Factors Influencing The Sustainability Of Rural Water Projects: A Case Of Kalongoni Water Project In Kilifi County, Kenya

Abstract

This research study investigated factors influencing sustainability of water projects in Bamba division, Kilifi County, Kenya. The researcher particularly sought to examine why in spite of the concerted efforts by developers, sustainability remains a challenge especially 12-15 months, after completion of the water project. This study applied descriptive survey. The study population constituted of the household heads. The respondents were reached through household survey. The study exploited both probability and non-probability. The topic was conceived after the researcher conducted monitoring and evaluation on the micro projects and found out that sustainability of the projects was questionable since most of the groups had disintegrated and some projects were un-attended to. The study was conducted through descriptive research survey, data amassed from 1st November to 5th November 2016 using questionnaires from the sample of 90 respondents out of 2,520 beneficiaries. Research findings established that economic factors such as presence of income generating activities and over reliance on donor funding have major effect on sustainability of community projects.. Technology has an impact in ensuring the sustainability of community projects in this area. Community participation especially the role played by the community in the project selection was found to be having a major impact on long term maintenance of the community projects. And the study recommends that the community members need to understand the need to engage in income generating activities so as to boost their earnings. There is a need for the local developmental organizations to promote community awareness on the viable income generating projects such as bee keeping (dry land fanning) that can be initiated in the area, need to ensure availability of spare parts and inputs that are necessary in day to day operations of development projects in the area, government to improve road network in the area so that these supplies can reach the local markets for easy access locally and a need for alternative and long lasting ways of sustaining water access all year round. The researcher suggests that it is necessary to conduct further studies to identify the alternative measures to be done for water.