Community Perceptions of Development Projects and Their Influence on Utilization of Project Outputs: A Case of Moiben Water Dam in Elgeyo Marakwet County, Kenya

Abstract

Development projects have been found to attract varying impacts to local communities. These impacts determine how the local community perceive the projects. The construction of water dam has had varying impacts on the local community members which would likely affect how they perceive this development project. The purpose of the study was to investigate community perceptions of development projects and their influence on utilization of project outputs using the water dam as a case. The specific objectives included exploring the level of local community’s involvement in the decision making, assessing the perception the community holds and analyzing how community’s perception of Moiben water dam influences utilization of project outputs. The study used descriptive research design to collect data to inform the problem at hand, sampled 108 heads of households using cluster and random sampling methods, while purposive sampling was used to select 10 key informants. Questionnaires and in-depth interview guide were used to collect primary data while thematic and content analysis was used to analyze data using NVivo software to compliment quantitative analysis on assessment of relationship between variables. Data analysis used descriptive statistics which utilized frequency tables, means and standard deviation to interpret qualitative data. This was complimented with narrations and verbatims derived from qualitative content and thematic analysis. The findings of the study show that the community was involved in the Moiben water dam project by awareness creation (93%), being informed on the purpose of the project (88%) and getting employment and business opportunities (67%). The study also found that there are negative and positive perceptions drawn from the outputs and usefulness of the dam project. Fifty one percent of respondents perceived the dam as a good provider of water for domestic (individuals and family) use despite the high cost of connection which is a deterrent. Additionally, it was found that the dam project influenced the development of other facilities in Moiben area which have improved people’s quality of life (x̄= of 4.73; σ= of 0.79). This supports the matrix framework on the social impact of water dams. The study also found that local communities feel that they lack capacity to tap the many opportunities (like fishing and farming) created by the dam. In line with stakeholder theory, study recommends that concerned stakeholders ensure community involvement to promote how they perceive the project. The stakeholders should also sustain the positive project impacts and address the negative impacts of the dam that attract negative perception to promote positive perception. Dam management and county government should employ locals in the dam management and maintenance areas. The study is significant to community members who are informed on the socioeconomic benefits derived from involvement in development projects. The county and national governments, funding institutions, policy makers and development organizations may discover the value of community knowledge and its involvement in the transformational development process. Institutions of higher learning and scholars may find the results of this study useful in advancing knowledge in Development studies and M&E fields of study.