DETERMINANTS OF SUSTAINABILITY OF YOUTH EMPOWERMENT PROJECTS IN MACHAKOS COUNTY, KENYA
Abstract
The study objective was to assess the determinants of sustainability of youth empowerment projects in Machakos County, Kenya; with the specific objectives of the study being to evaluate how project stakeholder engagement, project management skills, project funding and project scope management determines the sustainability of youth empowerment projects within Machakos County. The study was guided by stakeholder, skills, fund accounting, and control theories. A semi-structured self- administered questionnaire was used to collect primary data from project officers, managers and other key stakeholders within 73 youth empowerment programmes, which was boosted with secondary data sources. The data was analysed by qualitative and quantitative means using SPSS, with an OLS regression being done to ascertain the connection among the study variables. The study found that project management skills, stakeholders’ engagement, project scope management, and project funding are strong determinants of project sustainability with the factors showing high correlation coefficients which were both positive and statistically significant. It was concluded that project management skills, stakeholders’ engagement, project scope management, and project funding positively influences project sustainability. Improvements in these four spheres would lead to improvements in project sustainability. The study therefore recommended that future youth empowerment programmes should enhance their project sustainability by observing the four determinants, which is project management skills, stakeholders’ engagement, project scope management, and project funding so as to improve on project performance and impact within the target beneficiaries. The study also suggested that organizations implementing youth empowerment programmes should invest more on researching the current trends in project management skills, stakeholders’ engagement, project scope management, and project funding so as to realize effective and successful implementation of these practices within their organizations. The study suggested further research within more sectors in Kenya such as education, children welfare, wildlife and environmental conservation among others and within the region to confirm these findings in a different and wider context.
Key Words: Project Stakeholder Engagement, Project Management Skills, Project Funding, Project Scope Management
CITATION: Kasoli, K. M., & Mutiso, J. (2020). Determinants of sustainability of youth empowerment projects in Machakos County, Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 7(3), 112 – 132.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.61426/sjbcm.v7i4.1782
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