Determinants of community ownership of water projects in Kenya; a case of Central Division, Isiolo County

Abstract

Management of water points is an important aspect of sustainable delivery of water resources to both the rural and urban populations in Kenya. Currently, there seem to be low level of community participation of rural water supply in Kenya, leading to low levels of ownership at community level. None of the reviewed studies have focused on the issue of community ownership of water projects. This study sought to establish the determinants of community ownership of water projects in Kenya with reference to Central Division, Isiolo County. The study also sought to determine how community involvement, governance structure of projects, training and education, technology used and distance from the water point on the ownership of water projects.

A descriptive cross-sectional design method was preferred for this study as it would offer the researcher the methodology to investigate the determinants of community ownership of water projects in Isiolo using a multivariate based analysis from a surveyed data. The target population composed of employees of the 12 development agencies including the government, NOOs, CBOs and RBOs. The sample size of this study was 37i respondents. For the purpose of this study, the researcher used a semi structured questionnaire and focus group discussion as the primary data collection tool. Data processing and analysis included data preparation, editing, coding, classification and analysis.

The returned questionnaires were checked for consistency, cleaned, and the useful ones coded and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS V. 17.0) computer software. The researcher analyzed the quantitative data using descriptive statistics and presented through percentages, means, standard deviations and frequencies. The study found that all the independent variables _were significantly affecting community ownership of water projects. However, distance was negatively affecting community ownership of water projects while technology used, training and education, governance structures and level of involvement were positively influencing community ownership of water projects. This study therefore recommends the community within which a project is being implemented be involved in the initiation, problem identification, planning, development, execution, monitoring and controlling so as to enhance community ownership of water projects.