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Original Article | Open Access | Br. J. Arts Humanit. 6(3), 100-133 | doi: 10.34104/bjah.02401000133

Project Management Practices Effect on Self-help Groups Project Performance, Hargeisa Somaliland

Phillemon Ly Tubei* Mail Img

Abstract

Most of the women found in urban-rural informal settlements of Hargeisa District are engaged in self-help group projects since most of them dont qualify to access credit facilities from commercial banks and microfinance institutions. The main problem with development projects is they are managed poorly which affects their implementation effectiveness and efficiency. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of project risk management; monitoring and evaluation, stakeholder involvement, and effective project planning on the performance of SHG projects in the Hargeisa district. These are projects implemented by the NAFIS through its member organizations in particular SOWRAG. The study will solicit data from the NAFIS staff working with SHG groups in particular the MEAL and Project officers, SHG leadership, and members. A mixed method comprising quantitative and qualitative techniques was employed in the collection and analysis of data so that they allow the achievement of different objectives including offsetting the constraints that each technique has. This method was suitable for this study because first, it addresses the need to study women in complex socio-economic and political phenomena landscape. Therefore, this implies that most of the respondents were in agreement with the statements that project planning practices influence SHG Project performance in Hargeisa district, Somaliland. Average scores on the performance of the SHG project for the last 9-10 years in Hargeisa District, Somaliland show a mean score of 3.881 and a standard deviation of 0.775. This implied that the majority of respondents were in agreement with the statements that the project performance of the SHG project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland was successful. From research findings, it was concluded that the performance of the SHG Project in the Hargeisa district was influenced by monitoring and evaluation, risk management, stakeholders involvement, and project planning practices.

INTRODUCTION

For projects to perform effectively, competitively and dynamically, they are called upon to adjust themselves to the changes that are taking place socially, econo-mically, and politically in the community. Projects are used as interventions that are developed to give solutions to socio-political and economic problems in the community. Effective project management contri-butes a lot to the organizations competitive advantage strategy. Organizations that have entrenched effective project management practices in their projects have been able to have an upper hand in the market and industry respectively. This is an important competency for association between project outcomes and goals (PMI, 2008). Project outcomes and goal realization are dependent on management practices adopted. Effec-tive outcomes of the project rely a lot on the achievement of project goals that are clearly outlined in the project plan. Project goal achievement is not possible without meaningful employment of manage-ment tools and practices. Project management is a capability strategy that leads to a strong connection between the outcomes and goals of the project (PMI, 2015). 

Project goals are set at the conception of a project which in a meaningful way should be derived from participatory needs assessment that involves project planners or the intervening agency and the benefi-ciaries in the community. Projects whose planning is not based on comprehensive situational analysis are deemed to fail. This is because the project will lack compatibility with the local situation which is a characteristic of many failed projects. Effective man-agement of project implementing agencies translates into the effective management of the projects under their thematic areas. Many project implementation agencies dont take into consideration serious and committed project management. Kerzner, (2013) states that in organizations that are involved in development projects, the control of their inputs in any activity is under effective management of the project. Project inputs need proper planning that will ensure that the right resources are being put into the projects and also at the right time in the right amount and quality. That is, in a given activity there should be high project performance but at a shorter time and lower cost which has to show a strong relationship with benefi-ciaries and clients of the project. In the eyes of project stakeholders in particular the project beneficiaries, the project is seen to have achieved its goals and objectives when management practices are appro-priately applied and their needs and expectations are met. Effective project management consists of carrying out regular responsibilities that incorporate range of tasks such as control, making plans, imple-mentation tracking and deviation correction and closure. When it comes to controlling, this is where variances between expected and actual activities are detected and corrected. In case there are deviations, correction is done on time to make sure that the actual and expected are the same or reduce the deviations to a minimal level. According to Atkinson et al. (2007) execution of tasks includes the exercises that should be finished in the limitations, threat, time and scope, budget, firm sources, and beneficiarys satisfaction. Proper project management reduces the limitations within which the project is likely to encounter. Threats are risks to the project and if left unabated they interfere with the achievement of the project because their occurrence and their impacts influence the project negatively. Proper application of project man-agement practices will ensure that the project activities and hence the entire project is delivered and therefore, completed within the time frame allocated. At any time, there are time overruns then the project is likely to incur more cost because of extended time. Also, proper project management enables the project team to confine itself to the scope and avoid time wasting on tasks that are not critical to the project scope.

Development NGOs are steadily setting more assets in projects which include the development of the latest products, enhancing strategies, and structuring of services. Latest and new products tend to give an organization a comparative advantage over its compe-titors. Structuring services gives a new impetus to the project which clients, consumers, and beneficiaries are introduced to new products and services. Nevertheless, according to Sausers et al. (2009) projects battle to fulfill the costs and time constraints or fail to satisfy the beneficiaries needs and desires. This can be reversed when the project team carries out all man-agement practices in a more appropriate manner. Incorporation of making plans, risk assessment, tracking, and engaging stakeholders within the tiers of management of projects is the critical management of project constructs. As projects grow to become complex and larger, tasks monitoring and assessment have regularly become key capabilities. A growing organization calls on a more appropriate application of project management practices. Project monitoring and assessment entails assessing and detailing develop-ment concerning project goals. This practice makes sure that what was exactly planned in the plan is being executed with no or fewer deviations. For the project stakeholders to realize the prevailing project circums-tances they need to be part and parcel of the imple-mentation of the project. When stakeholders are effectively involved in the project from the initial stage to the final stage they are motivated to contribute their skills, qualifications and experience for the betterment of the project. Also, stakeholders partici-pation ensures project sustainability because of their ownership of the project. The monitoring and asses-ment cycle of the project incorporates the aspect of planning, implementation of the plan, assessing and recording the findings, documenting results variations and correcting variations discovered (Shrenash et al., 2013). This involves coming up with a monitoring and evaluation plan or framework that will guide the whole process during project implementation. During monitoring, assessment and recording of the findings, documenting results variations and correcting the variations are done. This helps the project team in making corrections or changes to the project during its life cycle. On the other hand, evaluation of the project can come in two phases namely; formative evaluation and summative evaluation. They are meant to check whether the project was effectively and efficiently implemented and their recommendations are important to the next project phase and future projects and not the current one. Long-period projects like two to five years may attract both formative and summative evaluations but short-term projects with less than one year will require only a summative evaluation that comes at the end of the project implementation period. Long-period projects can be divided into phases; hence at every end of a phase formative evaluation would be carried out whose recommendations would inform the next phase.

There is a need for more consideration given to this practice of management that will bring about more good results. Therefore, the project implementation team can detect any likely risks that may hinder the project from being implemented effectively since it offers the solution of rectifying and correcting any deviations early enough before they cause a drastic and detrimental impact on the project (Horner, 2006). Once deviations are noticed and mitigation measures taken this becomes a strong project management practice that puts the project implementation activities back on track. Therefore, proper execution of moni-toring and evaluation of the SHG project in Hargeisa, Somaliland is responsible for tracking project progress towards the accomplishment of the set goals. These goals are within the constraints of time, scope and cost by identifying limitations and deviations, assessing them on time and suggesting remedial measures that will guarantee successful project performance. Through project monitoring and assessment mitigation measures can be taken against any potential risks to the project. It is upon the monitoring and evaluation findings that correction measures of project imple-mentation processes, project strengthening, and project quality are achieved. Thus monitoring and evaluation are meant to compare the expected and the actual aspects of the project. Hence, it goes beyond moni-toring what is happening and recording the differences but brings in control measures that reduce the gap between the expected and the actual. Therefore, in case of any deviations monitoring and evaluation put it back on track (Kerzner, 2011). Detecting errors early enough gives the project team ample time to correct them and get the project on track. Any corrective decision made based on data collected from the moni-toring process becomes justifiable for the change that will be made on the project. Monitoring asses ongoing project activities and corrections on the ongoing project are made that will benefit it. There is only one evaluation carried out on the project at the end of it. In other cases, if the project is a long-term one for example a five-project then the project can be divided into phases for this case five phases each will take one year. In such a case would have both formative and summative evaluations? 

Formative evaluation is done at the end of each phase. Its findings and recommendations are used in the next phase and not the current phase under evaluation. Its recommendations are used to improve the next phase. An organization that has an interest or stake in the project at different stages from initiation to closure qualifies to be called a stakeholder in that project. This includes both internal and external stakeholders. Internal stakeholders in the project include the project manager the project team and to some extent, the implementing organizations staff is given the respon-sibility to oversee the project implementation (Nwachkwu, 2011). External stakeholders to the project include; sponsors, donors, government, other organizations, regulators, clients, customers, consu-mers and beneficiaries. Therefore, the achievement of the project depends on the stakeholders since they influence the project at different levels of imple-mentation either positively or negatively. Involvement of stakeholders alludes to becoming a member of the interest of owners, sponsors, and businesses is key to getting their buy-in, sustainability, and the projects effect (Freeman, 2015). When stakeholders are involved from the beginning of the project up to its closure it allows them to own the project. Hence ownership of the project by stakeholders especially beneficiaries is a guarantee for the sustainability of the project which is another indicator of project perfor-mance. Developing countries are synonymous with project failure because of a lack of participatory situational analysis, knowledge and generally poor management. In line with (Collier, 2015; Moyo, 2017) there are numerous problems in opposition to the fulfillment of African projects including bad gover-nance, corruption, and insufficient ability for project management. The project cannot succeed if the man-agement practices are applied or employed wrongly just because of an unknowledgeable, unqualified and inexperienced project management team. The afore-mentioned can be available but also when there is no goodwill because of demotivation aspects then still nothing will come out of the project. Hence as much as the management applies management practices the issue of human resource management is equally important for project performance. Bad project management practices are the 50% cause of projects failures. This is very common with many projects since it is through project management that the project plan can be realized. Project management practices are used to increase the success probability of the project (PWC, 2012). Project success, therefore, calls upon vigilance in the way it is managed throughout its life cycle. Thus, the implementation strategies of the project have to be aligned with the project plan. The project implementation team is not supposed to ignore any management practices at any time during project implementation.

Project Management Practices

For the project to succeed in attaining its objectives, numerous factors collaborate to support the perfor-mance. At any time, they are not properly coordinated and administered at some point during project implementation then this can result in project damage, subsequently the project fails and ends up as a non-acting project (Abdi, 2014). Therefore, collaboration of management practices needs to be carefully employed so that project outcomes and objectives are aligned. According to Omwaka and Wanyoike, (2016) the organization of human resources and other resources to be in line with the management approach is a key component that complies with project man-agement. A long time ago human resources were neglected by organizations and project owners but recently is when there has been a realization that out of all resources in an organization human resources is the most important. Project managers, therefore, ensure that project strategies are executed accordingly for project fulfillment. These roles encompass project designing, making ready, enforcing, tracking, and dealing with communication strategies (Harvey, 2005; Fuentes HC., 2021). Good project designing is enshrined in the project planning stage, then enforcing is executing the project, tracking is monitoring and controlling and flow of communication when well-coordinated they form the foundation of project performance. In projects where the above are main-streamed into the project management process, outputs, outcomes and impact of the project will be aligned with set project objectives. These form project performance indicators.

Effective involvement of stakeholders in the whole project life cycle ensures that their inputs are seen and this is seen in addition to fulfilling the desires and expectations of the customers (Baraudi et al., 2016). Whatever project factoring the clients/beneficiaries needs, desires and expectations is the ultimate goal of project performance. As much as the project team puts more focus on project management practices these should be geared towards satisfying the clients and beneficiaries. In every evaluation, formative or sum-mative evaluators may not base a lot on the man-agement practices per se but on whether the clients and beneficiaries were satisfied or not. The end justifies the means if there were some weaknesses somewhere but end-product users are satisfied then the project is given a clean bill of health. When the right stakeholder identification and analysis are carried out throughout the strategy planning stage of the SHG project in the Hargeisa District then stakeholder participation and engagement are decided. This can result in powerful project stakeholder management to improve the projects overall performance within the period of its existence. 

Involving women individuals at each level of the project keeps them posted on what goes on and therefore results in their awareness about the project and their roles in the project ultimately enhancing their commitment. Time is gone when beneficiaries were thought to be passive participants in the project since currently, their involvement is pertinent. Given their wealth of experience the project team can rely on them for effective and efficient project implementation. Important stakeholders can offer requirements prim-arily based on the facts from wherever they work or worked before. This could assist the project team in understanding project challenges and constraints throughout the project life cycle. As you involve stakeholders and engage them more in the project the greater risks are exposed and reduced in the projects main high performance.

SHG project in the Hargeisa district, Somaliland was initiated and funded by an international NGO. To reduce the misconception that the project was a foreign idea being imposed on the beneficiaries; they were involved in the project design. The situational and contextual understanding of the local environment by stakeholders benefited the project very much. This helped the beneficiaries in partnership with the project implementation agency to implement prioritized inter-ventions in the community. Therefore, stakeholders involvement in project situational analysis makes a strong foundation for its success. For projection co-operation and synergy enhancement, different stake-holders interests are taken on board as salient ingredients in project implementation. Thus stake-holder engagement is necessary for project success. Stakeholders are people or organizations that have a stake in the project. They influence the project at different stages with different impacts. Stakeholder involvement starts at the stakeholder identification stage where the project planning team identifies key stakeholders to the project. After the identification of stakeholders, their impact on the project at various stages is analyzed. This will clearly show at what stage of the project implementation he or she influences the project. A stakeholder register or matrix is, therefore, developed that will guide the project manager to know the stakeholders, their powers and when and where they influence the project. Hence, stakeholders are engaged based on the stakeholder management plan that is a product of planning (Donaldson & Preston, 1995). Effective implementation of the stakeholders management plan is an assurance of commitment of the stakeholders to the project at their respective times, places and stages on the lifecycle of the project.

Successful project performance outcomes are a result of effective planning before implementation and it is significant in project management. Project planning needs to be comprehensive and participatory because buy-ins from different participants is considered. This makes the project plan situational-oriented and formidable. Projects that are comprehensively planned are likely to have their goals achieved during their implementation (Menches et al., 2008). When there is participatory project planning then project sustain-ability is guaranteed because the participants feel they own the project and hence can perpetuate it (Buchholz & Volk, 2012). Ownership of the project is paramount because participants are motivated and can perpetuate the project even after the end of its life cycle or donor cycle because the community feels it belongs to them and sustainability is, therefore, achieved due to com-munity ownership. The involvement of diverse stake-holders in the project planning process enables them to carry out self-evaluation of their needs achievement and hence this is the power for project continuity in the community (Van-Ongevalle et al., 2011). 

Stakeholders especially the beneficiaries can identify their needs and rank them in terms of priorities since all needs cannot be met at the same time because of resource constraints. The breadth of project partici-pation is directly proportional to high project sustain-ability ratings (Jun & Conroy, 2014). Participation reduces apathy and misconception that the project is an external idea to solve community problems. Setting a clear project objective is the starting point of planning practices because this motivates the stake-holders desire to achieve the projects goal. When the project team for instance is part and parcel of the whole project planning process they can understand what is to be done and what is not to be done. This also helps them to grasp what is expected of them hence they dont waste time and resources or even wait to be directed on what to do by the project manager. This is because they already know what to do and how to do it. Setting clear project goals is an important project component that once executed appropriately enhances project continuity (Mallinson & Swery, 2011). The proper planning process brings about a plan that rallies the project team mainly women members of the SHG project in the Hargeisa District around a single project vision as a way to strengthen responsibilities. A good project plan is an indicator, sign or compass that guides the project implementing team and the project manager who are like sailors and their captains in the sea respectively. Also, it guides them on the direction which is the vision target or product of the project. Hence this guarantees successful project implementation. This is possible because everybody is reading from the same page in terms of project priorities which are very clear and what is expected of them is equally tacit; hence each participant is aware of what is expected of him or her. When the project team and the project manager are moving on the same wavelength it becomes easier for project coordination during implementation that to some large extent enables the team to know what to do.

When the project planning team gets everything right then the project will be clear in terms of objectives, goals, scope and others which are strong pillars of the project. With skilled and experienced project planners a reliable blueprint will be generated that will be a compass for the project team and the project manager during implementation of the project (Sandoe et al., 2011). This is because work breakdown, for example, is appropriately woven into manageable tasks then time is allocated to each task appropriately which will ensure the completion of each task on time scheduled. Risk management according to Smith and Jagger, (2010) is a process that involves identification, analysis and responding to risks on time to avert any loss that is likely to occur due to their happening. Recognizing risk consists of the identification of risks through brainstorming, markets benchmarking, and situational evaluation in addition to workshops on the evaluation of risks that could affect a projects overall performance. Risk identification is half risk solved because this makes it clear what is likely to stand in the way of project implementation hence this will compel the project team to think of what to do. Risk quantification consists of risk assessment in addition to how diverse risks are likely to be related; on the other hand, risk response design contains proactive steps taken towards threats of the risks. Preventing, mitigating or accepting measures are key components of response design. The risk management plan is an early plan on how if the risks identified occur will be dealt with. Effective outline and management of risks is the responsibility of project managers. Project risk management will make sure that the SHG project in Hargeisa District runs smoothly so that one step proceeds to the next without disruption. Consequently, identifying, averting, and dealing with potential risks earlier will make sure that SHG project participants can respond effectively to challenges when they emerge and when they require intervention. Therefore, a risk management plan provides a proactive frame-work to identify and analyze risks. Thus, the project team will not be unaware of these challenges since they are already known and measures to counter them are put in place ahead of time.

Through project risk management any risky events that are certainly to occur are easily mitigated because risk management measures are already put in place for any eventuality. This is a proactive measure that is already determined and solutions put in place. Once this is appropriately put in place no amount of uncer-tainties will impact negatively the projects perfor-mance. This is because risk occurrence and their respective impact can be reduced hence allowing the project to proceed uninterrupted. A formidable structured risk management framework in the project will ensure proper risk identification, analysis and management that consequently performance targets achieved. Projects that lack risk management plans in place are threatened with project underperformance or failure (Abdirahman & Shaban, 2021). Without a risk management plan in place cost and time overruns are likely to characterize project implementation leading to project failure. Risk identification, analysis and planning are very important in project implementation and hence success. It is the risk management plan that is implemented through risk management. In risk identification potential risks to the project are listed (Belout, 2008). Then in risk analysis, their probability of occurrence is established in this case low, medium or high. Then when they occurs their impact on the project is equally categorized as low, medium or high. Based on the above a risk mitigation plan is developed which shows how the risks will be managed in case they occur. Monitoring of potential risks is under an appointed person in the project who is equipped with what to do in c case it occurs at the same time mecha-nism to reduce the chances of that risk occurring. When it comes to identifying and definition of challenges and reasons during project implementation and coming up with feasible and formidable solution monitoring and evaluation plays a vital role (UNDP, 2009). A systematic collection of information on the SHG project in the Hargeisa District can contribute to the availability of proof for the mid-time period and the completion of outcomes evaluation in addition to the beneficiary (SHG women members) stage impact evaluation. M&E will also enhance learning and inspire the innovation of SHG project members in Hargeisa District to gain higher outcomes and make contributions to the scaling up of the SHG project. 

Project Performance

Maximization of profitability, lessening of the effect of competition and uncertain happenings on the goals of the project and therefore, taking advantage of opportunities from activities that are volatile is ensured by effective project performance (Shrenash, 2013). Each project is intended to satisfy the custo-mers or meet the expectations of the beneficiaries. The success of the project is manifested in the products and services accruing from it which are the verifiable indicators of project achievement in terms of quality, cost and time inputs. The acceptance of the project products is an indicator that the project has succeeded in what it was meant to achieve in terms of objectives. Project quality performance effectiveness and conformity are achieved when quality requirements are certain and explicit in the design and contract documentation. When the expected and actual project activities or tasks are the same then there are no deviations hence there is success in its implementation since there is conformity of actual to the expected. Project performance is realized when the project meets its set goals and objectives that incorporate quality cost planning, time management, security and meeting consumer expectations, requirements and needs (Harvey, 2006). Quality cost planning factors in all the needs assessment aspects that incorporate what the project is and for what purpose in terms of the set objectives and goals. Time management will highlight project schedule that will clearly express the overall time for the project completion but also specific work breakdown structures for specific manageable work components with their time allocated. Thus when tasks are completed on time as scheduled then the likelihood of the whole project being accomplished on time is assured. When there are no time overruns then the extension is not called for hence no extra cost will be incurred.

Project success is determined by its performance (Anthill, 2014). This is where the end justifies the means when a project is successful there is a tendency to overlook any default that might have manifested itself somewhere on the project during implement-tation. By accomplishing a set of targets, it is an indication that the project is beneficial and therefore, beneficial projects to clients and beneficiaries are always sustainable. The sustainability of the project beyond its end is a sign of a successful project. Donors nowadays emphasize the aspect of project sustain-ability as an indicator of a successful project. Corporations all over the world have decried project performance failures that lead to waste and loss of resources in particular finances (Chandra, 2012). Project failure is synonymous with poorly planned and implemented projects. This is a s a result of inappro-priate combinations of project management practices. An effective combination of project management practices has been able to enable many projects to succeed in the eyes of all project stakeholders. As also observed by the Bass, (2016) project performance measurement takes into consideration cost plan, safety, time and beneficiary satisfaction. The set standards of project performance must be clear and ones that can be attained and specifically located by prioritizing them. Clarity in the project components extends to the project teams understanding of what is expected of it during project implementation. Ensuring responsibility is the reason for everybodys engagement which brings about project performance estimation as the effective foundation of project management. When every stake-holder understands his or her responsibility it compels them to commit themselves to the project because it is clear what one is supposed to do. Hence in case of success or failure, one can specifically point out who was responsible for what. It has to be noted that sometimes incredible standards are likely to result in some disappointment when measures are not attained. This is likely to create demotivation and dissatis-faction among the stakeholders.

According to KPMGs, (2013) findings, about 25% of projects are falling behind schedule because of poor plans as well as complex techniques usage which may not be in the understanding or knowledge of the users. Thus everything could be in good and proper shape as far as the project is concerned but the technology employed could spell doom because if the technology is not familiar to the project team then despite their qualification, knowledge and experience the project would still be delayed since either they are taking time to learn the technique or there are many reworks which consume a lot of time. Delays in road construc-tion are brought about by workers who are not qualified and also construction facilities that may be inadequate or poor generally. 

As far as this study is concerned, the project meeting targets, finishing the project on time and within the prescribed budget and meeting the stakeholders expectations, needs and desires, shows that the project has achieved its objectives in terms of the outcomes. Therefore, it calls upon all stakeholders at whatever level or stage on the project life cycle to be committed and observant of what constitutes the project for success to be attained.

Problem Statement

Projects implemented by non-governmental organizations in the community are meant to confront socio-economic and political challenges facing the poor section of the community. Thus community develop-ment projects are a valid and reliable solution to the socioeconomic and political problems facing the communities. Most of them are funded either locally or internationally; hence their failure because of poor management and bad performance takes back the efforts being made to bring about sustainable change in the community (WB, 2020). Both external and internal donors commit their financial resources to interventions whose outcomes are predictable and certain. This can only be assured through effective project management. The major problem with both humanitarian and development programs is that they are managed poorly which affects their effectiveness and efficiency. 

When project management practices are left in the hands of unmotivated, unskilled, unqualified and inexperienced people the likely result is failure. This incapacity and inadequacy in the project team becomes a challenge to them to handle enormous socio-economic challenges and in the long run, they are not sustainable since there is no justification for their continuity. Also, there are delays in project completion, overruns in budget uptake, low and poor involvement of project stakeholders, and a lack of risk management mechanisms and monitoring and evalua-tion systems contribute to poor project performance (Antill, 2014). Project completion delay because poor planning and time scheduling brings about the exten-sion of the project time which comes with extra cost. Overruns in the project budget uptake call for more financial resources to be plowed into the project. When project stakeholders are not engaged in the project in a meaningful way then their commitment is not guaranteed to the project. A project without a risk management plan is likely to fail. There is low application of project management practices because there is a lack of adequate capacity and abilities for the project management teams to deal with complex projects. Most of the project teams in developing countries lack the appropriate capacity to run projects. This is because most of the organizations staff and project team have not undertaken any training in management practices or to some extent they are not motivated to do their work. Somaliland has experi-enced an increased number of projects meant to empower the youth and women which when well managed are likely to bring about sustainable develop-ment in the country by actively involving women and the youth in the development agenda. Despite these enormous projects, the situation of women socially, economically and politically has recorded minimal change. They have taken the place of bilateral and multilateral projects because Somaliland is not yet identified as an independent country by the global community (USAID, 2018). In addition, NGOs, CSOs, FBOs and CBOs have been identified by donors as an alternative to the perennial corrupt governments. Despite this, because of poor project implementation, a lot is yet to be realized as a comparison to the government because of the lack of appropriate appli-cation of management practices. 

According to (Patunola Ajayi, 2013; Nwachukwu and Emoh, 2013) consciousness of effective project man-agement practices in developing countries remains insufficient. Third-world countries have low con-sciousness about the use of effective project man-agement practices. This leads to low performance of projects. This, therefore, is the reason why projects arent finished within the scheduled time, within the budget estimated and with the use of specified materials. Therefore, it is only with increased implementation and application of project manage-ment practices that many development projects may be capable of delivering outcomes and being sustainable in the long run. In developing countries, it has been noted that well-planned, monitored and evaluated, stakeholders involved, and risk-managed projects perform successfully. This is because the requirements and expectations of the clients, consumers and beneficiaries are met. As mentioned by Gregg and Ana (2016), economic empowerment projects continue to be critical in bringing change to the welfare of marginalized women in society. Economic empower-ment is what is lacking in the community because it is the most critical aspect of life. Once one acquires economic empowerment one can be able to automa-tically attain social and political empowerment. For instance, data from the NAFIS 2018 annual report had registered 23,106 members across 1160 SHGs with members having established 18,656 small businesses across the Maroodi Jee and Togdheer regions (NAFIS, 2018). Despite this, there was a high level of borro-wing and a low repayment rate that is likely to militate against the success of the SHG project. The first five-year period of the project in Somaliland revealed a big weakness in the project management. It is this report that informed the next 5-year project phase (2018-2023) which is the period that his study is focused on. As cited by Rotich, (2014) lack of right planning and low stakeholder project involvement during the entire project existence from initiation to closure is a major contributing element to the downfall of most develop-ment programs. 

Planning is what produces the master road map that will guide the project team during the implementation of the project. Without a comprehensive project plan, the project team lacks the standard to compare the actual and expected performance. Therefore, owner-ship of the project is embedded in stakeholders engagement. Their meaningful participation in the project will ensure the project being implemented successfully. SHG project in Hargeisa District has not succeeded in improving members welfare. After ten years of its existence, there is minimal to show for its impact. SHG project initiatives have been in operation since 2013 and have attracted external funding in addition to members subscriptions. As much as some of them are engaged in small-scale businesses because of being members of SHGs, there is no such member economic, political and social empowerment realized because of poor or inadequate planning, risk manage-ment, monitoring and evaluation, and stakeholder involvement. Poor or failure in effective planning has become fashionable with many projects thus bringing about risks and uncertainties, unpredictable behavior, unending constraints and resource conflicts (Ik.a & Thuillier, 2014). 

SHG members access less finance in terms of loans which do not translate into their socio-economic empowerment. Well, one would say they are doing at least something unlike before, but this is not enough to bring meaningful change in their economic, social and political endeavors. This means that as much as a financial factor to the women is crucial for their groups overall performance but on their very own isnt sufficient to result in socio-economic empowerment for the women there are other underlying factors. Not many studies have been carried out in Somaliland on the SHG project which allows you to have a lot of literature on the SHG approach. This is a new project in Somaliland hence implementing agency and project team as well as beneficiaries are yet to grasp what the potential the project has. 

Notwithstanding that, Gaas, (2019) carried out a study on empowering the poor toward sustainable develop-ment- Self-help Group Approach. The study assessed the SHG approachs influence on the socio-economic aspects of women generally. The study gave a blanket results that indicated that women who are members of the SHG project were engaged in small-scale businesses. This did not look at what could be achieved more if project management practices were properly employed. This study failed to look at the project management practices in relation to the project. However, the current study in detail assessed the influence of planning, risk management, monitoring and evaluation, and stakeholder involvement activities on SHG project performance, a project implemented by the Network against Female Genital Mutilation in Somaliland (NAFIS) through its network member organizations in Hargeisa District. This study focuses on women on women projects due to the fact women since time immemorial they lacked the power to decide for themselves because of high socio-economic and political discrimination placed on them by patriarchal society. 

Therefore, it is through deliberate women projects that they could get empowered and be able to be at the same level or fair stage as their male counterparts. In patriarchal Somali society women have been suppressed for a very long time as some rights such as property ownership, working outside the home, political leadership and participation have been seen to be preserved for men and not women. Therefore, it is through this project that women can be mainstreamed into community as well as national development if project management practices are properly adopted.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of planning, risk management, monitoring and evalua-tion, and stakeholder involvement activities on SHG project performance, a project implemented by the Network against Female Genital Mutilation in Somaliland (NAFIS) through its network member organizations-Somaliland Womens Research Action Group (SOWRAG) in Hargeisa District.

Objectives of the study 

The objectives of the study section present general objectives and specific objectives of the study.

General Objective

To find out how Self-help group project performance implemented by the NAFIS Network through Somali-land Womens Research Action Group (SOWRAG) in Hargeisa district is affected by project management practices.

Specific Objectives

1. Assess monitoring and evaluation activities influence on SHG project performance impleme-nted in Hargeisa district.

2. Assess risk management activities influence on SHG project performance implemented in Hargeisa district.

3. Assess the effect of engagement and involve-ment of stakeholders on SHG project perfor-mance implemented in Hargeisa district.

4. Establish the role played by planning the project on SHG project performance implemented in Hargeisa district.

5. Decide on whether the SHG project succeeded in meeting its goals and objectives in Hargeisa district.

Research Questions

The research questions section presents general questions and specific questions of the study.

Research Questions

1. What are monitoring and evaluation activities that influence SHG project performance imple-mented in Hargeisa district?

2. What is risk management activities influences on SHG project performance implemented in Hargeisa district?

3. What is the role of engagement and involvement of stakeholders in SHG project performance implemented in Hargeisa district?

4. What is the role played by the planning of the project on SHG project performance implement-ted in Hargeisa district?

5. Did the SHG project succeed in meeting its goals and objectives in Hargeisa district?

Significance of the Study

The significance of this research is first and foremost helpful to the NAFIS network member organizations-Somaliland Womens Research and Action Group (SOWRAG) as it will allow its personnel and member organizations to comprehend how to improve the performance of the SHG project in the Hargeisa district and Somaliland as a whole. They will have the ability to embody and streamline effective planning and management in the SHG project a good way to raise project performance sustainability. Project man-agers will have something to learn from in this situation they comprehend factors behind project planning and management which might be necessary for project success as well as its sustainability. They will be able to manage their project successfully by applying the project management practices and avoid failure that could be a result of non-compliance to the application of project management practices.

Women organizations leadership in Somaliland will be sanitized by the findings of this study on key project management abilities and practices to employ to be able to enhance the performance of the project. This research report will become the foundation upon which project management practices application decisions can be made. Future researchers will have a secondary source of information and references before they embark on primary data collection since this study in its recommendations for further research will display the know-how gap that needs to be filled up by the coming researchers when it comes to SHG groups project. This will prevent the recycling of studies on the management of SHG projects in Somaliland and elsewhere. To enhance the knowledge of the subject area the findings of this study might be beneficial because they will form a basis for further and future studies on projects performance. In the context of Somaliland there a little literature on SHG manage-ment practices. Therefore, this fills the knowledge gap in this area. The study may be considered for both public and private sectors because both are likely to appreciate the significant role played by effective and efficient project planning, risk management, moni-toring and evaluation, and stakeholder involvement activities on of SHG projects performance.

Scope of the Study

It is very important for any research to state the extent to which the study covers the geographical area where the study would take place. This can be an organiz-ation, a community or a country. Also, the study has to give the extent to which it will cover subject content. Lastly the researcher has to state the time frame of the events for example studying what has happened or been happening on a one year or five-year project. 

Geographical Scope of the study

The study covered the performance of SHGs in the Hargeisa district implemented by the NAFIS network through its member organizations. The study sought data from NAFIS member organizations-Somaliland Womens Research and Action Group (SOWRAG) staff comprising, project officials, SHG group leaders, and members (beneficiaries) in Hargeisa district, Somaliland.

Content Scope

The study confined itself to the components of man-agement practices such as project planning, risk management, monitoring and evaluation, and stake-holder involvement activities on the SHG projects performance. It also covered the impact of the project management practices on project goal/target success, project completion on a time budget, project burn rate, and customers/beneficiaries expectations/satisfaction met under the umbrella of the performance of the SHG project in Hargeisa district.

Time scope

SHG project was started in Somaliland in March 2013. It was implemented in five-year phases, hence from 2013 to 2023 has completed two phases. This study, therefore, assessed project management practices effect on project performance in the second phase (2019-2023). This is because NAFIS 2018 Annual report for the first phase indicated several weaknesses in the project implementation in particular application of key project management practices.

Study Limitations

The study envisaged numerous limitations to be encountered by the researcher throughout the study. First, a few respondents were not willing to present information that is confidential for fear of victimiz-ation from their managers/bosses. It was incumbent to the researcher to assure the participants in the study about keeping the information they gave confidential and not divulge it to any other unauthorized person. Also, the researcher assured them of anonymity and the fact that the information given would only be used for research purposes. Second, some respondents were not willing to fill out the questionnaires and return them on time. The researcher made the questions simple and also a brief questionnaire that did not look lengthy to the respondents. Additionally, the resear-cher administered the questionnaires personally and was able to retrieve the questionnaires once they were filled. This lessened the low response rate as far as questionnaires to be retrieved were concerned.

Third, when it came to control and management of the attitudes of the respondents the researcher did not have control. However, he created a rapport and familiarize-ation with the respondents to create self-assurance in them and activate their moods while answering questions. The language barrier was another challenge since the researcher is a foreigner not speak Somali language. This was solved by translating the question-naire into Somali language. As much as it was a solution but still when translating word from one language to another some meanings are likely to get lost hence losing track of what the question or statement meant.

Delimitations

This study confined itself to the project management practices specifically risk management, stakeholder involvement, monitoring and evaluation and planning components on how they influence the performance of the SHG project performance in Hargeisa district of Somaliland. Thus this study is not looking at com-munication, quality management or project team motivation in influencing the project performance, they are simply being held constant in this case. It additionally limited itself to the challenges faced by the implementation of the SHG project for the first 10 years since its implementation in Somaliland. Conse-quently, it did not look at the general project planning and management of projects, however, especially the SHG project in the Hargeisa district and not in the whole of Somaliland. Out of NAFIS network member organizations implementing Self-help Group projects, this study confined itself to SOWRAG.

Assumptions of the study

The following assumptions were made by this study:

1. Participants in the study would answer or respond to survey questions truly and factually. This was because the researcher guarantees participants in the survey that their responses would be treated confidentially and their identi-ties kept anonymous to inspire their meaningful participation and willful information given.

2. The participants in the study were heterogamous because when it comes to the NAFIS-SOWRAG personnel they were a combination of male and women in addition to the project officials deployed to member organizations by NAFIS. It was the SHG members that would be homoge-neous because all of them were female.

3. The sample size was to be tailored to be representative of the target population. For this reason, the responses they provided were assu-med to represent what would have been obtained from the entire population if there had been sufficient time and resources to administer questionnaires to all of them.

4. The study would be executed uninterrupted. This was premised on the fact that Somaliland and in particular Hargeisa district is safe in terms of security.

Operational definition of key terms

Project planning

Planning is a way to organize project actions to lead to the achievement of a goal (Comminos, 2002).

Self-Help Group

Collection of 15-20 individuals who come collectively as a way to harness their small resources which will build a pool of resources from which individuals can borrow at a given interest.

Project performance 

Collection of associated activities which might be important to the effective delivery of project results.

Development projects

Initiatives that are meant to bring socio-economic and political change to the people in the community.

Monitoring and Control

System that tracks deviations and makes corrections throughout implementation stage of the project.

Planning

This is the process of identifying what to do, when, where by whom, and to whom in advance.

Risk Management

Is actions taken in identifying, analyzing, coming up with risk mitigation measures, and implementing the risk management plan.

Stakeholder Involvement

Keeping the active support and dedication to the implementation of change through project delivery. 

Independent Variables

Fig. 1: Conceptual Framework. Source: Field (2023).

Conceptual Framework

This is a collection of thoughts on which research is structured. That is, a form of a map or outline. This comprises the opinion of the investigator about the issue or problem being studied. Hence it gives the direction of the inquiry (Kothari, 2012). This can also be a model that was employed in previous studies which the researcher modifies to suit his or her present study.

Recap of Literature Review

The literature review section looked at various studies by different scholars and authors with different methodologies, findings and knowledge gaps. On monitoring and evaluation variables, Wambua, (2019) researched the impact of monitoring and evaluation activities on the County of Makueni education-funded project performance. This study only focused on the impact of one of the management practices on the County of Makuenis education-funded project perfor-mance. On the risk management practices aspect, Aduma and Kimutai, (2018) assessed the risk man-agement strategies impact on National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) projects by Nairobi County Government in Kenya. The study employed a descrip-tive research design. The study found a strong influence of risk management strategies on project performance but the current study focused on the effect of four management practices on the perfor-mance of SHG projects in Hargeisa district in Somaliland, which is more comprehensive because of the multifactor effect approach to project performance.

When it comes to stakeholder involvement in the project, research was carried out in Isiolo North Constituency in Kenya by Adan, (2012). This study tested the stakeholder influence on CDF projects performance. A descriptive research design was used. The current study was in the Hargeisa district in Somaliland, which is more comprehensive because of the multifactor effect approach to project performance because it takes into account four management practices effect on the SHG project. As far as the impact of project planning on project performance is concerned, a research was carried out by Nzioka, (2019). The research focused on the project planning practices impact on Nairobi County Housing Projects in Kenya. It was found that effective project planning practices were key to the success of the project. The study employed a descriptive research design. The study focused on one aspect of management practices with disregard to any evidence on holding other management practices impact to be able to solely identify just but the impact of project planning impact alone on the project performance. 

The current study was in the Hargeisa district in Somaliland, which is more comprehensive because of the multifactor effect approach to project performance because it takes into account four management practices effect on the SHG project. This study was heavily guided by several theories that were found by the researcher to be very relevant in particular; project management theory, stakeholder theory, and tempo-rary organization theory.

METHODOLOGY

This section highlights the research design, study area, target population, sampling techniques, population sample, development of study instruments, validity and reliability test of the instruments, data collection and analysis techniques, and finally ethical con-siderations.

Research Methodology

The methodology of the study is a scientific, conceptual examination of the procedures implement-ted in the area of research (Patton, 2005). In any study, methodology is crucial because the investigator continually attempts to research a particular study query in a systematic way that will enable him or her to come out with answers to all questions (Rubin, 2011). This study used a combined technique, one that collected both quantitative and qualitative facts from the field as the ideal preference. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were employed in this study so that it would allow the achievement of different objectives including offsetting the constraints that every single technique has (Kosow, 2008). Quantita-tive study techniques involve the use of numerical data, numbers, and mathematical operations, while on the other hand; qualitative methods were used to collect extensive descriptive (Delaney, 2002). 

Saleh, (2008) concurs with this presentation of the research choices on account that its also relevant to present and future research because the scope of methods complements each other consequently making the findings round in the capture of both quantitative and qualitative information. In this example, time series analysis, causal evaluation, and trend analysis exemplify quantitative techniques while on the other hand in-depth survey, futures wheel, and environmental scanning can be key in this research in forming qualitative strategies. It is for this reason that the researcher employed mixed approaches in building up a scenario in his study (Bergman, 2008). 

A mixed method study design was suitable for this research because first, it addressed the need to study womens complex socio-monetary and political phenomena to understand their complexities (Caruth, 2013). Second, a mixed-approach research design in particular this collaborative research helped the researcher to deal with questions that require confirm-ation and explanation concurrently. A researcher can construct, make verification, and theorize a mixed-study approach on the premise of analyzing and interpreting facts. Also, a mixed-app-roach research outline enables the investigator to explicate contrasting results coming from the usage of divergent techniques (Fàbregues, 2020). Therefore, the use of data from some methods or converging data from more than one source produces multiple sources to produce extra credible findings that may strengthen the studys deduction and inference. Therefore, out-comes from the qualitative method reinforce the findings from the quantitative technique (Lund, 2012). Therefore, this research to achieve complementarity of data collected used quantitative techniques in data collection by constructing closed-ended questions in the question-naire and then using open-ended questions to collect the opinions of the respondents which is qualitative data. The qualitative data helped in explaining the objective numerical data from closed-ended questions. This will hence make the understanding of the findings clear.

Study Design

The study employed descriptive design, a process or technique used to find facts about a clearly defined system and estimates in systematic and precise descry-ptive numerals (Singleton, 1999). According to Mugenda, (1999), descriptive study is collecting facts to describe a phenomenon. The study will describe project management practices impact on SHG project performance in the Hargeisa district in Somaliland. Nachmias, (1996) outlines research design as the application that guides researchers during observation collection and analysis. Therefore, study design is a rational framework of evidence that the investigator can be able to make causal relationship inferences. Findings from the SHG project in the Hargeisa district will be a surrogate for comparable projects not only found in Somaliland but somewhere else in the world. In this study a case study is chosen that is a Case Study of a Self-help Groups project in Hargeisa District in Somaliland. This is meant to offer a comprehensive conception influence of project man-agement techniques and actions on the performance of the SHG project. Davis, (1983) stated that a case study gives in-depth specified facts about a constrained variety of people or cases. This was, therefore, preferred by the researcher since the study is supposed to answer several questions (Cooper & Schneider, 2011). To minimize biases in the data interpretation the researcher will keep to this design to be able to get a comprehensive situation description.

Study Area

This section entails the geographical boundaries within which the study was carried out hence also the extent of analysis. The researcher created this area at the proposal level to ensure that the data that will be collected is confined to a specific area - Hargeisa District in Somaliland.

Hargeisa District

Hargeisa district is covered by the largest town which is the capital city of Somaliland. It is also the second biggest city in Somalia after the capital Mogadishu. It is inhabited by the urban rich and poor on the outskirts and in the rural part of the district. As estimated in 2019, Hargeisa has a population of 1.2 million people. The urban component occupies approximately 75 square kilometers of the district with a population density of 12,600 people per square kilometer (Encyclopedia Britannica, Mar 21, 2022). 

Target Population

A group of people, organizations, events, and factors under study form the target population (Ngechu, 2015). The groups under investigation can either be homogeneous which is uniform or heterogeneous which is not uniform. A study population is a complete group of entities which could be people, activities or even items that share some common attributes or characteristics (Mugenda & Mugenda, 2008). Bobbie, (1975) defines population as the theoretically precise aggregation of survey elements. Therefore, the target population is the entire unity of study interest. The study will target 515 stakeholders to the SHG project found in 30 self-help groups in Hargeisa District in Somaliland. Every SHG group has between the 15-20 (NAFIS, 2018). This comprises SHG members who are all female, also NAFIS project officers who each are in charge of a set of SHGs. Additionally, NAFIS MEAL team members will be of importance in finding out the impact of risk management, monitoring and control, planning technique and stakeholder engage-ment, and management impact on project goal, goal fulfillment, timely execution of the project and budget, burn-rate, meeting of clients, beneficiarys expecta-tions and satisfaction of SHG project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland.

Table 1: Target Population.

Source: Field (2023).

Sampling Procedures and Techniques

The sampling technique also known as the design shows how cases in the sample will be chosen. The sampling process is getting the representative sample of the population under study systematically so that the elements in the sample are selected without bias and their characteristics represent those of the target population. Hence the responses from the elements in the sample represent what could have been obtained from the entire population in the study (Orodho, 2002). Sometimes when the population is too large a sample can be used, but if the population is too small a census can be employed. The technique of sampling should be based on ones research and has to be supported by a relevant authority who justifies its use. In most cases, two characteristics come out distinc-tively heterogeneous (not uniform) and homogenous (uniform) populations. A stratified random sampling technique was, therefore, employed in this study because the target population was heterogeneous in terms of categories from which participants were sele-cted, that is getting information from project officers, MEAL officers, and SHG members. The stratified sampling method makes sure that those smaller groups that could have been otherwise left out when other methods were used are included in the sample (Mugenda & Mugenda, 1999). The study preferred this technique because the population under study was heterogeneous, thus the sample comprised project officers, MEAL officers, and SHGs members. It is a method seen to minimize bias in the sample selection. 

A sampling unit is a member of the sampling popu-lation. It is from this sampling unit that the researcher will generalize. It becomes important for the res-earcher to select the sample carefully to ensure representativeness. A stratified random sampling technique was, therefore, used because the target population was heterogeneous comprising project officers, MEAL officers, and SHG members. The stratified sampling method ensured that those smaller groups within the larger group that could otherwise have been left out using other techniques were included in the sample (Mugenda & Mugenda, 1999). This technique is important because it minimizes the bias in the selection of the sample.

Sample Population

The sample population is the whole group of people, items, events, or things that the researcher has an interest in and that he or she wishes to subject to an empirical investigation (Sekaran & Bougie, 2009). However, practically it is not possible to study the entire large population due to the resources and time that would be required to study all of them. This, therefore, calls for picking a sample that when studied responses would be assumed to represent what the entire population would have given if there was time and resources to observe, interview or administer questionnaires to all events or items under study. The researcher in this case derived the sample using the Rule of Thumb Formula to obtain the sample size (Grohmann, 2015). The statistical power of evaluation increases with the increase in the sample size. A large enough sample also requires that the sample size to be equal or greater than 30% of the target population. This, therefore, would be the representative of the target population. Therefore, since the target popula-tion is 515, the researcher took 30% of the target population as a sample.

Rule of Thumb

• Equal to or less than 1,000 takes 30% of the target population.

• More than but less than or equal to 10,000 make up 23% of the target population.

• More than 10,000 but less or equal to 100,000 take 10% of the target population.

• More than 100,000 take 1% makes the sample size.

Therefore, in a target population of 515, the sample size was calculated as follows:

n=30%/N=30%/515=154.5=154

The selection of respondents from each of the strata of the target population to make up the sample size of 154 was done by applying a simple random sampling technique within a homogeneous stratum. The proportion of each stratum within the target population was the same proportion used to constitute the sample as shown the Table 2 below. 

Table 2: Sampling Frame.

Source: Field (2023).

Construction of Research Instruments

A questionnaire of 9 sets of questions was developed. The questions were in three categories: Those that sought to capture the general information that would include return rate and any research problems; those that would capture demographic data that would include education level, age, experience, or how long one has been a member of the SHG, etc. and the third category of questions addressed objectives of the study. These are the questions that the solicited information about the impact of monitoring and control, risk management, planning techniques, stakeholders engagement and management of Project goal/target achievement, Project completion on time and budget, Project burn rate (the rate at which the project is spending its predefined budget), and meeting clients/beneficiaries expectations and satisfaction as the key indicators of a performing project. There were questions on whether the SHG project has/is performing or not. Lastly, the questionnaire comprised both open-ended and closed-ended questions. Closed-ended questions were meant to capture quantitative data while open-ended questions were meant to solicit qualitative data from the respondents. Qualitative data supplemented the quantitative data by giving more detailed explanations of what quantitative data comprises (Tubei, 2019). Mixed methods constituting both qualitative and quantitative techniques were therefore used. Clarification of quantitative data was given by qualitative data. Thus, both objective and subjective responses were solicited from respondents in the field. The researcher consulted his supervisor for expert advice on the construction of the ques-tionnaire to establish its validity.

Testing for Instruments Validity and Reliability

Reliability and validity of the research tools are very important for reliable and valid data to be collected. The reduction of random errors in the instrument is an assurance that the data collected by the instrument was valid and reliable on which the decision-making process can be premised. Therefore, this section covers validity and reliability as below.

Validity

Untruth removal when it comes to inferences, propositions and or conclusions approximation is done by validity (Cook & Campell, 1979). When a test can be able to measure what is meant to measure, then it is deemed to be valid. The validity of the questionnaire depends on, reliability. The degree to which the test is confirmed when it comes to measuring exactly what the instrument was meant to determine or measure, then is its validity (Kothari, 2004). The researcher submitted the questionnaire to the supervisor who made her judgment in regards to the questions addressing all areas of the study. After the supervisor confirmed all the questions, this was a 100% Validity Coefficient; therefore, the researcher accepted all the questions in the questionnaire as valid which enabled the study to collect valid data. Therefore, the question-naire approval by the supervisor was enough for the researcher to confidently use it to solicit data from the respondents.

Reliability

A research instrument that can consistently give the same findings when administered to the same population sample at different times when repeated is reliable (Mugenda, 1999; Orodho, 2002). Reliability is all about the test and retest method. Thus if the researcher distributes his questionnaires to the same number of people twice or thrice and finds out that there is a big difference then the instrument has a problem that needs to be fixed before he can roll out a mass data collection using the instrument. After questionnaire development, the researcher piloted it on 10(10) respondents that comprised 1(one) project officer, 1 (one) MEAL officer, and eight SHG members. The research was repeated twice at different times. The responses were the same with less vari-ability then consistency in the questionnaire was established. Piloting of the questionnaire was meant to test the consistency of the questionnaires questions. The findings were the surrogate to the entire sample size on which the study was carried out.

Data Collection Methods and Procedures

In collecting data from the respondents the researcher applied the survey technique in which a questionnaire was employed. Questionnaires were administered to the project officers, MEAL officers, and SHG mem-bers to solicit their responses regarding the specific study objective questions. 

Proposed Data Analysis and Procedures

This is a process where collected data is put orderly and the main components are written in the form that findings will be effectively communicated (Bailey, 1984). After the data had been collected, it was cleaned to differentiate between inaccurate from accurate information. Mistakes and omissions detected were corrected to enhance data quality. The cleaned data was coded and grouped into specific units on which descriptive statistics were used to carry out quantitative data analysis. The multiple regression analysis model specification below was used;

Y= α+ β1X1 + β2X2+ β3X3+ β4X4+ ε

Where ε=error term, β=coefficient of the independent variable (β1-4=regression coefficient) and α=constant.

Y=is the dependent variable (performance of SHG project).

X1 =Monitoring and Evaluation

X2= Project Risk Management

X3= Stakeholders Involvement 

X4= Project Planning Practices

A t-test was carried out to ascertain their respective significance.

Ethical Considerations

To guarantee participants confidentiality in this study the researcher kept them anonymous. The researcher sought respondents participation in the in addition to being assured that their names would remain anonymous and that the data they would give would be used only for the study purpose. Ethically, the study took into account the dignity of the participants. The spirit of Do No Harm will apply by warding off harmful or sensitive questions. It was on this basis that respondents were willing to participate and give their honest responses to the questions and statements that were posed to them during data collection. Ethical considerations are an aspect of research that should not be ignored since it can interfere with the data collection process where participants would withdraw enmass from the study just because they feel their rights and privacy are being infringed on.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Research findings, analysis and presentation are presented in this chapter. This is about SHG project performance as implemented in Hargeisa, Somaliland for the last ten years of its implementation. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were carried out on the findings to give the interpretation that would be understood and used in the decision-making. The study retrieved 140(SHG project Officers-6, SHG MEAL Officers-3, and SHG Members-131 ques-tionnaires) from the initial 154 administered. This resulted in a response rate of 90.91%. The response rate was above 70% acceptable response rate, hence sufficient for data analysis. Therefore, data analysis was based on 140 retrieved and cleaned question-naires. Therefore, findings, analysis and presentation in this chapter are based on 140 questionnaires that the researcher was able to retrieve from the field.

Research presentation, interpretation & discussion

The basic features of data in any study are described by descriptive analysis (Cooper & Schindler, 2013). Therefore, as far as the project management practices were concerned a descriptive analysis was carried out to ascertain their influence on the performance of the SHG project in Hargeisa Somaliland. Statistics are used for inference that an interpretation is made based on the figure obtained that can be used in decision-making in socio-economic and political aspects.

Demographic Characteristics Results

Respondents demographic characteristics are covered in this section. They include respondents gender, edu-

cation level, age and how long they had been members of the SHG project. Some responses on the same statement or question are respondents socio-demo-graphic characteristics influenced, hence the res-earcher is interested in why different questions but significantly different in the backgrounds of respon-dents socio-demographic characteristics.

Respondents Gender

The researchs interest in the respondents gender was meant to any presence of parity in the gender composition and position of the SHG project membership. Understanding the respondents gender is likely to manifest in the way they respond to similar statements and questions. Fig. 2 illustrates the study findings regarding socio-demographic characteristics.

Fig. 2: Respondents gender. Source: Field (2023).

From the figure, most of the respondents were female represented by 95.70% while male was 4.30%. The parity is purposive because SHG projects mostly target vulnerable groups in the society of which women are an appropriate example. Acker, (2006) found that gender equality is a characteristic that can be used to improve development projects. It is important because it brings unity in the approach to interventions in the communities. After all, there is equal representation of both men and women in the projects. Thus the whole population is represented because from projects needs assessments, planning, implementation, M&E and impact assessment there is representation of views and ideas from both genders. A gender-sensitive organiz-ation or project is associated with a conducive working environment for the members and management to be able to achieve the organizations and projects envisaged performance. This result rightly shows that membership in the SHG project in Hargeisa, Somaliland is deliberately women-biased. Thus this development project is targeting women who are perpetually been marginalized. Hence this is purposely to try and pull them to the level of others in society in particular men.

Respondents age

Respondents were asked to state their ages. The age categories were as follows: Below 20, 20-30, 31-40, 41-50, and above 50 years. Table 3 illustrates the study findings regarding age.

Table 3: Respondents age.

Source: Field (2023)

As shown in Table 3 10% of respondents were aged below 20 years, 50% were aged 21-30 years; 30% were aged 31-40 years; 6% were aged 41-50 years, and 4% were above 50 years. In the study by Jenster and Hussey, (2001) for an organization to achieve competitive advantage it strategically invests in the age of the employees or members which is associated with the organizations member efficiency. In this study, it was established that age was positively correlated with employees performance in the organization. They stated that the older a member or employee is in an organization or company the higher his/her performance is but to a certain age at which employee/member performance starts to decline. Most members of the SHG project were of mature age which would be a surrogate to the Self-help Groups Project Performance, Hargeisa Somaliland. The age of respondents is important in the study since it enables the researcher to determine the response that is age-twined. This is because from Psychology orientation people tend to respond to statements or questions differently along their life cycle. 

Respondents Education

This statement to the respondents was to ascertain the influence of education and qualification on the respondents understanding and participation in the Self-help Groups Project Performance, Hargeisa Somaliland. Fig. 2 shows the study findings.

Fig. 3: Respondents Education. Source: Field (2023).

As shown in Fig. 3; 42.90% of the respondents had no education, 32.1% had a certificate, 16.40% had a diploma, 5.70% had a degree, and 2.90% were postgraduates. It is, therefore, clear that most of the SHG project members had no form of education save for a handful, especially the MEAL and project officers. The Self-Help Group project was introduced to women who are academically and economically less advantaged. The education of participants is important because it guarantees their understanding of the statements or questions being posed by the study. Also, in terms of being effective in their group is dependent on their education level. 

Respondents years of membership/participation/ worked in the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland

This research sought to find out how long members have been in the project or worked for it. Fig. 4 illustrates the study findings regarding the Respon-dents years of membership/participation/work in the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland. As shown in the figure the study found that 16.40% of the respondents had been with the Self-Help Group project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland for less than one year,43.60% for 1-5 years, and 40.00% for above five years. Therefore, since the project has been in existence for ten years most of the respondents qualified to give reliable and valid data based on their experience with the Self-Help Group project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland. How long a respondent has been in a given group such as an organization or company is vital to any study. This is because the longer one has been a member the more    experienced one is hence when asking about the organization can give respondents that are more reliable down the memory line of the organization or company. In one way the respondents are termed valid and reliable.

Fig. 4: Years of respondents participation/work in the SHG Project. Source: Field (2023).

Findings based on objectives of the study

This section covers findings as per each studys objectives. They include establishing the effect of Monitoring and Evaluation Practices, the Impact of involvement, the influence of Project planning, and the effect of project risk management, the impact of project planning, and determining the performance of the SHG Project.

Monitoring and Evaluation Practices on the Performance of SHG Project in Hargeisa in Har-geisa, Somaliland

This section is meant to establish responses on the impact of the Monitoring and Evaluation practice of management on the SHG Project performance in Hargeisa district, Somaliland for the 5-year second phase of the project. The study, therefore, provided several monitoring and evaluation component state-ments from which the respondents were required to state the level of agreement or disagreement based on a 5-Likert scale. Table 4 below illustrates the res-ponses from the respondents as regards various state-ments under the Monitoring and Evaluation practice of management. The research established the impact of the Monitoring and Evaluation practice of manage-ment in the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

Table 4: Monitoring and Evaluation Practices on the Performance of SHG Project in Hargeisa in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

Source: Field (2023).

The findings on the question of whether there is the existence of project monitoring and evaluation plans, and processes in the performance of the SHG project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland, most of the respondents agreed with a mean score of 3.345 with a standard deviation of 0.877. When it came to project monitoring tools being in place and whether they are effective, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.790 and a standard deviation of 0.827. The statement that the MEAL team regularly carries out project monitoring and evaluation, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 4.100 and a standard deviation of 0.787. Coming to the statement that changes control procedures definition is done at the initiation of the SHG Project, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 4.008 and a standard deviation of 0.863. The statement about deviations and their impact analysis are documented in the project scope changes, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 4.325 and a standard deviation of 0.799. Whether monitoring status reporting and information to SHG project stakeholders is done regularly, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.690 and a standard deviation of 0.822. The statement about project progress in monitoring by making a compare-son between expected and actual performance in the SHG project, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.823 and a standard deviation of 0.879. The statement about deviations being well documented especially change rejection or approval decision in the SHG project, majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.895 and standard deviation of 0.698. Monitoring and evaluation practices average scores as a mean score of 3.895 and a standard deviation of 0.819. Therefore, it indicates that the majority of respondents agreed with the monitoring and evaluation component statements. Therefore, this means that monitoring and evaluation practices had an impact on the SHG project performance in Hargeisa district, Somaliland. This therefore is a clear indication that monitoring and evaluation have a big influence in enhancing the successful implementation of projects. Thus monitoring and evaluation is an element that has to be streamlined in the project implementation if good results will ever be realized. When a well monitoring and evaluation framework system is put in place the project team can detect any deviations and mitigate them before they can cause a detrimental impact on project implementation. Therefore, SHG Project performance depended on the monitoring and evalu-ation practices. Organizations and companies that have entrenched monitoring and evaluation practices because they can achieve their goals and objectives are an element of project performance. It is, therefore, advisable to have monitoring and evaluation stream-lined in the project systems to influence the actual to be as the expected results.

Risk Management Practices and SHG Project Per-formance

The risk management practices section was to establish responses from participants about SHG project performance in the Hargeisa district, Somaliland for the 5-year second phase of the project since its inception. Respondents were supplied with several risk management practices component state-ments on which they were required to respond to according their agreement level based on the 5-Likert scale. Table 5 shows their respective responses. 

Table 5: Risk Management Practices and SHG Project Performance.

Source: Field (2023).

Findings on the question of whether there project risk management plan in place in the SHG project in Hargeisa District, Somaliland, the majority of the respondents agreed with a mean score of 4.457 and a standard deviation of 0.877. In the statement on the presence of adequate risk management framework structures for mitigating risks in the SHG project, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.878 and a standard deviation of 0.765. On whether the members of the SHG project have project risk management skills, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 4.001 and a standard deviation of 0.800. On risk identification and assessment being done at the initiation of the project, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 4.345 and a standard deviation of 0.790. Statement regarding no wastage of time and efforts on irrelevant tasks in SHG project performance, the majority of respondents agreed with a mean score of 3.977 and standard deviation of 0.787. The state-ment that during the implementation of the SHG project the management considered the risk manage-ment area, majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.567 and a standard deviation of 0.865. On whether there was a project and management techniques (PMTT) application in place in the SHG project, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.765 and a standard deviation of 0.768. Finally, on whether SHG project management always involves the members in risk management during project implementation and management, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.556 and a standard deviation of 0.788. Project risk management practices average scores give a mean of 3.643 with a standard deviation of 0.805. Therefore, project risk manage-ment practices have an impact on the performance of the SHG project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland. Therefore, risk management during project implement-ation cannot be ignored because unseen instances are likely to derail or even drastically interfere with the completion of the project. This shows how much project risk management contributes a lot to the project performance. Hence project risk management activities have to be put into consideration right from project planning to project closure. Organizations and companies that have entrenched risk management practices have shown an element of project perfor-mance. It is, therefore, advisable to have risk management stream-lined in the project systems to influence the actual to the expected. This helps the project team in identifying, analyzing and planning how to mitigate if they occur, hence this can prevent the risk from occurring or in case it occurs this will reduce its impact. 

Stakeholders Involvement Practices and SHG Pro-ject in Hargeisa District, Somaliland

This section covers project stakeholders engagement practice of management on the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland for the 5-year second phase of the project since its inception. Respondents were supplied with several stakeholders involvement practices component statements on which they were required to respond according to their agreement level based on a 5-Likert scale. Table 6 shows their respective responses.

Table 6: Stakeholders Involvement Practices and SHG Project in Hargeisa District, Somaliland.

Source: Field (2023)

The study established that stakeholders involvement had an impact on the SHG Projects performance. Regarding the question of whether there was an SHG stakeholder management plan in place, the majority of respondents agreed with a mean score of 3.333 and a standard deviation of 0.722. A statement regarding the involvement of stakeholders identification, selection and planning of the project, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.743 with a standard deviation of 0.802. Whether stakeholders were involved in the SHG project risk identification, assessment and management planning, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.932 and a standard deviation of 0.783. Whether stakeholders were involved in monitoring, control and evaluation of the project progress, most of them agreed with a mean score of 3.877 and standard deviation of 0.877. On whether stakeholders were involved in SHG project communications management planning, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 4.345 and a standard deviation of 0.877. On stakeholders being fully and effectively engaged in the project majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.674 and a standard deviation of 0.765. Whether there was full involve-ment of stakeholders in the entire project management cycle, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 0. 790. On SHG project information being shared regularly with stakeholders; most of them agreed with a mean score of 3.768 and a standard deviation of 0.787. Overall, the average scores on stakeholders involvement practices show a mean score of 3.819 and a standard deviation of 0.802. Therefore, most of them agreed with the statement that stakeholders involve-ment practices influence the SHG Project performance in Hargeisa district, Somaliland. This shows that stakeholders will influence the projects strength and success. Therefore, the creation of a stakeholder management plan for the project is pertinent because their influence if well managed would impact positively the project. More so project stakeholders have a wealth of knowledge, skills and experiences on projects hence when appropriately involved in the project from the beginning to the end that project is characterized by performance. Organizations and companies that have entrenched stakeholder engage-ment practices in most of their projects are more likely to succeed than those that have not. It is, therefore, advisable to have stakeholders engagement stream-lined in the project systems to influence the actual to be as the expected results. Project stakeholders engagement helps the project team to identify, analyze and plan how to manage each stakeholder at different times along the project life cycle, hence this can prevent stakeholders apathy or reluctance from occurring or in case they occur this will reduce their impact on the project performance.

Project Planning Effect on SHG Project Perfor-mance in Hargeisa District

This section presents the Project Planning Effect on SHG project performance in Hargeisa, Somaliland for the 5-year second phase of the project since its inception. Respondents were supplied with several projects planning practices component statements on which they were required to respond to according to their agreement level based on the 5-Likert scale. Table 7 shows their respective responses.

Table 7: Project Planning Effect on SHG project performance in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

Source: Field (2023)

The study established that the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland was impacted by project planning practices. Thus, findings on the question of whether there is an SHG project plan in place, most of them agreed with a mean score of 4.454 and a standard deviation of 0. 769. In the statement that the SHG project risk management plan is in place, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.787 and a standard deviation of 0. 823. For the SHG project stakeholder management plan being in place, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.787 and a standard deviation of 0.754. On the state-ment that the SHG Project plan was continuously updated, most of them agreed with a mean score of 4.099 and a standard deviation of 0. 676. Regarding project management plans being used during project implementation, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.788 and a standard deviation of 0.699. On the project plan and documents being updated frequently as the project progresses, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.877 and a standard deviation of 0. 765. Finally, the statement that NAFIS implements the required number of projects according to the resources available, most of them agreed with a mean score of 3.943 and a standard deviation of 0.735. Overall, average scores on project planning practices show agreement with a mean score of 3.914 and a standard deviation of 0. 753. 

Therefore, most of the participants agreed that project planning practices influence SHG Project performance in Hargeisa district, Somaliland. Project planning is the backbone of the projects performance because it is the blueprint for project implementation. It sets the scope of the project along with the content. The project plan is a guide to the project team and other stakeholders of the project. If well done, the project plan will ensure that the project is implemented according to its contents. Therefore, when the objectives are well stated then the achievement of the goals is possible and satisfaction of the clients/ customers/consumers and beneficiaries is also possible. Therefore, there is a need to invest a lot in project planning activities to have a successful project implementation. Organizations and companies that have entrenched effective project planning practices have recorded success in project implementation. It is, therefore, advisable to have an effective project plan in the project systems to influence the actual to be as expected results. Project planning helps the project team to follow the scope, and objectives set in the project plan at different times along the project life cycle, and hence this is a guideline on what, when, how, and who should be done.

SHG Project Performance in Hargeisa District

This section sought responses on SHG Project perfor-mance in Hargeisa district, Somaliland for the last 5-year second phase of the project since its inception. Respondents were supplied with several SHG project performance component statements on which they were required to respond according to their agreement level based on the 5-Likert scale. Table 8 below shows their respective responses. The study catego-rized components of this dependent variable (SHG Project Performance in Hargeisa District) into four major components with each component having at least two sub-component statements. Table 8 shows their respective responses. The study established the performance of the SHG project in Hargeisa District, Somaliland. Statement on the timely completion of the project. (Time performance), majority of participants agreed with a mean score of 3.900 and a standard deviation of 0.724. As far as cost performance was concerned the study was to establish whether the Project burn rate was maintained, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.945 and a standard deviation of 0.781. With quality performance the study sought to establish whether clients/beneficiaries 

satisfaction/needs and their expectations were met, the majority of them agreed with a mean score of 3.939 and a standard deviation of 0.811.

Table 8: SHG Project Performance for the last 9-10 years in Hargeisa District.

Source: Field (2023)

With project aims/goals being achieved, most of them agreed with a mean score of 3.741 and a standard deviation of 0.783. Overall, aver-age scores on the performance of the SHG project for the last 9-10 years in Hargeisa District, Somaliland show a mean score of 3.881 and a standard deviation of 0. 775. Therefore, it indicates that most of the participants agreed that the project performance of the SHG project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland was successful. The findings support the fact that as far as the Self-help Groups Project Performance, Hargeisa Somaliland is concerned it was achieved in terms of being compliant with time performance, cost performance quality performance, and client/ beneficiaries satisfaction. The findings further confirm the fact that the SHG project in Hargeisa, Somaliland is like a pilot project that shows more benefits to women as far as empowering them is concerned. Its success despite a few couples of challenges is enough for stakeholders especially other NGOs, CBOs, FBOs, CSOs and the government to take advantage and replicate it in other Somaliland regions to be able to achieve evenly distri-buted development focused on women in the society.

Multiple Regression Analysis Model

The SPSS version was employed in performing the regression analysis. Multiple regression analysis predicts the dependent variable by applying indepen-dent variables whose values are known.

Table 9: Model Summary.

Source: Field (2023)

As shown in Table 9, R=0.798 which suggest that there is a strong positive relationship between the independent variables and dependent variable. In this case, the four project management practices have a strong positive relationship with the Self-help Group Project performance, Hargeisa Somaliland. The coefficient of determination of R2 =0.637 which is between zero and one (Robinson, 2010). This indicates stakeholders involvement, project planning, project risk management, and monitoring and evaluation explain 63.7% performance variations in Self-help group projects. Therefore, a 36.3% variation in the project performance is caused by variables not covered by this study. Therefore, 64% is a good indicator of the model being of good fit. This, therefore, indicates that monitoring and evaluation, project risk management practices, stakeholders involvement and project planning practices if well adopted and appropriately observed will highly influ-ence and enhance the performance of the Self-help Groups Project performance, Hargeisa Somaliland.

Table 10: ANOVA Results.

Source: Field (2023)

In determining the impact of project Risk manage-ment, monitoring and evaluation, Stakeholders Involvement, and Project planning) on the dependent variable (SHG Project Performance, Hargeisa Somaliland) simultaneously, ANOVA was carried out. If you get a large f value (one that is bigger than the F critical value found in a table), it means something is significant, while a small p value means all your results are significant. The F statistic just compares the joint effect of all the variables together (Bryman & Cramer, 2011). Based on the study ANOVA or F-test in Table 10, the obtained F-calculated value was 35.477 which were greater than F-critical (table) 12.334 with a significance of 0.001. Since the significance level of 0.001<0.05, the researcher concludes that independent variables (Monitoring and evaluation, project Risk management, Stakeholders Involvement, and Project planning) have a significant impact on the implementation of the SHG project in Hargeisa, Somaliland (Y-dependent variable). 

Table 11: Coefficient results.

Source: Field (2023)

The following multiple regression analysis model specification was used;

Y= α+ β1 X1+ β2 X2+ β3 X3+ β4 X4+ ε

Ε=error term, β= coefficient of Independent Variable, and α= constant

Y=is the dependent variable (performance of SHG project).

X1 =Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)

X2= Project Risk Management (PRM)

X3= Stakeholders Involvement (SI)

X4= Project Planning Practices (PPP)

The model was transformed into=15.98+0.554 (M&E) +0.723(PRM) +0.635(SI) +0.657(PPP)

Since the p-value of the four independent variables was less than 0.05 the four project management practices were statistically significant at a 5% level of significance. From the findings therefore, monitoring and evaluation, project risk management, stake-holders involvement and project planning practices had a positive impact on the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland.

DISCUSSION

Monitoring and Evaluation practice of management and performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland has a positive statistical association. This is because Monitoring and evaluation had β1=0.554 and a p-value of 0. 015. This is by Ahmeds, (2021) study on the impact of Monitoring and Evaluation Practices of Management among Non-Governmental organizations in Hargeisa Somaliland. Thus the activities of monitoring and evaluation have a positive effect on the timely delivery and completion of projects. In addition, to the findings Jimale, (2021) in his study argued that effective monitoring and evaluation of education is crucial to ensure that education activities meet their aims and objectives in terms of quality and their ability to impact the desired knowledge.

Therefore, there is a need for more consideration given to this practice of management that will bring about more good results. Therefore, the project imple-mentation team can detect any coming risks that may hinder the project from being implemented effectively since it offers the solution of rectifying and correcting any deviations early enough before they cause a drastic and detrimental impact on the project. Once deviations are noticed and mitigation measures taken this becomes a strong project management practice that puts the project implementation activities back on track. Therefore, proper execution of monitoring and evaluation of the SHG project in Hargeisa, Somaliland is responsible for tracking project progress towards the accomplishment of the set goals within the constraints of time, scope and cost by identifying limitations, deviations, assessing them on time and suggesting remedial measures that will guarantee successful project performance. It is through project monitoring and assessment that mitigation measures can be taken against any potential risks to the project. It is upon the monitoring and evaluation findings that correction measures of project implementation processes, project strengthening, and project quality are achieved. Thus monitoring and evaluation are meant to compare the expected and the actual aspects of the project. Hence it goes beyond monitoring what is happening and recor-ding the differences, but brings in control measures that reduce the gap between the expected and the actual. Therefore, in case of any deviations Monitoring and evaluation put it back on track. Detecting errors early enough gives the project team ample time to correct them and get the project back on track. Any corrective decision made based on data collected from the monitoring process becomes justifiable for the change that will be made on the project. Monitoring asses ongoing project activities and corrections on the ongoing project are made that will benefit it. Evaluation is carried out at the end of the project to show how effectively and efficiently the project was implemented. In most cases, there is only one evaluation carried out on the project at the end of it. In other cases, if the project is a long-term one for example a project then the project can be divided into phases for this case five phases which each will take one year. Hence we would have both formative and summative evaluation. Formative evaluation is done at the end of each phase. Its findings and recommend-ations are used in the next phase and not the current phase under evaluation. Its recommendations are used to improve the next phase. Summative evaluation comes at the end of the whole project. It assesses the whole project from the beginning to the end. Summative evaluation purpose to establish whether the project was effectively and efficiently implement-ted. Its recommendations are used to improve the next project and not the current one. Project risk man-agement had β2=0.723 and a p-value of 0.000 indicated that project risk management practices and the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland were positively related. These findings are in line with Abdirahman & Shaban, (2021).Through project risk management any risky events that are certain to occur are easily mitigated because risk management measures are already put in place for any eventuality. This is a proactive measure that is already determined and solutions put in place. Once this is appropriately put in place no amount of uncertainties will impact negatively the projects performance. This is because risk occurrence and their respective impact can be reduced hence allowing the project to proceed uninterrupted. A formidable structured risk manage-ment framework in the project will ensure proper risk identification, analysis and management that conse-quently performance targets achieved. Projects that lack risk management plans in place are threatened with project underperformance or failure. Without a risk management plan in place cost and time overruns are likely to characterize project implementation leading to project failure. Risk identification, analysis and planning are very important in project imple-mentation and hence success. It is the risk manage-ment plan that is implemented through risk man-agement. In risk identification potential risks to the project are listed. Then in risk analysis, their probability of occurrence is established in this case low, medium or high. Then when they occurs their impact on the project is equally categorized as low, medium or high. Based on the above a risk mitigation plan is developed which shows how the risks will be managed in case they occur. Monitoring of potential risks is under an appointed person in the project who is equipped with what to do in c case it occurs at the same time mechanism to reduce the chances of that risk occurring. Stakeholder involvement had  β3=0.635 and a p-value of 0.006 indicated that Stakeholder involvement and the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland was positively related. Adam (2012) noted that stakeholders affect the project at various levels and in different degrees. Also Magassouba, (2019) notes that stakeholder involve-ment plays an important and critical role in project performance within any organization. Mitchell, (1999) noted that stakeholders are characterized by power, legitimacy and urgency that are enshrined in the success of the project. The involvement of stake-holders at all levels and stages of the project life cycle is very important in enhancing the SHG project in Hargeisa, Somalia. The project achieves buy-ins and ownership of the project by stakeholders a foundation upon which project continuity hence leading to sustainability is achieved. This echoes the fact that project sustainability is an indicator of project success. Therefore project objectives and outcomes are a clear sign that the project is performing. The SHG project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland was initiated and funded by an international NGO, but to reduce the miscon-ception that it was a foreign idea being imposed on the beneficiaries; beneficiaries were involved in the project design. The situational and contextual under-standing of the local environment by the stakeholders benefitted the project very much. This helped the beneficiaries in the partnership with the project implementation agency to achieve the set objectives and goals. Therefore, the involvement of stakeholders in the project is the foundation of its success. For projection cooperation and synergy enhancement, different stakeholders interests are taken on board which are important in project implementation. Thus stakeholder engagement is necessary for project implementation success. Stakeholders are people or organizations that have a stake in the project. They influence the project at different stages with different impacts. Stakeholder involvement starts at the stake-holder identification stage where the project planning team identifies key stakeholders to the project. After identification stakeholder analysis is done to establish the stakeholder power of influence at what stage of the project implementation he or she influences and how he or she influences the project. A stakeholder register or matrix is, therefore, developed that will guide the project manager to know the stakeholders, their powers and when and where they influence the project. Hence, the stakeholder management plan during their engagement to the project is carried out whose product is the stakeholder management plan. When a stakeholder management plan is implemented effectively this leads to assurance of commitment of the stakeholders to the project at their respective time, places and stages on the lifecycle of the project. Project planning practices had β4=0.657and a p-value of 0.001 indicated that Project planning practices and the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland were positively related. This finding is in line with Mwanza, (2020) who noted that planning is organizing the assembling of or putting the required resources such as manpower, time, materials, inputs and money to perform the work in the plan. When these are appropriately organized this leads to the success of the project because the project team refers to the plan during project implementation. Improvement in effective project implementation of the SHG project in Hargeisa district, Somaliland is a result of proper project planning. Project implementation is swift and completed on time when effective financial resources are planned. Project planning activities play an important role in ensuring successful project imple-mentation. The activities of the project should be planned well if project success and sustainability are to be achieved. Planning is a way to organize project actions to lead to the achievement of a goal (Comminos, 2002). Therefore, project planning is the backbone of the project because when the project planning team gets it right then the project will be clear in terms of objectives, goals, scope and others which are a strong pillar of the project. Clarity in the project components makes it easier for the project team and other stakeholders to understand what the project is all about, hence implementing or carrying out implementation tasks becomes easy. With skilled and experienced project planners a reliable blueprint will be generated that will be a compass for the project team during implementation of the project. This is because work breakdown is appropriately done into manageable tasks then time is allocated to each task appropriately which will ensure the completion of each task on time scheduled. The finding shows that the project achieved most of the performance parameters. This was in terms of cost performance where the project implementation was within the budget without cost overruns; quality performance where beneficiaries needs and expectations were satisfied and met; time performance where the project was completed on time; and project aims and goals were achieved. For timely and successful project implementation project management practices form very strong pillars. Hence the higher performance of the project is dependent on the adequate application of project management practices.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter presents conclusion and recommen-dations of the study on the project management practices influence on the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland. Recommendations given are meant to fill the gaps identified during the study. Given that this study could not cover all areas of project management practices in Hargeisa, Somaliland it provides recommendations for further research. Development projects initiated by NGOs in developing countries are meant and known to bring about socio-economic and political changes in the communities where implemented. Because many development projects have ended up in failure this calls upon the appropriate application of project management practices to be able to have the inter-ventions succeed. Therefore, intended to establish the impact of the project management practices on the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland. The specific objectives that guided the study were as follows: to assess monitoring and evaluation influence on the performance of SHG Project in Hargeisa, to assess effect of engagement and involvement of stakeholders on the performance of SHG Project in Hargeisa, to assess risk management practices influence on the performance of SHG Project in Hargeisa, and to establish role played by planning of the project on the performance of SHG Project in Hargeisa, and to decide on whether SHG project succeeded in meeting its goals and objectives in Hargeisa district. The study found that the imple-mentation of the SHG Project in Hargeisa Somaliland was achieved. This is because on-time performance, the project was found to be completed on time this is because the project achieved time objectives and was completed on time. On Cost performance, the project was within the burn rate. This is because the project was implemented within the budget and resources (There were no budget overruns) and the project budget was not expended faster than planned initially. When it comes to quality performance, clients/ beneficiaries satisfaction/needs and their expectations were met. This was because members received loans from the groups on time and received the exact amount of loans requested from the groups. On project aims/goal being achieved this was based on effective-ness performance where implementation of the project was as per the objectives set. Hence project expected performance and actual performance in the M&E report were the same. From the descriptive statistics Monitoring and Evaluation practice of management had a significant impact on the performance of the SHG Project implemented in Hargeisa, Somaliland. Monitoring and Evaluation, therefore, had a significant impact on the success of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland. Thus, the study established that there is the existence of SHG Project monitoring and evaluation plans, and processes. Also, there is the existence of SHG Project monitoring and Evaluation plans, and processes. NAFIS MEAL team regularly carries out SHG Project monitoring and control. Change control procedures definition is done at the initiation of the SHG Project. Deviations and their impact analysis are documented in the SHG Project scope changes. Monitoring status reporting and the information to SHG Project stakeholders is done regularly. In the SHG Project, there is project progress monitoring by making a comparison between expected and actual performance. Deviations are well docu-mented especially change rejection or approval decisions. Further, from the research it was established that project risk management practices influenced the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland. Therefore, the study established that there was an SHG Project risk management plan in place. There are adequate risk management framework structures for mitigating risks. Members of the SHG Project have project risk management skills. Risk identification and assessment are done at the initiation of the project. There is no waste of time and effort on irrelevant tasks. During the implementation of the SHG Project, the management considers risk man-agement areas. There is a project and management techniques (PMTT) application in place. SHG Project management always involves the members in risk management during project implementation and management. Thus, the research established that there is an SHG stakeholder management plan in place. SHG Project stakeholders are involved in identifying, selecting and planning the projects. Stakeholders are involved in SHG Project risk identification, assess-ment, and risk management planning. Stakeholders are involved in monitoring, controlling, and evaluating of SHG Projects progress. Stakeholders are involved in SHG Project communications management and planning. There is full involvement of stakeholders in the entire project management cycle. SHG Project information is shared regularly with stakeholders. From the findings, there is an SHG Project plan in place. SHG Project stakeholder management plan is in place. There is an SHG Project M&E management plan in place. SHG Project plan is continuously updated. The project management plan is used during project implementation. The project plan and docu-ments are updated frequently as the project progresses. The organization implements the required number of projects according to the resources available. On the performance of the SHG Project in the Hargeisa district the study established that most of the respondents were in agreement with the indicators statement posed to them regarding the performance of this project t for the last ten years since its inception in Somaliland. 

The study established that on-time performance the project t is completed on time hence SHG Project achieves time objectives. On Cost performance the project is within burn rate, that is the project is implemented within the budget and resources (There were no budget overruns), and the project budget is not expended faster than planned initially. On Quality performance, the clients/beneficiaries satisfaction/ needs and their expectations are met. This is because SHG members receive loans from the groups on time, and receive the exact amount of loans requested from the groups. On project aims/goal achievement, there is effective performance because the implementation of the project is as per the objectives set. SHG Projects expected performance and actual performance in the M&E report are the same. From research findings, it was concluded that the performance of the SHG Project in the Hargeisa district was influenced by monitoring and evaluation, risk management, stake-holders involvement, and project planning practices.

Recommendation for practice

The study established that the four project manage-ment practices (monitoring and evaluation, project risk management, stakeholders involvement, and project planning) have an impact on the performance of the SHG Project implemented in Hargeisa, Somaliland. These project management practices accounted for 63.7% of performance variations in the Self-help Groups Project.

The Authorities for implementation

NAFIS is advised to find out other management practices that influence the other 36.3% variations in the SHG Project implemented in Hargeisa District, Somaliland. The government of Somaliland should encourage by creating a conducive environment for this idea of a Self-help group to thrive in the whole country given that during its launch in 2013 government officials praised this idea as one that will empower women in Somaliland.

Service users/beneficiaries

The beneficiaries need to be observant so that they are not passive participants but active participants so that any project implemented by implementing agencies is situational compatible.

Other stakeholders

Other Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Civil Society (CSOs), Community-Based organiz-ations (CBOs) and Faith-based organizations (FBOs) should replicate these Self-help group projects in other regions in Somaliland.

Recommendation for further research

This study focused on the four project management practices namely; monitoring and evaluation, risk management, stakeholders involvement, and project planning practices influence the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland, but there is a need for further research on other management practices such as communication, quality control and assurance and so forth. This study focused on the performance of the SHG Project in Hargeisa, Somaliland which is a woman-led project there is a need for further research on similar projects found in the rural areas.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

First and foremost, I thank my supervisor; Dr. Mercyline Kamande who devotedly corrected and advised me until I came out with my original work. She did an incredible work of rereading the manuscript and at every time guiding how I could come up with my original work. I also take this chance to acknow-ledge my familys contribution to this work in terms of moral, spiritual and resources support. May God bless you. More so in particular Tracy who read and for-matted the whole project report. Secondly, I appreciate Mr. Abdiwasac the founder and president of New Generation University, Somaliland who provided financial resources that enable me to undertake this exercise. Finally, while appreciating all contributions and comments, I take responsibility for any short-comings that may arise in this work.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

The author of this article is a student who is pursuing Master of Science in Project Planning and Manage-ment in the Department of Management in the School of Business and Economics. The source of funds to pursue the study and carry out the research was from his own salary from work place. Therefore, there is no conflict of interest.

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Article Info:

Academic Editor

Dr. Sonjoy Bishwas, Executive, Universe Publishing Group (UniversePG), California, USA.

Received

March 3, 2024

Accepted

April 24, 2024

Published

May 8, 2024

Article DOI: 10.34104/bjah.02401000133

Corresponding author

Cite this article

Tubei PL. (2024). Project management practices effect on self-help groups project performance, Hargeisa Somaliland, Br. J. Arts Humanit. 6(3), 100-133. https://doi.org/10.34104/bjah.02401000133 

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