Project Management Skills, Monitoring and Evaluation Practices and Performance of Youth Environmental Projects: a Case of Solid Waste Management Projects in Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Globally, solid waste management is one of the greatest environmental health challenges. Today, increasing number of studies pay attention to how solid waste disposal and management would gainfully benefit the bulging number of jobless youths. In Kenya, youth unemployment rate is on the rise despite government’s perennial youth interventions and funding. This study sought to investigate on solid waste collection within Nairobi County residential areas managed by youth groups dealing with environmental projects. The purpose of the study was to determine how project management skills, monitoring and evaluation practices influenced performance of youth environmental projects in Nairobi County. The objectives of the study were to establish the influence of technical skills on performance of youth environmental projects, to assess the influence of financial management skills on performance of youth environmental projects, to determine the influence of leadership skills on the performance of youth environmental projects, to establish the influence of marketing skills on the performance of youth environmental projects, to examine the influence of combined project management skills on the performance of youth environmental projects, to determine the influence of monitoring and evaluation practices on performance of youth environmental projects, and to establish the moderating influence of monitoring and evaluation practices on the relationship between project management skills and performance of youth environmental projects. The study’s unit of analysis was 70 youth environmental groups projects comprised of 700 youth group members engaged in solid waste management projects in Nairobi County. The study used a sample size of 248 group members who were selected from the target population using both simple random and proportional random sampling procedures. Key informants from each of the four departments of Directorate of Youth affairs were purposefully selected.