A FOCUS ON KIAMBU CUNTY - WordPress.com · YEI embarked on a process of ISO certification primarily as a strategy for ensuring quality ... entrepreneurship. These youth are vulnerable

7th Floor Victoria Plaza, Westlands

P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya

Website: www.capyei.org Tel: 020 525 4349, 020 526 0269

1.0 Kiambu County

1.1 Introduction

Kiambu County is located in the Central highlands of Kenya in the former Central Province,

close to Kenya's capital, Nairobi. Covering an area of 2,543.42 square kilometers, it is also

considered one of the wealthiest counties in Kenya. It is a leading innovative commercial

hub that shares its borders with five other counties; Nakuru and Kajiado to the West,

Murang'a and Nyandarua to the North and Nairobi to the South.

There are several theories that explain the origin of the name kiambu; one theory suggests

that it was derived from a prominent Kikuyu clan known as mbari ya mbuu who used to

live next to the current day Kiambu town. Another theory suggests the area used to

experience constant showers hence the kikuyu phrase ‘kia mbuu'’ meaning the “place of

drizzles.” Kiambu County constitutes of twelve constituencies namely: Gatundu south,

Gatundu North, Juja, Thika town, Ruiru, Githunguri, Kiambu, Kiambaa, Kabete, Kikuyu,

Limuru and Lari.

The 2009 Population and Housing Census indicate that the county had an urban population

of 936,411 in 2009 and in 2012 was projected to be 1,018,773. Urban population is

expected to reach 1,108,380 in 2015 and 1,172,453 by the end of 2017. This high

population in urban centres can be attributed to the proximity of the county to Nairobi as


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


most of the people work in Nairobi and reside in the county. In addition, industrial

development in some districts like Thika West and Ruiru attract more labour force.

Kiambu is a town in Kiambu County, Kenya within the Nairobi Metropolitan Region. The

town has a population of 88,869 according to the county government of Kiambu and it is

connected to the rest of the country through a good road network. It is served by many

minibuses and buses.

The town is surrounded by hilly Kikuyu farmland although is under urbanization as

Nairobi is growing fast and more people settle in neighboring towns. Kiambu is seen as a

future anchor to the capital city Nairobi which is undergoing rapid development with

limited space for growth. Kiambu town is therefore a favored location for real estate

development.

The town's administration is under the County Government of Kiambu, which came into

force with the promulgation of Kenya's constitution in 2010.

1.2 Population and Development

Rapid population growth has resulted in high population especially that of youth within

Kiambu county at large. Clearly the high population growth rate has serious effects on

social and economic development. This has resulted into increased unemployment, high

dependency ratio, over-crowding in educational facilities, more demand for better houses

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kikuyu_people

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitution_of_Kenya


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


and high level of poverty indices. Other problems related to high population includes

increasing child labor and family breakdowns. The high rate of unemployment among the

youth has resulted into high insecurity and crime rate within Kiambu town for a long time.

The vice has even adversely affected the location of residential buildings which tend to be

located at the core of urban center.

1.3 Community Organizations/ Non- State Actors

Kiambu County has a total of 38 NGOs with most of them being concentrated in Kiambu

and Thika towns within Kiambaa and Juja constituencies. Majority of them, concentrate in

the fight against HIV and AIDS, children welfare and women empowerment. Moreover, the

county has the biggest number of registered Community Based Organizations (CBOs),

estimated to be more than 10,000. The groups are engaged in wide variety of activities

including: Micro-finance, HIV and AIDS, Drugs and Substance abuse campaign, advocacy

and other income generating activities (County Government of Kiambu)

1.4 Youth population (15–29 years) in Kiambu County

In 2009, the population of the youth was 472,745 and was expected to reach 509,564 in

2012, 549,251 in 2015 and 577,412 by the end of year 2017. The youth forms 29.1 percent

of the total county population. To cater for this population, more investment in vocational

trainings, youth empowerment centres and tertiary institutions is crucial so as to equip the


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


youth with necessary skills and knowledge for gainful employment and job creation. In

addition, institutions of higher learning such as technical colleges will need to be equipped

and upgraded to offer competitive skills particularly to those who cannot proceed to the

university. There is also need to create facilitative mechanisms for the youth to access loans

such as those available through the Youth Enterprise Fund to assist them engage in income

generating activities rather than joining illegal groupings or engaging in drug and

substance abuse. The county has a high increase rate in labor force and therefore this has

created a major challenge in creating employment opportunities especially in the formal

sector. Employment in the formal sector has therefore been on the decrease with the only

major employer being the informal Jua Kali sector.

2.0 CAP Youth Empowerment Institute

CAP Youth Empowerment Institute has over the past six years demonstrated a solution to

the challenge of youth unemployment that not only works, but offers high potential for

scale and sustainability. CAP YEI is a Kenyan NGO started in 2010, as a signature program

funded by the MasterCard Foundation to bridge the existing gap between learning and

earning in the Kenyan youths (see www.capyei.org). The CAPYEI mandate is addressing

youth unemployment by offering skills training and support through its Basic

Employability Skills Training (BEST) model.

http://www.capyei.org/


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


BEST is a demand led model that works by closely linking employers, youth, mentors and

other stakeholders to delivers skills and support optimized to train youth with the right

skills and attitudes to perform at work and that employers will hire. The model plays equal

emphasis on providing technical skills as well as life skills. Every course offered by CAP YEI

is based on a market assessment that estimates employability potential for trained youth.

Potential employers are engaged at all levels, including curriculum delivery, mentorship,

practical training and work readiness. A post training support program and alumni

network contribute to supporting youth as they transition from training to the world of

work.

Using the BEST model, CAP YEI has trained over 34,261 youth in Kenya directly and

attained a successful transition (from learning to earning) that averages 78%, one of the

highest rates in Kenya. In 2014, CAP YEI embarked on a Capacity building program target

Vocational Training Centers (VTC’s) with the goal of teaching them to adapt some of the

most important principles and processes of the BEST to their programs. This program has

now reached 96 VTC’s across Kenya and indirectly helped to reach over 6000 youth. As

part of the strategy, the BEST model program has now been enhanced to include skills

training and support in the Government mandate Competency Based Education and

Training Framework (CBET) which gives beneficiary VTC’s and youth an important

advantage as this program has only recently started. Sixty CAP YEI staff have been trained


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


in the Competency Based Education and Training (CBET) approach, which has

subsequently become an important part of BEST model delivery

CAP YEI’s has developed 18 courses under the BEST model, 6 of which have been

accredited by CDACC. CAP WDI and CAP YEI have existing staff complement of 154

representing most of the skills and program carried out.

To properly handle the monitoring and evaluation of the programs and/or projects, CAP

YEI/CAP WDI developed an in-house Management Information System that is used to

generate regular and accurate data for project monitoring and management. In 2016 CAP

YEI embarked on a process of ISO certification primarily as a strategy for ensuring quality

and standards across all the domains. CAP YEI expects to be ISO certified by July 2018.

2.1 Eligibility to CAP YEI Training

The youth applying to join CAPYEI are not discriminated against on the basis of tribe, color,

gender, religion, socio-economic status, disability. CAPYEI is open to young Kenyans who

meet the following criteria but not in order of importance:

Unemployed: Our first call is to all unemployed youth between 18-25 years to train

them and then place them into employment or support them to venture into

entrepreneurship. These youth are vulnerable because with lack of a source of

income, and our intervention brings change by assisting them access employment


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


that translates to money in the bank. We help steer them from effects of systemic

poverty that may lead them to being radicalized or into unlawful means of income

generation.

Family Focus: We take only one youth per household for maximum reach out in the

community. This is because CAPYEI believes that reaching one youth per household

will translate to as many families reached.

Gender: The current gender ratio of male to female in CAPYEI programs is 40:60 in

percentage. The program targets to reach a minimum of 35% young women and

CAPYEI currently has reached 612 female students that constitute of 60% of the

youth in the program in Kilifi. The Coastal region experiences a unique cultural,

religious, geographical and historical condition that makes it even harder for young

women to take part in CAPYEI.

School Dropouts: These youth could have dropped out of primary school or

secondary school because of various issues like they might have had no money to

support schooling, pregnancy and giving birth, radicalization, some might have

become caregivers, or were expelled due to drugs, or other misbehavior in school.

CAPYEI seeks to empower these youth through training and linking them to

opportunities to earn income.

Geographical scope: CAPYEI reaches the youth from the most geographically

disadvantaged areas in the Kilifi communities.


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


Working with administration officials: CAPYEI works with administration

officials like chiefs as opposed to the Political leaders. This is because working with

chiefs has proven recruitment and retention and follow-up results. They know the

trainees families, homes and are respectable members of the society.

Orphanages: CAPYEI centers provide safe, family-style environment for orphans

and vulnerable youth that are targeted from orphanages. These could be due to loss

of parents or abandonment leaving them nowhere else to go.

3.0 CAP YEI Presence in Kiambu County

The county plays Host of 1 CAP YEI center.

Kiambu Model Center

The center was opened in 2017 and is under MasterCard Funded centers in Nairobi region.

Before setting up a centre in Kiambu County, a market scan was conducted, that revealed

that the following sector had opportunities for the youth in Kiambu County:

Hospitality

Hairdressing and Beauty

The center has so far completed 1 batch for phase 2 and currently enrolled the 2nd

batch with 71 trainees undergoing training.


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


The CAP YEI labor market survey covered 10 sectors: Building and Construction,

Hospitality, Information Technology, Retail, Welding and Fabrication, Carpentry and

woodwork, Electronics, Automobile, Security and Hair and Beauty. Considering the number

of employees per entry level profile and employee turnover rate within these sectors

together with the dominant sectors which the respondents highlighted, the survey

identified the most dominant and promising sectors to be hair & beauty, hospitality,

automobile, welding & fabrication and building & construction.

The major recruitment methods noted in most establishments were apprenticeship and

referrals. The profiles for referrals were mainly friends, family and workmates. Due to

expansion to Nairobi into neighboring towns like Kiambu town, many people are seeking

rental houses in Kiambu hence high development of building and construction industry and

high demand for matatus and motorcycles for transportation in the area. Increasing urban

population also resulted to development of hair and beauty industry and hospitality sector.

Welding and fabrication sector also develop with the development of auto mobile sector

and building & construction industry.

Despite the presence of many NGOs and CBOs in Kiambu, their priority is on health, drugs

and substance abuse campaign, advocacy and environmental management and


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


conservation. This therefore presents a good opportunity for agencies like the CAP to focus

on training and development.

The possibility of the CAP to ensure placement of its trainees or place them into

entrepreneurship opportunities, is of great contribution towards addressing the menace of

youth unemployment. The life skills training will also help youth out drug and substance

abuse and other social evils. The major problems facing industries when recruiting for

entry level profiles namely poor interpersonal skills, skill gaps, dishonesty, lack of self-

confidence are effectively addressed by the CAP YEI’s BEST model that incorporate life and

technical skill trainings. The community and the youth have expressed their delight

towards the CAP YEI’s program given its BEST model and the community has provided

necessary support to ensure that their youth benefit from this program.

Even though there is a technical training institution in the area that is Kiambu Institute of

Science and Technology (KIST) which is offering diploma and certificate courses in

mechanical and auto electrical engineering, hospitality among other courses, not all

students manage to join the institutions. According to Kiambu county government website,

the secondary completion rate in the area is 92%, meaning 8% fail usually drop out of

school every year due to various challenges. For those who complete fourth form, not all of

the join colleges and vocational institutions. This is because some fail to meet the minimum


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Nairobi, Kenya


required grade to join the institution and some fail to afford the fees, therefore quite a

number of youths are disadvantaged in the area and are lying idle resulting into rise in

insecurity, crime and drug abuse among the youth.

Recommendations

Considering the dominance of hair & beauty industry, hospitality industry, automobile

industry, building & construction and welding & fabrication industries in Kiambu town and

its environment and the existing potential for future growth in the industries due to

expansion of Nairobi city into neighboring town like Kiambu, the survey therefore

recommended that it would be of significant benefit for the youths and community at large

in Kiambu for CAP YEI to come in Kiambu town to open a technical training center to train

on hair dressing & beauty, hospitality, motorcycle mechanical engineering, masonry and

welding courses. This will economically empower the disadvantaged youth in the area to

take advantage of the opportunities available in Kiambu town and its environment. This

will result into reduction in the challenges facing the youth like insecurity, crime, drug

abuse and unemployment. With this knowledge, CAP YEI set up a centre in Kiambu.


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


Enrollment Statistics-Kiambu

BATCH NO TOTAL ENROLLED MALE FEMALE

1 68 30 38

TOTAL 68 30 38

The table shows gender analysis for batch 1

Enrollment Gender Analysis

30

38

Batch 1

Male Female


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


The above graph shows that Kiambu center has trained a total of 68 trainees since the

beginning of phase 2.

The chart above show analysis of gender enrollment for batch 1

Age Wise Enrollment Analysis

BATCH

NO

TOTAL

ENROLLED

18-20 21-23 24-26 Above 26

1 68 41 24 3

44%

56%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

male female

Gender wise Enrollments


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


The table above shows analysis of gender enrollment for batch 1

Course Wise Enrollment in Kiambu

Total enrolled is 139 trainees where 68 are under internship and 71 in training

60%

35%

5% 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

18-20 21-23 24-26 Above 26

Age Analysis Batch 1-5

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Hospitality Hairdressing and beauty TOTAL

Male Female


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


5.0 Photo Gallery

CAPYEI trainees during training, placements and internships

6.0 CAP YEI Centres in Kenya


P.O. Box 50950 - 00100

Nairobi, Kenya


A FOCUS ON KIAMBU CUNTY - WordPress.com · YEI embarked on a process of ISO certification primarily as a strategy for ensuring quality ... entrepreneurship. These youth are vulnerable

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