The role of community and social development project in improving rural livelihoods, Kebbi State, Nigeria.

Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.

Between the years 2010 and 2013, the Nigerian Government established a transforming structure called the Community and Social Development Project (CSDP). This research explores the influences of that project on livelihoods through the perceptions of participants located in Local Government Area (LGA), Danko/Wasagu of Kebbi State, Nigeria. Four (4) of the twenty-four (24) communities in Danko/Wasagu involved in the CSDP partnership between communities and Government were targeted as an accessible case to investigate. One objective of the study was to identify perceived influences of the CSDP using the programme data. Permission for the researcher to extract (200) individual records from the CSDP data base was approved. Two hundred records (50 for each of the four communities) were identified as a random sample from the project survey data. These records provided livelihood information and perceptions from beneficiaries of the CSDP through data collected before and after the project. Descriptive statistics and Paired Sample t-test were tools used to look for perceived influences between project delivery and post project availability of livelihood resources. To provide a snap shot of perceptions three years after the Programme Project ended, a second objective used a Focus Group approach in 2016 to explore current livelihood options within these communities. Field visits included a purposeful selection of (12) respondents from each of the four target communities. For each community, group discussions were carried out in two (3-4 hour) sessions. Session 1, carried out in the morning, used participatory activities to reflect on the past, present and future. Session 2 in the evening, revolved around discussion and consensus on current livelihoods against an adapted livelihoods framework. In general, communities depended on multiple strategies and combined community effort to achieve livelihood goals. The CSDP sample data inferred improved access to resources particularly in health and transport across all communities. Improved access to water however, was only significant in two communities. Three years later, the focus group discussion revealed that development efforts continued by the LG were not perceived as providing sufficient economic opportunity. To encourage entrepreneurship, mobilisation of the community for collective decision making needs to be reactivated and Local Government needs to continue facilitating the delivery of infrastructure as originally tasked. Further research of actual and potential asset based micro-enterprise would benefit an understanding of innovative livelihood options alongside economic policy agendas.