The Kenya Youth Employment Opportunities Project (KYEOP) improves the employability of Kenyan youths while providing them with a way to earn money. Through a voucher system, the project teaches the youth conventional and informal vocational skills, and business start-up and management skills. It also provides grants to help them start or expand their small enterprises. The project aims to reach 280,000 young people in 17 Kenyan counties.
What type of programme did we evaluate?
What made our evaluation meaningful?
MDF designed and executed tracer studies for KYEOP graduates between 2019 and 2022, with the goal of determining socio-economic status, employment, and income status, as well as skill development, (self) employment, and job tenures. We also conducted a special study to determine the reasons behind drop-out.
MDF worked with key stakeholders to build and validate the study instruments. We led data collection, quantitative and qualitative analysis and report writing. Our team worked with a large number of enumerators who used phones and tablets to collect data. They also held face-to-face interviews and conducted business visits. MDF traced 1,800 KYEOP beneficiaries in tracer study 1 in 2019, and 2,400 beneficiaries in tracer study 2 in 2022.
How is it impactful?
KYEOP is a strategic initiative implemented under the Government of Kenya's Vision 2030 and the Medium-Term Plan III. As a result, these studies help the Ministry and the World Bank answer the question: "Where are the KYEOP youth graduates, and what is their employment and income status?" This guides policy decisions about youth employment. The tracer study is crucial in knowing how to create youth employment programmes that provide tangible outcomes on the ground and boost vulnerable youth's employability.
