Effect of Community Based Management on Sustainability of Water Projects in Machakos County

Abstract

Sustainability of community based and managed water projects in Kenya remain a challenge. In spite of concerted efforts to transfer the ownership of water Projects to beneficiary communities and increasing participation of the communities in the operation and maintenance of these facilities, more than a third of all water projects fail within three years of development. The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of community based management on sustainability of water projects in Machakos County. Descriptive survey was used as the research design and the target population was 1120 people. The Sampling Procedure used was a multistage sampling where 31 out of 104 projects were sampled which represented 30% of the total number of water projects in the county. From the sample size of the 31 projects, 1 project manager, 2 community leaders and 2 water project committee members were randomly picked. The sample size therefore consisted of 155 respondents sampled from the target population. This represented 14% of the population and was chosen because the population was homogenous and therefore needless of a big sample size. In addition, a multivariate regression model was applied to determine the relative importance of each of the four variables with respect to Sustainability of Community Based Water Projects. Data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Every questionnaire was checked to ensure completeness and that it was correctly filled. All questionnaires were coded so that all data could be analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) computer programme. The results of the study will contribute towards policy formulation and management in the Water Sector in guiding on best practices for sustainable water Projects. The study found out that water projects’ sustainability is influenced by factors like community participation, financial management, provision of technical support and attitude. The study concludes that project financial management and technical support affects sustainability of water projects in Machakos County. It also concludes that Community participation and attitude of the community which is expressed by their willingness to conserve the projects affects sustainability of water projects in Machakos County. The study recommends that county governments in Kenya should put in place proper governance as this increases the sustainability, County governments and the general management of water projects in Kenya should ensure continuous upgrading and training of the technical skills as this enhances sustainability, all county governments and the general management of water projects should ensure maximum community participation and support for this increases project efficiency.