Identity, values and norms of East Africa’s youth

With a median age estimated at 18 years, East Africa is one of the youngest regions in the world. However, relatively little research has been conducted to understand how they identify themselves and what values and norms shape or influence them. About 7,000 individuals between the age of 18 and 35 were interviewed in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. Youth constructed their identity along four dimensions; youth (age-associated); nationality; faith; family. However, country, religion, gender and age influenced the ordering of identity. With the exception of Rwanda, East African a tolerance for rule violation and corruption was prevalent among East African youth. This difference offers hope because it demonstrates that respect for the rule of law, unequivocal commitment to integrity and public accountability can be enforced and transmitted to the next generation, the youth. Values and norms are shaped by and co-evolve with institutions and norms of the wider society

Whole Youth Development in Kenya: Survey of employers and employees in the formal and informal sectors to determine entry-level skills among youth (18-30 yrs) in employment Kenya

An estimated 78% of Kenya’s population is aged below 35 years (NCPD, 2017) with a median age of 19 years (World Population Review, 2019). This demographic structure can be either a valuable dividend or a risk to development (UNDP, 2013). One of the major downsides of the ‘youth bulge’ has been youth unemployment, which is both an economic and social challenge. According to the Kenya Youth Survey 2016, unemployment is the top concern for the youth at 63%. About 1 in 2 university graduates are out of full-time employment; youth aged between 18 and 25 are twice more likely to be unemployed; and unemployment among rural women aged 18 to 35 is about 62%. Whereas hard work was considered a respected value, the association between hard work and success declined dramatically with the level of education (Awiti & Scott, 2016)

Job entry-level skills: Seizing the moment, securing the future

The aim of this study was to generate evidence to support reliable assessment of the skills and competences possessed by youth in entry-level jobs (the supply), and the skills and competences needed by employers (the demand). The study was conducted in 24 counties, which are home to over 85 % of Kenya’s formal sector business establishments1. Fifteen sectors, comprising agriculture, wholesale & retail, construction, health and ICT, which account for 90 % of jobs in both formal and informal sector, were included in the survey. A total of 9,355 interviews were conducted; 6,362 employed youth and 693 self-employed youth aged between 18 and 30 years both in the formal and informal sector, and 2,300 employers from formal and informal sectors. The study revealed that Kenya’s labour markets are shaped by the dominance of sectors such as wholesale and retail, food and accommodation services and transport, which account for most jobs created in the economy. Consequently, it appears that there is less demand for hard, technical skills compared to skills such as marketing and sales and entrepreneurship. The study finds that there is very little collaboration or coordination between employers and training/skills development institutions. Hence, according to employers, most of the youth hired at entry-level lack relevant skills and competences needed for the work place. Underlying trends in retail and wholesale, transportation, food and accommodation will continue to shape skills requirements into the future. Hence, rapid expansion of technical and vocational training must respond accordingly, with programs in sales, customer service, purchasing, marketing/branding. Moreover, there is need to strengthen training and capacity in key professional areas that are critical to enhancing the productivity and efficiency of these sectors. These include: accountancy; finance; human resources; supply chain management and data analytics. However, the conundrum is that we must build the human capital, for what we project will be the future economy; one fueled by vision 2030 – newly industrializing middle-income country and what will define the future of work – the 4th Industrial Revolution, where robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality are transforming businesses, leisure and work

Tree species selection for land rehabilitation in Ethiopia: from fragmented knowledge to an integrated multi-criteria decision approach

Dryland regions worldwide are increasingly suffering from losses of soil and biodiversity as a consequence of land degradation. Integrated conservation, rehabilitation and community-based management of natural resources are therefore of vital importance. Local planting efforts should focus on species performing a wide range of functions. Too often however, unsuitable tree species are planted when both ecological suitability for the targeted area or preferences of local stakeholders are not properly taken into account during selection. To develop a decision support tool for multi-purpose species selection, first information needs to be pooled on species-specific ranges, characteristics and functions for a set of potentially valuable species. In this study such database has been developed for the highly degraded northern Ethiopian highlands, using a unique combination of information sources, and with particular attention for local ecological knowledge and preferences. A set of candidate tree species and potentially relevant criteria, a flexible input database with species performance scores upon these criteria, and a ready-to-use multi-criteria decision support tool are presented. Two examples of species selection under different scenarios have been worked out in detail, with highest scores obtained for Cordia africana and Dodonaea angustifolia, as well as Eucalyptus spp., Acacia abyssinica, Acacia saligna, Olea europaea and Faidherbia albida. Sensitivity to criteria weights, and reliability and lack of knowledge on particular species attributes remain constraints towards applicability, particularly when many species are jointly evaluated. Nonetheless, the amount and diversity of the knowledge pooled in the presented database is high, covering 91 species and 45 attributes

A prototype architecture for effective online presence for the Kenyan tourism sector

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Computer-based Information SystemsThe success of social media channels, such as You'Tube, Flickr.and others, present an excellent opportunity for the Kenyan tourism sector to increase the conversion rates of web traffic into tangible bookings. The users of these channels generate huge volumes of content in the form of micro-blogs, reviews, and ratings. This rich information source, often called User Generated Content (UGC), is becoming increasingly plentiful. The purpose of this thesis was to design and develop an adaptive web-based architecture that gathers and mines various types of User Generated Content (UGC) to inform a websites content and layout for a personalized and improved user experience. A prototype web application was then developed to demonstrate the feasibility of the system architecture Currently, major tourism sector players in Kenya are increasingly taking advantage of faster internet speeds and the dominance of electronic commerce to get more tourism products available online. However, effective utilization of web technologies to increase the conversion rates of web traffic into tangible bookings remains a challenge. Although adaptive web techniques offer opportunities for a persuasive online service delivery, there is little adoption of these techniques in the Kenya tourism sector. The purpose of this thesis was to develop an adaptive web-based architecture that gathers and mines various types of User Generated Content (UGC) to inform a websites content and layout for a personalized and improved user experience. A prototype web application was then developed to demonstrate the feasibility of the system architecture. An applied research design was employed because the objective of the research was to apply science to address and answer a real-world problem. Literature review was used as a data collection methodology in the first part of this research where indicators and technologies related to adaptive web and web personalization techniques were examined. Through benchmarking the proposed prototype features against related websites in Kenya, the research outcome indicated that it can provide a satisfactory online presence strategy and that it can be a model for tourism actors seeking to identify components necessary for creating competitiveness in tourism websites now and in the future

Identity, values and norms of East Africa’s youth

With a median age estimated at 18 years, East Africa is one of the youngest regions in the world. However, relatively little research has been conducted to understand how they identify themselves and what values and norms shape or influence them. About 7,000 individuals between the age of 18 and 35 were interviewed in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda. Youth constructed their identity along four dimensions; youth (age-associated); nationality; faith; family. However, country, religion, gender and age influenced the ordering of identity. With the exception of Rwanda, East African a tolerance for rule violation and corruption was prevalent among East African youth. This difference offers hope because it demonstrates that respect for the rule of law, unequivocal commitment to integrity and public accountability can be enforced and transmitted to the next generation, the youth. Values and norms are shaped by and co-evolve with institutions and norms of the wider society

Mapping Broadcast Media Outlets and Accredited Journalists in Kenya: Towards Understanding News and Information Inequalities

This article reports on a study that attempted to understand news and information inequalities by mapping the distribution of broadcast media outlets, the spread of accredited journalists, and the presence of established news bureaus in the eight regions in Kenya. Further, the study sought to determine the ownership of the broadcast media in Kenya and the trends in ownership and audience reach within the context of commercial interest and public interest dialectics. The study was anchored on the theory of the political economy of the media which looks at power relations that influence the production, distribution and consumption of resources from a critical tradition. Based on the analysis of documents, audience research data, and literature on media representation and socioeconomic and political development, the study revealed that Nairobi County is the news and information hub. It has the most journalists, radio stations and news bureaus, whereas far-flung counties exist in news and information deserts. Central region residents were found to consume the least percentage of the non-local language radio stations as they prefer local language or vernacular radio stations Western, South Nyanza (Nyamira and Kisii) and North Western regions are unique in that their consumption of radio with a national target audience is fairly high when the Average Daily Radio Reach (ADRR) of the top five radio stations is considered. Ownership of the radio market is in the hands of five media organisations that share 43.70% of the ADRR. The establishment, audience reach and ownership trends of these media organisations coupled with the spread of journalists and news bureaus revealed news and information inequalities. The audience reach by broadcast media outlets, even in areas where vernacular radio stations provide a rich diet of media content, seems to be more interested in ownership for profit maximisation at the expense of public interest

Tree species selection for land rehabilitation in Ethiopia: from fragmented knowledge to an integrated multi-criteria decision approach

Dryland regions worldwide are increasingly suffering from losses of soil and biodiversity as a consequence of land degradation. Integrated conservation, rehabilitation and community-based management of natural resources are therefore of vital importance. Local planting efforts should focus on species performing a wide range of functions. Too often however, unsuitable tree species are planted when both ecological suitability for the targeted area or preferences of local stakeholders are not properly taken into account during selection. To develop a decision support tool for multi-purpose species selection, first information needs to be pooled on species-specific ranges, characteristics and functions for a set of potentially aluable species. In this study such database has been developed for the highly degraded northern Ethiopian highlands, using a unique combination of information sources, and with particular attention for local ecological knowledge and preferences. A set of candidate tree species and potentially relevant criteria, a flexible input database with species performance scores upon these criteria, and a ready-touse multi-criteria decision support tool are presented. Two examples of species selection under different scenarios have been worked out in detail, with highest scores obtained for Cordia africana and Dodonaea angustifolia, as well as Eucalyptus spp., Acacia abyssinica, Acacia saligna, Olea europaea and Faidherbia albida. Sensitivity to riteria weights, and reliability and lack of knowledge on particular species attributes remain constraints towards applicability, particularly when many species are jointly evaluated. Nonetheless, the amount and diversity of the knowledge pooled in the presented database is high, covering 91 species and 45 attributes.status: publishe