Abstract: The objective of the study was to determine, among other objectives, if the beneficiary community is involved in development in various stages of the project as a parameter of participation in the community driven development approach. The study design was an ex-post facto cross-sectional survey, which used non-random sampling technique (quota), and both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The sample size for individual interviews was 90 (N=90) and 47 (N=47) for the focus group interviews. The study established that some segments of the community especially the youth and opinion leaders’ involvement in the various stages of the project is low, denoting exclusion and that there is fluctuating beneficiary community involvement in the various stages of the project. Further, the study found out that it is mainly women who are involved in most project activities, a situation which could be attributed to the fact that project activities also meet and respond to needs directly associated with women. Also project activities have time and opportunity costs that are not consistent with men, youth, opinion leaders and local elites direct needs. The implications of the study is that funders, development agencies, practitioners, stakeholders and proponents of participatory development approaches ought to device mechanisms of enlisting more beneficiary community involvement in development processes, discourses and activities as well as mainstreaming of community involvement in all the stages of the project cycle.
Keywords: Approach, Beneficiary, Community Driven, Development, Involvement, Participation, Project, Stages.
Title: Community Involvement: Who Sits on Which Wheels in the Community Driven Development Approach
Author: Rebecca Waweru
ISSN 2394-9694
International Journal of Novel Research in Humanity and Social Sciences
Novelty Journals
