STAKEHOLDER PARTICIPATION IN NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGO) PROJECTS AND THEIR SUSTAINABILITY: THE CASE OF WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME IN DADAAB REFUGEE CAMP, KENYA

Abstract

ABSTRACT While people gain significantly from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), most of their projects hardly continue after donors withdraw their support. Approximately only 10% of the projects achieve the desired outcomes. Specifically, in Dadaab Refugee Camp, various studies found that the sustainability of the World Food Programme projects has not matched the expectations, which has affected program effectiveness and stakeholders’ satisfaction. The study's overarching goal was to determine the impact that stakeholder involvement at each stage of the project life cycle has on the long-term viability of World Food Programme initiatives in Dadaab Refugee Camp, Garissa County. The study was guided by the following specific objectives: to examine influence of stakeholder participation in project conceptualization, stakeholder participation in project planning, stakeholder participation in project implementation and stakeholder participation in monitoring on project sustainability of World Food Programme projects. With the increased concern of stakeholder participation as a major factor in improving project performance, the study assumed that there was a significant influence of the stakeholder participation in various phases of a project-on-project sustainability. The study adopted a descriptive research design. The target population comprised of individuals involved either directly or indirectly with overseeing the implementation of World Food Programme projects at Dadaab refugee camp. A sample size of 133 respondents was arrived at using Slovin’s formula and selected using random sampling. Questionnaires were used for data collection. Out of the 133 sent questionnaires, only 87 questionnaires were filled and used for the analysis of the study. SPSS version 20 was used in the analysis of the data. Tables and figures were used in presentation of the findings. The correlation analysis revealed that Project conceptualization had Pearson Correlation of 0.645, Project planning had Pearson Correlation of 0.674, Project implementation had Pearson Correlation of 0.437, and Project monitoring had Pearson Correlation of 0.666. Apart from the correlation between project implementation and project sustainability which has a weak positive correlation, the other variables have strong positive correlation with project sustainability of the WFP projects. The study concludes that availability as well as full participation of stakeholders among development phases and among activities within project phases is a realistic management opportunity for improving project sustainability. Stakeholder participation is further concluded to promoting better outcomes in projects and ensuring that they are sustainable. The study recommends a holistic approach and embracing of all the stakeholders during initialization of projects in ensuring that they are involved in the projects. In developing projects at World Food Programme, projects stakeholders should be engaged in all the four project phases, and this should be factored and incorporated right from the onset. The study also recommends that the government through their legislative system should put in place appropriate policies that favour the implementation of NGO projects in not only at Dadaab but also other regions in Kenya.