Contribution of youth development fund-supported income generating activities to youth livelihoods in Morogoro municipality and Mvomero district, Tanzania

Abstract

The extent to which - Youth Development Fund (YDF)-supported income-generating activities contributed to youth livelihoods among beneficiaries is unknown, although it is generally believed that -YDF has not managed to create employment opportunities among youth since its establishment in Tanzania. This study aimed at establishing how - YDF contributed to the improvement of youth livelihoods by examining the reasons behind the choices of income-generating activities that youth who are the beneficiaries of YDF are engaged in. The specific objectives were: i) To identify and characterize the YDF- supported income-generating activities that YDF recipients are engaged in; ii) To determine factors that influenced the choices youth make to engage in YDF-supported income-generating activities; iii) To assess the contribution of YDF-supported economic activities to youth livelihoods in terms of income, food security, and asset ownership of the YDF recipients; and iv) To assess the effect of YDF-supported economic activities in generating employment and strengthening community participation of the youth. Results show that most of the critical factors were not considered when youth were choosing the types of enterprises intending to engage in as YDF beneficiaries. However, YDF still has been shown to contribute to the livelihoods of youth at P ≤0.01, leaving other factors such as financial support from the family, friends, and personal saving constant. Finally, it was concluded that YDF has contributed to improving the livelihood of the youth beneficiaries of YDF. However, it is recommended that the sum of funds provided should reflect the enterprise selected by youth and more options on how funds can be accessed should be added, such as individual loans and equipment or machinery loans.