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This study aims at examining the knowledge, attitudes and challenges facing youth in
accessing the Youth Development Fund (YDF) in Kinondoni Municipality. The
descriptive exploratory design was used in the study. Mainly two sampling
techniques namely, purposive, and convenient sampling were used to obtain the
sample for the study. The primary data were collected from 90 youth of ages between
20 and 35 through the use of administered questionnaire, and from 6 local leaders
through personal interviews.
The findings show that more than half (67%) of the interviewed youth were aware of
the existence of the Youth Development Fund in the council, they came to know this
through friends, neighbors, local leaders, media and through youth seminars.
However, the deep knowledge about the function, processes to access the fund, and
criteria needed was found to be a continuing problem to them. It was also found that
around 48 per cent of youth had positive attitude towards the fund while about 36 per
cent were neutral and nearly 17 per cent reported to have negative attitude and most
reported lack of transparency in operation of this youth fund. Lastly, the study
revealed three main challenges which faced youth towards acquiring this fund; these
include difficulty in getting trusted group members, loan delay, and short period of
loan repayment. Based on the findings the research recommended to increase the
community awareness; inspiring youth to entrepreneurship by inviting notable young
entrepreneurs on various events; to encourage youth to participate in
entrepreneurship trainings to gain business skills; and local leaders to increase
transparency in order to build the trust among youth with interest of utilizing the
fund to finance their businesses. |
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