article · Academic Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies
Many donor-funded food security projects across counties in the South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc collapse once sponsor funding ends, failing to achieve their intended social, economic, and environmental objectives. An investigation into 65 donor-funded initiatives active in the region in 2025 evaluated how project design dimensions affect long-term project viability. The findings demonstrate that project design dimensions have a statistically significant effect on the sustainability of food security interventions. To prevent early project termination, project planners, sponsors, and policymakers should integrate robust design dimensions into initial planning. Furthermore, conducting regular evaluations and adjusting project scopes and objectives enables programmes to remain responsive to changing community requirements and environmental pressures, thereby improving the endurance of food security outcomes.
Food security initiatives consume substantial donor resources but often fail once external financial support ends. Identifying that project design directly drives long-term sustainability allows development partners, governments, and non-governmental organisations to build programmes that endure. This helps ensure that investments deliver lasting economic, social, and environmental benefits to vulnerable communities facing changing environmental challenges.
The findings offer operational frameworks for policymakers, donors, and development practitioners managing food security initiatives rather than a commercial product. As applied management research tested on 65 active donor projects, the insights are ready for immediate adoption by programme managers to reform project planning. Beyond integration into development and public sector project design lifecycles, the abstract does not indicate an explicit commercial application pathway.
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The purpose of the study is to examine the effect of project design dimensions on the sustainability of food security projects in South Eastern Kenya Economic Bloc (SEKEB) counties in Kenya. This research was motivated by the short lifespan of most food security projects in SEKEB counties, where, despite the efforts to sustain them, many cease operations soon after funding from project sponsors ceases, without meeting their intended economic, social, and environmental goals. The research objective was to establish the influence of project design dimensions on the sustainability of food security projects in SEKEB. This research adopted positivism research philosophy, and a descriptive cross-sectional survey design to describe project design dimensions and food security projects’ sustainability. The study targeted 65 donor funded food security projects that were being implemented in SEKEB counties of Kenya in 2025, where a response rate of 89.2 percent was attained. The study used a structured questionnaire to gather data and applied descriptive, correlation and linear regression analysis to analyse the data. The empirical results indicated that project design dimensions had a statistically significant effect on sustainability of food security projects. From a theoretical standpoint, the study enhances the understanding of sustainability of food security projects by revealing the contribution of project design dimensions. Practically, it provides actionable recommendations for policymakers, project sponsors and implementors, and development partners on how to improve sustainability of food security projects through integrated project design dimensions. The study recommends that regular evaluations and updates to the project scope and objectives to ensure that the projects remain responsive to evolving community needs and environmental challenges. Received: 23 June 2026 / Accepted: 31 August 2026 / Published: September 2026
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DOI: 10.36941/ajis-2026-0146
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