Decent Work in the Informal Sector and Economic Growth: Jua Kali Artisan Businesses’ Sustainability Challenges in Eastlands of Nairobi

Abstract

With the shrinking of the formal employment and the creation of more jobs in the informal sector, a lot needs to be done to create more decent jobs in the informal sector. It seems that most governments have plans to improve the informal sector by supporting in various ways to create decent jobs. The Kenyan government policy plans in recent years have single out the Jua Kali sector as the mainstay of Kenya’s economy in the creation of jobs. There are many efforts by many government departments to lay strategies on how to better the operating capability of the informal sector as the most viable alternative to employment. However, these efforts are being put into test by the inability of most Jua Kali artisan businesses and in general micro small and medium (MSMEs) businesses not surviving their fifth year since their inception. There is a general consensus that the Jua Kali sector is expanding and accounts for 80 percent of new jobs in the Kenyan economy. However, creating decent jobs seems to be a tall order as many Jua Kali artisan businesses collapse by the 10th year after their inception. The Jua Kali sector should not be evaluated only by the number of jobs it creates but also by how many businesses are stable and long lasting in creating and maintaining decent jobs. The magnitude of the informal sector does not reflect the number of decent jobs being created and how long the businesses that create them will last. Data for this research were obtained by a survey carried out in the Eastlands of Nairobi, Kenya by using an interview and observation schedule. The research established that it is only 52.2 percent of the interviewed artisans who owned artisan businesses. Out of the 481 artisans interviewed for this research, 254 had been in the Jua Kali sector within six years, 110 within ten years, 36 within 18 years. Most Jua Kali artisans gained their skills in the Jua Kali sector by apprenticeship (86.3%) while a small percentage (12.7%) trained in Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) institutions while a further one percent gained their skills in their former employment. Most of the artisans had attained the basic formal education qualifications i.e. primary education (27.9%) and secondary education (47.6%).