Considerations Regarding the Effective Management of Projects for Sustainable Rural Development in Africa

This book chapter is based on a study that primarily focuses on the effective management of projects for sustainable rural development in Africa. 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. 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. According to this study, there are several obstacles that prevent traditional stakeholder participation models from being gainfully utilized, including a lack of project management expertise, a failure to apply project management principles, and inherent challenges that prevent not only rural development projects, but all other projects from promoting the critical development for which they are designed and carried out. 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. The study finds that people participation - or more specifically, stakeholder participation - is an approach in project management when and if well applied, can enhance success in rural development 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.