Effect of Community Participation in Access to Social Services: A Case Study of Hazina Ya Maendeleo Ya Pwani Approach in Coastal Kenya

Abstract

Access to essential social services such as education, health, water and sanita-tion is a challenge to many residents living in coastal Kenya. Kenya Coastal Development Project (KCDP), a World Bank funded multi-sectoral initiative, implemented its Community Development Fund popularly referred to in Swahili as Hazina Ya Maendeleo Ya Pwani-HMP to improve access to social services among the coastal communities in Kenya. The HMP adopted the Community Driven Development (CDD) approach, whose underlying phi-losophy is community participation in the delivery of social services and the management of coastal natural resources. In this study, therefore, the extent to which community participation improved access to social services among the coastal communities was assessed using four dimensions of access com-prising: availability, affordability, geographical accessibility, and acceptability. A total of 285 respondents from community project beneficiary groups were interviewed across the six coastal counties. There was a significant relation-ship between community participation and affordability of social services. The results also revealed that there was no significant relationship between com-munity participation and the other dimensions of access namely: availability, geographical accessibility and acceptability of social services. The study indi-cates that community participation in development interventions is effective in enhancing affordability of social services. Conversely, it cautions that community participation in itself is not necessarily a panacea to fully address How to cite this paper: Hassan, F.A., Ong'ayo, H.A., Osore, M.K., Morara, G.N. and Aura, C.M. (2017) Effect of Commu-nity Participation in Access to Social Ser-vices: A Case Study of Hazina Ya Maende-leo Ya Pwani Approach in Coastal Kenya.