Question

What are challenges and opportunities of population trends in Kenya and suggested programming ideas to meet the needs of the growing or decreasing population?

Answer 1

The challenges of Kenya's population growth rate, which is the highest in the world includes a rising population of unemployed youth. The economy is struggling to create employment opportunities faster than population growth—projected to remain above 2% until 2050. The suggested ideas to meet the needs of the growing population includes educating the youth so that they have the necessary skills to find employment. Stimulation of job growth by the creation of national funding programmes—Uwezo, for example for providing young entrepreneurs with better access to financing and also enabling them to find mentors more easily. Increasing the number of firms with apprenticeship programmes is another key strategy for closing the skills gap leading to unemployment.