Abstract
The study examined sustainable community development and poverty alleviation strategies in Bende LGA, Abia State. The study was guided by four research questions. The study adopted correlation research design with the population of 165 President Generals of all the town unions in the 13 communities that make up the study area. There was no sampling as the population was manageable by the researcher. The instrument for data collection were two questionnaire developed by the researcher titled Poverty Reduction Strategy Questionnaire (PRSQ) and Community Development Questionnaire (CDQ). The instruments were validated by two experts in the Department of Adult and Continuing Education and one from Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Science Education all in Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike. The reliability of the instruments were 0.82 and 0.78 for each cluster and the overall reliability coefficient index of 0.82 which was established using Cronbach’s Alpha Statistics. The research questions were answered using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMC) while the null hypotheses were analysed using Linear regression at 0.05 level of significance. The findings revealed that there was a high positive correlation between community participation, entrepreneurship, skill acquisition and women empowerment and community development in Bende LGA, Abia State. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that Local government and development organizations should promote active community participation in decision-making processes. This can be achieved by establishing forums where community members contribute to identifying development needs and proposing solutions. When communities take ownership of projects, there is a greater chance of successful implementation and sustainability, also the promotion of local entrepreneurship is essential for economic development in Bende LGA among others. DOI: https://doie.org/10.50390/NCAEJ.2026584330