Influence of Resource Availability and Project Environment on Sustainability of Community Development Projects Funded by Constituency Development Fund: the Case of Kaloleni Constituency, Kilifi County, Kenya.

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the influence of resource availability and project environment on sustainability of community development projects funded by CDF, a case study of Kaloleni constituency in Kilifi county.Since independence in1963, the government has initiated various rural development programmes including Special Rural Development Programme, District Development Planning, Rural Development Fund and the District Focus for Rural Development Strategy with the aim of improving people’s well being. However, most of these programmes did not succeed in addressing the needs of rural people due to absence of political will, lack of adequate government funding, lack of appropriate technological kno-how, lack of institutional development, inadequate beneficiary participation and improper coordination . In 2003 the government introduced Constituency Development Fund (CDF), a program that fights poverty at the grassroot(constituency level). There has been too much emphasis by past studies on the issues that address the challenges above, with little regard on the real influence on community development. For this study, resource availability was looked in terms of availability of funds and management capacity whereas project environment was looked in terms of stakeholder involvement and socio-economic environment. This study therefore examined the impact of availability of funds, management capacity, stakeholder involvement and socio-economic environment on sustainability of the community projects and use the findings to improve CDF. Descriptive Statistics and inferential analysis were applied to measure and determine the relationship between variables. Stratified random sampling was used to select one hundred and forty respondents within Kaloleni constituency to be studied. The target group was fund managers, project managers and beneficiaries from 4 wards in Kaloleni constituency. Data was collected via questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were administered to project beneficiaries whereas interviews were administered to project and CDF managers. Data analysis was done using quantitative technique. Data was represented using tables.. This study found that availability of funds contributed most in sustainability of community development projects in Kaloleni. Access, adequacy and reliability of the fund were found to contribute most in sustainability. The study also found a strong positive relationship between management capacity and sustainability of projects. It inferred that competent management leads to sustainability of projects. Stakeholder involvement and socio-economic environment both had strong positive relationship with sustainability of projects. The study found that low education standards, gender bias hindered participation in projects. The study thus recommends that education be enhanced as a tool of empowerment for both men and women. The study also recommends that community members should play a more active role in development projects as they are the key stakeholders. The approach should be bottom-up