STRATEGIES THAT PROMOTE SUSTAINABILITY OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN SOUTHEAST NIGERIA

Project sustainability is a concern for community development practitioners. An aspect of communi-ty development is sustainability which implies that benefits derived from executed projects are main-tained and continue as long as the project exists. The strong commitment of the local people, lead-ership and other local resources are needed to re-suscitate executed projects in the community. This study explores strategies for promoting the sustain -ability of community development projects in South-east Nigeria. The study adopted cluster and purposive sam-pling techniques. A total of eight communities from four Local Government Areas (LGAs) from two states in Southeast Nigeria were sampled for the study. The Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs) served as data collection instruments. The study sample size comprised 88 participants. The information produced for the re-search was analyzed thematically. Findings showed that while the numerous com-munity development projects in the study areas can account for some developmental interest, they also created opportunities for neglect. To promote the sustainability of community development projects, a holistic approach is crucial and interventions must be indigenous and people-oriented. Also, social workers need to create dialogue forums with com-munity members to help attain the goal of project sustainability.