

2. AGRIBUSINESS: Agriculture oriented to the market products (Rice, pineapple, bee keeping,

maize);

3. LIVESTOCK: Cows and small domestic animals

4. SMALL DOMESTIC ANIMALS: Piggery, poultry, goat, rabbit;

5. TRADE OF AGRICULTURE PRODUCTS;

6. TRADE OF DOMESTIC ANIMAL: Trade of cows and small domestic animals;

7. BAR AND RESTAURANT;

8. HAIRCUT: Hairdressing

9. TRANSFORMATION: (Liquid soap, bakery, animal food);

10. TECHNICAL: Masonry, carpentry, welding, mechanics, brick fabrication;

11. SERVICES: Tailoring, cybercafé, handcraft, cloth trade, studio photo, decoration,

stationery, design;

12. TRANSPORT: Motorist, bicyclist.

86

Appendix A2: EVALUATION TOOLS

STEP UNESCO EVALUATION QUESTIONNAIRE

This questionnaire is designed to generate data for an evaluation of the STEP FOR YOUTH

TRAINING. You have been selected as one of the respondents to this study. Please respond

to the questions below as truthfully and as honest as possible. Your responses will be treated

in confidence and used for the purposes of this EVALUATION only.

A. BACKGROUND DETAILS OF THE STEP TRAINEE

Please tick as appropriate:

A1. Your gender: Male Female

A2.Your marital status: Married Divorced Single

A3. Your highest level of education:

a. Primary level b. Secondary level

b. Middle level college d. University

A4. Your age bracket:

a. 15-20 b. 21-24

c. 25-30 d. 31-35

A5: Please state whether you are CURRENTLY:

a. Self-employed b. Employed

c. Unemployed d. Employed and run a business

e. Other Specify____________________________________________

A6. Name your County of Residence: ________________________________________________

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B. STEP TRAINING AND SKILL DEVELOPMENT

Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following:

METHODOLOGY

B1.:STEP training done in my county was: Strongly

Disagree

Disagree Neutral Agree Strongly

agree

i. Done in a suitable and

accessible VENUE

ii. Done at a time that I was free

or available

iii. Fairly done to all including

youth with special needs

iv. Well-coordinated by the

trainers and the organizing

team

v. Integrated with ICT and other

resources to make the training

effective

vi. Effectively followed-up by the

organizing team to ensure my

business success

STEP TRAINING CONTENT

B2. STEP training CONTENT was: Strongly

Disagree


agree

i. Sufficient in addressing my

entrepreneurship challenges

ii. Delivered in adequate time(

not too long or too short)

iii. Was delivered by the trainer in

a way that was easy to

understand

iv. Delivered fairly to all

including youth with special

needs

v. Relevant in helping me to

improve my business

vi. Was delivered by

knowledgeable trainers in

each topic.

vii. Useful in helping me to get

new ideas to for my business

B3: .Did you operate a business before the STEP training? Yes No

B4: If yes, why did you set up your own business?

i.____________________________________________________________

ii.____________________________________________________________

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B5: What challenges do you face as a young entrepreneur in doing business?

i.____________________________________________________________

ii.____________________________________________________________

B6: Did the STEP TRAINING objectives address identified needs of your business?

Yes No

B7: In your opinion, do you think that the STEP training met your expectations?

Yes No

B8. Give 3 reasons for your answer in above.

i._____________________________________________________________

ii.____________________________________________________________

iii.____________________________________________________________

B9. What suggestions would you recommend to make STEP for YOUTH training better?

i._____________________________________________________________

ii.____________________________________________________________

iii.____________________________________________________________

B10. How often would you like the STEP training to be held?

i. After every 3 months

ii. After every 6 months

iii. Yearly

iv. Other______________________

C. ENTREPRENEURSHIP

C1. Has your county implemented any programs to enhance youth entrepreneurship?

Yes No Don’t know

C2. Name any 3 entrepreneurship programs implemented in your county

i._____________________________________________________________

ii.____________________________________________________________

iii.____________________________________________________________

C3.Have you attended any of these programs? Yes No

Does the STEP training complement these programs?

Yes No

C4. Suggest 3 main areas that STEP is useful to your business:

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i.____________________________________________________________

ii.___________________________________________________________

iii.___________________________________________________________

D: IMPACT OF STEP TRAINING ON BUSINESS SUCCESS AND GROWTH

D1. Are you currently operating a business?

Yes No

D2. If YES, has it grown since the STEP TRAINING?

Yes No

D3. Please explain your answer above,

_____________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

Please state the extent to which you agree with the following statement

D4. The STEP training has: Strongly

Disagree


agree

i. Improved my economic

status

ii. Grown my business

profit by over 10% since

the training

iii. Made me Self-

employment/ an

Entrepreneur

iv. Created employment

for other youth in my

business

i. Helped me support my

family

ii. Helped my business

remit tax

iii. Reduced crime rates

since more youth are

entrepreneurs

i. Created more partnerships

between my business and

other entrepreneurs

ii. Created new businesses

that recycle waste to

create environmentally

friendly businesses

D5: Suggest 3 ways in which STEP training has enabled you grow/ start a successful business.

i._____________________________________________________________

ii.____________________________________________________________

iii.__________________________________________________________

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E. FUTURE OF STEP FOR YOUTH TRAINING

E1. Is the STEP Training supported by local institutions IN YOUR COUNTY?

Yes No Don’t Know

E2. Would you recommend for future STEP training for other youth in your county?

Yes No

E3. Please explain your answer above

___________________________________________________________________________

____________________________________________________________________________

E4. Suggest 3 ways STEP trainers can help monitor your business progress and growth

continuously:

i._____________________________________________________________

ii._____________________________________________________________

iii.____________________________________________________________

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TAKING YOUR TIME TO COMPLETE THIS QUESTIONNAIRE.

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STEP PROGRAMME INTERVIEW GUIDE

This interview guide is designed to generate data for an evaluation of the STEP FOR YOUTH

TRAINING. You have been selected as one of the respondents to this study. Please respond

to the questions below as truthfully and as honest as possible. Your responses will be treated

in confidence and used for the purposes of this EVALUATION only.

Date:____________________________________________________________________________________

____

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Contact

Info:_________________________________________________________________________________

Name:___________________________________________________________________________________

____

Email:____________________________________________________________________________________

___

Tel

No:______________________________________________________________________________________

_

Demographic:____________________________________________________________________________

___

Title/Role:________________________________________________________________________________

____

Organization:_____________________________________________________________________________

___

EVALUATION OBJECTIVES

1. STEP TRAINING AND IMPLEMENTATION

1. What role did your office play in the introduction and implementation of the STEP

program?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

2. Did you have any organizational structure for the STEP program?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

3. What managerial support and coordination mechanisms did your institution put in place to

effectively support the delivery of the STEP Program?

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__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

_________

2. STEP TRAINING

1. What were the expected outcomes for the STEP program?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

______

2. What progress was made towards achievement of the expected outcomes and expected

results?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

3. Did your institution achieve these expected outcomes? (Yes/No)

4. What are the reasons for the achievement or non-achievement?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

5. To what extent have beneficiaries been satisfied with the results?

Very

satisfied.....................................................................................................................................

Moderately

Satisfied........................................................................................................................

Satisfied.......................................................................................................................................

......

Not

satisfied.......................................................................................................................................

Don’t

know........................................................................................................................................

COST EFFECTIVENESS AND MONITORING

6. Is the STEP programme cost-effective? (Yes/NO)

Why______________________________________________________________________________

____

7. Could the outcomes and expected results have been achieved at lower cost?

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Through adopting a different

approach________________________________________________

Using alternative delivery

mechanisms__________________________________________________

Other

suggestions_____________________________________________________________________

8. Does the program have monitoring mechanisms in place? (Yes/No)

Briefly

explain_________________________________________________________________________

RELEVANCE OF STEP

1. Does STEP programme objectives address identified needs of the target group(s)? (Yes/No)

If Yes, how does it address these needs?____________________________________________

2. Are the STEP programme objectives in line with Kenya’s national priorities? (Yes/No)

Briefly

explain______________________________________________________________________

3. Do STEP activities address the problems identified? (Yes/ No)

Briefly

explain_______________________________________________________________________

IMPACT OF STEP

1. In what ways – socially, economically, politically, environmentally and in terms of attitude -

has the STEP project impacted the intended beneficiaries and other stakeholders?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

______

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

2. In your opinion, to what extent can the changes that have occurred as a result of the STEP

programme be identified and measured?

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

______

SUSTAINABILITY OF STEP PROGRAMME:

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1. Are the activities in your institution/ organization to ensure that STEP program is sustainable

after the cessation of the institutions (UNESCO, LEUPHANA, and KNATCOM) support?

Briefly

explain________________________________________________________________________________

2. Do the beneficiaries of the STEP training continue to benefit from the programme?

(YES/NO)

Briefly

explain________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

3. Will the benefits from the STEP programme be maintained for a reasonably long period of

time if the STEP programme were to cease? (YES/NO)

Briefly explain your

answer____________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

______

4. Is the programme supported by local institutions?

Brieflyexplain_____________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

_______

5. Is the STEP programme integrated with local social and cultural conditions in the country?

Brieflyexplain_____________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

_______

6. Any other views / input about the STEP

PROGRAMME________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

___

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR TAKING YOUR TIME TO COMPLETE THIS QUESTIONNAIRE.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND STEP EVALUATION REPORT AUTHORS

This report would not have been completed without the input and support from the following;

UNESCO Regional Office at Gigiri as well as KNATCOM – UNESCO for giving me

the opportunity to undertake this project as well as their indispensable moments of

consultative engagement during the project.

Kenyatta University where the Vice Chancellor and the STEP coordinating team as

well as the STEP Trainers availed themselves for meeting when requested by the

authors of this report.

Leuphana University’s (Germany) STEP team who were provided the authors with

vital data on STEP at Kenyatta University between 2012 and 2016.

The Youth Enterprise Development Fund’s officials both at the Main Offices at

Nairobi as well as those at the county levels for introducing and facilitating

communication between the authors and the Y-STEP beneficiaries at the counties.

The Counties Offices such as in Mombasa from where all arrangements for data

collection in Mombasa County were done.

The synergetic input from all the 3 authors who were involved in the planning, data

collection, data analysis and compiling this report alongside the various assistants

who the three authors deployed from time to time for various technical input at

different times of this study.

More specifically, this report was developed, right from planning to submission, by a

team that was put together by the Lead Consultant. The team members were

strategically positioned and their synergetic input led to the successful completion of

this report. These were;

1) LEAD CONSULTANT: Prof. M. Peter Wanderi - [email protected] /

[email protected] - Mount Kenya University

2) PRINCIPAL ASSOCIATE CONSULTANT: Dr. Jacqueline Kisato -

[email protected] - Kenyatta University

3) ASSOCIATE CONSULTANT: Madam Anne W. Kiongo - Ithara -

[email protected] – Image Horizon



