Plan International Kenya noted in an evaluation that the sustainability of community development project is poor, with one of the causes being established as weak participation by stakeholders, the level of stakeholder engagement was however not clear.The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of stakeholder participation on sustainability of community development projects implemented by Plan International in Homa Bay Town Sub-County.The researcher targeted three people in each of the 51 organizations partnering with Plan International; this gave a population of 153 people. Using Sekeran (2003) sample determination the sample size was determined as 113 respondents. Simple random sampling was used to select the 113 respondents. Pilot testing was done with 15 respondents from Rangwe Sub-county. Data validity was tested by using the Content Valid Index (CVI).The test re-test method was used to assess the reliability of the instruments. Quantitative data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages and cross-tabulation and chi-square p-value significance test. It was established that there was a weak but significant negative association between passive participation among stakeholders on and sustainability of community development projects r=-0.043,p=0.000,CL=95%.It was also established that there was a moderate significant positive correlation between interactive participation among stakeholders on sustainability of community development projects r=0.365, p=0.000, CI=95%. A moderate significant positive correlation between the influences of functional participation among stakeholders on sustainability of community development projects was established =0.455, p=0.000, CL=95%.There was a moderate significant positive correlation between the influences of optimum participation among stakeholders on sustainability of community development projects r= 0.382, p=0.000, CL=95%.It was recommended that Plan International needs to reduce the extent of engaging stakeholder passively, enhance the extent of interactive participation, strengthen functional participation among stakeholders and reinforce optimal participation to enable greater efficiency and effectiveness of programming as well as accountability among the stakeholders, this will be an assurance for project sustainability.
Arnstein, S. R. (1969). A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Planning Association, 35 (4), 216 -224.
Ayuso, S.; Rodríguez, M.A.; Castro, R.G.; Ariño, M.A (2011). Does stakeholder engagement promote sustainable innovation orientation? Ind. Manag. Data. Syst., 111, 1399–1417.
Bal ,M., Bryde,D., Fearon, D. & Ochieng E.(2013).Stakeholder Engagement: Achieving Sustainability in the Construction Sector. Sustainability,6, 695-710.
Boon, E., Bawole, J. N. &Ahenkan, A. (2012). Stakeholder participation in community development projects: an analysis of the quadripartite model of the International Centre for Enterprise and Sustainable Development (ICED) in Ghana. Community Development, 1-17.
Chifamba, E. (2013). Confronting the Challenges and Barriers to Community Participation in Rural Development Initiatives in Duhera District, ward 12 Zimbabwe. International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review, 1(2): pp 01-19.
Fisher,W.P.Jr.(2004).Meaning and methods in the social sciences.Human Studies: A journal for Psychology and the Social Sciences,27
Golicha, D. T. (2010). Assessment of stakeholder's participation in projects formulation: a case of NGOs supporting secondary education projects in Garissa District. Unpublished Masters project. Nairobi: University of Nairobi.
Khisa,G.(2012). An examination into factors affecting sustainability of donor funded community development projects in Bungoma County. Research Project, Kenyatta University; Nairobi.
Khwaja, A. I (2004). Is Increasing Community Participation Always a Good Thing? Journal of the European Economic Association, 2(2– 3):427– 436
King’ori, A.N.(2014). Influence of community participation in completion of development projects: a case of Korogocho slums, Nairobi county, Kenya. Unpublished project. University of Nairobi.
Lennie, J. (2005). An Evaluation Capacity-Building Process for Sustainable Community IT Initiatives: Empowering and Disempowering Impacts. Evaluation October 2005 vol. 11 no. 4 390-414
Maina, B. (2013). Influence of stakeholders’ participation on the success of the economic stimulus programme: A case of education projects in Nakuru County, Kenya. Unpublished project. University of Nairobi.
Masanyiwa , Z.S. &Kinyashi, G. F. (2008).Analysis of Community Participation in Projects Managed by Non Governmental Organizations.Network Contact: Institute of Rural Development Planning (IRDP)
Mwobobia, N. (2013). Influence of Local Community Involvement in Project Planning. University of Nairobi, Unpublished Thesis.
Narayan, D. (1995). Contribution of People’s Participation: Evidence from 121 Rural water Supply Projects. ESD Occasional Paper Series 1. World Bank.
Ofuoku, A. U. (2011). Effect of community participation on sustainability of rural water projects in Delta Central agricultural zone of Delta State, Nigeria. Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, vol.3(7), pp. 130-136, July, 2011
Oino, P., Towett, G., Kirui, K., &Luvega, C. (2015). The Dilemma in Community-Based Projects in Kenya. Global Journal of Advanced Research, 2(4): 757-768
Plan Kenya ,Homa Bay PU (2013) Country Programme Progress Review. Plan International, Kenya Country Office, Nairobi, Kenya
Plan Kenya ,Homa Bay PU (2014) Country Programme Progress Review. Plan International, Kenya Country Office, Nairobi, Kenya
Plan Kenya ,Homa Bay PU (2015) County Strategic Plan PlanReview.Plan International, Kenya Country Office, Nairobi, Kenya
Pretty, J.N. (1995) Participatory Learning for Sustainable Agriculture. World Development, 23(8), pp. 1247-1263.
Sara, J., & Katz, T. (1997). Making the Rural Water Supply Sustainable: Report on the Impact of Project Rules. UNDP-World Bank Water and Sanitation Program.
Scoones, I.(2007). Sustainability. Development in Practice 17(4) 589-596
Sekaran, U. (2003). Research methods for business (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Zazueta, A. (1994). A matter of Interests: Participation and Equity in Environment Policy Making. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute, Center for International Development and Environment.
Ochunga, F. O., & Awiti, L. H. (2017). Influence of Stakeholder Participation on Sustainability of Community Development Projects Implemented by Plan International in Homa Bay Town Sub-County, Kenya. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 7(4), 340-364.
Copyright: © 2017 The Author(s)
Published by Human Resource Management Academic Research Society (www.hrmars.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode