Sustainability of poverty relief projects: an evaluative case study of Madumeleng Community Bread Making Project in Greater Letaba Municipality in Limpopo Province

Abstract

Sustainability of poverty relief projects: an evaluative case study of Madumeleng community bread making project in Greater Letaba Municipality in Limpopo Province This mini-dissertation was conducted on a community poverty alleviation project that was implemented by government through the Department of Social Development at Madumeleng village. Madumeleng is a village in Bolobedu(Modjadji) under the Greater Letaba Municipality in Mopani District. The Greater Letaba Municipality is one of the rural municipalities in the district of Mopani. The project was identified by the community members as a flagship towards addressing poverty within the village and eventually in the municipal area. The project was initiated by a group of women who started as volunteers. Their objective was to make the project big and viable within the society. The women had wishes also that the project should eventually create more jobs for the community members and thereby contribute in alleviating poverty and unemployment. The above resonates well with the objective of government and in particular the Department of Social Development in funding these projects. The study was ignited by the fact that after all the efforts by government to provide funding and ensure that the project members are capacitated, still the project collapsed. The project could not last longer than it was expected and this was the main reason for the study. The study should contribute in surmounting some factors which might have contributed into the collapse of the project. Government should also be able to draw lessons from the study to improve on the approach when they fund future projects.