The African country of Mozambique has been undertaking a remarkable development process within the past. However, this has not been translated into a significantly decreasing poverty–or unemployment rate. Especially amongst young, the unemployment rate is quite high. Due to a high annual population growth and large amount of jobseekers every year, the economy is not able to create a corresponding number of jobs. The focus of this study is therefore to achieve a broader understanding of employment possibilities young people have. To foster a vast image of this situation, sectors such as education, agriculture and politics will be examined. This thesis is based on a qualitative field study carried out in Ribáuè, a district located in Nampula province, in the northern part of Mozambique. During the fieldwork, an ethnographic approach with semi–structured interviews mainly on a local level has been used to gather information. The (dis)empowerment model by Friedmann along with Sen’scapability approach and Lewis’ dual-sector model were used to analyse the data and clarify the problems described above.The study shows that young people in Ribáuè district are aware that they cannot depend on the government and should rather start to generate income through entrepreneurship. As young people are less interested in agriculture, the most common business that they are doing is to buy and sell consumer goods. However, one of the main obstacles when it comes to starting-up a business is the financial means. Moreover, there seems to be a crucial mismatch between the demand of the labour market and the knowledge provided by the education sector. Taking this into consideration, this study also highlights the importance of governmental efforts to empower the young people in general, not only in entrepreneurship, but in order to prepare them in every aspect of their lives.

Youth unemployment is a global problem, but more-so in Southern globally positioned countries such as South Africa. The government of South Africa has implemented different interventions that attempt to alleviate national youth unemployment. Some of these programmes, such as the National Rural Youth Service Corps (NARYSEC), specifically target youth in rural and peri-urban areas. NARYSEC aims to develop skills of the youth in rural and peri-urban areas as well as assist in rural development. Despite the introduction of NARYSEC, unemployment among the youth continues to be a problem. Against this background, this study sought to examine rural youth and development interventions implemented by NARYSEC in peri-urban Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Furthermore, the study assessed the extent to which NARYSEC interventions are contributing to rural youth and development in peri-urban Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. Lastly, the study examined the limitations of NARYSEC interventions in peri-urban youth development. To achieve the above objectives, the study used a qualitative research approach. The sampling procedure was purposive as the research required specific participants who have gone through NARYSEC training. A total of 24 respondents were eventually selected. In-depth, semi-structured interviews and key informant interviews were the primary data collection tools. Some of the main findings are that NARYSEC provides various skills training programmes which prepare young people for the labour market. NARYSEC interventions are also helping communities to reduce crime through providing youth employment opportunities. Furthermore, some youth actively participate in rural development projects such as rehabilitation of local clinics and construction projects. However, the study also found that there are a number of limitations and challenges that are experienced in the implementation of the NARYSEC programme. These challenges include lack of strategic planning in the programme, irregular stipend payments, strained professional relationships between NARYSEC programme facilitators and youth participants, limited passion and commitment to the programme by both youth participants and facilitators.

There is little research data available on the experience of unemployed youth and the effects of social supports in buffering or insulating their adjustment to this stressful life event. Fourteen unemployed youth, between the ages of eighteen and twenty-four, were interviewed utilizing a critical incident methodology. The aim was to identify the factors facilitating and hindering adjustment for these youth as well as isolate sources of support (ie. friends, parents, relatives, or other key others). The research findings yielded information on the specific needs of this particular group of unemployed young people, and identified sources that provided specific forms of emotional, material and informational support. Recommendations are offered for supportive services and programs needed by these youths. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

Thesis (MBA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Agriculture is an important sector that promotes food security in every country, and it contributes significantly to the economy of South Africa. There will be no food or clothing if agriculture does not exist. Agriculture accounts for 2.2% of Limpopo Province's economy. According to studies, it also contributed a large proportion to job creation. South Africa exports some of its produce to other countries, increasing the country's export level and, as a result, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Therefore, there is a need to adapt to new ways of conducting agriculture in order to operate it as a profitable business. Agripreneurship, as entrepreneurship in agriculture, encompasses both primary and secondary agriculture. Ploughing, farming, and mixed agriculture are examples of primary agricultural activities, while secondary agricultural activities include agro-processing and tertiary agricultural business such as agricultural marketing and agro-transportation. The study examines the role of youth in agripreneurship in creating employment opportunities in the Sekhukhune District Municipality. The unemployment rate in the Sekhukhune region and in South Africa is rising. This is a significant concern for the government; thus, the study examines the extent to which agripreneurship can help to reduce or alleviate unemployment. The challenges that youth in agripreneurship face in creating employment through agripreneurship, as well as the benefits, are also investigated. The qualitative research method was used to investigate youth perceptions of agripreneurship and the role of youth in agripreneurship in creating employment. Since the study's target population was small, census sampling was used; that is, fifteen (15) agripreneurs within the boundaries of the Sekhukhune District. This study reports on the findings of the study about the role of youth agripreneurship in job creation and the perception of youth towards agripreneurship in Sekhukhune District, Limpopo. The study discovered that youth engaged in agripreneurship in the Sekhukhune District Municipality played a substantial role in creating employment ranging from casual to permanent, and that youth perceived agripreneurship to have high employment prospects. The study also revealed challenges associated with youth in agripreneurship, such as a lack of capital, market, and extension officer support, as well as environmental factors such as storms.

The aim of this dissertation is to investigate how the technological developments implemented in the production processes and organizational structures of small and medium sized enterprises affect the skilling and thus the employment process of youth in these enterprises. The furniture sector of Turkey is chosen as a specific industrial sector for this research.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of the Lincoln National Corporation Business Assisted Summer Employment Program upon the self-concepts and selected job retention factors of junior and senior high school students from low income families in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Specifically, the study was designed to gather and analyze statistical data of participating B.A.S.E. students as compared to nonparticipating students.Literature regarding self-concept, business and education partnerships at both the national and state level was reviewed. Literature study revealed analysis and results of program evaluation, but limited research on program participant self-evaluation. Therefore, this study was undertaken to access the participant through a pre and posttest investigation.The sample of respondents numbered 166, but through attrition due to insufficient availability of data, the study was conducted with 154 students. All 154 students were administered the eighty-item Piers-Harris Self-Concept Children's Scale in May, 1985 and August, 1985. The (1) "yes" and "no" responses were reported, (2) grade, and (3) attendance pre an post data were reported. All data was hand scored by the author, and computed by the Ball State Computing Services Department utilizing multivariate and univariate analysis of variance tests.The responses of the participating and nonparticipating students yielded the following results:1. There was no significant difference between the mean scores of the participating and nonparticipating B.A.S.E. students based on the following variables: behavior, intelligence, anxiety, popularity, attendance, physical attributes, and happiness.2. There was a significant difference between participating and nonparticipating students based on grade point averages.3. There was a significant difference between participating and nonparticipating male students' pre and posttest mean scores based on grade point averages.4. There was a significant difference between participating and nonparticipating female students pre and posttest mean scores based on grade point averages. 5. The Lincoln National Corporation B.A.S.E. Program had benefited participants in improving the grade point average, developed a successful partnership with high schools, and fostered community growth through staff volunteerism.

The poverty of the individual household is a leading cause of children engaging in work in order to contribute to household survival. The importance of children's financial contribution to the household means that in order to eliminate child labour, alternative sources of income have to be made available. / Microfinance is perceived to have the potential of addressing these issues by enabling households to save or borrow money to start up or expand enterprises thereby securing additional income and making children's financial contribution to a household less significant. However, while microfinance is considered a tool designed for the poor, it has been shown to have difficulties in reaching the poorest households, which is also the very group most at risk of having to rely on child labour for survival. Furthermore, the limited credit available through microfinance, and the lack of special skills frequently force entrepreneurs to engage in labour intensive activities with marginal profits. These types of activities are also where children are often found to be working. / Based on data collected from two urban areas in the Philippines using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods, this thesis reviews microfinance as a tool in targeting child labour. Specifically it analyses the extent to which microfinance contributes to a decrease or increase in child labour and whether the impact varies according to the gender of the child. The thesis also reviews the ability of microfinance to affect all households with working children, and how the findings correspond with current economic theories on the household. / This research shows that in the selected areas the main reasons for children engaging in economic work arise from either: the need to generate an additional income from outside the household setting, in part to cover educational and other expenses brought on by the child him or herself; or the role of children as supplier of additional labour input into labour intensive household enterprises, in particular those which are the main source of income for the household. Children, in particular girls, also frequently act as labour substitutes for the mother in household work. / This thesis confirms that microfinance programs have difficulties in reaching all households with child labourers. The main reasons are risk aversion among the poorest households and the apparent direct or indirect exclusion of this group by other members of the programs. The main cause of the risk aversion arises from the fear of being excluded from essential informal credit networks on which the poorest households in particular depend. / Microfinance has the ability to impact on households where children work to generate an extra source of income. For households which depend on children's input into the household MSE, there appear to he limited impact of microfinance participation on the households' need for child labour. There are indications that the household's ability to benefit from microfinance participation depends on its existing income level. While the aim of the microfinance programmes is to support the creation or expansion of enterprises, the intense competition and low marginal returns means that closure rates are high. As a consequence the effects of microfinance loans are often short lived. Further, microfinance loans are unable to change the labour intensive nature of the production and the household dependence on children's labour. This research also finds that the impact differs between children as there is a strong division of children's work based on gender and age.