An examination into factors affecting sustainability of donor funded community development projects in Bungoma County
Abstract
The role played by donor agencies in improving the living standards of
families/households, groups and individuals in developing countries especially in rural
areas cannot be underestimated. There has been a significant increase in activities from
donor agencies such as Community Based Organizations (CBOs), Faith Based
Organizations (FBOs), Non-Governmental Organizations among others, with regards to
funding of various projects especially in rural areas and urban slums where there is
limited government support for social services e.g. Health facilities and provision of
clean water for domestic use. However, development projects initiated and or funded by
these donor agencies perform poorly and many become non-operational on termination of
donor support. Despite this problem, no study has been carried out to establish the causes
of termination of this donor funded projects, especially after withdrawal of donor support.
The objectives of this study were; to find out the extent to which project financial
systems affect sustainability of donor funded projects, to establish the effect of
technology adoption on the sustainability of donor funded projects, to determine the
effect of stakeholders and target groups involvement and participation the sustainability
of donor funded projects, to find out the extent to which donor policies affect
sustainability of donor funded projects and to establish how the management structures in
place affect sustainability of donor funded projects. This poses a gap which this study
seeks to fill through an examination of factors that affect sustainability of donor funded
projects in rural areas of Kenya. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The
target population included managers of donor funded projects in Bungoma County. Data
was collected from the sampled respondents using questionnaires as the principal data
collection instruments. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used to come
up with a representative sample size. After data collection, the researcher analyzed data
using descriptive statistics and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for
generating results. The data was presented in the form of tables, pie charts, bar graphs,
frequency distribution tables, percentages and cross-tabulations among others.
The study established that project finance system affects project sustainability to a very
great extent where auditing was done quarterly. On information technology, the study
established that IT affects sustainability of the project to a very great extent and that
Accounting systems, records management, communication and technical operations were
computerized to assure adequate information. Stakeholders' Involvement in donor funded
project affects its sustainability to a very great extent. On donor policy, the study
concluded that donor policy affects sustainability of the project at very great extent.
Further, the study concluded that democratic management style was more practiced in
most of the community development project.