Community Participation and Sustainability of Community Based Water Projects in Mbarara City North Division

Abstract

The study was about the influence of community participation on sustainability of communitybased water projects in Mbarara City North Division in Mbarara City. The study was aimed at assessing thedifferent ways of community involvement in community based water projects in Mbarara City North Division,examining the level of sustainability of community based water projects in Mbarara City North Division anddetermining the extent to which community participation influences sustainability of community based waterprojects in Mbarara City North Division in Mbarara City. The study used a descriptive survey design for qualitative data and cross-sectional research design forquantitative data. The study employed simple random and purposive sampling techniques. The study used asample size of 70 of the total of 73 populations. Data was collected from primary and secondary data sources.Questionnaire, interview guide and documentary review guide were used as data collection instruments.Analysis was done quantitatively whereby descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were determined usingSPSS. Thematic content analysis was used for qualitative analysis. From the findings, correlationco efficientshowsthatCommunityparticipationinimplementationstageofthecommunity basedwaterprojectshasinfluenceonSustainabilityofCommunity BasedWaterProjectsbecausethePvaluewas.000orP<0.05whichmeansCommunityparticipationinimplementationstageofthecommunity based waterprojecthasasignificant influenceonSustainabilityofCommunityBasedWaterProjects. Furthermore, correlation co efficient shows that Community participationinmaintenancestageofthecommunity based waterprojectonSustainabilityofCommunityBasedWater Projects hasno influence on sustainability of Community Based Water Projects because the P value was .006or P> 0.05which means that Community participation inmaintenance stage of the community based water project has nosignificant influence on SustainabilityofCommunityBased Waterprojects. Also correlation co-efficient showsthat Community participation in evaluationstage of the community based water projects has influence onSustainability of Community Based WaterProjects because the P value was .002or P< 0.05, which means thatCommunity participation inevaluation stage of the community based water projects, has a significant influenceon Sustainability ofCommunityBased WaterProjects. The study concludes that, since communityparticipation inplanning stage of the community water project has a significant influence onSustainability of Community BasedWater Projects. It implies that the water committees,donorsandthegovernmentofficialsintheministryofwaterholdpriorconsultationswiththecommunity members beforethe water projects are deliberated, more so community members areinvolved in decision making when designingthe project structure,location of water standpoints,determiningthe sourceof water amongotherkeyissues. Thestudy recommended that the community water projects should hold capacity building sessionsfor the membersand the committee members so as to equip them with appropriate knowledgeconcerning the designing anddevelopment of community water projects. This will enable themembersto makesuitablecontributions to theproject design.