Community participation is commonly understood as the collective involvement of people in accessing the programmes and projects that are designed to cater for their needs. The importance of community participation in millennium development goals wealth creation programmes and project is not negotiable. The study examined the effects of community participation on rural development with reference to Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) wealth creation programmes in Anambra State. The sample size of 318 respondents was determined through multistage sampling technique. Evidence from the result revealed that, Anambra State MDGs has initiated and implemented various rural wealth creation programmes at different communities in the state findings also revealed that beneficiaries (community) are significantly involved (grand mean = 3.228) in the initiation and implementation of rural wealth creation programmes and projects in Anambra State. Also the finding revealed that community participation has positive effects on rural community development. Therefore, in a bid to strengthen community participation in developmental project and programmes the researcher recommends the following Since the wealth creation programmes are targeted at the beneficiaries (community) the MDGs should endeavour to adopt Community Driven Development (CDD) strategy, where they will give the community (beneficiaries) more platform to actively participate, from initiation stage to the implementation stage that is before, during and after the execution of the projects and programmes.. Finally, the MDGs should set up management committees of various communities of intervention and also establish independent monitoring team that will evaluate the level of project implementation.
Keywords: Community Participation; Wealth Creation; Millennium Development Goals; Rural Development
