Community participation in government- funded projects: The case of Malawi Education Sector Improvement Project (MESIP) in Chasato zone, Mzimba South, Malawi.

Abstract

This study is about the extent of community participation in government-funded projects such as the Malawi Education Sector Improvement Programme (MESIP). Community participation rhetoric is given prominence in development projects initiated by Malawi government and other external agencies. The study employed convergent mixed methods research design to explore the nature and extent of community participation at all stages of the MESIP project cycle. The study also assessed factors affecting local people’s participation in government-funded projects such as MESIP. The study found that there was minimal involvement of community members during the needs assessment, identification of interventions, project planning, and monitoring and evaluation stages of MESIP. Government officials dominated decision-making and manipulated, instead of facilitating the development processes. However, the study noted that the participation of respondents in the project implementation stage was considerably high. The study, therefore, concluded that community participation in the MESIP project in Chasato Zone was up to the third rung of Arnstein's ladder of participation - Informing. Local people’s participation in MESIP was influenced by the level of awareness, level of income, people’s perception of MESIP, and some demographic factors such as marital status and religion, which influenced community participation in government-initiated MESIP. The study recommends that government programming should follow a bottom-up approach to ensure meaningful community participation right away from needs assessment to project evaluation stage. Involving community members from the initial stages of the project would improve people’s perception of the project thereby increasing their participation as well. The study also recommends the use of direct means of sharing information with local people to increase their participation.