Role of Client Education and Policy Implementation. Case of Environmental Policy at Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47672/ajppa.2776Keywords:
Environmental Policy; Street-level Bureaucrats; Client Education; Policy ImplementationAbstract
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to examine the role of street-level bureaucrats in policy implementation in the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry, Kenya. Specifically, the study purposed to assess the role of educating clients on environmental policy implementation in the ministry. Street-level bureaucracy theory was used to explain the phenomenon under investigation.
Materials and Methods: The study adopted a descriptive research design to answer the research questions. Senior officials and lower-echelon officials were targeted for data collection. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques were employed to sample 400 officials for response collection. Interview guides and open-ended questionnaires were used to gather responses. A pilot study was carried out on 5 respondents to test the validity and reliability of data collection instruments. Cronbach’s alpha equal to or greater than 0.7 was used as a yardstick to measure the reliability of data collection instruments. Quantitative data collected were analyzed using SPSS 25 into descriptive and inferential statistics and thereafter presented using pie charts, graphs, means, tables, standard deviations, regression, and correlation. Collected qualitative data were analyzed using content analysis and presented in various themes, narratives, and discourses alongside the main variables of the study. The study was strictly guided by principles underpinning research ethical considerations.
Findings: The study found that client education (β=0.206) significantly influence environmental policy implementation in Kenya. Leadership effectiveness, cooperative consultation, participatory education, trust-building, cultural sensitivity, and multi-channel communication were critical factors enhancing policy outcomes. Street-level bureaucrats engage stakeholders collaboratively, while client education improve understanding, compliance, and behavioral change.
Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice and Policy: The study recommends expanding client education capacity and communication infrastructure.
Downloads
References
Ajulor, O. V. (2018). The challenges of policy implementation in Africa and sustainable development goals. International Journal of Social Sciences, 3(3), 1497-1518.
Baruch, Y., & Holtom, B. C. (2008). Survey response rate levels and trends in organizational research. Human relations, 61(8), 1139-1160.
Baviskar, S., & Winter, S. C. (2017). Street-level bureaucrats as individual policymakers: The relationship between attitudes and coping behavior toward vulnerable children and youth. International Public Management Journal, 20(2), 316-353.
Budnyk, O., Nikolaesku, I., Solovey, Y., Grebeniuk, O., Fomin, K., & Shynkarova, V. (2023). Paulo Freire’s critical pedagogy and modern rural education. Revista Brasileira de Educaзгo do Campo, 1-20.
Davidovitz, M., & Cohen, N. (2022). Which clients inspire or reduce the trust of street-level bureaucrats? Administration & Society, 54(8), 1516-1541.
Eriksson, E., & Johansson, K. (2022). Street-level bureaucrat in the introduction programme–client-centred and authority-centred strategies to handle challenging working conditions. Nordic Social Work Research, 12(5), 698-715.
Eshun, P. A., & Okyere, E. (2017). Assessment of the challenges in policy implementation in the small scale gold mining sector in Ghana–a case study. Ghana Mining Journal, 17(1), 54-63.
Ferreira, V. D. R. S., & Medeiros, J. J. (2016). Factors that shape the behavior of street-level bureaucrats in the public policy implementation process. Cadernos EBAPE. BR, 14, 776-793.
Fritzell, V. (2019). Street-Level Bureaucrats in Homa Bay County, Kenya–A bottom-up implementation analysis of the policies on malaria and gender inequalities.
Howes, M., Wortley, L., Potts, R., Dedekorkut-Howes, A., Serrao-Neumann, S., Davidson, J., ... & Nunn, P. (2017). Environmental sustainability: a case of policy implementation failure?. Sustainability, 9(2), 165.
Hupe, P. (Ed.). (2019). Research handbook on street-level bureaucracy. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Ijeoma, E. O. C., & Dodo, O. C. (2019). The Role of Street-Level Bureaucracy in Development Assistance Management in Third-World Countries. Administratio Publica, 27(4), 216-234.
Khan, A. R. (2016). Policy implementation: Some aspects and issues. Journal of Community Positive Practices, (3), 3-12.
Kipchumba, H. E., Minja, D., & Kiruthu, F. (2021). Factors Influencing the Use of Discretion in The Control of Illicit Brew Trade in Kenya, A Case of Kakamega and Uasin Gishu Counties. African Journal of Alcohol and Drug Abuse (AJADA), 31-40.
Kipo-Sunyehzi, D. D. (2023). Street-level bureaucrat's coping strategies in health policy implementation: a comparative case study from Sawla-Tuna-Kalba district of Ghana. Social Theory & Health, 21(3), 267-285.
Lipsky, M., (1983). BUREAUCRACY, S. L. DILEMMAS OF THE INDIVIDUAL IN PUBLIC SERVICES BY MICHAEL LIPSKY.
Lucy, A. E., Nyangia, O. E., & Orodho, A. (2015). Challenges facing implementation of inclusive education in public secondary schools in Rongo Sub-County, Migori County, Kenya.
Luthfia, A. R., & Alkhajar, E. N. S. (2020). Street-Level Bureaucrat as Policy Implementation Spearhead. In CONVASH 2019: Proceedings of the 1st Conference of Visual Art, Design, and Social Humanities by Faculty of Art and Design, CONVASH 2019, 2 November 2019, Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia (p. 319). European Alliance for Innovation.
Mburu, M., & Makori, M. (2015). Management challenges facing the implementation of youth development projects in Kenya. A case study of youth enterprise funded projects in Nairobi County. Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 2(1).
McCann, P., & Ortega-Argilés, R. (2014). Smart specialisation in European regions: Issues of strategy, institutions and implementation. European Journal of Innovation Management, 17(4), 409-427.
Mwaniki, V. W., & Muna, W. (2023). Street level bureaucracy and implementation of free primary education policy in public primary schools in Embu County, Kenya. Reviewed Journal of Social Science & Humanities, 4(1), 298-314.
Ndlovu, N. P., & Nzuma, T. M. (2024). The implementation of agroforestry in Namibia: A street-level bureaucracy perspective. Forest Policy and Economics, 168, 103299.
Nulty, D. D. (2008). The adequacy of response rates to online and paper surveys: what can be done?. Assessment & evaluation in higher education, 33(3), 301-314.
Pepinsky, T. B., Pierskalla, J. H., & Sacks, A. (2017). Bureaucracy and service delivery. Annual Review of Political Science, 20(1), 249-268.
Pius, S., & Kamugisha, D. (2023). Understanding the strategies street-level bureaucrats develop to deal with inclusive secondary education restraints in selected schools in Tanzania. African Journal of Governance and Public Leadership, 2(1), 35-50.
Pramusinto, A., & Quah, J. S. (2016). Weak central authority and fragmented bureaucracy: A study of policy implementation in Indonesia. The Role of the Public Bureaucracy in Policy Implementation in Five ASEAN Countries, 9, 98.
Rushemuka, M. N. (2019). Assessing local land-use plans implementation process in Huye district of Rwanda: A street-level bureaucrats’ perspective (Doctoral dissertation, University Freiburg).
Shim, D. C., Park, H. H., & Eom, T. H. (2017). Street-level bureaucrats’ turnover intention: Does public service motivation matter?. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 83(3), 563-582.
Stone, D. (2012). Transfer and translation of policy. Policy studies, 33(6), 483-499.
Tuokuu, F. X. D., Gruber, J. S., Idemudia, U., & Kayira, J. (2018). Challenges and opportunities of environmental policy implementation: Empirical evidence from Ghana's gold mining sector. Resources Policy, 59, 435-445.
Vedung, E. (2017). Public policy and program evaluation. Routledge.
Viennet, R., & Pont, B. (2017). Education policy implementation: A literature review and proposed framework.
Wamalwa, E. W. (2015). Implementation challenges of free maternity services policy in Kenya: the health workers’ perspective. Pan African Medical Journal, 22(1).
Zacka, B. (2017). When the state meets the street: Public service and moral agency. Harvard university press.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 DR. Stanely Ontiri Motieri, PHD, DR. Andrew Shangarai Jumanne, PHD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
