An assessment of the sustainability of EU micro- projects programme: a case study of Saboba/Chereponi District.
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Date
2009-08-18
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Abstract
Sustainability as a development paradigm is pertinent in ensuring that community projects are well thought out, executed, monitored, managed and maintained for the benefits of the present and future generations. The study considered four main indicators such as the participation of community members in the project implementation process, resource management capacity and project management capacity of the beneficiary communities as well as the opportunities available for community members to seek accountability from implementing agencies to enhance or sustain the EU Micro-Projects Programme.
The purposive sampling technique was adopted to select the units of data collection. Seven out of the twenty five communities that implemented the EU Micro-Projects in Saboba/Chereponi District were selected for this study. In all a total of 90 households were sampled from these communities and in addition to these households, institutions like the District Implementing Committee (DIC), the Community Implementing Committees (CICs) and the District Planning and Co-ordinating Unit (DPCU) were also interviewed. The project manual and reports of the programme provided a wealth of information for triangulation.
The study revealed that from 2001 to 2007 the EU Micro-Projects Programme has made immense contributions to the provision of socio-economic infrastructure in Saboba/Chereponi District but the sustainability of these projects cannot be ensured. In terms of participation of community members, it was dominated by a few leaders in the communities, especially in project selection and identification. This dominance led to the selection of projects that were not priorities for community members. The resource management capacity of projects resources was weak especially at the community level and the project management capacities of the Micro- Projects were also weak. Though the project made provision for community members to participate in the monitoring and evaluation of the projects, these opportunities were not known to community members.
Recommendations were made to ensure the sustenance of these projects by improving communication during project implementation, building the capacity of community structures to keep up to their task and taking the pain to sensitise community members to acknowledge their roles and the opportunities available to them.
It is hoped that these recommendations will help to improve the sustainability of EU Micro- Projects Programme and also interest government, Micro-Projects Management Units and other donors who are interested in supporting rural communities.
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A Thesis Submitted to the Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the Degree
of Master of Science.