SU+ Digital Repository

SU+ is an online repository for the preservation and promotion of assorted digital content at Strathmore University

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Communities in DSpace

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Now showing 1 - 5 of 7

Conferences / Workshops / Seminars + 474
Documents and Proceedings of Conferences, Seminars, Workshops (and more) held at Strathmore University
Digital Archives 178
Assorted collections of resources covering various subject themes contributed by Faculty and Library Staff
Reports / Policies + 8
Public reports and policy documents
Research / Researchers / Publications 4126
Researcher Profiles / Conference presentations / Published research articles / Faculty and Corporate research outputs
Strathmore Heritage Collection 41
A digital chronicle of the History of the University presented through a mix of pictures, videos and digitized publications

Recent Submissions

A Critical appraisal of National Government Constituencies Development Fund Act 2015
(Strathmore University, 2025) Mwakuwona, D. M.
This study provides a critical appraisal of the National Government Constituencies Development Fund (NG-CDF) Act, 2015, focusing on its implementation challenges, emerging issues and policy options within Kenya’s devolved governance framework. The background and rationale underscore the NG-CDF’s intended role in promoting grassroots development, while highlighting the persistent governance, legal, and operational gaps that have hindered its effectiveness. The study is framed by four objectives: to assess the challenges, to identify emerging implementation issues, examine factors undermining the Act’s effectiveness and draw lessons from global best practices. The literature review is grounded in the Patron-Client and Fiscal Federalism theories, offering insight into how political relationships, institutional roles, and resource control influence fund administration. Empirical analysis from existing studies reveals widespread inefficiencies, political capture, weak oversight, and limited community participation issues also found in similar development funds globally. Methodologically, the study adopts a descriptive research design, using purposive sampling and thematic analysis. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with Members of Parliament, NG-CDF Board officials, Fund Account Managers, CDF Chairpersons and National Treasury official. The findings reveal persistent legal and institutional ambiguities, elite control over project selection, ineffective oversight systems, poor coordination with county governments, and minimal inclusion of marginalized groups in participatory processes. Funding delays and weak capacity among fund administrators also emerged as key impediments. The analysis further shows that while the NG-CDF is conceptually grounded in fiscal decentralization, its practice reflects patterns of political patronage and institutional fragmentation. It concludes that constitutional anchoring, digital transparency tools, professionalization, and intergovernmental collaboration are necessary to reform the Fund. Ultimately, the research contributes valuable insights to Kenya’s development policy discourse, advocating for a reformed, transparent, and community-responsive NG-CDF that aligns with the 2010 Constitution and the aspirations of equitable and inclusive development.
A Model for forecasting land productivity decline
(Strathmore University, 2025) Nyawacha, S.
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces significant challenges in agricultural sustainability due to its vulnerability to climate change, which directly threatens crop productivity and economic stability. While existing crop simulation models have demonstrated potential in optimizing water and soil resources, their application within SSA’s unique agro-climatic conditions has remained limited. This study sought to bridge this gap by developing a robust farm productivity decline simulation model tailored specifically to SSA’s agricultural landscape. By leveraging predictive analytics, the model forecasted productivity trends and provided actionable insights to mitigate yield gaps, reduce food insecurity, and enhance land-use strategies. Through scenario modelling based on climate variability and resource availability, this study provides practical information on yield decline, fostering resilience against climate-induced shocks. The trained model demonstrated strong predictive performance, achieving a Train 𝑅2 of 0.86 and Test 𝑅2 of 0.84, indicating a high explanatory power in capturing the relationships between agro-climatic variables and farm productivity decline. The Cross-validation 𝑅2 of 0.83 and an Out-of-Bag (OOB) Score of 0.83 further validated the model’s robustness, ensuring it generalized well across different data partitions without overfitting. Additionally, Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.93 for training and 0.92 for testing confirmed a strong linear relationship between the observed and predicted productivity values, reinforcing the model’s reliability in capturing real-world agricultural trends. Collectively, these evaluation metrics highlight the model’s effectiveness in forecasting productivity decline while maintaining high predictive accuracy and generalization across unseen data. The forecasting system provided 20 years of future projections, revealing that Kenya’s food basket regions are expected to experience a significant productivity decline starting around 2026, with the most substantial reductions projected to occur by 2040. The model’s Mean Squared Error (MSE) ranged between 0.001 and 0.002, further confirming its ability to generalize well on unseen data. To facilitate accessibility and usability, the model was deployed through a Next.js-based web interface, with a Python-powered backend, leveraging containerized architecture via Docker for enhanced scalability and efficiency. This study contributes to the integration of advanced agricultural modeling into real-world farming practices, supporting scalable climate adaptation strategies aimed at safeguarding food security and economic resilience across SSA.
Modeling time-dependent volatility of the USD-KSH exchange rate in the presence of speculation
(Strathmore University, 2025) Irenee, V. I.
Financial markets serve as platforms for the exchange of diverse financial assets like stocks, bonds, currencies, derivatives, and commodities. Their core functions encompass capital allocation, price discovery, and liquidity enhancement. However, market stability is frequently disrupted by speculation. Speculation refers to trading activities driven by expectations of future short-term price changes, rather than the underlying value of an asset (Bachelier, 1900).
Procurement practices and sustainable supply chain performance of healthcare Nongovernmental organizations in Kenya
(Strathmore University, 2025) Masira, E. B.
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing healthcare support in Kenya play a critical role in addressing health challenges within the country. Sustainable supply chain management is pivotal for ensuring the consistent and reliable availability of healthcare resources and understanding the specific dynamics within the procurement practices of NGOs is crucial for optimizing their impact. Enhancing the sustainable supply chain performance of these NGOs not only ensures the efficient delivery of healthcare services but also contributes to the broader goal of building resilient and effective healthcare systems in Kenya, thereby positively impacting public health outcomes. The main aim of this study was to assess the effect of procurement practices on sustainable supply chain performance of local NGOs providing healthcare support in Kenya. Specifically, it examined the influence of supplier selection, contract design, and supplier evaluation. Anchored on resource-based view and institutional theory, the study adopted a descriptive cross-sectional research design, targeting heads of procurement in 65 NGOs. Primary data were collected via structured questionnaires and analysed using SPSS. Diagnostic tests ensured the validity of regression assumptions. Results from multiple linear regression indicated that all three procurement practices had significant positive effects on sustainable supply chain performance, with supplier evaluation being the most influential. The study concluded that integrating comprehensive sustainability criteria into supplier selection, contract design, and supplier evaluation significantly improves sustainable supply chain performance. It is recommended that healthcare NGOs strengthen their procurement processes by embedding sustainability considerations into their policies and operations to promote long-term resilience and efficiency in healthcare delivery.
Effect of Public Financial Management practices on operational performance: a case of Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation
(Strathmore University, 2025) Koech, D. C.
This study investigated the impact of public financial management (PFM) practices on the operational performance of the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) in Kenya. The research focused on three critical aspects of PFM: funding, budgeting processes, and financial reporting, examining their influence on REREC’s ability to deliver efficient and reliable energy services. The specific objectives were to establish the influence of funding on operational performance, to examine the effect of budgeting processes on operational performance, and to assess the impact of financial reporting on operational performance in REREC. Utilizing a quantitative research design, data were collected from 150 managerial staff members through structured questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha was used to verify reliability, and content validity was assessed by consulting domain experts. The study's conceptual framework is grounded in the New Public Financial Management (NPFM) theory and the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework, which collectively provide a comprehensive approach to understanding the interplay between PFM practices and operational performance. The data was analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 29. The findings revealed that effective financial reporting substantially impacts REREC’s operational performance, followed closely by budgeting processes and funding. Despite significant strides in implementing PFM practices, challenges such as delayed budget approvals, inconsistent funding streams and inadequate financial reporting mechanisms hinder REREC's operational efficiency. These issues result in project delays, increased operational costs and reduced customer satisfaction undermining the organization's ability to fulfill its mandate. This research contributes to the theoretical discourse on strategic financial management in public utilities, offering practical recommendations to enhance budgeting, resource allocation and financial reporting in Kenya's energy sector. It emphasizes the need for policy reforms, capacity building and the adoption of advanced financial technologies to strengthen PFM practices, improve service delivery and support Kenya's Vision 2030 goals for universal energy access.