NGO Project Managers' Perception of the Sustainability of Development Projects: Empirical Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa

ABSTRACT

Developmental organizations have increasingly focused on primary beneficiaries' participation and collaboration with stakeholders as critical factors to sustainability of project activities. Hypotheses that these factors affect project managers' estimates of probable sustainability of project activities have been tested in this study. The study used survey data from a sample of 126 Non-governmental organizations from Sub-Saharan Africa through e-mail and the internet. Five indicators of primary stakeholder's participation were tested and found reliable as a measure of overall participation. The ordered probit regression analysis was used to examine relationships between probable sustainability and independent variables. The five-item participation scale (beneficiary consultation, decision-making, volunteering work, project initiation and interactive participation) was the most significant variable affecting expected sustainability of project activities. No single indicator of participation was equally related. Government support and community projects variables were also significant predictors of expected sustainability.