1

Reaching the unreachable

LABOUR MARKET SURVEY REPORT

Commissioned by

Ilkerin Loita Integral Development Programme (ILIDP)

Under the Learn4Work Project 2014

Period: September 2014

FACILITATING CONSULTANTS: LOCAL EXPERTISE CENTRE – KENYA LTD, P.O BOX 28248 – 00100, NAIROBI, KENYA

Tel. +254 (0)203 313 658; E-mail: info@leckenya.or.ke; Website: www.leckenya.or.ke

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PHOTOGRAPHIC COVERAGE OF THE SURVEY

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This baseline could not have been completed successfully and on time without the full cooperation of

ILIDP management team; Mark Ole Karbolo, Crescentia Baari and Josephat Koin and the

demonstrated passion and dedication of the research assistants; Julius Turuni, Momposhi Ntanai,

Richard Parkisuaa and Cosmas Senteu who carried out this survey; we salute their commitment and

adept expertise in planning and organisation of the exercise

We acknowledge the Learn4work program for facilitating skills development amongst the pastoralist

community that is based on key principles of sustainable development; the information gathered not

only informs but also provides data and statistics which were otherwise missing in the geographical

coverage of the training centre.

Further, we extend our appreciation to the consultants from LEC especially Aggrey Ndombi and Sitati

Makhandia who over the last 4 years have continuously shown interest and allegiance to improving

employability amongst the youth thorough formulation and adoption of working models in the field of

skills development.

Finally, we extend our gratitude to the enthusiastic VET graduates from the centre, students,

instructors and business owners who participated in the survey. Our heartfelt appreciations to the

households and families that participated in the survey, may God bless you and continue providing for

you generously.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS

VET - VOCATIONAL EDUCATION TRAINING

ILIDP - ILKERIN LOITA INTEGRAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

LEC - LOCAL EXPERTISE CENTRE

L4W - LEARN4WORK

PCDA - PASTORALIST COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATIONS

TVET - TECHNICAL VOCATIONAL ENTREPRENEURIAL TRAINING

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DEFINITION OF TERMS

Employee: A person who works for a public or private employer and receives remuneration in wages, salary, commission, tips, piece-rates or pay in kind.

Employment: The condition of having paid work either through own establishment, family business or from an employer.

Employer: A person who operates his or her own economic enterprise or engages independently in a profession or trade, and hires one or more employees. In this survey, VET graduates who have establishments and have dependants working in the enterprise were considered as employers

Establishment: According to International Standard Classification of All Economic Activities (ISIC), an establishment constitutes an autonomous part of an enterprise, which exclusively or principally carries out a single type of economic activity at a single physical location. This may be a farm, mine, factory, workshop, store, office or other type of unit.

Household: A household is defined as a person or group of persons who live together in the same house or compound, share the same housekeeping arrangements and are catered to as one unit. In this survey, a household was composed of members of a family that are related and are either living in the same compound or adjacent to one another.

Family: A group of persons related by blood or marriage, who may not necessarily be residing at the

same place, or in the same village, town or city.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

PHOTOGRAPHIC COVERAGE OF THE SURVEY ...................................................................................... ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ............................................................................................................................ - 1 -

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS .............................................................................................. - 2 -

DEFINITION OF TERMS ........................................................................................................................... - 3 -

LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................................... - 5 -

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................. - 6 -

1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ..................................................................................... - 2 -

1.1 Project background ......................................................................................................................... - 2 -

1.2 Rationale and Objectives of the Market Survey ............................................................................... - 2 -

1.2.1 Rationale of the survey ................................................................................................................ - 2 -

1.2.2 Objectives of the labour market survey ....................................................................................... - 2 -

1.3 Methodology ................................................................................................................................... - 3 -

1.3.1 Survey Design and sample size .................................................................................................... - 3 -

1.3.2 Survey tools ................................................................................................................................. - 4 -

1.3.3 Data collection ............................................................................................................................ - 5 -

2.0 FINDINGS ........................................................................................................................................ - 6 -

2.1 Demographic .................................................................................................................................. - 6 -

2.1.1 Gender ........................................................................................................................................ - 6 -

2.1.2 Age ............................................................................................................................................. - 6 -

2.1.3 Qualities of a good Artisan .......................................................................................................... - 6 -

2.1.4 Graduates meeting local market needs ......................................................................................... - 7 -

2.2 Household and Unemployment Rates ............................................................................................. - 7 -

2.2.1 Sample population per PCDA ..................................................................................................... - 7 -

2.2.2 Total working age population ...................................................................................................... - 8 -

2.2.3 Unemployment rate among the working age population .............................................................. - 8 -

2.3 Markets, Labour and Vocational Training ........................................................................................ - 8 -

2.3.1 Economic Activities and Markets ................................................................................................ - 9 -

1.3.2 Labour market and Vocational Training .................................................................................... - 11 -

2.4 Institutional Planning and Organisation ........................................................................................ - 14 -

2.5 Feedback on training ..................................................................................................................... - 15 -

3.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .......................................................................... - 17 -

3.1 Community Unemployment Baseline ............................................................................................ - 17 -

3.2 Economic Opportunities ............................................................................................................... - 17 -

3.3 Training Needs .............................................................................................................................. - 17 -

3.4 Recommendations ....................................................................................................................... - 18 -

4.0 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................................. - 20 -

Tool 1: Focused Group Discussion Guide Tool for Group 1 ........................................................................ - 20 -

Tool 2: Focused Group Discussion Guide Tool for Group 2 ........................................................................ - 21 -

Tool 3: Students and Instructors Questionnaire ................................................................................................ 22

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Tool 4: Community Profile Questionnaire and Observation Check List ............................................................ 22

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Summary of the population sample size ..................................................................................... - 4 -

Table 2.2: Ilkerin’s Total Population Sample Size .................................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 3.2: Total working population ........................................................ Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.4: Unemployment rate among the working age population .......... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.5: Olmesutie’s Total Population Sample Size ............................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.6: Olmesutie’s Total population of working age .......................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.7: Olmesutie’s under/unemployment rates .................................. Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.8: Entasikira Total Sampled Population ...................................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.9: Entasikira’s total population of working age ............................ Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.10: Entasikira’s no. of under/unemployed .................................. Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.11: Morijo Sample population ..................................................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.12: Morijo’s working population ................................................. Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.13: Unemployment rates in Morijo .............................................. Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.14: Olng’arua sample population ................................................. Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.15: population of working age in Olng’arua................................. Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.16: Unemployment rates in Olng’arua ......................................... Fout! Bladwijzer niet gedefinieerd.

Table 2.17: Training Needs....................................................................................................................... - 13 -

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3.1: Number of under/employed in Loita division .............................................................................. - 17 -

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The overall goal of the labor market survey was to establish reliable and verifiable data on the

effectiveness, relevance and quality of training that is responsive to the market trends in Loita Division.

The survey aimed to establish the information on unemployment rates and economic opportunities and

related training needs in the community by capturing all relevant socio economic information within

the geographical area of Learn4work project implementation.

The survey also assessed the scope of the programme, including the selection of target groups and

geographical areas, establishing an appropriate local, county and national governance system that is able

to effectively implement VET programmes and strategies, and mobilizing and empowering local

partners to deliver market oriented vocational education training

To sufficiently carry out this labour market survey, the respondents were grouped into four categories

namely; Employers / business owners; VET Students and VET graduates; Instructors and the

Community. A total of 4 business owners, 6 VET graduates, 4 VET Instructors, 20 VET students and

46 Households participated in the survey. The 46 households were distributed across 6 PCDAs

sampled.

Different instruments were used for the survey depending on the category of the respondent and the

type and kind of information required. The methods used were; 1) Questionnaires for the employer

survey, the graduates’ survey and the students and instructors survey: a community profile survey

questionnaire was also used to establish unemployment rate as well as economic opportunities in the

division. Other tools were; Focused group discussions, interviews, observation and expert judgment.

The Findings

Overall statistics

From the Community Unemployment Baseline, the overall unemployment rate in Loita division is 87%

with women accounting for 95% while male 79%. Out the total population of the working age; about

61% are youth between the ages of 15 – 30 years

Economic opportunities

The purchasing power in the geographical coverage of the survey is still low. The economic activities

that mainly support livelihoods are livestock and subsistence farming.

There is a huge opportunity in the following sectors; Livestock, Crop production, Trade and

Commerce, Forestry, Sustainable Pastoralism, Tourism and Financial services and therefore vocational

Education courses must be developed in view of these prevailing economic opportunities.

Some of the training needs/courses established to be relevant and appropriate with the economic

opportunities existing in Loita division were;

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1. Livestock o Animal husbandry and Veterinary

services o Fodder production and storage o Poultry farming

2. Crop production o Rain water harvesting o Post harvest cereal handling and

preservations o Irrigation skills

3. Trade and Commerce o Hairdressing and Salon o barber, o cobbling, o solar technology o welding (gas and electricity) and

soldering o Beadwork o Knitting and Fashion design

o Carpentry and Masonry, o motor vehicle mechanics and

driving o Electrical Wiring

4. Forestry o Bee keeping (aviary)

5. Pastoralism o Range management o Specialized breeding o Steer raising o Fodder production

6. Tourism o Driving o Tour guiding o Cookery and Catering

7. Financial services o Financial literacy and management

of table banking groups

Recommendations

It is recommended that ILIDP focuses on Institutional organization and planning with regard to

provision of VET; Orientation of stakeholders & partners on VET model (Learn4Work) for full

participation; Establishing appropriate management and governance systems; Capacity building;

Training design, organization and delivery that is responsive to market trends and lastly offer Post-

training support for micro-enterprise development and wage employment:

Improvement of employability in the rural area can take place by means of three main educational

activities; Identification of market segments, skills development for local market targeting youth and

adults who are illiterate (informal); skills development for the external market (formal)targeting semi

and literate youth.

Pastoralism,

Trade and commerce,

livestock, Crop

production

Forestry,

Skills development

Youth and adults who are

illiterate

For Semi- and literate youth

(Linked to GTT)

Trained to seek for

external markets

Trained to seek for

/fit in local markets

MARKET SEGMENTS

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1.0 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

1.1 Project background

ILIDP is a local NGO owned and managed by the Loita Maasai Pastoralists. It was started in 1972 as a collaborative initiative between the Catholic Diocese of Ngong and the Maasai pastoralists in Loita Division, Narok County. The Catholic Mission was interested in working together with the Loita Maasai pastoralists to improve their livelihoods and to stem the process of marginalization that was alienating the pastoralists from mainstream socio-economic and political development. ILIDP has moved on from community mobilization and sensitization to working with youth empowerment projects. ILIDP has partnered up with Learn4Work, a project of the Edukans Foundation in the Netherlands on a youth Technical Vocational Education and Training Project (TVET). This partnership aims at:

i. Integrating hundreds of Loita Maasai youth in the economic mainstream through vocational skills education and training.

ii. Bridging the gap between their lack of formal education and entry into the labour market by equipping them with skills necessary for competitive participation in the labour market.

iii. Promoting awareness on involvement of Private, Public partnerships in development projects

1.2 Rationale and Objectives of the Market Survey

1.2.1 Rationale of the survey

ILIDP is in its fourth (4th) year of youth vocational skills training. Over this period, the training target group has gradually changed from illiterate to semi-literate youth. This has implications on both curricula design, mode of delivery as well as the labour market with which this youth will be transiting into. Further, in the 4 years, the centre has been offering vocational courses in carpentry, motor vehicle mechanics and tailoring /garment making, is market saturation an issue? This survey purposed not only to explore such possibilities but also inform the skills training on content, mode of delivery, labour market linkages and emerging community opportunities. In general, the market survey would serve policy makers at ILIPD and related L4W partner projects in Kenya to assess the relevance and quality of courses to the needs of the labor market in order to improve the quality of education and training through upgrading of curricula, as well as inform students and parents to orient career decisions and manage expectations.

1.2.2 Objectives of the labour market survey

The overall goal of the labor market survey was to establish reliable and verifiable data on the effectiveness, relevance and quality of training that is responsive to the market trends in Loita Division. The survey aimed to establish the information on economic opportunities and training needs in the community by capturing all relevant socio economic information within the geographical area of project implementation. This information will help in preparing community profiles and baseline information, identifying employment and income earning opportunities and development needs. The survey further intended to establish constraints and provide innovative ideas for new business and employment opportunities, and hence give corresponding training needs in vocational training. The following areas were critically explored;

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I. Effectiveness

i. How does the skills training to work transition look like

ii. How long does it take for graduates to find a job

iii. Which means do they use for job search?

iv. Are they employed or self-employed

v. Are they satisfied with the employment/self employed they hold

vi. Do they undergo skill upgrading in case of unemployment?

II. Relevance

i. How satisfied are graduates and students with their experience at VET centre

ii. Are graduates employed in their fields of study?

III. Quality

i. How satisfied are employers with the skills of graduates

ii. What are the employer expectations and needs

iii. How well do graduates’ skills match the needs of employers

iv. How do employers hire and evaluate employees

v. Do employers' offer further training?

vi. Which skills would they have needed in order to improve their labor market outcomes?

The survey focused on the local establishments to investigate their opinion on ILIDP graduates as well

as their relevance to the employment. This was aimed at pointing out the areas where the development

of graduate qualities could be refined so as to increase employability of the current cohort.

The survey also assessed the scope of the programme, including the selection of target groups and

geographical areas, establishing an appropriate local, county and national governance system that is able

to effectively implement VET programmes and strategies, and mobilizing and empowering local

partners to deliver market oriented vocational education training

1.3 Methodology

1.3.1 Survey Design and sample size

To sufficiently carry out this labour market survey, the respondents were grouped into four categories

namely;

I. Employers / business owners

II. VET Students and VET graduates

III. Instructors and

IV. The Community

V. And the institutions (garages, shops)

A Total of 4 business owners, 6 VET graduates, 4 VET Instructors, 20 VET students and 46

Households participated in the survey.

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For the community survey; A total of 5 PCDAs were covered with at least 7-10 household sampled

from each PCDA depending on how disperse the Population is. The total population that participated

in the survey was 1895 from 43 households and 178 families. The table below gives summary of

population from each PCDA.

Table 1.1: Summary of the population sample size

Name of PCDA Total No. of Household

Total No. of Families

Total No. of Population

1 Ilkerin 8 40 455

2 Morijo 10 44 472

3 Entasekera and Olorte 9 38 468

4 Olmesutie 7 29 247

5 Olng’arua 9 27 253

Totals 43 178 1,895

1.3.2 Survey tools

Different instruments were used for the survey depending on the category of the respondent and the

type or kind of information required. The following methods were used;

i. Questionnaires

This was used in the following categories;

a) The Employer Survey: The survey instrument focused predominantly on measurement indicators of employability and enterprise development. It was meant to provide information that can feedback on quality of TVET

b) The Graduates Survey: The survey instrument intended to build on the previous phase of training especially on how the graduates have accessed the job market, retained their jobs or engaged in self employment. It also tried to measure the success rate of the training approaches.

c) The Students and Instructors Survey: the tool had different sections for instructors. They both revolved around what needs to be done to make the training relevant, effective and of good quality.

d) Community profile survey; the tool sought to identify economic opportunities as well training needs in the community, Further, the tool also sought to establish unemployment rate in the division.

ii. Focused Group Discussions (FGD)

This was employed where information on; 1) institutional organization and planning and 2)

Identification of economic opportunities and training needs assessment in the division was required to

inform the kind of training to have at the ILIDP training centre.

The FGD was done in two groups with the first team comprising of ILIDP project managers, PME officer, Finance officer, community representatives and program officers discussing on institutional organization and planning. The second group comprising of ILIDP Board Members, Parents, Local business owners, Trainers and ILIDP management Team discussed Identification of economic

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opportunities and training needs assessment in the division. Both discussions were held separately and were moderated by the consultant

The first group’s discussion sought to assess the scope of the programme including the selection of target groups and geographical areas, establishing an appropriate local, county and national governance system that is able to effectively implement programmes and strategies, and mobilizing and empowering local partners to deliver market oriented vocational education training.

The second group’s discussion was aimed at capturing all relevant socio economic information within the geographical area of project implementation. It also helped in refining the community profile questionnaire and provided baseline information, identifying employment and income earning opportunities and development needs and constraints, provided innovative ideas for new business and employment opportunities, and hence gave corresponding training needs in vocational training. Observation and Expert Judgment This method was employed by the consultant as he traversed through the six PCDAs in the division observing the common socio-economic activities as well as opportunities available locally. The consultant used an observation checklist for comparison purposes.

1.3.3 Data collection

For the community profile survey, the survey adopted a random selection approach in selecting households all the 6 administrative units referred as PCDAs in this study. The PCDAs were; Ilkerin, Olorte, Olmesutie, Entasekera, Morijo and Olng’arua. The enumerators/research assistants conducted interviews in all areas of the village, starting from one Ilkerin and interviewing at least 7 households in each PCDA. In locations where households were very scattered, purposive selection was conducted by the enumerators. This approach ensured that all parts of the villages in the administrative unit were included in the survey. The enumerators were very familiar with the locations and knew the subdivisions and their boundaries very well. A one day training session research assistants and ILIDP management was held. The session included the testing of the survey instrument in Empaash village, Ilkerin Administrative unit followed by a round of feedback from the research assistants and editing of the final questionnaire. The data collection took place from 9-12 September 2014. Interviews were held in Swahili and translated into the local language if needed. The house hold survey was coded and analyzed using SPSS and findings presented in form of facts and figures representing the entire geographical coverage of the ILIDP training centre. Qualitative data was compiled and subjected to data reduction and compression to only capture relevant information as far as the survey objectives were concerned.

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2.0 FINDINGS

This chapter presents the main findings of the household questionnaire, Students and instructors

questionnaire and, where applicable, the findings of the focus group discussions. The analysis focuses

on the aspects most important for the ILIDP VET Programme as well as labour market linkages.

2.1 Demographic

2.1.1 Gender

The students who participated in the survey were drawn from all the PCDA’s with Entasikira and

Morijo having the highest representation. About 68% were male students while the female students

were about 32%. The table below indicates the cross tabulation of the sample population in the six

PCDAs.

Gender of the Respondent * Name of the PCDA/ Location Crosstabulation

Name of the PCDA/ Location

Total Ilkerin Entasikira Morijo Olorte Olmesutie Olng’arua

Gender of the Respondent

Male 1 6 2 2 0 2 13

Female 0 2 4 0 0 0 6

Total 1 8 6 2 0 2 19

2.1.2 Age

All the students who are currently participating in the VET are aged below 30yrs. Majority are between

18 – 23 years and they all regard Vocational education training very highly.

Age bracket of the Respondent * How do you value VET Cross tabulation

How do you value VET

Total Highly

Age bracket of the Respondent 12-17 yrs 2 2

18-23 yrs 14 14

24-29 yrs 3 3

Total 19 19

2.1.3 Qualities of a good Artisan

The students were asked about qualities of a good artisan, from their responses, the figure below

gives their summary of opinions.

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2.1.4 Graduates meeting local market needs

The training meets the needs of the local emerging markets. About 65% of the ILIDP graduates have

been able to start and be employed in local workshops, garages and are actively participating in

economic activities within the division. However, from an external market perspective, higher level

training is still required so that the training is able to offer advanced government trade tests.

2.2 Household and Unemployment Rates

This was conducted per the administrative unit referred as the PCDA; the Findings are presented as an

aggregate of all the six PCDAs and the overall unemployment rate being an average the six regions;

2.2.1 Sample population per PCDA

The following were the population distributions.

Table 2. 1: PCDA’s Total Population Sample Size

Name of PCDAs No. of House Holds Surveyed

Total No. of Families

Total Population

1

Ilkerin 8 40 455

Villages Sampled: Baata/ Osukunwa, Oluai Enkipetpet, Ilasit, Nchorroi Nkopon, Elmoruarai and Empaash

2 Olmesutie 7 29 247

Villages Sampled: Iltumaro, Nkipankasi, Olentarakuai, Kipangasi

3 Entasekera 5 38 441

Villages Sampled: Entashata, Osinantei, , Naibala, , Nairotia, Ilera

4 Olorte 2 5 42 Villages Sampled: Tiamang’en and Olchorro

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Name of PCDAs No. of House Holds Surveyed

Total No. of Families

Total Population

ng’usur

5 Morijo 10 44 472

Villages Sampled: Emorogi, Lekuruki,

Oloisinyai, Orkijiji, Oltarakwai, Kiltilikini, and Naapolosa

6 Olng’arua 9 27 253

Villages Sampled: Miton, kisokon, ilkujuka, , Olmanie, , Nangise, Murantawua, iltukulenja, iltararani, olmororionko, orng’arua

2.2.2 Total working age population

Out the total population of 1895, only 936 representing (49.4%) were of working age. The table below

gives a summary of aggregated statistics of Loita division

Table 2. 2: Total Working Age Population

Male Female Totals

Frequency Percent Frequency Percent

Total Population of working age (15-

65) 496 53% 440 47% 936

- Among Which , youth (15-30) 331 67% 244 55%

2.2.3 Unemployment rate among the working age population

Out of the total working age population of 936, only 126 are engaged either in self or formal

employment. From the population of unemployed, about 59.8% are youth between ages 15-30

Table 2. 3: Number of under/unemployed

Male Female Total

Frequency Percent Frequency Percent 810

Number of under/unemployed 394 49% 416 51%

- Among Which , youth (15-30) 256 65% 228 55%

2.3 Markets, Labour and Vocational Training

A thorough and systematic identification of potential economic opportunities within the community

and in the neighboring environment, and an assessment of corresponding training needs are required

prior to designing any community development programme (ILO, 2009), this survey sought to identify

some of the economic activities, markets and available labour force within Loita Maasai so as to inform

and provide the basis for vocational training in the division that can lead to productive employment,

either wage employment or, more often, income-generating activities and micro-enterprises.

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2.3.1 Economic Activities and Markets The process of identifying economic opportunities consisted of three major steps. While each step is

important and logically followed the preceding one, an iteractive approach was used to compare former

surveys and the newly acquired information. First, the focused

group discussions (see annex tool 2) was used where pertinent

issues regarding national and county picture with regard to

economic opportunities was discussed.

The same was localized to elicit local opportunities. This

process was followed by a community profile survey which

contained a structured questionnaire (see annex tool1),

observation and expert judgment was used too at this stage.

The last step consisted of discussion of the preliminary findings with the core L4W team and few

selected stakeholders. The findings are summarized below;

a) Livestock;

o There was presence of cows, sheep and goats in all the 43 households surveyed, the number

of livestock owned by a family depended on the entrepreneurial acumen of the household

head. Traditionally this was through cattle raiding which is no longer being practiced.

o More than 60% of the livestock were of indigenous breed characterized by low

productivity; Milk and meat are both at subsistence level despite numerous heads of cows.

This is owed fact that most families have insufficient knowledge on agribusiness which

could otherwise turn around the livestock ownership principles.

o No zero grazing practice was observed in all the 43 households.

o Inspite of vast lands, there is insufficient pasture land due to recurrent droughts that affects

the livelihoods of the pastoralists.

o Most of the households about 92% depend on livestock for all their upkeep

b) Crop production

o There was evidence that agriculture is being practiced in many places that are accessible to

both rain water as well as irrigation; the rainy season is usually in the months of April and

May with short rains in the month of October and December. The rest of the year is

generally dry.

o Majority of families about 78% have began

engaging in crop production mainly maize and

beans. The productivity is high since the land

that is still fertile and readily available manure

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o despite huge chunks of land, crop production is also at subsistence level and mostly they are

women and young men who work in the farms

o Crop production experience threats from both livestock as well as wild animals. The farms

have temporary fencing.

The youth have embraced crop production more than the elderly counterparts. This

indicates a shift in livelihoods from livestock rearing to agri-business

c) Commerce

o There are emerging community shopping centres where retailers, artisans and other

business owners conduct business transactions. Each shopping center has a market day

designated in a week

Ilkerin and Entasekera –

Mondays

Morijo –Tuesdays

Olorte- Friday

Olmesutie-Saturday

In effect this creates a chain of market days

E

o Of the 4 shopping centre that are within 25kms radius, Ilkerin is the largest and attracts

merchants as far as Narok town and across the border in Tanzania

o Most families indicated that they are able to get essentials from the neighboring markets

though at an extra cost. This is probably explained by the fact that the region is not well

connected to major roads. For instance 1 litre of petrol costs KES 140 instead of a standard

price of KES 113 at the time of conducting this study

o Majority of the women and men interviewed at the shopping centres indicated that they

often lack access to updated market information and this limits their business development

as well as get exploited by traders from neighboring districts and towns.

o The purchasing power amongst the residents is low hence this limits the growth of the

shopping centres however; there has been a steady growth for the last 4 years.

o It was observed that most of the women/youth business owners had almost similar

merchandise for selling at the market hence the market place lacking diversified goods and

services. This owed to the lack of entrepreneurial skills and market insights.

d) Forestry

o There is minimal economic activities that take place in and around the Loita forest also

known by the locals as Naimina Enkiyio - the ‘forest of the lost child’

e) Pastoralism

f) The pastoralim is still a lifestyle and a major economic activity for most of the families and

households.

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g) Tourism

o The division is approximately 60kms away from the Maasai Mara national park. This

presents an opportunity for the local population within Loita. Out of the 13% who were

employed, about 40% of them were employed in the lodges and others businesses around

touristic activities in the Mara.

h) Loita is scenic and suitable for eco-tourism Financial services

o There was no financial institution present in the geographical coverage of this survey,

residents mostly rely on mobile banking especially M-pesa. Women and youth have savings

groups in which they do table banking.

1.3.2 Labour market and Vocational Training The total population of the working age (15 – 65 years) comprised of about 50% of the sample size out

of which more than 67% male and 55% female were youth between age 15 – 30 years. With an average

unemployment rate of 87%; limited economic

opportunities and high illiteracy levels, skills

development is paramount if sustainable economic

development is to be attained.

All this factors coupled with an overwhelming

enthusiasm amongst the youth (both male and

female) between 17 – 28 years to have a skill

presents an opportunity for Ilkerin Training centre

to deliver market oriented curricula that is

affordable, innovative and that which is able to

respond to the local needs.

From the discussions made and further fine-tuning of findings to select priority activities from among

those identified by the surveys, those activities that hold the greatest potential for providing successful

sustainable job opportunities in the community were selected. Particular emphasis was made on

identifying those economic activities that have potential to contribute to local socio-economic

development goals.

The findings were categorized and are presented around the following sub topics;

i. The training needs of the anticipated economic activity (e.g. technical skills, soft skills training) ii. Potential trainees? What are their interests? Groups or individual trainees? iii. Training providers and potential instructors? iv. Estimated training costs, what alternative ways are there to finance training? v. Is training equipment locally available and relevant? If not, how could training equipment be

provided/purchased

- 13 -

Table 2.2: Training Needs Economic Opportunities as identified

Training need Potential trainees/ their interests

Training providers /instructors / partners

Estimated training cost

Is training equipment locally available and relevant

Technical skills Soft skills:

1 Livestock 8. Animal husbandry and Veterinary services

9. Fodder production and storage

10. Poultry farming

Agribusiness skills,

financial literacy,

pasture management

Few

ILIDP

Yes

2 Crop production Technical skills: 11. Rain water harvesting 12. Post harvest cereal

handling and preservations 13. Irrigation skills

Soft skills:

Agribusiness skills

Financial literacy

Marketing acumen

Many Interested in agribusiness

ILIDP Narok Polytechnic County Government Donors

Yes

3 Trade and Commerce Technical skills: 14. Hairdressing and Salon 15. barber, 16. cobbling, 17. solar technology 18. welding (gas and electricity)

and soldering 19. Beadwork 20. Knitting and Fashion

design 21. Carpentry and Masonry, 22. motor vehicle

mechanics and driving 23. Electrical Wiring

Soft Skills 24. Interpersonal

and communications 25. negotiation and 26. business

development skills 27. financial literacy

and entrepreneurial skills

Many

ILIDP Narok Polytechnic County Government Donors

Yes but not adequate

4 Forestry 28. Bee keeping (aviary)

Business development skills

Few

5 Pastoralism 29. Range management 30. Specialized breeding 31. Steer raising

33. Financial literacy, 34. Agri-business

None

- 14 -

Economic Opportunities as identified

Training need Potential trainees/ their interests

Training providers /instructors / partners

Estimated training cost

Is training equipment locally available and relevant

Technical skills Soft skills:

32. Fodder production

6 Tourism 35. Driving 36. Tour guiding 37. Cookery and Catering

38. Interpersonal and communication skills

39. Language ( Kiswahili and English)

Many ILIDP Camps Narok Polytechnic

Yes

7 Financial services 40. Financial literacy

41. Team dynamics 42. Group

management and growth

43. Management skill 44. Law and Policy

in offering

Many especially VET graduates

ILIDP Role models Successful VET graduates

Yes

- 14 -

2.4 Institutional Planning and Organisation

Based on the foregoing facts and figures, ILIDP as a vocational training provider must consciously deliver to

relevant and good quality training to address the high unemployment levels among the youth in Loita division

and Narok County At Large.

While assessing the institution’s preparedness to deliver on skills training that is demand driven and responsive

to the labour market, the following critical issues came up from the survey;

Orientation: There must be some level of Orientation of stakeholder and other implementing partners

in your methodology; Learn4workapproaches skills development through partnerships and therefore

involvement of all partners and stakeholders from the start is important

Management: Establishing a L4W programme implementing/management unit, defining roles and

functions of staff; this will aid in creating synergy and accountability amongst management

Planning: Planning Process must be done in each phase of training; ILIDP curricula is a crush

program where the syllabus is covered in 5 months other than the usual 24 months therefore planning

workshops, Work plans, Adaptation tools – labor market feedback channels are necessary so as the

institution is able to measure its success rate as far as skills training is concerned

Situational analysis: ILIDP should be able to periodically carry out Labor market trends, socio

economic trends viz-a-vis the training programme

Institutional linkages and networks: Spearhead formation of public and private sector linkages to

the training

Build collaboration and linkages within the county

Governance structure: Always develop MOUs with implementing partners in the project and monitor

progress; regularly review the policies to be in line with the dynamics of skills development

There is Need for certification and accreditation of ILIDP as a TVET provider

Capacity building: Carry out some capacity of the implementing partners, Conduct Refresher courses

trainers and provide a framework to reach graduates for some post training support

Some of the cross cutting issues established were;

1. ILIDP Financial / Resource Constraints; there is inadequate facilities and resources that can

sustain more students hence the training centre can only limit its enrolment to 35 students at a

time.

2. Sustainability ; the following avenues were established to make the training sustainable;

a. Graduates to be empowered to become focal points in skills dissemination in every

PCDA

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b. Use apprentice approach to circumvent inadequate facilities and resources

c. Build a program around ILIDP VET alumni

d. Make use of devolved system

e. Promote youth and women access the 30% public procurement by organizing them

into groups and offer post training support which may include micro-credits, refresher

courses on team work and Business development

f. Introduce short courses in which the community members can pay

2.5 Feedback on training

The following training program feedback was captured from the graduates, instructors and students;

i. Role models; VET students requires role models for coaching and mentoring, there are some

life skills that can well be imparted to trainees through the successful graduates who have

benefited from the ILIDP training. Therefore, Life skills training should be enhanced especially

in the following subjects

- Communication

- Honesty and integrity

- Quality and Costing

- Good customer service

ii. It was revealed that the market is not yet saturated; Current courses are still relevant however

the following course are to be enhanced;

o Carpentry: - The course needs to include basics of house construction.

o Garment making and Tailoring:- Knitting lesson to be introduced

o Motor Vehicle mechanics; introduce gas welding in the curricula

The other courses that were suggested to be worth introducing;

o welding

o Saloon and Baber

o Catering and cookery

o Hairdressing

o Solar technology

o Business development skills

iii. For a reliable and stable training facility, the training calendar must be fixed since this will well

attract students from within and beyond Loita Division

iv. ILIDP should Organize work placements for the graduates; become a mediator between the

training and the labour market

v. The centre should establish a production unit where best students will be retained so that they

can support in production. The management should source for tenders from both private and

public institutions around Loita division. This will create jobs for the carpentry, masonry and

garment making artisans

vi. Organize for exchange programs and other extra curriculum activities; induction of trainees for

exposure

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vii. Welfare of instructors; Trainers require further discussions on terms of services, fringe benefits

and understand there remuneration criteria. The basis of negotiation is that they conduct a

crush a training program that normally takes 24 months into only 5 months

Other training information

1. Branding of the Training centre as a true centre of learning ; Students suggested that they

require a flag and uniform

2. Require enough tools and equipment for training purposes

3. Register the school for accreditation purposes

4. Provide opportunity for sitting for higher level of examination i.e. GTT3, 2 and 1 respectively

5. Require post training support to motivate other youth to join VET; the post training support to

include the following;

a. Refresher courses and or short courses that add value to graduates aligning themselves

with the national vocational skills and the labor market

b. Team / group formations to tap into 30% public procurement processes in the county

c. Linkages to micro- credit facilities

- 17 -

3.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

3.1 Community Unemployment Baseline

The unemployment rate in Loita division is 87% with women accounting for 95% while male 79%. Out the total

population of the working age; about 61% are youth between the ages of 15 – 30 years.

Figure 3.1: Number of under/employed in Loita division

Almost all the youth appreciate vocational education training as they observed that it;

1. Promotes self employment

2. Gives hands-on skills and results to being independent

3. Helps youth to have sustainable income and be of help in the communities they live in

4. Promotes life skills amongst the youth

5. Does not emphasize on having formal education; welcomes both illiterate and literate youths

3.2 Economic Opportunities

The purchasing power in the geographical coverage of the survey is still low. The economic activities

that mainly support livelihoods are livestock and subsistence farming. There is a huge opportunities in

the following sectors; Livestock, Crop production, Trade and Commerce, Forestry, Sustainable

Pastoralism, Tourism and Financial services

3.3 Training Needs

Informed by the foregoing economic opportunities, the training should be categorized in to two;

technical skills and soft skills

Technical skills; this kind of training will impart technical, hands-on skills that will facilitate graduates

able to make, repair and or invent new ways of solving local problems using locally available materials.

- 18 -

Soft skills; These are skills that are non-technical and mostly require no equipment apart from the

intellect and experience. Among others; the recommended courses/topics here were;

- Communication and interpersonal skills

- Agribusiness

- Negotiation skills

- Financial management

An essential part of the training package must include a not less than four day business management skill training for the VET students prior to graduation. The objective is to orient the students on business management and enable them to engage in entrepreneurship. The main contents of this component should but not limited to:

- Business management skills training – Basic - Concepts of entrepreneurship - How to start a small business – Preparing a business plan - Managing a business - Business / enterprise successes and failures - Lessons learned from the first year of business implementation - Stages of small business - What’s important at initial stage? - Will your business make money? - Marketing and product development - Financial and technical appraisal of each project - Accounting and financial management

3.4 Recommendations

Lean4work envisions making a positive contribution to the number of young people who can learn a

trade; providing the right mix of quality of vocational training must enhance this. The kind of training

that will better align VET graduates with and flow-through to the job market.

With an average unemployment rate of 87% amongst the working age population, lack of skilled labour

and high illiteracy levels among the majority youth, Skills training for this population in Loita is vital for

socio-economic and even political development.

The following is recommended;

I. Institutional organization and planning; ILIDP training centre among many other findings

established in this survey should focus on;

a. Initial assessment of policy environment and needs of the target group and align them

with the opportunities created by the county government as well as national

government. This may include;

i. Registration and accreditation of the training centre

- 19 -

ii. Creation of partnership with the County Government of Narok to scale up the

training since there is now evidence of huge pool of youth who are unemployed

and lack skills to participate any form of employment

iii. Focus on internal policy framework on Skills training as well as job creation

strategies. This will stimulate the local economy

b. Orientation of stakeholders & partners; Learn4work partnership architecture is

sound and brings in multi-stakeholder approaches in skills development. This still

requires to be brought down to the local level as its effect on value addition to training

is yet to be realized.

c. Establishing appropriate management and governance systems; with the huge

demand of skills in the geographical coverage of the Centre, ILIDP requires special

focus on models that will be able to reach more youth with the limited resources

available. The current centre based training and facilities available can only

accommodate about 45 students at a time. Apart from the current centre based,

Apprenticeship and on job training models are recommended. The general policy on

how to manage and govern skills training requires review.

d. Capacity building; enhance refresher courses for both core project staff, instructors as

well establish post training short courses for the graduates

II. Training design, organization and delivery; a. Design content and develop curricula of newly suggested courses. Review the curricula

of MVM, Carpentry and Garment Making and tailoring to capture new feedback from

the labour market.

b. Selection of trainees and training of trainers; widen the geographical scope to attract

more students who are willing to pay for the training. Use successful graduates as

trainers as well as role models

c. Delivery of training; explore possibilities of also introducing apprenticeship kind of

training especially to courses around tourism sector

d. Continued training even after graduation

III. Post-training support for micro-enterprise development and wage employment: ILIDP

must be able to stimulate the local economy more by; a. Facilitating access to wage or self-employment to its graduates. Providing timely and

updated information on locally existing opportunities and gaps that the graduates can

utilize can enhance this.

b. Support to small business start-up

c. Facilitating access to credit, advisory services, marketing, technology, etc.

d. Support to formation of groups

e. Follow-up to L4W graduates through the track and tracer system

f. Introduce alumni system that can still feedback the training as well as offer support to

the institution

- 20 -

4.0 APPENDICES

Tool 1: Focused Group Discussion Guide Tool for Group 1

This discussion is aimed at assessing the scope of the programme, including the selection of target groups and geographical areas, establishing an appropriate local, county and national governance system that is able to effectively implement programmes and strategies, and mobilizing and empowering local partners to deliver market oriented vocational education training.

Participants: ILIDP project managers, PME officer, Finance officer, community representatives and

program officers

Key issues to discuss

I. Orientation:

- Level of Orientation of stakeholder and other implementing partners in your methodology

II. Management

- Establishing a L4W programme implementing/management unit, defining roles and functions

of staff;

III. Planning

- Planning Process ( planning workshops, Work plans, Adaptation tools – labor market feedback

channels)

IV. Situational analysis

- Labor market trends, socio economic trends vs the programme

- Initial assessment of training, Gender issues, PLWD, HIV AIDS,

V. Institutional linkages and networks

- Social partners public and private sector actors

VI. Institutional frameworks

- Arrangements at county and local level?

- Advisory committee?

VII. Governance structure

- Defining governance structure including roles and functions of ILIDP and other players

involved?

- Flow of information?

- decision making,

- do you need MOUs, Policy position papers

VIII. Capacity building

- implementing partners, Trainers- Refresher courses,

- 21 -

Tool 2: Focused Group Discussion Guide Tool for Group 2

This discussion is aimed at capturing all relevant socio economic information within the geographical area of project implementation. It will help in preparing community profiles and baseline information, identifying employment and income earning opportunities and development needs and constraints, provide innovative ideas for new business and employment opportunities, and hence give corresponding training needs in vocational training. Participants: ILIDP Board Members, Parents, Local business owners, Trainers and ILIDP management Team Major Issues

I. National/County Picture - Information on national, county and local development plans - Why is it necessary for local development? - Assessments of Labour-market demand in various economic sectors locally;

II. Economic Opportunities; - How to mobilize the community - What are the employment opportunities locally - Highlight of income generating opportunities locally

III. Identifying Specific Training - Technical skills, - entrepreneurial, - small enterprise management, - post-training support needs;

IV. Preparing relevant training proposals.

- Consultants way or in-house upgrading of the training continent/curricula

Notes

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________

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Tool 3: Students and Instructors Questionnaire

SECTION A: BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1. Name of the Respondent/Company/Organization (optional)-------------------------------------------- 2. Category of the Respondent/Company/Organization (TICK where appropriate)

[ ] VET Student [ ] Community Elder [ ] Businessman/woman [ ] VET Graduate 3. Gender of the respondent [ ] Male [ ] Female 4. Respondent’s Age bracket [ ]12 -17 yrs [ ]18 -23 yrs [ ]24 -29 yrs [ ]30 -35 yrs [ ] over 36 yrs 5. Name of the PCDA/ Location_______________________________ 6. Duration (Years) in; i) Artisan field or ___________

ii) Business/workshop existence or __________ ii) VET _________________________

SECTION B: TRAINING – Students 1. what is your understanding on vocational training 2. what is your opinion about TIVET training 3. how do you value vocational education

[ ] highly [ ] medium [ ] lowly [ ] not applicable in our setting

4. Out of the TIVET training (trades) selected (Carpentry, masonry, leatherwork and bead making, MVM, driving, security and tour guides, tailoring and dressmaking etc ), which trades will address the need of the community in order of priority

5. what do you think must be done by the community to improve the attitude of vocational Education_______________________________________________________________

6. what should the training institutions do to improve the quality of the vocational education SECTION C: LABOUR MARKET SITUATION/ASSESSMENT 1. Why are the TIVET graduates not meeting the market demands/

expectation__________________________________________________________________ 2. In your opinion, what are the qualities of a good artisan? 3. is there a market for the graduates of Vocational Education in this community [ ] Yes [ ] No

a. if No, can it be developed [ ] yes [ ] No i. how, please explain

b. if yes how can it be strengthened 4. what are the real needs of your market 5. Does ILIDP TVET graduates your work demand needs [ ] Yes [ ] No Tool 4: Community Profile Questionnaire and Observation Check List

Site/Community : _________________________________________________________

23

District: : _________________________________________________________ Division : _________________________________________________________

Part I. Community general description A Population of the programme site

1. Total population: ________________________ 2. Number of families_____________

Male Female

Total population of working age (15-65)

- Among which, youth (15-24)

Number under/unemployed

- Among which, youth (15-24)

B Geographical features

1. Nearest towns/cities with influence on the programme site Distance (km) ________________________________________ ------------------

2. Villages near the programme site Distance (km) ________________________________________ ------------------

3. Access to programme site from the nearest towns (tick appropriate answer) [ ] by road (describe type)

4. Natural land/ water resource Comment/ specify area/name [ ] River/stream _____________________________________________________ [ ] Swamps ______________________________________________________ [ ] Farming land ______________________________________________________ [ ] Grazing land ______________________________________________________ [ ] Forests ______________________________________________________

5. General landscape (tick appropriate answer)

[ ] Flat [ ] Hilly [ ] Mountainous C) Climate

Season / Period a) Rainy ____________________________________ b) Dry ____________________________________ D) Educational facilities

Number Type Distance from programme site (km)

Numbers enrolled

Numbers graduated

Boys Girls Boys Girls

Primary schools

Secondary Schools

Vocational college

E) Credit sources for small/informal activities

1. Local Type1 Location Comments

1 Type may be as follows:

– Commercial banks with special lending programmes; – Government institutions, rural or development banks; – Micro-finance institutions; – Development NGOs with their own funds for lending or administering loan funds for government or private agency programmes; – Savings and credit associations (e.g. SACCOS, credit unions, financial cooperatives, village banks);

24

By Name

2. Outside the community

Type*

Location

Comments

F) Available services

Utility Comment 1. Water for: Areaa

a) Home use ______________ ____________________________________ b) Irrigation ______________ ____________________________________

2. Power/Lighting ______________ ____________________________________ 3. Transport ______________ ____________________________________ G. Economic and social organizations supporting small-scale activities

1. ______________________________________

Part II. Raw materials and other production inputs i.e. amount of raw material/production input available for new businesses:

(Score as 1 = Scarce; 2 = Enough; 3 = Plenty; 4 = Abundant

1. Crop production

Score Comments

1. Land

2. Fertilizers

3. Seed supply

4. Tools

5. Machinery

Others ( please state

2. Livestock

Score Comments

Animals

Young

Animal feeds

Veterinary supplies

Shelters/ boma Others ( please state

3. Crafts

Score Comments

Raw materials

Tools

Workshops Others ( please state

– Cooperatives, if beneficiaries are members; – Social organizations (e.g. Chama Ya Wamama) with lending programmes for self-employment activities; – Informal credit sources (loans from friends and relatives, from private money lenders or credit from the supplier of equipment and materials).

25

4. Clothing and textiles

Score Comments

cloth

Tools

Workshops Others ( please state

5. Services

Score Comments Repair shops Construction Others ( please state

6 Tourism

Score Comments

Tourism Others ( please state