he essence of this research was to assess the effect of the
community empowerment projects on enhancing poverty
alleviation in Rubaya Demonstration Project. The study
objectives were to: determine the effect of access to finance on
enhancing poverty alleviation, establish the effect of training &
capacity development on enhancing poverty alleviation, find out the
effect of project follow-ups on enhancing poverty alleviation and
examine the effect of project infrastructure on enhancing poverty
alleviation in Rubaya Demonstration Project. The study adopted a
descriptive survey design that combined both quantitative and
qualitative research designs, techniques and measures. The study
covered a total of 139 respondents comprising of 131 project
beneficiaries and 8 key informants. The key informants were drawn from
the project stakeholders & officials. This study used three basic methods
for collecting data which included a semi-structured questionnaire, an
interview guide and a review of secondary data from the Rubaya, REMA
and other sources. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered to
the project beneficiaries while interview guides were administered to key
project officials & stakeholders. Data collected was analyzed using the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS v20); questions in the
research instruments were coded, variables defined and keyed into the
computer after responses were entered. Descriptive statistics including
frequency distribution tables & percentages and Pearson’s coefficient
correlation was used in data analysis. The results revealed that out of the
four independent variables used to measure community empowerment
project, at least three variables – access to finance, training & capacity
development and project infrastructure - were statistically significant.
Evidently, community empowerment project strategies such as access to
finance, training & capacity development, project infrastructure among
other attributes not set out in this study led to significant reduction in
poverty levels among the Rubaya Demonstration project beneficiaries.
This informed the conclusion that while some aspects of community
empowerment project attributes were seen to be extremely effective or
effective in enhancing poverty alleviation, the project implementers had
not necessarily exhausted out all strategies to successfully enhance
poverty alleviation. Finally, it was recommended that, for efforts in
poverty alleviation to be sustained, implementers should not only focus
on raising income alone but also focus on developing mutual learning
activities where project direct and indirect beneficiaries would embrace
a fully participatory approach in enhancement of poverty alleviation.