Evaluating the impact of model village project in Nyamasheke district: Special references of Gihombo and Kirimbi sectors

Abstract

Project sustainability depends upon beneficiaries’ involvement in its operations which include but not limited to identification, planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, reporting etc. One of the most prominent issues of the present times to address is beneficiaries’ involvement. The present study was conducted under guidance of an objective as to determine the extent to which beneficiaries participated in project management and to measure the relationship between beneficiaries’ participation and project sustainability. The study targeted 500 households headed by vulnerable women located in Gihombo and Kilimbi sectors from Nyamasheke district. By using Slovin’s formula a representative sample of 223 was drawn. The questionnaire was used as an instrument to collect data. The SPSS version 16 was used for descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. The study revealed that beneficiaries participated in all project phases but not in all activities. The beneficiaries’ participation at the initiation phase their involvement in needs assessment was at 54.3%, into the project design, the setting of objectives included beneficiaries at 52.9%. Along the project implementation, the beneficiaries were poorly involved, only 23.8% were part of buying livestock, 83.4% in information sharing and 74% of the beneficiaries were included in the project reporting. After calculating the Spearman correlation by using SPSS, the coefficient is 0.123 which indicates the positive correlation between the beneficiaries’ involvement and project sustainability. The significant value of 0.067 is less than the Spearman correlation coefficient (0.123) which means that the correlation between the two variables is statistically significant. The conclusion is that, beneficiaries’ involvement was extended to all phases of the project but not in all activities of the project. Therefore, basing upon the typology of participation this project used the functional participation. The beneficiaries’ involvement in all project phases and activities is highly recommended to enhance the after project sustainability towards the long term impact.