Abstract
There has been a shift in development focus to rural areas mainly due to the realization that rural areas can no longer be neglected given that rural and urban areas have become critically interdependent. Attendant to this has been the phenomenon of many development agencies increasingly turning to projects as a critical wheel upon which sustainable rural development can be realized. However, many projects that are meant for rural development do not succeed to fulfill this goal for which the projects are designed and implemented. This article is partly based on an empirical study that explored challenges of managing rural development projects with reference to 4 case studies that were conducted in Vihiga County of Kenya in 2016. This article takes a qualitative approach. Secondary data from various journal articles and research reports that were purposively selected were reviewed. Document review was the main data collection method while data analysis was done using content analysis. This article finds that largely, inherent challenges of conventional stakeholder-participation models, failure to apply project management principles and lack of project management skills inevitably curtails not only rural development projects; but also all other projects from fostering the much needed development for which the projects are planned and implemented. This article also finds that there is an alternative stakeholder-participation model as well as various approaches that can be applied to enhance effective management of rural projects. This article recommends that projects ought to be managed by professional project managers as a key variable of ensuring that value for investment in development projects is attained. The alternative recommendation is that all non-professional project managers should be trained on the basic skills, tools and techniques of project management.
Highlights
Rural areas are territories that lie outside the urban areas and are largely characterized by low population density, sparse settlements and agriculture as the major economic activity
Specific challenges that arise from stakeholderparticipation models that are applied in projects as well as general challenges of project management have been discussed
The other major findings of this study are about ways of managing rural development projects for sustainable rural development
Summary
Rural areas are territories that lie outside the urban areas and are largely characterized by low population density, sparse settlements and agriculture as the major economic activity. The desire to sustainably improve the standards of living in rural areas in many parts of the world is motivated by various factors key among them being poverty, overdependence on agriculture as the main economic activity, and the critical role that rural areas have come to assume socially and economically (Mwabu & Thorbecke, 2004). This is discussed later in this paper. Effective project management as the art or science of applying knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements (PMI, 2013); can be viewed as one of the means by which the desired levels of sustainable rural development can be achieved
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