COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT BENEFICIARY TARGETING MECHANISM AND IMPROVED ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICES IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study focused on Beneficiary Targeting Mechanism and Improved Access to social and natural resource Infrastructure Services in Anambra State, Nigeria. The objective of the study was to determine the extent beneficiary targeting mechanism contributed to improved access to social and natural resource infrastructure services in Anambra State.  The study was anchored mainly on Service Quality Theory - Gap Analysis. A mixed method of quantitative and qualitative survey methods were used to collect data.  For quantitative data collection, structured questionnaire were administered on 396 out of 400 simple randomly sampled respondents while for qualitative data collection, 10 purposively sampled key technical facilitators of CSDP were reached with structured in-depth interview guide and 3 focused group discussions sessions with beneficiary communities/vulnerable group was held. Independent variable was Beneficiary Targeting Mechanism, the intervening variable was CSDP delivery and the dependent variable was Improved Access to Social and Natural Resources Infrastructure Services.  Data was analysed using frequency and percentages and ordinal logistic regression. The null hypothesis was tested at 5% level of significance. The findings revealed that for H0: p < 0.001, which shows that there was a positive and significant contribution of beneficiary targeting mechanism to CSDP delivery effect on improved access to social and natural resource infrastructure services in Anambra State. The implication is that the intended beneficiaries were effectively targeted. Key recommendation is that the beneficiary targeting tool (State poverty Map) should be consolidated and periodically revised to reflect the current demographic dynamics of the Communities and Local Government Areas in the state.