Evaluating the impact of rural housing projects in Nongoma local municipality.

Master of Administration. University of KwaZulu-Natal.Introduction This research set out to examine the identified factors that interrupt the delivery of houses to the community of Nongoma. The study was also consummated to evaluate the challenges of rural housing projects with a view to make recommendations to Nongoma Local Municipality and other stakeholders involved in the housing project. Methodology A questionnaire was distributed to participants in different categories of staff and three tribal authorities i.e. KwaMandlakazi, Osuthu and Ematheni. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Version 24 was used to analyse results. Data was inputted into the SPSS package and generated various statistical findings in the form of visual displays like pie charts, tables and histograms containing frequencies, the mean, standard deviation and skewness. The data from SPSS was then analysed to determine the centrality of responses and pattern of responses in order to make inferences per question. The SPSS package also generated the Cronbach Alpha statistic which determined a higher level of reliability of the findings above 0.7. Results Findings showed that financial constraints, poor communication between departments tasked with housing delivery, lack of implementation monitoring mechanisms by the Department of Human Settlements are among some of the factors interrupting rural housing delivery under Nongoma Local Municipality. However, the research further revealed that rural housing projects impacted positively on job creation, alleviation of poverty related to shortage of accommodation, living standards of the people, infrastructural development, rural electrification, clean water and protection of rural people from the adverse weather conditions and the environment. Discussion There is convergence of findings between primary findings on factors interrupting housing delivery and scholarly views. Various scholars identified different challenges affecting housing delivery by governments. Mnisi (2011) cited topographical challenges, Burgoyne (2012) identified financial constraints, and Abubakar (2014) identified poor communication and Defra (20014b), who pointed out that most housing construction projects are burdened with the challenge of a lack of teamwork across all the functions leading to slackened progress. Hodgson and Gwagwa (2013)’s assertions that poor monitoring of project staff and progress is a key challenge affecting delivery of housing projects was also confirmed as a challenge by the respondents. The findings on the challenges of rural housing in Nongoma Municipality resonated with scholarly assertions by Ray (2010) who cited employment creation, Hopkins (2014), poverty reduction, and der Ploeg et al. (2015), improvements in material condition, social and psychological well-being, Hemson et al. (2014) infrastructural development, and Mnisi (2013), provision of clean water and well-constructed good sanitation facilities. Research recommendations included lobbying for more funding from the central government and other donor agencies in order to overcome the challenge associated with financial challenges, establishment of cross-functional teams that harness the expertise of people from various departments, strict monitoring and supervision and establishment of clear project completion deadlines

Independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene, and improved complementary feeding, on child stunting and anaemia in rural Zimbabwe: a cluster-randomised trial.

BACKGROUND: Child stunting reduces survival and impairs neurodevelopment. We tested the independent and combined effects of improved water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), and improved infant and young child feeding (IYCF) on stunting and anaemia in in Zimbabwe. METHODS: We did a cluster-randomised, community-based, 2 × 2 factorial trial in two rural districts in Zimbabwe. Clusters were defined as the catchment area of between one and four village health workers employed by the Zimbabwe Ministry of Health and Child Care. Women were eligible for inclusion if they permanently lived in clusters and were confirmed pregnant. Clusters were randomly assigned (1:1:1:1) to standard of care (52 clusters), IYCF (20 g of a small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplement per day from age 6 to 18 months plus complementary feeding counselling; 53 clusters), WASH (construction of a ventilated improved pit latrine, provision of two handwashing stations, liquid soap, chlorine, and play space plus hygiene counselling; 53 clusters), or IYCF plus WASH (53 clusters). A constrained randomisation technique was used to achieve balance across the groups for 14 variables related to geography, demography, water access, and community-level sanitation coverage. Masking of participants and fieldworkers was not possible. The primary outcomes were infant length-for-age Z score and haemoglobin concentrations at 18 months of age among children born to mothers who were HIV negative during pregnancy. These outcomes were analysed in the intention-to-treat population. We estimated the effects of the interventions by comparing the two IYCF groups with the two non-IYCF groups and the two WASH groups with the two non-WASH groups, except for outcomes that had an important statistical interaction between the interventions. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01824940. FINDINGS: Between Nov 22, 2012, and March 27, 2015, 5280 pregnant women were enrolled from 211 clusters. 3686 children born to HIV-negative mothers were assessed at age 18 months (884 in the standard of care group from 52 clusters, 893 in the IYCF group from 53 clusters, 918 in the WASH group from 53 clusters, and 991 in the IYCF plus WASH group from 51 clusters). In the IYCF intervention groups, the mean length-for-age Z score was 0·16 (95% CI 0·08-0·23) higher and the mean haemoglobin concentration was 2·03 g/L (1·28-2·79) higher than those in the non-IYCF intervention groups. The IYCF intervention reduced the number of stunted children from 620 (35%) of 1792 to 514 (27%) of 1879, and the number of children with anaemia from 245 (13·9%) of 1759 to 193 (10·5%) of 1845. The WASH intervention had no effect on either primary outcome. Neither intervention reduced the prevalence of diarrhoea at 12 or 18 months. No trial-related serious adverse events, and only three trial-related adverse events, were reported. INTERPRETATION: Household-level elementary WASH interventions implemented in rural areas in low-income countries are unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia and might not reduce diarrhoea. Implementation of these WASH interventions in combination with IYCF interventions is unlikely to reduce stunting or anaemia more than implementation of IYCF alone. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, UK Department for International Development, Wellcome Trust, Swiss Development Cooperation, UNICEF, and US National Institutes of Health.The SHINE trial is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (OPP1021542 and OPP113707); UK Department for International Development; Wellcome Trust, UK (093768/Z/10/Z, 108065/Z/15/Z and 203905/Z/16/Z); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation; US National Institutes of Health (2R01HD060338-06); and UNICEF (PCA-2017-0002)