Abstract:
This study sought to evaluate the effects of Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) on Small and Medium (SMES). The YEDF developed a three year strategic plan in 2008 which was meant to take care of various needs and aspirations of the youth and to address the challenges it had faced in the past and was currently working on a 5 year strategic plan in line with the Medium Term Plan
(MTP) of the Vision 2030. In order to achieve its vision of creating a sustainable and growing fund, which would economically empower Kenyan Youth and their strategic partnerships, there is a need to understand the key areas under which it contributes significantly. Therefore, this study investigated the effects of YEDF on the performance of SMEs specifically exploring the factors that influence youth owned enterprises in Kenya. The variables considered in the study were; access to credit, market access and linkages, entrepreneurship training, commercial infrastructure and SME turnover. The target population of the study was 130 SMEs owned by the youth in Maragua Constituency. The study covered the disbursement period of 2007 to 2015. The data that was used in this study was basically primary data collected through questionnaires administered to the owners of the SMEs and personal interviews which involved a sample size of 40 youth owned SMEs in the constituency. The research used Ordinary Least Square method of estimation to get the relationship between the variables. From the results of the study, it is evident that credit access, market access and linkages and entrepreneurship training have an influence on an enterprise turnover. It was also evident that those enterprises that benefitted from the YEDF programs had witnessed an improved performance in terms of job creation, scope of their market and their living standards. The necessary recommendations are also given by the researcher so that they can help in the improvement of the effectiveness of YEDF on SMEs.
