DETERMINANTS OF PERFORMANCE OF IRRIGATION PROJECTS: CASE OF NTHAWA IRRIGATION PROJECT OF MBEERE NORTH SUB-COUNTY, EMBU COUNTY, KENYA
Ruth Kanini Bosire - Master of Arts in Organisational Leadership, Boston University, USA
Dr. Faustin Ntamushobora - Boston University, USA
ABSTRACT
Water Irrigation has become one of the vital income generating activities on land ,in that it enhances food security ,creates employment opportunities ,improves nutritional status of a nation and brings about good health in a particular society. The purpose of this study was to establish the determinants of performance of irrigation projects a case of Nthawa irrigation project of Mbeere North Sub- county of Embu county Kenya. The study sought to determine the effect of management of the project, community participation, resources adequacy, technology and availability of sizable land for irrigation on performance of irrigation projects in Mbeere North Sub-county,Embu county Kenya. The target population for this study comprised the 500 registered members in Nthawa Irrigation Project of Mbeere North Sub- County, Embu County. In addition, 19 key informants comprising 9 executive management committee members from the project and 10 Ministry of Water and Irrigation officials made up of 2 technical officers from the District Irrigation Office and 8 Water Resource Management Authority (WRMA) regional officials. For this study, the sample size was 130 respondents. On the Executive committee members and officials, the researcher did not sample since the target population was small, hence the study employed a census method that is by capturing the entire population of Executive Committee Members and Ministry of Water and Irrigation Officials. The primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaires made up of both open ended and closed ended questions. The data collected was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Version 21.0). All the questionnaires received were referenced and items in the questionnaire were coded to facilitate data entry. After data cleaning, the data was presented inform of tables showing frequencies, percentages, mean score and standard deviation. From the results, it was observed that management of the projects , resource adequacy, and technology used, community participation and availability of sizable land for irrigation all positively and greatly affect the performance of public irrigation projects in Kenya. It is thus recommended that full participation of members in irrigation project development should been encouraged to enhance capacity to perceive their own needs and members’ managed irrigation projects should encourage a maximum number of people to participate at various stages of project development.
