A REVIEW OF INCOME GENERATION PROJECTS WITHIN

The research report endeavours to unearth the factors which cause the failure andsuccess of income generating projects. Poverty Relief Programme implemented inGauteng province was chosen to enable realisation of the objective of the researchreport. The background provides a brief account of the programme, problemstatement, research question, and purpose of the study, significance of the reportas well as the outline of the research methodology.The question of the study: what led to the success and failures of povertyreduction community initiatives was inspired by the high failure rate (representingabout 90%) of business oriented projects in PRP from 1998 to 2004. The studyhighlights possible solutions flowing directly from success and failures of thesewell intended community initiatives.Case study method was applied to make the task of the research manageable. Twoprojects, one defunct and the other still existing, served as case studies. Data wascollected using a questionnaire for officials and focus group at projects members’level. Univariate analysis method was undertaken to analyse data after it wascategorised and respective percentages in relation to sample size were determined.The key findings are: Officials from the intervening organisation possessed relevant skillsnecessary for supporting income generating projects, No market survey was done prior to programme implementation, Projects’ linkages with public private sectors, Projects members received appropriate training, There was no systems approach to programme planning andimplementation