Assessment Of Community Participation In Community Driven Projects In Rural Development In Bahi District

ABSTRACT

The study aimed to assess the extent of local participation in Community-Driven Development Projects (CDDPs), in four villages of Mundemu, Ibihwa, Chikola and Mtitaa all in Bahi District Council. The objective of the study was to, among other objectives, determine if the beneficiary community is involved in development as a parameter of participation in the CDDPs. The variables that were measured to assess community participation in the CDDPs are who gets involved, how they get involved in acquired and controlling resources, projects design, identification, needs assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. A total number of 85 respondents were involved in this study as representative sample.

The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research methods to get required information about the factors affecting local people participation in CDDPs. The results deduced from the study indicate that CDDP activities in the Bahi District have tremendously increased in the last five years (2009 to date), however such increase has failed to correlate with the degree of local participation. An analysis of the interviews yields that the four villages under study do not have an ideal strategy for promoting effective participation of people in the CDDP process. The strategies used by the local authorities are more focused on ward committees, ward councilors and project steering committee members from the village council or ward development committee, than on the majority local people who are the primary beneficiaries of the a CDDP in place.

Based on the findings obtained, this research concludes that local people wish to play a central role in the CDDPs‟ decision-making process. In general, local people want to see decisions about CDDPs and other development discourse in their area made jointly by all stakeholders in place. The implication of the study is that policy makers, stakeholders, central and local administrative authorities and proponents of participatory approaches ought to device mechanisms of enlisting more beneficiary community participation in development process, discourses and activities as well as mainstreaming of community involvement in all stages of the project cycle.