NIGERIAN EROSION WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROJECT (NEWMAP) AND COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE 2 DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH-EAST, NIGERIA

Abstract

The corollary of the potential impacts of the Nigerian Erosion Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) cannot be overemphasized as the project is touted to foster sustainable development of the South-east, Nigeria. Therefore, this study investigated the participation of the local communities in NEWMAP towards achieving sustainable (economic, social and environmental) development of Southeast, Nigeria. Using the community development, participation and empowerment theory as the underpinning theories, 30 hypotheses were developed to examine the effect of NEWMAP on sustainable development and moderating role of community participation between NEWMAP and sustainable development. A sample size of 384 respondents was selected from the entire study population of 12,990,485. Structured questionnaire was used to collect primary data from NEWMAP staff, government representatives, civil society organisations, traditional authorities, religious representatives and the youths of the communities through stratified sampling and snowball sampling technique. 233 usable responses were received and analysed using Smart PLS-SEM. The result indicated that 16 hypothesized relationships (both direct and moderating hypotheses) were supported. Specifically, the study found significant evidence to support that economic strand of sustainable development of the South-east, Nigeria was influenced by NEWMAP administration, communication and monitoring/evaluation; Social development of South- east, Nigeria was significantly influenced by NEWMAP planning and identification, administration, communication and implementation while the environmental strand of sustainable development of South-east Nigeria was significantly influenced by NEWMAP planning and identification, implementation/execution and Monitoring and evaluation with mean values of (2.98, 3.03, 3.34, 3.37 & 3.38). Furthermore, there is evidence to support the significant moderating effect of community participation (CP) between NEWMAP planning and identification (NPPI) and social development (SD) (CP*NPPI -> SD) (β = 0.194; t = 1.999, P < 0.05). The study concluded that the community participation in NEWMAP ensured positive outcomes in term of the economic, social and environmental development of the affected South-east communities. The study promoted full awareness of NEWMAP and the involvement of the South-east communities at all stages of the projects. Hence, the study recommends the important implications of this study to policy makers, academics and viicommunity project managers. Thus, this will increase the involvement of community members in development projects to enhance the achievement of sustainable development in the host communities. Also, an enabling environment where the people at the grass-root will participate actively in decision-making process that affect their condition of living and by so doing, stimulate the synergy among stakeholders to achieve sustainable development.