Assessing Association between Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) Initiative and Alcohol Abuse among Youth in Murang’a County, Kenya

Abstract

Introduction: Alcohol abuse and its associated disorders have been a public health challenge, especially among youth resulting in serious psycho-social- economic problems worldwide. The objective of this study was to assess the association between the Youth Enterprise Development Fund initiative and  alcohol abuse among youth in Murang’a County, Kenya.

Method and Materials: This was a comparative cross-sectional study design with the application of both quantitative and qualitative data collection  methods carried out in 2019. A sample size of 141 YEDF beneficiaries and 141 non-beneficiaries was determined. The systematic sampling method was  applied in selecting YEDF beneficiaries with a random start. YEDF beneficiary participants identified non-beneficiaries using non-relative matching peers. The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) was administered through a questionnaire while Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and In-Depth  Interviews were applied in qualitative data collection. Quantitative data analysis was carried out using IBM SPSS version 22 and a p-value of < 0.05 was  considered significant while Manual thematic analysis was applied to the analysis of qualitative data.

Results: The prevalence of alcohol use was 21.3% while the prevalence of alcohol abuse among study participants was 7.4% with a significantly higher  percentage in YEDF beneficiaries (10.6%) compared to non-YEDF beneficiaries (4.2%), (p=0.041). Among those who were consuming alcohol, 34.9% of  YEDF beneficiaries and35.3%of YEDF nonbeneficiaries were alcohol abusers (p=0.976) with no statistically significant difference. Qualitatively, the study  indicated that alcohol abuse among youth has significantly decreased since the YEDF initiative was introduced among the youth.

Conclusion: The study  concludes that alcohol abuse among youth has significantly dropped since the YEDF initiative. According to the participants, the small-scale enterprises  put up by the funds beneficiaries have contributed to this decrease. For a better outcome, there is an urgent need to step up awareness and sensitization  of the YEDF initiative since most youths within the lower age bracket were not aware of the loan funds as well as more input in training the  youth in matters regarding business planning and management.