CALEB M. WAFULA M.A Peace and Conflict Student, Kenyatta University 16 th Dec 2014.

CALEB M. WAFULAM.A Peace and Conflict

Student,Kenyatta University

16th Dec 2014

Acknowledgement Introduction Scope and Methodology Field Findings Policy Implications Conclusion

Sincere Gratitude to UNICEF Tanzania for the opportunity to make the presentation.

Very grateful to the respondents in various capacities who willingly granted interviews, and gave very valuable information during the field research.

The study interests lies in Kenya’s Urban Informal Settlements; an area inundated with frequent shocks(both idiosyncratic and covariate), and stresses that tends to perpetuate and recycle generational poverty.

The main focus of the study is to examine how social protection can lead to social inclusion

 What does exists are fragmented pieces of evaluative literature that tends to be skewed towards positive impact of social protection, yet there is evident indication of the ability of social protection to tackle wider structural drivers of social exclusion and poverty.

Increasingly, development agencies have been slow in translating their commitments into practices and operationalization

The fundamental questions the study sought to address are:

what are the impacts of social protection interventions on five dimensions of wellbeing: food security; access to education; the ability to take advantage of economic opportunities and generate income; participation in social networks and activities,

What are the economic, social and institutional factors affecting human well-being in the informal settlements of Kenya.

What are the issues of sustainability and best practices needed for transformative social protection intervention measures towards social inclusion?

Paper adopts the Kenya National Social Protection Policy’s transformative definition of social protection: Policies and actions, including legislative measures, that enhance the capacity of and opportunities for the poor and vulnerable to improve and sustain their lives, livelihoods, and welfare, that enable income-earners and

their dependants to maintain a reasonable level of income through decent work, and that ensure access to affordable healthcare, social security, and social assistance.

The study analysis focuses on the Youth Enterprise and Development Fund (YEDF).

The main mission of the fund is to increase economic opportunities for participation

Understanding the contribution of this paper ought to begin by acknowledging the fact that most explanations offered so far largely focuses on settlement and Agro-pastoralism as the way of improving ASAL communities livelihood, but no scholarship entirely examines the transitioning of pastoralism towards a green economy, which justifies this study. Understanding the contribution of this paper ought to begin by acknowledging the fact that most explanations offered so far largely focuses on settlement and Agro-pastoralism as the way of improving ASAL communities livelihood, but no scholarship entirely examines the transitioning of pastoralism towards a green economy, which justifies this study.

by Kenyan youth in nation building through enterprise development and strategic partnerships.

To date, the fund has financed over 157,000 youth enterprises to the tune of Kshs. 5.9 billion

Geographically, although the YEDF is implemented across the country, the study concentrates on its

contribution to social inclusion more narrowly on youths in urban informal settlements of Nairobi; being the capital city and its cosmopolitan nature, it still remains relevant to other informal settlements outside the capital

, although life has various domains, this study concentrates on how YEDF impacts on five dimensions of wellbeing: food security; access to health and education; the ability to take advantage of economic opportunities and generate income; participation in social networks and activities, and state-society relations.

Analytical Framework The study adopts the social exclusion

framework Silver (2007) defines social exclusion

as a dynamic process that “precludes full participation in the normatively prescribed activities of a given society and denies access to information, resources, sociability, recognition, and identity, eroding self-respect and reducing capabilities to achieve personal goals.”

Worth stressing is its multi-dimensional nature and the processes of marginalization and disempowerment.

Its main analytical strength lies in the fact that it can help not only in examining the effects of social protection interventions on different dimensions of deprivation, but also in showing how social protection can potentially tackle broader factors and conditions that produce and reproduce deprivations

The framework suggests that social protection interventions can be assessed against their ability to address both outcomes and drivers of social exclusion

Outcomes refer to the extent of economic and social exclusion people experience in different wellbeing dimensions and the effect on poverty.

Drivers of exclusion refer to economic, social and institutional processes that cause deprivations leading to poverty.

Methodology Premised on a “deep-dive”

methodology, with inductive methods to gather both qualitative information and quantitative data

The rationale for mixing is that neither quantitative nor qualitative methods are sufficient by themselves to capture the trends and details of the situation, such as how social protection contributes to Social inclusion.

Using Purpose Sampling, information was collected through: 50 semi-structured interviews with beneficiaries of YEDF; 4 Key Informant Interviews (KII); 1Focus Group Discussions (FGD)

Literature reviews were also carried out as a source of secondary data from journals, policy documents and books

Impacts of YEDF YEDF loan provided

necessary capital for the take-off especially in situations where the start-up capital was challenge.

most beneficiary respondents reported being less reliant on friends and family as they were able to start and grow their businesses, improve productivity, create opportunities for employment and improve their income generation

Worth noting is that majority (90%) of the respondent beneficiaries do not save.

The above is a result of low returns from their insecure incomes.

Most participants noted that the finance is too small and grossly inadequate that it leads to low capital outlay.

Making it difficult to start a competitive business and

expand their economic activities. Further worsened by their

inability to secure bank loans which they attributed to the lack of collateral securities since they have low asset base

Food Security: Respondents reported small positive impacts in terms of general food security as they used their income to buy food and other non-food items.

average food intake levels of beneficiaries have improved and they hardly go without food.

Access to Education: Through fund training, Participants said they had gained useful technical and management skills in business.

Key areas: enterprise development, marketing, communications, fundraising, business planning, advisory and information services and Training of Trainers.

However problem of illiteracy Social Networks and

Activities:Positive effect on social relations, including family relations and community members.

Apart from enhancing self esteem and the social interaction of beneficiaries, respondents noted that they are involved in various community activities and are able to voice their concerns on issues of community importance.

Worth emphasizing are the gender relations- provided young mothers with opportunities for economic empowerment, since most of them are sole breadwinners in their families.

Most women are also involved in community issues and have become part of the decisions and changes that affect their community.

More importantly, respondents reported to have abandoned immoral acts such as prostitution, drugs and crime.

That said,programme has had minimal impact in addressing the deeply-engrained ethnic resentment and poor governance environment that continues unabated

State-society relations: Mixed impacts on state society relations. Some beneficiaries were generally satisfied and appreciated the government YEDF efforts .

On the other hand, perceptions were not so positive, particularly towards the local level of government.

YEDF has undermined state–society relations, given the “high” interest rates that to result to default default repayments

The new constitution and the latest are National Policy for Social Protection , vision 2030 is a positive signals towards the realisation of the needs and aspirations of people in informal settlements.

What needs to be done in terms of more efficient social protection programmes in order to realize social inclusion?

That is how social protection policies and programmes can stimulate growth and development for improved community wellbeing.

Below is a range of strategies that if implemented will reorient social protection towards social inclusion

The Importance of a Consolidated Approach: Foster institutional links to other programmes and sectors with critical combination of government, private sector, and civil society with social protection orientations, to reintegrate those excluded from the enjoyment of the benefits of social economic development

Emerging Social protection policies and initiatives must be efficient, culturally sensitive and above all adapted to informal settlements

The need for community participation by engaging communities in defining acceptable criteria for assistance which is extremely helpful in unearthing the different specific challenges they face at the community level.

Foster the sharing of best practices by creating room for upgrading and Scaling up: Well-targeted, successful community pilot projects and Case Studies such as urban agriculture & Table banking.

Need for Structured Processes of Learning from Experience: Pioneering attempts are inevitably imperfect; but if they encounter a supportive and flexible policy environment, they may offer lessons on the conditions needed for the programmes and interventions to flourish

Need for Greater advocacy and effective dissemination of information: Wider dissemination of public information to help people understand and respond to the risks and challenges faced in the informal settlements.

Need for Benchmarks to Measure Progress by incorporating Monitoring and evaluation protocols

Access to markets and space with policies and laws geared towards promoting investment in informal settlements should be improved.

Invest in research to generate need-based innovations. For instance setting up an innovation fund for techpreneurs to come up with solutions for driving a “knowledge-based economy,” or business incubation centres for nurturing upcoming youth entrepreneurs

Ned for policy consistency with informal settlements unique needs: Although there are many instances in policy documents where governments emphasise their commitment to developing informal settlements, there are often other cross sectorial policy statements and signals that negate or reduce the effectiveness of efforts to promote social inclusion.

Undeniably, although YEDF has had positive contribution to poverty alleviation in the short run, it cannot however guarantee a sustained improvement in the various facets of life in the long run. To achieve wider social protection objectives, there is need for re-engineering of a new vision and strategic direction for social protection development from the short term risk and vulnerability, to create robust opportunities for empowerment among beneficiaries that will in turn lead to social inclusion.

ASANTE SANA!!