Sustainability Of Non Governmental Organization Funded Projects Post Donor Funding. A Case Study Of Non Governmental Organizations In Msambweni Sub-county In Kwale County, Kenya.

Abstract

The role played by donor agencies in improving living standards of families/households, groups and individuals in any country especially in areas that has not been developed for a long time like coastal region of Kenya cannot be underestimated. There has been a significant increase in activities from donor agencies with regards to funding of various projects where the government has failed to deliver services to its people. However development projects, initiated and/or funded by these donor agencies, perform poorly and many become non-operational on termination of donor support. Despite this problem, no study has been done to establish the cause of the termination of these donor funded projects especially on withdrawal of donor support. This poses a gap that this study sought to fill an investigation of the sustainability of NGO funded projects post donor funding in Msambweni Sub County, Kwale County. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population included employees from six selected NGOs operating within Msambweni Sub County. Data was collected from the sampled respondents using questionnaires as the principal data collection instrument. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used to come up with a representative sample size. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to aid in generation of results. The data was presented in form of frequency tables, percentages and cross-tabulation among others. The study established that most donor funded projects in Msambweni Sub County were unsustainable after the withdrawal of donor funding. The key factors that were found to affect sustainability of donor funded projects were mainly donor policies, managements structures and stakeholders involvement. This was done through hypothesis testing while financial systems and technology adoption were rejected. The study recommended that adoption of succession planning was necessary to ensure that the target beneficiary and stakeholders are well prepared to effectively run the projects after withdrawal of donor support.