The Influence of Donor Funded Projects on the Social Economic Welfare of Rural Communities: A Case of Kapap in Nyandarua County, Kenya

Abstract

This research sought to assess the influence of donor funded projects through NGOs on the social economic welfare of the rural communities in Nyandarua County in Kenya located in the Central part of Kenya. The research was on a technical project named KAPAP, a project that was funded by World Bank and the government of Kenya under the Ministry of Agriculture. The project development objective (PDI) was to increase agricultural productivity and incomes of small holder farmers in agricultural and agribusiness in the project area.KAPAP is under the framework of the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS) and it was elaborated to address both national and international key objectives including the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs). The project development objective was to empower stakeholders to transform smallholder agricultural production and marketing systems for increased productivity and income in the project areas. To achieve this, the project employed two approaches namely Community Initiative project (CIP) and Community Participatory Technology Development (CPTD). Under CIP, the community groups came up with their own projects using participatory method with technical and financial assistance from KAPAP.The research was guided by the following specific objectives: To assess the influence of KAPAP level of funding on community social welfare, to examine the influence of KAPAP management on the social economic welfare of community, to examine the influence of capacity building on the social economic welfare of rural communities and to examine the influence of stakeholder involvement on social economic welfare of rural communities in Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design and primary data was collected by administration of questionnaires. The study had a target of 1866 respondents who were direct beneficiaries of KAPAP implemented projects. The study had a sample size of 317 respondents selected from the target population through simple random sampling. The researcher had set to ask the following questions: Do KAPAP level of funding have influence on the community social-economic welfare through CIPs and CPTDs projects? To what extent is the social-economic welfare of the community attributed to the management of KAPAP project? What relationship exists between capacity building of community groups and sustainability of KAPAP community projects? How important is stakeholder involvement in successful implementation of KAPAP project? Research findings were analyzed using SPSS v20.0 and presented using percentages, frequencies, cross tabulation and correlation. Research findings showed that level of funding, stakeholder involvement, management and capacity building had an influence on the social economic welfare of KAPAP beneficiaries. The study finally recommended that donors build on the already established rural capacity to achieve higher impact. It also recommended the importance of basic education as a pre requisite of project success.