Assets Endowment: The Determinant Factor for Stakeholder Mobilization and Retention for Community Driven Development Projects

Abstract

Resource and Stakeholder Mobilization are significant in Community Driven Development (CDD). Stakeholder identification, engagement and management are recognized as key project management skills and categorized as resource based as 'soft skills’ requiring both intuition and a strong capacity for analysis. While many studies have focused on the two independently, the relationship between assets and stakeholder participation still remain uncovered with the question being, "to what extent does assets influence Mobilization and vice versa?" This study sought to investigate the relationship between Asset endowment and stakeholder mobilization for CDD initiatives by focusing on the question; “Is there a significant correlation between the asset endowment and individual and community mobilization and willingness to participate in CDD?” A research model comprising three construct variables representing the building blocks of Assets endowment namely; Community Assets building blocks, Individual Mobilization and Community Mobilization was proposed on the basis of the theoretical linkages of prior studies. This was developed into research instruments namely; Community Assets Survey (CAS), Individual Mobilization Survey (IMS), and Community Mobilization Survey (CMS) and correlated as follows; CAS vs CMS, CAS vs IMS, CAS vs ICMS. Where CAS represented components of the larger construct variable – Community assets and its building blocks, while IMS and CMS components of community mobilization. Using the model tool (Jakes et al 2002), the concept was empirically tested by administering questionnaires to 146 gatekeepers randomly sampled from communities in Kisumu West District. A response rate of 72% was achieved well above the 70% rate considered sufficient. The variables were used for stratification of the respondents to determine if they are factors in the correlation between the major constructs. Reliability and validity of measures were tested using the factor analysis and results analyzed to determine relationships. Spearman's rho was employed to determine the relationship between asset endowment and stakeholder mobilization. The results indicate that asset endowment has a direct impact on stakeholder mobilization for CDD. Major determinants assets of community mobilization were revealed to be human capital, motivation, self-efficacy, social assets, physical assets, economic assets and perceived local support. These findings are significant to community development experts, project planners and managers in enabling prediction of participatory trends and advance the development of a theory regarding the CDD.

Keywords: Key Words: Community Driven Development; Assets Endowment; Stakeholder Mobilization