Public perceptions of development, participation and relationship with well-being: the case of Makueni district in Kenya

Hildah Essendi, University of Southampton

Although some of the key dimensions of development include standards of living and income, it is also important to recognise the importance of non-monetary aspects of development particularly in understanding the dynamics of socio-economic development. And whereas researchers recognise that human development entails much more than the rise or fall of national incomes, various indicators regarding wellbeing, health and development in developing countries remain below average. This is in spite of the implementation of many development initiatives in developing countries, particularly in the rural areas. In addition, very few studies to understand and implement rural development have sought the views of community members regarding the important aspects and outcomes of their development and their participation in development. Using the mixed-methods approach, this study investigates community perspectives on the key dimensions of development, and the impact of their perception and involvement in development on their wellbeing. The aspects/outcomes of wellbeing under focus in this study include fertility, use of maternal health services, child morbidity and mortality, vaccination and nutritional status. The study is implemented in Makueni district of Eastern Province Kenya. Data is collected at the community and household levels using focus group discussions, key informant interviews, indepth interviews, mapping and questionnaires. The study investigates the perception of community members regarding development, their participation in development and the relationship with their wellbeing. Qualitative data is analysed using QSR NVivo 9 software while the quantitative data is analysed using SPSS and Stata.