Abstract:For the past 50 years, local community participation has been an important theme in development dialogues. In the 1960s and 1970s, it became pivotal to development projects as a means to seek sustainability and equity particularly for the poor. Studies have shown that sustainability of water supply projects improves when local communities are allowed to take a central role during all stages of the project, including planning and implementation. The purpose of this study was to examine determinants of local community participation in planning and implementation of borehole water projects in Migori County. This study was centered on four main objectives; to establish the extent to which County Integrated Development Plan influences local community participation in planning and implementation of borehole water projects, to determine the extent to which  literacy levels influence local community participation in planning and implementation of borehole water projects, to establish the extent of influence of socio-cultural issues on local community participation in planning and implementation of borehole water projects, and lastly, to determine the level of influence of community awareness on local community participation in planning and implementation of borehole water projects. The study used descriptive survey research design to achieve its purpose. Data was collected using two instruments namely; questionnaire and Focus Group Guide. For quantitative data, questionnaires were used while for qualitative data, the Focus Group Guide was used. The study was conducted at Katieno II and Kajulu II sub locations in Uriri Sub county with a target population 19870.The study adopted Krejcie & Morgan (1970) table for determining sample size for a population to derive a sample of 377respondents.The collected data was analyzed through descriptive statistics and inferential analysis using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM-SPSS).Based on the findings, the study concludes that county integrated development plan, literacy levels, socio-cultural issues and community awareness have significant influence on local community participation in planning and implementation of borehole water projects in Migori County. The respondents cited socio cultural issues such as discrimination based on age, gender and physical disability to bear significant hindrance to local community participation in planning and implementation of borehole water projects in the study area. The study thus among other recommendations, calls for integrated local community mobilization to build local community interest in participating in development projects’ activities. This should start at the initial stage of project conceptualization. In addition, regular capacity building and monitoring by relevant change agents at different levels of project management are important in enhancing local community participation and project sustainability.
Keywords:Determinants of Local Community Participation in Planning and Implementation of Borehole Water Projects.

Title:LOCAL COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN PLANNING AND IMPLEMENTATION OF BOREHOLE WATER PROJECTS IN MIGORI COUNTY, KENYA
Author:JUDDY SUSAN ARIEKO, J.B KISIMBII
ISSN 2394-9716
International Journal of Novel Research in Interdisciplinary Studies
Novelty Journals