The role of popular participation and community 
work ethic in rural development: the case of Nandi 
District, Kenya 
PHILIP K. RONO1 AND ABDILLAHI A. ABOUD2 
ABSTRACT 
This paper examines the performance of rural community 
development projects in relation to the work ethic, gender and the 
level of participation in the process of rural development among the 
Nandi people of western Kenya. Data for the study were obtained 
from_a survey of 25 randomly-selected community development 
projects and a sample of 305 respondents involved in these projects. 
Rural development projects were found to achieve on average 53 
per cent of their objectives and 56 per cent of their operational 
effectiveness. Overall, rural Nandi people demonstrated on a 4- 
range Likert Scale an average measure (2.86) in their community 
work ethic and an average measure (2.38) in their actual 
involvement and participation in rural development projects. 
Policymakers, development planners and implementers should 
ensure that people in this community are made aware that their 
level of work ethic, involvement and participation is responsible for 
the poor performance of their community development projects. If 
the Nandi rural economy is to be revived, agents of change ought to 
guide the rural population towards involvement and full participation 
in projects which are meant to improve tfieir welfare. 
KEYWORDS 
community participation, Kenya, productivity, rural development, work 
ethic 
1 Department of Sociology, Moi University, Kenya 
- Department of Natural Resources, Egerton University, Kenya 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 77
Introduction 
The Kenyan government's efforts to improve rural development in all 
parts of the country have been significant both in its level of commitment 
and its participation in the development process ever since 
Independence (Kenya 1989b, 1996). Considerable amounts of finance, 
manpower and material resources have been committed to rural 
development projects but there has been no corresponding improvement 
in the performance of community projects that are beneficial to individual 
households such as health centres, cattle dips, water supplies and 
women and youth groups in many districts, among which is Nandi 
District (Kenya 1989a, 1994a). Given a rapid population growth rate of 3.86 
per cent in Nandi District, coupled with the low performance there of most 
rural community development projects, the standards of living in the 
district are on the decline, as is reflected by the fall in disposable income 
per capita (Kenya "l989a:42-46,1994a:50,66-67,1996:4-5,10). Little 
research work has, however, been done to explain or address the factors 
responsible for this trend. 
Though economic reasons, internal policies and structural rigidities 
may partly account for the poor performance of local projects and hence 
of rural development, other factors have been overlooked. Foremost 
among these is the level of community involvement to be seen in the 
level of the work ethic and participation of the rural people. These 
factors have been noted as playing a great role in national development 
and they should be the first to be examined when development does 
not take place (Misra 1985:91. Nyoni 1987, Thomas 1985,Tisdell 1988, 
Uphoff 1986, Weber 1977). The study investigates the role of the 
community work ethic and participation on rural development 
performance in Kilibwoni and Kapsabet divisions of Nandi District. 
The level of rural poverty and the work ethic 
The problem and extent of poverty (which is a consequence of 
stagnating and declining development) in sub Saharan Africa has been 
growing. It is estimated that in 1992,42 per cent of the approximately 
525 million people in sub Saharan Africa were living below the poverty 
line of US $370 per capita. This number was expected to rise to about 
78 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
304 million or 50 per cent of the region's population by the year 200C 
(Baker 1997, Breth 1997, World Bank 1995a:22-23,1995b: 18-25,1997). 
The level of absolute poverty in rural areas of Kenya was 46.4 per cent 
and 29.3 per cent in urban areas between 1992 and 1994 (FAO 1986, 
Kenya 1996:151, World Bank 1995a:22-23,1995b:18-25). It is estimated 
that the overall level of absolute poverty in the country now stands at 
52 per cent compared to 47 per cent in 1999. Today, poverty manifests 
itself in the form of hunger, illiteracy and a lack of access to basic 
education, drinking water, minimum health facilities and shelter. Finding 
creative solutions to cope with poverty is one of the greatest challenges 
facing the continent at present. 
However, despite two decades of tireless effort and the adoption of 
several approaches to raise the development and growth of developing 
countries by integrating the rural population, who are largely peasants, 
into mainstream development (through community involvement and 
participation in development projects), development projects and the 
conditions of living of the rural poor are still deteriorating. This has led 
to a number of questions: Why are development efforts not bearing 
fruit among the rural poor? Are these projects' performance impeded 
by the people's work ethic or their lack of participation? How does 
community participation impact on rural development performance? 
Rural people's participation in community development 
Lisk (1985:16), defines popular participation as "the active involvement 
of a broad mass of people in the choice, execution and evaluation of 
programmes designed to bring about a significant upward movement in 
their levels of living". It is a process in which people freely participate in 
"development... and in taking an active part in the decisions governing 
development" (Baetz 1984:2). 
In construction of community projects, mutual self-help plays a big 
role. It reduces building costs for individual households, as construction 
material can be bought in bulk and skills can be pooled (Rakodi 1983: 
UNCHS1986:47-53). An outstanding example of community participation 
in Kenya is the Dandora housing project in Nairobi which the Nairobi 
City Council supported by encouraging people to form building groups. 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 79
The process of group formation began in December 1975 when the first 
1000 plots were handed over. In this project, plot charges ended up 
being higher than originally estimated at the design stage and, in 
addition, people had to pay for water and temporary shelter or rent 
elsewhere. The minimum housing expenditures were therefore well over 
half the minimum wage, without including construction costs and living 
expenses. 
In spite of this, a study of investment in building in Phase I (up to 
1983) showed that, on average, residents had mobilized six times more 
construction finance than the official loan provided, 48 per cent coming 
from loans (mostly from relatives) and 7 per cent from gifts. Most people 
supervised the construction on their own sites on an individual basis, 
using some hired and some self-help labour (62 per cent) or hired a 
skilled craftsman to supervise the construction for them (21 per cent). 
The remaining 17 per cent worked in the building groups, which used 
more self-help labour, especially for the unskilled tasks. These were 
people with no additional source of finance. The fact that they were 
able to build at all may be attributed to the building group support 
services provided by housing development department's Community 
Development Division (UNCHS 1985a)., 
The rural work ethic and development 
The prevailing work ethic is another important and hitherto unstudied 
factor in development processes. This study contributes to determining 
the level and role of community work ethic on the overall rural 
development performance in Kenya. The Ministry of Planning reports, 
for example, that the per capita income of Nandi District is about 140 
Kenya pounds per annum (Kenya 1989a:54). According to this survey, 
rural poverty is rampant in the district, manifesting itself in high mortality 
rates, poor housing, poor health and little or no access to clean water, 
an increase in the number of people living in abject poverty and low and 
declining levels of disposable income, yet the available natural resource 
base is not being optimally utilized (CBS 1987-1992. Kenya 1994a:77).It 
is not known whether the Nandi people's work ethic encourages a 
commitment to work and community participation because there is no 
80 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
available data on this. As a result the district planning team has access 
only to insufficient and unreliable data on nearly all aspects of 
development in the district, including available skills (Kenya 1989a:54, 
1994a:69-75). 
People with a very strong work ethic, that is, in a well-organized 
society whose culture, beliefs, values, norms and attitudes are workoriented 
and who are themselves hard working, are likely to experience 
more development in nearly all spheres than those whose work ethic is 
weak. Studies that have been done show that work ethic and 
development have a direct and positive relationship. 
Max Weber, for instance, showed that Protestant religious 
communities in Europe were more developed and their people were 
more hard working than Catholic communities because of their strong 
work ethic (Bates etal. 1975:189, Weber 1958,1977). This attitude, Weber 
says, is derived from the Protestant religion which held that human 
beings are instruments of God on earth and are required to work in a 
calling for the glory of God. Weber concluded that their work ethic 
enhanced their development without the believers knowing that their 
religion was producing tremendous economic changes in society. Where 
the attitudes and values encourage work and accumulation of wealth, 
high performance is to be expected and vice versa. 
A rural work ethic and participation are crucial factors as far as 
community development is concerned. Cavalevu (1964:65-68) notes that 
when a community banana experiment in Fiji was not supported by the 
local villagers, it failed. The people did not give it their manual labour and 
planting material. A community agency working with groups remarked: 
We saw that purely technical "solutions" were useless. People's 
attitudes and feelings must always be taken into account. A 
solution must be practicable and desirable from the people's point 
of view (Batten 1967:166). 
Poverty can ultimately be eradicated only if the attitudes of the people 
towards that poverty and other development problems are positively 
stimulated and they appreciate that solutions can only be generated by 
the people themselves (Aziz 1987:145). 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 81
The local community, as a group, can participate in a number of stages: 
In all cases seen, where real progress was being accomplished in 
local community development, the first step in that development 
had been sustained discussion by the community of its basic 
needs and most urgent problems. Secondly, they had, as a group 
decided to accept the responsibility of pooling their intelligence, 
manpower, and local resources to attack one specific problem, the 
solution of which would meet some felt need of a large majority or 
all the families in the community. Third, they organised to solve 
the problem and, in every case studied, learned that they needed 
some specialised assistance and, in practically all cases, some 
material or financial assistance outside the community. Fourth, 
they developed a degree of group responsibility, pride, and zest 
which led them to attack other community problems (Batten 
1967:48-49). 
Gordon (1992) further adds that it is the local population's education, 
skills, and overall commitment to work that determines how much can 
be produced and how. The Ujamaa programme of Tanzania is a good 
example. Misra (1985:91) found that the structure and operations of two 
Iringa villages, Lulanzi and Magulilwa, display significant variations in 
terms of degree of involvement of the members as well as their degree of 
affluence and scale of operations between socialist (Ujamaa) largescale 
farmers and the European large-scale capitalist farmers. The 
performance of the European farmers far exceeded that of their Tanzanian 
counterparts. Many studies (such as Boesen et al. 1986, Hyden 1969, 
1982:220-231, Kahama et al. 1986:40-176) show that these variations 
are attributed to the commitment of their members to work and the 
quality of their integrity as well as the style of village leadership. And 
this is what let down Ujamaa. 
In most sub Saharan countries (Beets 1990), a few of these qualities 
are present and emerging at a relatively slow pace in comparison with 
changes in the rate of population expansion and in relation to overall 
social and economic global changes. As a result both material resources 
and the ability to change tend to be subject to strain from the population 
82 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
expansion. Such strain is not necessarily the result of the depletion of 
available resources. The difference between the two still remains a source 
of confusion in determining Africa's resource potential. The 
disorganization of both the material and methods of resource exploitation 
and the inhibition of the such exploitation by a lack of social and 
economic change have tended to hamper development (Franzel and 
Van Houten 1992). 
Measures, materials and methods 
Data sources and sampling procedures 
The data used in this study were obtained through a sociological survey 
conducted between December 1996 and May 1997 in the Kilibwoni and 
Kapsabet divisions of Nandi District. Field research involved 
interviewing participants and members of community projects involved 
using a structured questionnaire. An exploratory survey was conducted 
to determine the research variables and the possible locations where 
the research could be carried out in Kilibwoni and Kapsabet Divisions 
of Nandi District. Since all possible locations had projects that were 
established on community basis, multi-stage random sampling was used 
to pick eight locations required as research focus areas. This was 
immediately followed by identifying and listing the names of all 
community projects whose nature demanded the local people's 
participation (either physically or materially) in the locations identified. 
By focusing only on those project that solicited community 
participation and were established with a view of improving the local 
people's welfare regardless of their project type a shortlist in all eight 
areas was drawn up. The involvement and participation of local people 
was measured by their role in the projects. A simple random sampling 
technique was then used to determine 25 sample projects for study out 
of a total of 310 which met the criteria mentioned above, due to constraints 
of time and personnel. The sampled projects now appear listed by types 
(see Table V) for the purposes of simplifying and bringing out clearly the 
general nature of projects studied. 
The sampling frame was based on a set of 25 lists, with a total of 7914 
possible respondents in the two divisions. From the lists made 12 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 83
respondents who were members of the respective projects were 
randomly picked for the study, with chairperson or leader of the project 
being purposefully picked to act as key informant. The data set 
comprised a collection of information on projects, the current level of 
participation, the work ethic of the respondent and the respondent's 
labour input and the output, among other relevant issues including 
respondents background. 
Key variables and measures 
Rural development. Two indicator items were used to measure this 
variable by being computed into an index. These are: 
• the percentage achievement of the project's objectives and 
• the percentage project operational effectiveness (determined as the 
' duration of the objectives realization, in relation to the duration of 
project operation). 
These items were derived from the leaders' declaration of the projects' 
number of planned objectives; the number of achieved objectives; the 
duration of the objective realization and of the project operation. 
Community work ethic. This key variable refers to the societal norms, 
values and beliefs that encourage conformity to the need for dedication, 
commitment and sacrifice of one's time (including leisure time) and energy 
to work with the aim of achieving maximum productivity compatible 
with the technology applied (Bates et al. 1989). The work ethic variable 
was measured by 12 indicator items, which were computed into an index 
that can be found in Table VI below. Each item was awarded 4 points if 
the response was "always", 3 points for "almost always", 2 points for 
"sometimes", 1 point for "hardly ever" and 0 for "never". The highest 
possible score for the respondent's work ethic index was thus 48 points 
and the lowest 0 points, as calculated from the 12 indicator items. 
Data processing and analysis 
A computer-based programme. Questionnaire Programming Language 
(QPL) was used for data entry and the Statistical Package for Social 
Sciences (SPSS) programme was used for data processing and analysis. 
84 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
Data processing entailed five basic operations. Firstly, the primary 
variables in the study hypotheses and their indicator items, where 
applicable, were identified for further processing. Secondly, frequency 
distribution analyses were run for the variables identified and indicator 
items for cleaning purposes. Appropriate scoring and the coding of 
variables and indicator item categories was done to provide deserving 
weighting, commensurate with the postulated variable relationships. 
Fourthly, the suitability and reliability of the variables' indicator items 
for the construction of respective variable indices was tested, so as to 
avoid the effects of multi-collinearity. Finally, variable indices were 
computed for the identified suitable indicator items for use in appropriate 
analyses. 
The two basic data analysis procedures used were descriptive and 
analytical. A descriptive procedure, in form of frequency distribution 
analysis, was applied to describe the study's primary variables and the 
associated indicator items, mainly as they related to the study objectives 
and hypotheses. Analytical procedures were also used to determine and 
describe variable relationships. 
Results and discussion 
Conception and implementation of community projects 
To understand the background of study projects, key informants, namely 
the chairpersons and leaders, as well as respondents, were asked to 
state the dates when the project was conceived, when they started to 
operate, when all or some of the project objectives were realized and 
when the first person enrolled as a member of the project. Responses to 
these questions are tabulated in Table I. 
According to the results in Table I, primary schools are older in terms 
of conception than the other types of projects, except for Kabaa cattle 
dip which is 40 years old since the idea was conceived. The duration of 
all projects since conception ranges between 1.3 years and 40 years. On 
average, these projects the length of time of these projects respectively 
is as follows: 
• 11.5 years since conception, 
• 9.1 years since they started to operate, 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 85
Table I: Years since the project was conceived (A), started to 
operate (B), objectives were realized (C) a nd since the first 
person was enrolled as a member (D) 
Name of project Respondents 
Emdin Pri. School 
Kamungei CPK Church 
Kipkeibon Pri. School 
Tuloi Leketio Women's Group 
Chepkumia Chiefs Office 
Burende Women Group 
Kipsugur Water Project 
Sekemiat Youth Group 
Chepsigot Youth Group 
Kapkerot AIC Church 
Kabaa Cattle Dip 
Kilibwoni Youth Group 
Kaptoroi Cattle Dip 
Musanya Cattle Dip 
Tangaton Women's Group 
Lessos AIC Church 
Chesuwe Pri. School 
Chebil Youth Group 
Full Gospel Church 
Kombe Pri. School 
Kalyet Youth Group 
OWessos CPK Church 
Testai Builders Youth Group 
Tiryo Cattle Dip 
Lessos Mungaret Group 
Number 
of projects 
25 
* - Project objectives have not yet been realized 
13 iliiI 0.0 
% achieved 
objectives 
52.96 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 
I 5'4 
I 1'1
effectiveness 
10 1H1 23.4 
11 mmm 
^ ^ B 0.9 
^ ^ B 94 
1
1
3 3 
W^B 
H11 1 12. '43 ^ ^ 
^ ^ 
BB 
12. 
1-6 3 
1 6-5 
10 jH| 
86 
years since: 
jj^H D (no) IIJBJI B 
13 B H1 0-4 
13 H HI 1-5 
12 • H1 26 4 ^ ^ B 2' 5 
1 1-8 
13 H |1 14.4 
13 B| 
13 Wm1 7.3 
13 ifflI 1>3 
^Hl 1.4 
^ ^ B 14.4 
^^m 2.4 
wUm 7.3 
^ H 9.3 11 IIBII 93 
11 llfliI 7'6 
13 \Mm1 ° 5 
11 •1 36° ^ ^ • 3 6 . 
^^m 7.
0
6 
^ ^ B 3.0 
13 §§§§§ 
13 ! •I 0.4 
I 7.8 
12 |iB|1 7-3 ^ ^ B 8.4 
12 fl|1 164 
9 i l l l1 2'7 
12 WBm1 1i1 
I 11-4 
13 I H 
13 aH 
m 4.o 
j ^H 1.5 
^ ^ B 1 4 - 3 
^ ^ B 3-3 
^ H S.6 
^ H 5.4 
^ ^ f l 18.0 
^ ^ B 3.0 
% achieved 
operational 
55.63
RonoCOMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
• 7.1 years since some or all objectives were realized and 
• 9.9 years since the first person enrolled as a member. This is a long 
time for the community to have build into its social structure the 
capacity to plan and execute community projects. 
Project objectives and project effectiveness achieved 
The chairpersons and leaders were asked to state the project objectives 
and the number of the objectives that had been achieved at the time of 
the study. The percentage of objectives achieved was then calculated. 
The results obtained and presented in Table I indicate that percentage 
of objectives achieved ranges from 0 to 95 per cent with an average of 
53 per cent of achieved project objectives. 
Operational effectiveness is taken to mean current production level 
as a percentage of the planned production capacity of the project. This 
measure is computed by multiplying current production as a proportion 
of planned production level by a hundred. Projects which had achieved 
their projected operational effectiveness were performing better than 
those that had not. The operational effectiveness of all the 24 projects 
was found to be 57 per cent on average, but when all 25 projects were 
taken into account, the average effectiveness comes down to 56 per 
cent. 
People's actual involvement and participation in projects 
Individual respondents were asked the degree of their participation in 
ten stages of the project in which they were member by choosing one of 
the replies: "very much", "much", "moderate", "little" or "never". The 
stages and responses are shown in Table II. This table shows only the 
percentage distribution of respondents according to their reported actual 
levels of involvement and participation. Although it appears that their 
involvement and participation was none to moderate, slightly more than 
half reported they had contributed "much" to "very much" to their 
projects in the following situations: 
• involved in and/or participated during project conception: 54% 
• involved in and/or participated in determining the project type: 57% 
• involved in and/or participated in planning/designing: 56% 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 87
Table II: Percentage distribution of respondents according to 
actual level of involvement and participation in the project 
Very much~HHff Moderate 
In the conception? 38.4 
In determining the type? 37.4 
In planning (designing)? 34.8 
In selling the idea to other members 
of the community? 32.8 
In securing logistics 
and materials? 26.9 
In the actual implementation 
(construction)? 30.5 
In operating (running, taking 
part in)? 34.4 
In the maintenance (repairing)?25.2 
In the evaluation and appraisal?26.2 
In the modification? 25.9 
AVERAGE PER CENT 31.25 
• involved in or participated in selling the idea to other members: 56% 
• operating or running the project: 51 % 
The average percentage of respondents who reported that their 
involvement and participation was "much" to "very much" in all the 
phases of the community projects in which they were expected to 
participate was only 50. 
These results show that low or average project productivity in Nandi 
community in the areas where this study was conducted are due to lowto-
average involvement and participation in project conception, 
implementation and operation. Policymakers may need to ensure that 
people in this community are not only involved in the development 
process but they are encouraged to alter their current work ethic which 
inhibits their development. Community development agents need to 
channel their proposals through project leaders; the lower administrative 
organs such as the divisional, locational and sub-locational development 
JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 88
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
committees, who often interact with the local people. The local 
communities need to know that their current level of project productivity 
is only half of their expectations because of the prevailing work ethic 
and participation level and corrective measures have to be designed 
and adopted for improved production and people's welfare. 
Actual involvement and participation index 
The involvement and participation index of respondents was computed 
by assigning a value to the respondent's answers to the ten questions 
presented to them concerning their level of involvement and their 
participation in all the stages of the projects. Respondent stating they 
had contributed "very much" were awarded 4 points, "much" were 
awarded 3 points and the remaining responses were awarded points in 
a descending order up to zero. The sum of the points a respondent 
scored was then divided by 10 in order to obtain an average score to 
determine the respondent's level of involvement and participation on a 
5-point Likert scale, as shown in Table III. The highest average score is 
4.00 which represent "very much" involvement. "Much" scores 3.00- 
3.99, "moderate" scores 2.00-2.99, "a little" scores 1.00-1.99 and "none" 
scores 0.00-0.99. An analysis of the results of the frequency and 
Table III: Frequency and percentage distribution of 
respondents according to their actual involvement in the 
project and participation index 
Frequency Involvement 
and 
participation 
score level 
37 0.00-0.99 None 
72 1.00-1.99 Little 
84 2.00-2.99 Moderate 
83 3.00-3.99 Much 
29 4.00 Very much 
TOTAL MEAN SCORE 2.381 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 
Cumulative Per cent 
per cent 
12.1 12.1 
35.7 23.6 
63.3 27.6 
90.5 26.2 
100.0 9.5 
100.0 305
percentage distribution of respondents according to their actual project 
involvement and participation level indicates that 35.3 per cent of the 
respondents said they had "much" to "very much" involvement in their 
projects. The proportion of community members who considered their 
involvement was "moderate" was 27.6 per cent and those who perceived 
their involvement to have been "none" to "a little" was 47.8 per cent. 
This latter proportion is relatively large and it varies slightly from findings 
in Table II in which respondents reported their involvement and 
participation in project conception, implementation and operation to be 
28.49 per cent (for "none" to "a little" categories combined). The mean 
index score is 2.38, suggesting a slightly more than moderate involvement 
and participation in development projects by the local people. 
Given the results described in Table III, a slightly bigger majority 
(63.3 per cent) of the respondents have none to average involvement 
and participation in rural development projects in Kilibwoni and Kapsabet 
Divisions. The foregoing analysis reveals a community with a weak 
work ethic and a weak participation level and rate in the rural development 
process. This explains the low-to-average project performance that 
prevailed in the district at the time of the study. Policymakers and planners 
must ensure that people are in the first place sensitized about the impact 
of their current work ethic and participation in the development process 
before they expect any rise in their standards of living which appear to 
be directly linked to the projects' low level of productivity. 
Planned and achieved output of the most important commodity 
The output of the most important commodity was considered one of 
the best indicators of the projects* performance. If the projects* 
production levels match the projected output, they are doing better 
than those that have not achieved such output levels. Table IV shows 
that it is only Kipkeibon and Chesuwe primary schools that have 
achieved either 100 or over 100 per cent of the planned annual output 
(that is, the number of pupils completing standard eight exceeded the 
planned number) of the most important commodity, with the Tangaton 
Women's Group being the only project that has achieved a remarkably 
high 75.8 percent of its annual planned output. The remaining projects 
90 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003
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Table IV: Percentage distribution of planned and achieved 
annual output of the most important commodity produced by 
projects 
Name of 
project 
Emdin Pit School 
Kamungei CPK Church 
Kipkeibon Pri. School 
Tuloi Leketio Women's Group Contributions* 
Chepkumia Chief Office 
Burende Women's Group 
Kipsugur Water Project 
Sekemiat Youth Group 
Chepsigot Youth Group 
Kapkerot AIC Church 
Kabaa Cattle Dip 
Kilibwoni Youth Group 
Kaptoroi Cattle Dip 
Musanya Cattle Dip 
Tangaton Women's Group 
Lessos AIC Church 
Chesuwe Pri. School 
Chebil Youth Group 
Full Gospel Church 
Kombe Pri. School 
Kalyet Youth Group 
Ollessos CPK Church 
Testai Builders Youth Group 
Tiryo Cattle Dip 
Lessos Mungaret Group 
KEY: N.A. 
* MONTHLY ROTATING CONTRIBUTIONS FROM MEMBERS TO A MEMBER 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 
Planned Annual 
type of achieved % output Annual 
commodity output achieved output 
120 Pupils 83.3 100 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
15 Pupils 166.7 25 
18,900 44.4 8,400 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n,a. 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
30 Converts 6.0 2 
60,000 Cattle 30.0 18,000 
3,600 Maize (kg) n.a. n.r. 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
19,000 75.8 Cash 14,400 
30 Converts 16.7 5 
20 100.0 Pupils 20 
1,200 10.0 120 Honey (kg) 
30 Converts 60.0 18 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
2000 30.0 600 Cash (p.m.) 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
40.0 Projects 40 100 
28,800 0.0 0.0 Cash 
n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 
55.2 Mean per cent 
: NOT APPLICABLE N.R.: NOT YET'REALIZED 
91
have achieved 60 per cent or less of their planned annual output of their 
most important commodity. Tiryo Cattle Dip has achieved zero per cent 
of its planned annual commodity output. This project was expected to 
have offered dipping services to a total of about 28,800 head of cattle 
per year but did not achieve this because it was closed down due to 
poor management and maintenance. Respondents said, 
our project did not perform poorly as such, but the managing 
committee misused the funds generated from this project and did 
not carry out repairs when they were due. They simply abandoned 
the management of our cattle dip in preference of other 
commitments. The rest of us are poor, uneducated, with very low 
monthly income and so we could not and have not managed to 
date to revive it. 
Respondents to the'Sekemiat (Honey) Youth Group said, "we frequently 
meet but we have a major problem of co-ordination. Our chairman is a 
minibus (matatu) conductor and so does not have time to attend 
meetings during the day." 
Respondents in the Burende Women Group said, "our problem is 
that our members do not attend meetings regularly. They claim to be 
busy in domestic work and other community activities. Another factor 
that is letting us down is the disagreements and divisions among 
ourselves." About six women said, "Frankly, there are contentions over 
leadership positions here and this has really hindered our progress." 
On average, all the 12 productive projects shown in Table IV at the time 
of interview had achieved 55.2 per cent of their projected annual output. 
Community development projects in Nandi District are likely to be 
producing at half their planned productivity levels. This is an indication 
of a poor work ethic, or it is a combination of many factors which include, 
for example work values, norms and a participation level that contributes 
to this type of performance. 
The participation rate in community development projects 
Nearly all projects, whatever their aim, expected a 100 per cent 
participation from its beneficiaries. However, this goal appears to have 
92 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
Table V Respondents distribution by actuaTinvolvement and 
participationrate in rural development projects 
Name of project Expected no. 
of participants 
144 
90 
90 
30 
11 
15 
10 
20 
30 
15 
20 
10 
30 
200 
12 
350 
20 
70 
6000 
29 
25 
120 
60 
100 
110 
Emdin Pri. School 
Kipkeibon Pri. School 
Kombe Pri. School 
Chesuwe Pri. School 
Tuloi Leketio Women Group 
Burende Women Group 
Tangaton Women Group 
Kilibwoni Youth Group 
Sekemiat Youth Group 
Testai Builders Youth Group 
Chepsigot Youth Group 
Kalyet Youth Group 
Chebil Youth Group 
Ollessos CPK Church 
Full Gospel Church 
Kapkerot AIC Church 
Lessos AIC Church 
Kamungei CPK Church 
Chepkumia Chief's Office 
Lessos Mungaret Self-Help 
Kipsugur Water Project 
Kabaa Cattle Dip 
Kaptoroi Cattle Dip 
Musanya Cattle Dip 
Tiryo Cattle Dip 
229 AVERAGE PAfmciPAnoN 
eluded most of them. Table V shows that only eight out of the 25 projects 
achieved this goal. Among these are projects with participation rates of 
over 100 per,cent, such as the Tangaton Women's Group, Chesuwe 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 93 
Actual no. Participation 
rate of participants 
69.4 100 
87.8 79 
133.3 
116.7 
100.0 
33.3 
300.0 
80.0 
66.7 
233.3 
75.0 
250.0 
80.0 
35.0 
120 
35 
11
5 
30 
16 
20 
35 
15 
25 
24 
70 
12 
40
8 
40 
2000 
19 
15 
108 
100.0 
11.4 
40.0 
57.1 
33.3 
65.5 
60.0 
90.0 
66.7 
70.0 
63.6 
40 
70 
70 
74.8 118
Primary, Kombe Primary, Kalyet Youth and Testai Builders Youth Groups. 
Care should be taken however, not to exaggerate these participation 
rates, since we are dealing with a smaller number of participants per 
project and therefore an additional member represents a larger percentage 
than it would be if we were dealing with a large section of the community. 
Tangaton Women's Group expected 10 individuals to participate but 
only 20 additional members boosted their participation rate to 300 per 
cent. In contrast, Chepkumia Chief's Office expected nearly all 6000 
residents to contribute to the construction of the office but only 2000 
had participated by the time of interview. The project thus achieved a 
33.3 per cent participation rate, despite the large number of participants. 
In another project, the Kibochi water project, 300 people were expected 
to participate but the project never took off at all, let alone achieving the 
expected number of participating members. The Tiryo Cattle Dip project, 
which expected 110 people to participate, started with a participation 
rate of 63.6 per cent but the project apparently stalled later. 
An inspection of Table V shows that the actual average participation 
rate is 39.46 per cent when the average actual participants (118) is 
computed as a percentage of the average expected participants (229). 
Comparatively, the mean participation rate of all the projects (namely 
74.8 per cent) is more than two and half of the proper average or actual 
participation rate. This tells us that, although the ratio of new members 
who join current ongoing rural development projects in Nandi community 
appears to be high, the actual participation ratio of all people in the 
development activities is in fact only a third of the population residing 
in the two divisions. 
However, the participation rate seems to rise in projects such as 
schools, women and youth groups that directly benefit community 
members. Projects that benefit the community as a collectivity, that is, 
indirectly, recorded low participation rates. Women record the highest 
participation rate of 127.7 per cent compared with all the project 
categories put together. This category was followed by the youth selfhelp 
groups with 108 per cent, community primary schools, can le dips 
and water projects. The remaining community projects recorded a 
participation level lower than 50 percent, reflecting how the community 
94 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
ranked its felt needs. This finding supports the social exchange theory 
which states that people will participate in an activity to the degree that 
they value the reward of that activity. It is expected that such rates of 
participation will, to a large extent, affect project performance in the 
district. This could also imply a poor work ethic and that the low 
involvement of people in the development process impinges on the 
community's capacity to realize its essential basic needs and the 
improvement of its standard of living. 
The community work ethic and participation in development projects 
To measure their work ethic, respondents were asked 12 comprehensive 
questions probing their commitment to work. These are listed in Table 
VI. These are selected to address the relevant work ethic issues among 
the rural people of Nandi and are indicators of their expectations of a 
hardworking member of the community. Given the nature of their working 
environment and work, most people in this community rise up as early 
as 5.00 a.m. to work. Men, for example, have to wake early during the 
ploughing season to drive the oxen. 
In soliciting information, project participants were given five response 
alternatives: "always", "almost always", "sometimes", "hardly" and 
"never" for each question. Respondents who answered that they 
"always" did all the 12 activities which are directly related to work are 
considered to have a good work ethic, compared with those who 
answered that they "hardly" or "never" do. Table VI shows that the 
work ethic of 76 per cent of all respondents falls between "always" and 
"sometimes". Judging from these findings, we can generally conclude 
that people in Kilibwoni and Kapsabet Divisions have a low-to-moderate 
work ethic. 
The level of the community work ethic 
People's work ethic represents their degree of commitment to work and 
is reflected by the level of individual output or the project's level of 
production where man-labour hours is a major component of the 
production input. Responses to the questions in Table VI were 
constituted into an index and respondents were awarded 4 points if 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 95
Table VI: Percentage distribution of respondents according to their own work ethic 
Almost 
Would you: always 
Work on Sundays and public 
holidays? 9.1 
Work in rain and bad weather? 13.6 
Risk all your assets by 
investing them in your work? 0.1 
Help your neighbours' work 
even with no payment? 14.9 
Follow the assistance given 
by officials, even under 
difficulties? 19.9 
Adopt all innovations 
suggested by other people? 9.2 
Insist on completing work you 
have started even under 
difficulties? 41.1 
Undertake any type of work 
that comes your way? 22.5 
Encourage your children and 
relatives to take any jobs that 
come their way? 36.9 
Consider working too hard 
to be harmless to your health? 42.2 
Participate in a project that 
is not related to your 
occupation? 26.4 
Accept a job that requires 
waking up at 5:00 a.m. 
every day? 38.7 
AVERAGE PER CENT 24.55 
they said they "always" do one of the 12 activities related to work and 
3, 2, 1 and 0 for "almost always", "sometimes", "hardly" and "never" 
96 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 
Always Sometimes 
4.9 17.1 
7.4 22.7 
40.4 16.6 
17.7 42.9 
13.4 41.3 
67.7 8.3 
356 19.6 
22.2 40.7 
24.3 31.7 
22.7 17.7 
25.8 29.5 
17.7 30.8 
18.05 33.51 
Never Hardly 
ever 
33.5 35.3 
29.6 26.5 
14.1 8.8 
10.2 14.3 
5.3 20.2 
5.8 8.9 
1.2 2.5 
6.2 8.3 
4.0 3.1 
10.9 6.5 
9.9 8.4 
3.7 9.1 
10.76
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
respectively. The highest possible score is 48 and the lowest is 0 for the 
answers to question presented in Table VI. To determine the level of an 
individual's work ethic and therefore test hypothesis one. the total 
score is divided by 12, the number of questions that were pul to the 
respondent. The resulting average score is the individual's work ethic 
index. These scores range between 0 to 4 and are categorized into five 
work ethic levels corresponding to the five response alternatives: 0.00- 
0.99,1.00-1.99,2.00-2.99,3.00-3.99 and4.00, as shown in Table VII, 
which presents the frequency and percentage distribution of 
respondents, according to their level of work ethic index. 
The table shows that there was no respondent whose work ethic 
index reached 4.00 and only 12.4 per cent of the respondents attained 
between 3.00-3.99 points which represent a strong work ethic. More 
than half (65.5 per cent) had an average index of 2.00-2.99. which 
represents an average work ethic and 22.1 per cent had a weak-to-veryweak 
work ethic. The distribution of the work ethic score, as described 
above, implies that the work ethic among the Nandi community is average 
or less than average. This could be the main explanation of the poor 
performance of community projects' in the area. This poor project 
performance is a result of a low labour input, not only to communal 
projects, but also to a person's own work. 
Table VII Frequency and percentage distribution of 
respondents according to their level of work ethic index 
Work ethic Work ethic Frequency Cumulative 
level score/index % % 
0.0 
10.8 
76.4 
98.4 
100.0 
0 
33 
200 
67
5 
4.00 
3.00-3.99 
2.00-2.99 
1.00-1.99 
0.00-0.99 
0.0 
10.8 
65.6 
22.0 
1.6 
Very strong 
Strong 
Average 
Weak 
Very weak 
TOTAL 305 100.0 
MEAN SCORE 2.86 
VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 97
Recommendations 
Policy implications 
Capacity and institution building in rural development is economically 
and socially desirable and imperative for the eventual industrialization 
of Kenya. It is becoming clear, however, with the frequent aid cuts and 
suspension of grants, that for any meaningful development to occur, 
Kenyans themselves and particularly the rural people, must exert more 
effort towards achieving higher production levels through developing 
skills and mobilizing and utilizing rural resources to set up a modern, 
appropriate, infrastructural base. 
Training and capacity building programmes are needed in which 
facilitators who are identified and trained by the Department of Social 
Services can interact with and exchange ideas with local communities 
and, at the same time, instil new ideas. The training should broad and 
touch on all areas relating to development, not narrowly on project 
identification and implementation. Once rural communities have been 
sensitized and encouraged to take the initiative in this direction, external 
support could be sought for more capacity building. The low-to-average 
project productivity in rural Nandi community is due to the people's 
work ethic which is only average and their low-to-average involvement 
and participation in project conception, implementation and operation. 
Policymakers and planners need to ensure that people in this community 
are not only involved in the development process, but are also 
encouraged by development committees at divisional and locational 
level (community-based development agencies) to alter their current 
work ethic which inhibits their development. 
Some rural development projects in Nandi District have stalled 
because of poor co-ordination, poor management, a diminishing 
teamwork spirit and a decline in commitment to community projects and 
activities. If the declining rural economy is to be revived, all officials at 
all levels must begin by informing the rural population of what is 
happening and by guiding them towards full participation in projects 
meant for their own welfare. Such policies may be diffused successful by 
the managers of development (namely, the district development 
committee, the division development committee, the location 
98 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA VOL 18 NO 2 JULY 2003
Rono/COMMUNITY WORK ETHIC IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT 
development committee and the sub-location development committee) 
and through the Maendeleo Ya Wanawake and youth organizations at 
location and sub-location community level leadership. This should go 
beyond the rural household to grassroots levels, schools and tertiary 
institutions of learning. In order to guarantee sustainability of this spirit 
and motivate the rural people, policymakers and planners now need to 
devise ways of invoking more participation and ensuring that that 
participation is sustained and continues to rise. 
Acknowledgements 
We are grateful to Egerton University for the initial financing and the 
German Academic Exchange Programme (DAAD), Nairobi Regional 
Office for Africa, for the research grant that made it possible for us to 
carry out the research. Our gratitude also extends to James Kimutai, 
Joel Barno, Martin Kiprono Kilel, Abraham K. Rotich, Bellah Cheruiyot 
Chepekulei and Mark Busienei and the people of Kilibwoni and 
Kapsabet Divisions for their assistance and co-operation in the 
fieldwork and to the Office of the Resident of the Republic of Kenya for 
permission to conduct the research. 
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