Communication Strategies and Development: A Case Study of Selected Non Governmental Organizations in Kajiado, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the communication strat- egies used by selected Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and to assess the role of the strategies in mobilizing the people of Kajiado to actively participate in the various development initiatives. Data were collected and analyzed in three categories. A moderator's guide was used to facilitate the focus group discussions for the beneficiaries. In-depth inter- views with the NGOs officials at both the project level and the headquarters were done. The key findings of the study were as follows: • The NGOs were mainly using the interactive mode of communication. ⚫ The NGOs did not apply a single approach in the different stages of the development process. Minimal effort was applied in the designing of the development message. • Cultural aspects of the communities were often ignored. . Beneficiaries who had received adequate capacity building participated more fully in the development effort. These findings indicated that the NGOs involved in development work in Kajiado require to design functional communication policies that are culture sensitive. This would be parallel to the other tasks of building resources so as to ensure that the development initiatives are relevant to the benefiting community