Seventeenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

The paper assessed the impacts of capacity building on community leadership, mediating roles of the Bui dam construction and subsequent resettlement on community leadership, and how the construction of Bui Dam led to capacity-building efforts on community leadership. Factors such as ethnicity, age, livelihoods, and gender were assessed to ascertain whether they influence capacity-building efforts for community leadership. Data was gathered through multiple methods. In the design of a survey, questionnaires were administered to 339 respondents across the thirteen communities, document analysis and interviews were conducted. Interviews were conducted for 24 key informants and used for data analysis. ANOVA and Scheffe test scores were used to assess impacts of capacity building on community leadership, and in the phase of the construction of Bui dam and subsequent resettlement activities. The paper resolved that people perceived capacity building opportunities for community leadership to have failed to meet the core needs and focus of the dam impacted communities. Capacity building opportunities were few and also did not incorporate the provision of adequate inputs to explore opportunities in areas such as community leadership for the impacted communities and the management of Bui National Park. Ethnicity (Nafana, Ewe, and Mo) and relocate were perceived to have provided a weak influence on community leadership skills and options available to communities to address the impacts of dam construction and resettlement. Gender and age did not predict community leadership.