Determinants of water projects sustainability: a case of water projects in Kieni East division, Nyeri county, Kenya

Abstract

Alarmingly high numbers of people around the world have no access to clean drinking water. In spite of many years of humanitarian aid and development, it remains a major challenge to ensure access to water for all people. The sustainability rate on water projects in developing countries is alarmingly low, due to a lack of resources, capabilities and spare parts for service and maintenance. The financial hardships have left the situation even worse. However, many developed governments and donor agencies have made substantial investments in projects to improve supplies of water in poor rural areas. This research therefore aimed at investigating effects of the level of awareness of the community, development approaches, community contribution and feasibility study on sustainability of water projects in Kieni East division.

This research study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The target population of this study was 195 committee members in all the 20 water projects in Kieni East division and 84 development partners' representatives in water projects totaling to 279. The researcher therefore used systematic sampling methods to select 30% of the target population of 84 representatives of development partners coming up with 25 respondents.

The study also used census approach to pick all the 195 committee members in all the 20 water projects in Kieni East division thus making a total sample size of 220 respondents. A pilot study was conducted to ascertain validity and reliability of research instrument. The researcher used a questionnaire to collect primary data. Descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviation and frequency distribution were used to analyze the collected data.

The study found that all the factors (level of awareness, development approaches, community contribution and feasibility study) had a positive influence on the sustainability of water projects in Kieni East Division. Community contribution had the greatest influence followed by feasibility study, development approaches and level of awareness respectively. This study therefore recommends that community member should be involved in all stages of the project; project implementation stage, decision making, participation in project-related decision-making and meetings, financial contribution, selection of management systems, labor contribution, project upkeep and area project designing.