Factors Influencing Effective Community Participation in Water Projects: A Survey of Water Mission Funded Projects in West Pokot County-Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors influencing effective community participation on water project. The study was guided by The following objective; to establish the effect of socio-economic factors on effective community participation The study was guided by community participation theory. The study employed a descriptive survey research design. The target population for the study included management committee and the local community members.The sample size for the study comprised of 164 community members and eighteen management committee members. The study used stratified random sampling technique and purposive sampling. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaires and interview schedule. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. It is assumed that the findings of the study would significantly contribute towards rural development by acting as a benchmark for identifying loopholes and corrective measures at policy level on water projects to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of provision of safe and clean water to all by the year 2030. The study findings indicated that socio-economic factors influenced effective community participation of funded water projects in West Pokot.The study findings showed that a significant number of the respondents 57.8 percent agreed thatlanguage barrier during project discussion forums hindered effective community participation, 63.8 percent agreed that nomadism among the Pokots affected effective community participation, 61.8 percent agreed that education level of the community members determined the level of community participation, 74.4 percent agreed that there was proper and effective community leadership that promoted community participation, 71.0 percent agreed that majority of the active community members were economically challenged and 85.8 percent agreed that water project had positively transformed health, water and sanitation practices in the region while 81.8 percent agreed that the level of community awareness on the importance of water projects influenced effective community participation. Results from testing the hypothesis indicated that p-value of 0.000and the null hypothesis was rejected. Pearson Correlation coefficient (r-value) is 0.544, which represented a positive but average relationship between socio-economic factors and effective community participation. Therefore, the study concluded that socio-economic factors had a significant effect on effective community participation in water funded projects in West Pokot.The study found out socio-economic Keywords: Community Participation, Socio-economic factors