Women and Youth Women form 52% of Homa Bay’s 1.2 million while youth population while youth form 75%. While all the interventions target women and youth we propose the following interventions One third of teenage girls aged 15 -19 years old in Homa Bay county are sadly either mothers or pregnant. This denies the young girls an opportunity for a good education and perpetuates the vicious cycle of poverty among women. Cultural norms and practices are a barrier to land ownership by most women, coupled with sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV).

Sexual and Gender Based Violence

The County government has a draft SGBV policy but needs to have a broader gender strategy to guide implementation. The County Government is putting in place measures to strengthen women’s economic participation and mentorship for girls. The initial cost for the proposed interventions is estimated at USD 2M.

Digital Economy for the Youth

Homa Bay County has a very youthful population with 71% of its population below 30 years of age (2019 census). This has a huge implication on education, skills development and employment opportunities. The County Government through the upcoming CIDP 2023 – 2027, is making plans to strengthen early childhood education and TVET through improvement in infrastructure, teacher capacity and scholarships. The County Government also plans to promote value addition in various sectors, strengthen focus on the blue economy and digital economy to create more jobs that can benefit the youth. The government also plans to strengthen the business environment for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises to thrive.

In addition to skills development through TVET and internships, the digital economy provides a great opportunity to create jobs and enterprises for the youth. The County Government Plans to establish youth-led innovation hubs to offer digital skills which will enable the youth to take advantage of the digital economy such as online jobs, marketing etc. The hubs will also act as employment centres to facilitate linkages between youth and jobs. 

Establishment of the centre requires both hard and software, trainers and access to good internet speeds. The skills on digital economy will also enable the youth to participate in various value chains in agro-processing such as branding and marketing. The digital hubs (1 per ward) will be domiciled in the existing TVETs and VTCs at a proposed total cost of USD 0.85M.

Talent Academy

Secondly, Homa Bay is endowed with talent which is evident in the number of artists and sportsmen from the county. The County Government will establish a talent academy to grow the creatives industry as a business for post-secondary youth. These will include musicians, thespians, sports people, graphic artists, fashionistas and the like. 

The proposed cost to construct and equip the Talent Academy is estimated at USD 1M. Land is available for the setup of this economy.

Women Economic Empowerment

Many small businesses are run by women though with limited capitol

Avail capitol to boost capitation

Support existing programmes E.g Abedo etc.

Financial literacy-Access to capital

Access to training and Markets