Which factors influence the sustainability of self help group projects in Taita Taveta District?

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENT

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURES

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

ABSTRACT

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
1.2 Statement of the problem
1.3 Purpose of the study
1.4 Objectives of the study
1.5 Research questions
1.6 Significance of the study
1.7 Scope of the study
1.8 Delimitations of the study
1.9 Basic Assumptions of the study
1.10 Limitations of the study
1.11 Definition of significant terms used in the study
1.12 Organization of the study

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Definition of sustainability
2.3 Concept of sustainable development
2.4 Sustainability of projects
2.5 Third party influence
2.6 Group decision making processes
2.7 Group dynamics
2.8 Project management
2.9 Social loafing
2.10 Advisory services
2.11 Knowledge gap
2.12 Conceptual framework
2.13 Summary of literature

CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY AND RESEARCH DESIGN
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Research design
3.3 Target population and sample size
3.4 Sampling procedure
3.5 Data collection instruments and methods
3.6 Validity and reliability
3.7 Ethical considerations.
3.8 Methods of data analysis
3.9 Operational definition of variables

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Response analysis
4.3 Profile of respondents
4.4 Factors influencing sustainability of self help projects

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS
AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Summary of findings
5.3 Discussion of the findings
5.4. Conclusions
5.5 Recommendations
5.6 Suggestions for further research

REFERENCES

APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Introduction letter
Appendix 2: Respondents questionnaire
Appendix 3: Key informants questionnaire

LIST OF TABLES

Table Title Page

Table 1.1: Number of CIGs trained per DASS district

Table 1.2: Number of DASS supported locations per district

Table 1.3: Number of self help projects

Table 3.4: Sample size

Table 3.5: Operational definitions

Table 4.1: Distribution of respondents

Table 4.2: Third party influence

Table 4.3: Undemocratic decision making processes

Table 4.4: Group dynamics

Table 4.5: Project management skills

Table 4.6: Social loafing

Table 4.7: Advisory services

Table 4.8: Responses by self help groups

Table 4.9: Responses by Key informants

Table 4.10: Combined responses

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: DASS Component organization chart

Figure 2: Conceptual framework

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My sincere gratitude goes to my supervisors, Dr. Moses Otieno and Mr. Johnbosco Kisimbii for their understanding, patience and guidance while undertaking this research project report. Not forgetting the lecturers, my classmates and the support staff at the extra mural centre Mombasa for their encouragement.

I would like to acknowledge the support accorded to me by the National Programme Coordinator Mr. Daniel Osiemo, DASS Coordinator Mr. Shadrack Mutavi, DASS Adviser Mr. Niels Bonnerup and the entire staff of the Agricultural Sector Programme Support (ASPS).

Last but least, I would like to thank the frontline extension workers in the ministries of Gender, Children and Social development, Agriculture and Livestock production for their assistance in carrying out this research project.

ABSTRACT

Group approach to development is seen by development partners both public and private as the most cost- effective way of addressing community needs when compared with the individual approach. Interventions managed by self help groups operate profitably when external assistance is flowing. However, after the cessation of external support, most of these projects either collapse or continue to operate below capacity. Most development partners are raising concerns over the sustainability of self help group projects.

This study sought to identify the factors influencing sustainability of self help group projects in Taita Taveta district. The focus was on self help groups supported through the Agricultural Sector Programme Support (ASPS).

The research design was a descriptive survey involving 30 self help groups and 20 frontline extension workers. Both secondary and primary data were collected.

The collected data were tabulated and then analyzed using the “list and tally” method. After all the responses were tallied, frequency and percentage distribution tables were prepared.

The key recommendations of the study were the training of private service providers (PSPs) to supplement services offered by the few existing public and private service providers. Similarly, the approval of National Agricultural Sector Extension Policy –Implementation Framework (NASEP-IF) and the Agricultural Sector Development Strategy (ASDS) policy documents will bolster provision of advisory services as they recognize the role played by the private sector in agricultural development.

Social loafing was ranked highly as a factor influencing sustainability of self help group projects. This study recommends further research on the concept of social loafing, to determine its causes, effects and how self help groups can deal with it.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the study

Community development as it emerged and grew and was practiced in British colonial territories in Africa referred to community improvement activities in which local people were actively involved. The improvements were undertaken largely on self-help basis (Chitere, O.P 1994).

Ministry of Culture and Social Services (1983) sees community development as the democratic process of involving people in planning and working for the type of society they wish for themselves and for their children. It is, therefore, the antithesis of colonial paternalism and it is the foundation of democratic socialism.

The role of the department of social services, currently known as Gender, Children and Social Development is described as partly stimulatory, partly sensitizing, partly educative, partly organizational, and partly coordinator. It also aims at enhancing peoples abilities, striving to enthuse and encourage the desire and fulfillment of self improvement to a point of self sustaining in the momentum of development.

United Nations (1963) defines community development as processes by which the efforts of the people themselves are united with those of the governmental authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of communities, to integrate these communities into the life of the nation and to enable them to contribute fully to national progress.

Self help movement, specifically women’s groups emerged in Central and Eastern provinces. As Monsted M (1973) notes, the groups in central province began contributing money for members on merry-go-round basis. They gradually moved into assisting members with money to purchase corrugated sheets for roofing their houses. The groups in Eastern province competed with each other in digging terraces and cut-off drains and farm work.

The number of groups grew rapidly in the 1970’s in all the districts in Kenya. Presently the number of self help groups registered with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development is 650,000. Out of these 7,365 are in Taita Taveta district.

Groups have contributed significantly to community development. According to Mbithi and Rasmusson (1977) group projects can be categorized into large scale and local ones. Large scale projects are often conspicuous and widely publicized by national elites. These include regional colleges of technology and hospitals. The local projects include, inter-alia, construction of schools, churches, health centres, water projects, cattle dips, irrigation projects and social halls.

Implementation and management of these projects is faced with diverse challenges. As OECD (2002) states, there will be no sustainable development without reducing poverty and disease. A fifth of the world’s population lives on less than USD 1 per day, and millions suffer from chronic hunger. HIV/AIDS and other diseases are undermining the very foundations of society in many countries. Meanwhile, international and civil conflicts threaten the ability of people to rise out of poverty, setting up a vicious circle whereby poverty feeds violent conflict, and vice-versa. Climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, water scarcity, and over fishing –all need immediate action. International environmental conventions and agreements have been set up to tackle many of these, but implementation difficulties abound. Thus the essence of this study is to investigate the factors influencing sustainability of self help group projects.

The Agricultural Sector Programme Support (ASPS) aimed to support the Economic Recovery Strategy (ERS) and the Strategy for Revitalization of Agriculture (SRA). ASPS’s development objective was equivalent to the immediate (primary) objective of the SRA. The ASPS’s immediate objective was increased sustainable income of female and male smallholder farmers and agri-based micro and small entrepreneurs in ASPS supported semi-arid districts. By the end of the programme period it was foreseen that 80,000 smallholder farmers (50% female farmers) in the ASPS target districts will have increased their income with at least 30 percent. The ASPS strategy for poverty reduction focused on the smallholder agricultural sector’s potential to generate employment, income, savings, and government revenue. The ASPS target group was smallholder farmers and Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) with a potential to establish/further develop viable agricultural businesses. The support focused on commercially viable and sustainable enterprises in semi arid districts.

The ASPS had three components:

i. Agricultural Policy Support Facility (APSF)
ii. Agricultural Business Development Support (ABD)
iii. Decentralised Agricultural Support Structures (DASS)

The three components of ASPS were established to facilitate the transition of the agricultural sector where the private sector becomes the vehicle for economic growth while the public sector establishes a conducive environment for this development. The APSF played the key role in supporting GoK establishing the national framework for the development. The ABD and DASS components were focused in districts in Coast and Eastern Province to enhance synergy between private sector development and the establishment of decentralized support structures in the form of agricultural extension, rural infrastructure and democratic planning processes.

1.1.1 Objectives of DASS

The development objective of Decentralised Agricultural Support Structures (DASS) was to revitalise growth of the agricultural sector by providing a conducive policy and institutional environment to increase agricultural productivity, promoting investment and encouraging private sector involvement in agricultural enterprises and agribusiness.

The immediate objective was to establish an effective support to smallholder farmer development through inter-alia public sector services at district level and below. By the end of the programme period, it was expected that 80% of male and female smallholder farmers in the ASPS target locations appreciate that the services provided have improved and have helped them develop viable economic businesses. The ultimate aim was to facilitate the transition of smallholder farmers into increased marketing of their produce. This would contribute to the wider development objective of increased incomes for smallholder farmers and agri-based micro and small entrepreneurs in the ASPS programme districts.

1.1.2 DASS Outputs

DASS Component had four outputs namely:

i. Increased efficiency and responsiveness of agricultural advisory services
ii. Improved rural infrastructure provision
iii. Enhanced capacity and transparency in delivery of services
iv. Enhanced market access and linkages

1.1.3 Target group

The main target group was the smallholder farmers who have potential to establish or further develop economically viable agricultural businesses. It was expected that these farmers will move from mainly subsistence farming to become producers for markets.

In each location where DASS was operating, five groups or Common Interest Groups (CIGs) are selected. The selection process involved holding a community meeting for all farmers in the locations. Then extension workers flagged all identified viable enterprises for the locality. Existing groups willing to take up any of the enterprises were selected or individual farmers willing to engage in one of the enterprises form a CIG. Once selected, the groups were trained on Farming as a Business (FaaB).

The table 1.1 indicates the number of groups / CIGs trained in FaaB in the districts where the programme operated.

Table 1.1: Number of CIGs trained per DASS district

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Source: DASS Annual Report 2008 – 09

DASS component covered the following districts: Kwale, Taita Taveta, Kilifi and Malindi in Coast Province, and Makueni, Kitui and Mwingi in Eastern Province. The support from DASS was focused on locations selected by the District Development Committee in each district and based on the location having a potential for viable and sustainable agricultural and livestock development.

Table 1.2 indicates the number of DASS supported locations in each district.

Table 1.2: DASS supported locations per district

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Source: DASS Annual Report 2008 - 09

In total, DASS was operating in seven districts in both Eastern and Coast provinces covering 100 locations.

Funding

The Programme was funded by Government of Kenya and DANIDA. All the funding is through the GoK system (District Treasury).

Management

The overall management of the ASPS was the responsibility of an ASPS Steering Committee that guided component steering committees .The DASS Steering Committee located under the Ministry of Agriculture and was co-chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and Ministry of Livestock. Its members were drawn from the key line ministries involved in the DASS component. In addition, there was at least one representative from each programme district. The DASS Steering Committee meetings were held half-yearly and alternate between Nairobi and the programme districts.

At district level the DDC played an overall coordinating role. For practical purposes, a DASS sub-committee was appointed to more closely monitor the DASS component in the district. This sub-committee was chaired by the DAO and participants include the District Development Officer, District Roads Engineer, District Irrigation Engineer, District Gender and Social Development Officer, District Livestock Development Officer, the Clerk to the County Council, a representative from the ABD Component and other relevant District Heads of Department. The sub-committee met quarterly.

Figure 1 shows the organizational structure of the DASS Component.

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Figure 1: DASS Component Organisation Chart

Source: DASS Programme Document

1.2 Statement of the problem

Group approach is seen by development partners both public and private as the most cost- effective way of addressing community needs when compared with the individual approach.

There are 7,365 registered groups in Taita Taveta District (including the newly created Voi, Mwatate and Taveta districts). A total of 4,290 self help projects are undertaken by groups which include: Poultry keeping, Water projects, Provision of Para-technical services, Savings and credit, irrigation projects, cattle dips, small stock improvement, farmer field schools, Small scale businesses, dairy development, horticulture and HIV/AIDS awareness.

Table 1.3 shows the number of self help projects in Taita Taveta district.

Table 1.3: Number of Self Help Projects

Abbildung in dieser Leseprobe nicht enthalten

Source: Annual Report 2009, Gender, Children and Social Development, Wundanyi

There were 7,365 registered self help groups in Taita Taveta with 4,290 self help projects. Thus, 3,075 groups were either involved in social welfare activities and merry-ground, or had no activity at all. These were mainly groups formed to take advantage of the devolved funds at the district.

Interventions managed by self help groups operate profitably when external assistance is flowing. However, after the cessation of external support, most of these projects either collapse or continue to operate below capacity. The upshot has been disillusionment of group members and the would-be beneficiaries of these interventions and wastage of huge sums of community and as well as donor funds. Most development partners are raising concerns over the sustainability of self help group projects.

Thus, this study sought to identify the factors influencing sustainability of self help group projects in Taita Taveta district. The focus was on groups supported through the Agricultural Sector Programme Support (ASPS).

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence sustainability of self help group projects in Taita Taveta District.

1.4 Objectives of the study

The study was guided by the following objectives:

1. To determine third party influence on sustainability of self help group projects
2. To investigate the influence of undemocratic decision making processes on the sustainability of self help group projects
3. Determine how skills in group dynamics influence sustainability of self help group projects
4. To investigate the influence of project management skills on the sustainability of self help group projects
5. To determine how social loafing influences sustainability of self help group projects.
6. To determine the influence of advisory services on the sustainability of self help group projects

1.5 Research Questions

The research questions were guided by the objectives of the study. These were:

1. What is the influence of third party on sustainability of self help projects?
2. How does undemocratic decision making processes influence sustainability of self help group projects?
3. How do skills in group dynamics influence sustainability of self help group projects?
4. How do project management skills influence sustainability of self help group projects?
5. How does social loafing influence sustainability of self help group projects?
6. How do advisory services influence sustainability of self help group projects?

1.6 Significance of the study

This research was vital and has diverse benefits to different stakeholders. Firstly, group projects are aimed at providing services to the community. If constraints to group development and management are identified and addressed, there will be improved services delivery. Similarly, once factors contributing to the collapse of group projects are identified, it will be possible to take corrective action to ensure their sustainability. This will consequently lead to increased incomes to group members and improved service delivery to their target clients.

NGOs and other development agents use groups as their entry points to the target communities. Thus this research will provide guidelines for selecting and working with groups.

The government supports group approach to the provision of advisory services especially in the agricultural sector. The outputs of this research will inform the policy formulation process on group formation, registration and management.

The research report will be circulated to the ministry of agriculture who were the researchers’ sponsors and the ministry of Gender, Children and Social Development who are charged with the responsibility of registering and supporting self help groups.

1.7 Scope of study

The study was conducted on selected groups from twelve (12) Locations where ASPS programme was operating. These locations were Jipe, Njukini, Kimorigho, Kishamba, Mwatate, Mgange, Mbale, Kasighau, Voi, Sagalla, Ngolia and Ronge.

1.8 Delimitations of the study

This research study was successful because secondary data pertaining to groups projects was available and self help groups and frontline extension workers were ready and willing to assist in the research as they are vital stakeholders in group development and management. Furthermore, the researchers’ experience in community development came in handy.

1.9 Basic Assumptions of the study

This research project was based on the assumptions that respondents will spare their time to participate in the study and that they will be truthful in their responses. Also, it was assumed that the researcher will secure funding for the study and will have adequate time to carry out the research.

1.10 Limitations of the study

In the course of the study, the researcher lacked sufficient funds to facilitate field data collection, adequate time as he had to balance between official work and studies and had to travel long distances to targeted groups.

1.11 Definition of significant terms used in the study

Advisory services: Refers to the entire set of organizations that support and facilitated people engaged in agricultural production to solve problems and to obtain information, skills and technologies to improve their livelihoods.

Cohesiveness: The degree of solidarity and positive feelings held by individuals toward their group.

Common interest groups (CIGs): These are groups of farmers coming together because of a common goal which they want to achieve.

Decision downloading: Refers to communicating a decision to those who have not been involved in the decision-making process.

Demand driven extension: This is where the farmer or the clientele decides on what he/she wants to produce and demands to be given advisory service for the same. It is participatory in nature in that the farmer negotiates with the service provider on what she requires.

Frontline Extension Workers: These are workers in the divisions and locations working with the ministries of Agriculture, Livestock and Gender, Children and Social Development.

Group dynamics: These are the recurrent patterns of social interaction among the members of a group. These patterns are influenced by such variables as group size, leadership, cohesiveness, group norms, nature of tasks and individual roles.

Project: A unique endeavor to produce a set of deliverables within clearly specified time, cost and quality constraints .

Project management: Is the skills, tools and management processes required to undertake a project successfully.

Self help group: This is a collection of individuals who are interdependent with one another and who share some conception of being distinguishable from other collection of individuals. Self help groups fall under the following categories: self help group (mixed membership of women and men), women groups (composed of women), men groups (comprising men only), youth groups, Farmer Field Schools (FFS), Financial Services Associations (FSAs) and Community Based Organizations (CBO) .

Service Provider – This is any person who has been trained to offer agricultural advisory service in any given field. This can be a civil servant or a private sector person.

Social loafing: The tendency of people to work less when they are in a group than when they work alone.

Supply driven extension: This is a situation where farmers do not have an input on what service / extension they are going to be given. The packages are given by the service providers depending on the government policy.

Sustainability: The ability of a project to maintain an acceptable level of benefit flows through its economic life

Sustainable development: The definition adopted for the purpose of this study is that of the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations (1987) which defines sustainable development as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Third party: This refers to all individuals who are not members of a group or institutions which have influence on the functioning of a group e.g. Politicians, spouses of members, political parties, and schools among others.

1.12 Organization of the study

Chapter one provides background information on the area of study; highlights the problem to be researched on; the objectives of the study and the importance of the study to different stakeholders. On the other hand chapter provides a literature review on the concept of sustainability and the various variables that influence sustainability of self help projects. These variables are presented in the form of a conceptual framework.

Chapter three outlines the research design adopted for the study. It also indicates the data collection instruments, methods of data analysis and operational definition of variables used in the research study.

Data presentation, analysis and interpretation are done in chapter four. Field response on all the independent variables are analyzed, tabulated and interpreted.

Finally, chapter five gives a summary of all the findings and discusses the same with respect to the research objectives set in chapter one. The chapter also provides the researchers recommendations and suggestions for further research.

CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter traces the origin of the concept of sustainability and sustainable development, its meaning and what it entails from a developmental point of view as perceived by different scholars and institutions. It also reviews literature with particular focus on factors influencing the sustainability of self help groups.

2.2 Definition of sustainability

There is no universally acceptable definition of what sustainable development entails. The word sustainability is derived from the Latin sustinere (tenere, to hold; sus, up). Dictionaries provide more than ten meanings for sustain, the main ones being to “maintain", "support", or "endure. Therefore sustainability can be defined as the ability of a project to maintain its operations, services and benefits during its projected life time.

The World Bank defines sustainability as the ability of a project to maintain an acceptable level of benefit flows through its economic life.

Over the past 30 years, the concept of sustainability has evolved to reflect perspectives of both the public and private sectors. A public policy perspective would define sustainability as the satisfaction of basic economic, social, and security needs now and in the future without undermining the natural resource base and environmental quality on which life depends. From a business perspective, the goal of sustainability is to increase long-term shareholder and social value, while decreasing industry’s use of materials and reducing negative impacts on the environment.

2.3 Concept of sustainable development

The traditional definition of sustainability calls for polices and strategies that meet society’s present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

One of the earlier concepts of sustainable development was advanced by Sachs (1973), who used the term eco-development. Eco development was defined to consist of strategies designed for particular eco-zones with a view to:

i. Making fuller use of specific resources in each eco-zone in order to meet the basic needs of its inhabitants while safeguarding the long-term prospects by rational management of these resources instead of their destructive exploitation;
ii. Reducing to a minimum the negative environmental effects and even as far as possible using waste products for productive purposes;
iii. Designing adequate technologies for achieving these goals.

The concept of sustainable development was described in a 1981 White House Council on Environmental Quality report as, “the key concept here is sustainable development. If economic development is to be successful over the long term, it must proceed in a way that protects the natural resource base of developing countries.”

It was the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) - through the World Conservation Strategy of 1980 - that brought the term "sustainable development" into development discourse. Their concerns, as a conservationist organization, were with the evident deterioration of the ecological and resource base that was a consequence of "conventional" approaches to development. Hence their focus was on the physical environment rather than on showing a concern for the human side of achieving sustainable development and the potential social impacts of the management regimes that might be employed to achieve sustainable development in the way they understood it.

However, it is the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED, 1987), generally known as the Brundtland Report, which popularized the term "sustainable development". The conventional development path was seen as being in danger of destroying the environment and depleting resources to the point where development could no longer be sustained and could go dramatically into reverse. The path would have to be revised in order to achieve sustainable development, defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". The WCED report spent little time analysing the disparities in resources available to different constituencies within and between different societies and so did not make any significant recommendations concerning redistribution or any great augmentation of aid between the countries of the North and the South. The major thrust of the report was to promote more investment in the South, generally with a view to augmenting economic growth, suitably regulated with regard to negative environmental impacts, to take the world into the era of sustainable development.

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which took place in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, was an important milestone in the promotion of the idea of sustainable development. It resulted in both proposing three international agreements - on forests, climate change and biodiversity - and in tabling an "agenda for sustainable development in the 21st century", entitled Agenda 21.

In recent years, the thinking on development has shifted considerably to reflect contemporary challenges and realities. For a very long time, development has been narrowly defined in terms of statistical indices of input and output. Todaro (1985) for example, defines development as “a multidimensional process involving major changes in social structures, popular attitudes and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality and eradication of absolute poverty”

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