Factors inhibiting rural development in Kenya : A case study of Nyamira South Sub-County

Abstract

Rural development is a veritable tool for fighting poverty and achieving economic prosperity at the grassroots level. The concept of rural development embraced by most countries connotes a process through which rural poverty is alleviated by sustained increases in productivity and incomes of low-income workers and households The major thrust for this study was to examine the factors affecting rural development in Nyamira south sub-county, Nyamira County, Kenya. The area under study was purposely selected because of its agricultural potential, vast economic activities and also due to social and economic challenges such as poverty and corruption of the available institutions. The selection of the factors for the study was impinged on their long years of existence. The study was seeking to determine the number of available rural programmes and their objectives; assess the existent of awareness and participation of the rural people in the programmes; and also assess the effect of government policy in bringing about sustainable rural development. Stratified Random sampling was employed in the selection of the respondents. A well-structured questionnaire was used to elicit responses on socio-economic factors affecting rural development and other relevant variables from a random sample of 100 respondents; comprising specifically the residents of Nyamira South Sub-County. This study found out that people in Nyamira South Sub-County consider rural development as access to education. Therefore they need to be given proper access to education in order to bring about sustainable rural development. Also people consider multi-sectoral approach to rural development as the best approach to bring about rural development in Nyamira South /Sub-County. This study also established that socio-economic factors such as discrimination, culture, education and corruption affect rural development in Nyamira South Sub-County. It was also indicated that government policy is crucial in the efforts to bring about effective and sustainable rural development in Nyamira South Sub-County.