Sources of Motivation to Rural Dwellers’ Participation in Self-Help Projects in Plateau State, Nigeria

Success of self-help projects depends on active participation of beneficiaries and motivation has a great influence on participation in any group action. Hence, this research was designed to identify the sources of motivation to rural dwellers’ participation in self-help projects in Plateau State. Structured interview schedule was used to collect data, which were analysed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. Eight sources of motivation were identified, the most important being relevance of the projects to people’s needs. Significant relationships at p < 0.05 were found between participation in self-help projects and respondent’s age (χ2 = 48.55); marital status (χ2 = 266.55); educational level (χ2 = 81.65) and primary occupation (χ2 = 225.76). There was a significant (p < 0.05) relationship between sources of motivation and participation (χ2 = 414.00). Therefore, conclusion can be drawn that people’s participation in self-help projects could be enhanced by making sure the projects embarked upon are relevant to people’s need and appropriate strategies employed in executing the projects.Key words: Rural dwellers, Participation, Self-help projects, Community development, Motivation