Economic Environment and Performance of Donor Funded Health Projects in Kenya

Health projects have been found to play a critical role in enhancing the well-being of society. Health projects in Kenya are funded by both the government and donors. Although the amounts of funding from donors in Kenya have been rising over the years, most donor-funded projects in Kenya are not performing well. This study sought to find out the effect of the economic environment; changes in tax rates, changes in interest rates and changes in exchange rates on the performance of donor-funded health projects in Kenya. The study was anchored on the theory of constraints. The study adopted explanatory and descriptive research designs. A census of all the sixty-nine donor-funded health projects initiated between 2008 and 2018, and are ongoing was conducted. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to managers of the donor-funded health projects and the heads of donor-funded projects at the ministry of health. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied in the analysis and presentation of data. Quantitative data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), while qualitative data were analyzed by content analysis based on patterns and themes. A multiple regression model was used to explain the effect of the economic environment on the performance of donor-funded health projects in Kenya. The study found out that the economic environment had a significant effect on the performance of donor-funded health projects. The study recommends that all decision-makers and other donor-funded health project stakeholders devise policies and strategies for controlling the effect of the economic environment on the donor-funded health projects to enhance their performance.