Youth livelihood programme and household well-being: A case of Lubaga Division, Kampala City

Abstract

The study was about the extent to which Youth Livelihood Programme supports household well-being in Uganda: a case of Lubaga Division, Kampala City. It was guided by four objectives which were; i) to examine the contribution of vocational marketable skills on household well-being, ii) to assess the influence of financial support on household well-being, iii) to evaluate the extent to which entrepreneurship and life skills contribute to household well-being, iv) to assess the contribution of knowledge and information for attitudinal change on household well-being among the youths in Lubaga Division, Kampala District. The research study used a descriptive research design focusing on quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect data from 262 respondents who had been conveniently picked for the sample of which only 221 participated. The findings revealed thatyouth livelihood programme promoted development-oriented policies that have supported productive activities of the youth and gain momentum in marketable skills. It was also indicated that YLP intended to harness the socio-economic potential of the youths and to increase self-employment opportunities and levels of income. The study concluded that training of the youth beneficiaries before and after receiving funds are done to prepare the youth and equip them with the necessary entrepreneurial skills to run the YLP enterprises. It came out vividly from the stakeholders that there was serious deficiency of monitoring funds for the programme which largely contributed to limited supervision of the group enterprises. It is recommended that targeted youth groups must be involved right from project initiation throughout the project cycle so as to create a sense of ownership and make the projects sustainable. Also, more tailored training should be provided to the project team members. Such trainings could cover enterprise management, financial management, group dynamics, among others.