Influence of Stakeholders Management Practices on Performance of Nutrition Projects in Tana River County, Kenya

Abstract

Food security and nutrition present very critical development challenges in Kenya. In arid and semi-arid counties such as Tana River County that characterized by hot and dry climates, food insecurity is a threat to human life. Kenya is among the nations that gets abundance of financial support from donors to establish nutrition initiatives to enhance its people's nutrition condition. Tana River County continues embracing nutrition projects to curb hunger and malnutrition and increase quality, quantity and affordability of food for local residents. Despite huge funding from donors to implement various nutrition programs, little progress has been made as malnutrition-related deaths continue to climb. Nutrition programs attract a variety of stakeholders, each with a particular expectation of the project's outcome. The stakeholders' level of urgency and priority tend to shift during the lifecycle, adding to project management problem. This study examined the effect of stakeholder management practices on the performance of nutrition initiatives in Tana River County, Kenya. This study specifically examined the influence on stakeholder communication, stakeholder participation, stakeholder conflict management and stakeholder monitoring and evaluation on performance of nutrition projects in Tana River County, Kenya. The census research design technique was used in the investigation. The population for this study was categorized in two groups. First category population was project staffs of sixteen (16) registered and licensed nutrition projects in Tana River County, Kenya. Second population category included government officials, including Director Health CoG Tana River County, Direct Public Health Service, County nutrition coordinator, County nursing officer, sub county nutrition coordinators, and sub county public health officers. In this study, primary data were used. These particular data were collected using interview guides and questionnaires. In the analysis, both descriptive and inferential statistics were employed. Based on the study's findings, Tana River County, Kenya's nutrition programs are effective in terms of stakeholder participation, communication, conflict resolution, monitoring, and evaluation, are all positively and significantly correlated. According to the study's findings, Tana River County, Kenya's nutrition initiatives would perform better if all of the independent factors were increased. The study concludes that improving stakeholder conflict management practices such as how conflicts and disagreements within projects are resolved amicably, how disputes among stakeholders affect project performance, how quickly disputes are resolved, and how well-illustrated conflict resolution charts are should receive more attention if nutrition projects are to perform better