Department of Anthropology & Development Studies
NGOs, Development and Underdevelopment
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT AND
EMPOWERMENT
ORIGINS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT
Development is about releasing the
community of the poor from the poverty
trap so that they can take responsibility for
their own destiny.
Developmentis not about placing facilities
among the poor or creating infrastructure.
Development is not about giving relief to
poor people.
DEFINITION OF DEVELOPMENT CONT…
Development is not purely an economic phenomenon but rather a
multi-dimensional process involving reorganization and reorientation
of entire economic AND social system
Development is process of improving the quality of all human lives
with three equally important aspects. These are:
1. Raising peoples’ living levels, i.e. incomes and consumption, levels
of food, medical services, education through relevant growth
processes
2. Creating conditions conducive to the growth of peoples’ self-
esteem through the establishment of social, political and economic
systems and institutions which promote human dignity and respect
3. Increasing peoples’ freedom to choose by enlarging the range of
their choice variables, e.g. varieties of goods and services
THE CONCEPT OF A COMMUNITY
Community is defined as a group of members who live in a
certain locality and interact with one another while
sharing common interests or goals.
It is a group of people who stay in the same geographical
area, have same cultural background and language
DEFINITION OF COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
Community development is a process where
community members come together to take
collective action and generate solutions to
common problems.
Community wellbeing (economic, social,
environmental and cultural) often evolves from
this type of collective action being taken at a
grassroots level.
ORIGINS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
The democratic French revolution and Britain as well as Second World
War played a vital role in the existence of comm. dev
The above three events were the major reason for the emergence of
community development
The word ‘community’ was first introduced by UK as the ‘As Bridge
Conference’ in 1945
During Second World War comm. dev. programme was started for the
rehabilitation of the affected victims
In 1940-1945 the World Bank introduced to give loans
In 1950 USA introduced technical assistance programme for the
assistance of rural areas
ORIGINS OF COMMUNITY CONT …
The community development programme was
launched on a pilot basis in 1952 to provide for a
substantial increase in the country's agricultural
programme, and for improvements in systems of
communication, in rural health and hygiene, and
in rural education and also to initiate and direct a
process of integrated culture
In 1953 other agencies of United Nations began to
introduce coordination development program all
over the world
ORIGINS OF COMMUNITY CONT …
In Africa, communities have been engaged in activities to improve the
well-being of their members
Early forms of human societies were based on mainly on hunting and
gathering, while
Modern societies are sustained mainly by agriculture and industrial
activities
The principle of community involvement and collaboration in life
sustaining activities remain the same
Therefore community development is as old as societies
In the Third World countries, community development became a
popular approach in the 1950s and early 1960s
This growth of community development in the Third World was
influences by experiences and initiatives both inside and outside these
countries
ORIGINS OF COMMUNITY CONT …
The experience gained from community
improvement and social welfare programmes in
the US and Britain in the 1930s contributed the
comm. dev
The term ‘community development’ gained its
popular use in the 1940s
Inthe US community development in the 1930s
focused on improving the welfare of rural
community
On the other hand, social welfare programmes in
the both US and Britain were geared towards
ORIGINS OF COMMUNITY CONT …
In Africa community development resulted from the
actions of British Colonial Office
After World War II the British office decided to use
community development principles to encourage their
socio-economic development
Continued survival of community development
programmes in countries became heavily dependent on
foreign financial assistance, mainly US and United Nations
Organisation
The collapse of these community development
programmes in the late 1960s came to be associated with
the withdrawal of aid
ORIGINS OF COMMUNITY CONT …
Development can be approached and divided into two categories:
i) Growth-centred- theories of development and strategies of development,
economic growth forms an important goal.
-Well-being of society is depended on it
ii) People-centred- referred to as theories of human development
-People are at the centre of development
-Growth-centred strategies of dev. Recognise
human
well-being as the final goal of development
The differences between the two is that the other stresses on economic
issues and the other on human factors
Community development seeks to promote human development, empower
communities and strengthening their capacity for self-sustaining
CHARACTERISTICS OF COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
Community development is widely used in rural areas of the Third World
Its principles are applicable in the urban areas as well
The most principle of community development is that it follows an integrated
approach to the problems of poverty and development
Integration in community development has two major implications:
i) The problems of development are complicated and should be tackled
together in coordinated fashion
-It emphasises the fact that social, political and cultural aspects should
be treated together with the economic aspects
ii) Different role-players in development should coordinate their efforts
-NGO’s, governments, and local communities should work together
towards an integrated rural development
1. Felt Needs
The people must define their needs, not the government or any agent
NGO’s and government that wants to be effective in its development
effort must engage in dialogue with intended beneficiaries to
determine their needs
Due to lack of access to info local communities may not be able to
clearly define their needs
The community development workers (CDW’S) can help them to
clarify these needs and prioritise them
Communities need to distinguish between the needs inducement and
manipulation to make them see needs imposed from outside
Inducement can mean that local communities are served with info
that will enable them to see the broad picture
2. Community Participation
Peoples participation forms the basis of community development
Community development is directed at promoting better living for people,
especially disadvantaged communities
The success of this approach is not reflected in changes in national economic
growth figures such as gross domestic product (GNP)
Economic growth figures only give us average standards of living in a country
Through active participation people can determine whether there is real
improvement in communities
Community development is based on community projects
Residents must participate in defining the content
Community based organisation (CBO’s) are the vehicle through which
community participation takes place
These CBO’s can take different forms, such as farmers unions, youth clubs,
project committees
3. Educative Process
Community development must improve the ability of people to deal
with challenges confronting them
Community development becomes a learning process:
i) People learn technical skills, eg farming, brick-making, sewing,
knitting
ii) People acquire administrative skills through community
development
- They learn to keep records, conduct meetings, manage time
and people
People learn to resolve their own conflicts and solve problems
together
They learn to become self-reliant and work together
MAJOR ROLE-PLAYERS IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
1. Local people are the main actors in the development of their communities
They must be in the forefront of shaping and determining the direction of their own
development agenda
CBO’s are the primary actors in community development
2. Governments are also role-players in the development of local communities
The cooperation of government and support is necessary for its success
Government can provide financial assistance, technical advise, and training
3. NGO’s - their strength lies in organising the communities and influence
government policies towards community development
NGO’s also give financial support to communities
Private business enterprises fall in this category which finance community projects
MAJOR ROLE-PLAYERS CONT…
4. Another major actor in community development is the community
development worker (CDW’s)
This person is also referred as the group organiser, group animator or
change agent
CDW’s also act as consultants to local people
The main function is:
i) Encourage group formation
ii) Facilitate access of the people or their CBOs to outside
resources
iii) Act as a source of relevant info which is not available to local
people
A change agent must be someone selected from the members of the
community or employee or government or an NGO
Change agents need to trained properly for their jobs
PROBLEMS IN IMPLENTING COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
The widespread failure of community development programmes was
due to financial problems, caused by aid withdrawal
Most of the benefits of development tendered to go to the rich and
not the poor
The failure of government to decentralise decision-making power was
another factor
Development projects were taken in national government
Communities never took an interest in ensuring the success of these
projects which they see as government projects
Failure of governments to provide trained community workers
Financial constraints and lack of understanding concerning the role
played by the CDWs
The problems never fulfilled the promise of alleviating poverty
RELATED DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES
In 1960s community development programmes in the Third World lost its
popularity
Attention was turned towards the ‘green revolution’ as a strategy to
overcome rural poverty
Green revolution strategy focused on the enhancement of agricultural
production by improved seeds, fertilisers, advanced machinery and other
technological innovations to farmers
Farmers could not afford these inputs and they did not benefit from
green revolution
New strategy overlooked the issue of equitable distribution of the
benefits of development and need for participation of the poor people
The failure of the green revolution to address the problems of the Third
World poverty led to a re-emergence of strategies similar to comm. dev
in the 1970s
RELATED DEVELOPMENT CONT…
These were basic need approach (BNA) and integrated
rural development (IRD).
The BNA says that the goal of development is to ensure
that the basic needs of the majority of poor are satisfied
Basic needs include psychological needs such as food,
shelter, clothing, education and health
Problems such as inadequate education, health, transport
facilities make it difficult for the poor to play a
meaningful role in development
The social and political factors affect economic
production
Both the BNA and IRD emphasise peoples participation in
development
UNDERDEVELOPMENT
Very easy to focus on characteristics of development
For example we know that underdevelopment is usually characterized
by: low per capita incomes, low literacy and educational attainment,
lack of basic services- water and power
But how do we EXPLAIN underdevelopment?
Old view that absence of development caused by certain physical
environments, particular cultural traditions and value systems-
environmental and cultural determinism
Lack of natural resources certainly impediment to development
UNDERDEVELOPMENT CONT…
Instability and other adverse internal situations- political factors
Some truth to this as extended periods of turbulence are not
conducive to development- central African nations with tribal rivalries
and ethnic cleansing
Poor physical environment- lack of rainfall, poor soils also may pose
barriers to development
High Birth Rate> Large Families> Poverty> Low Output Per Worker>
Low Productivity> Poor Health>Inadequate Housing
Remedy > massive aid
CONCLUSSION
Of the poor in South Africa:
72% live in rural areas mainly in the Eastern Cape, Free State, North
West, Limpopo & KwaZulu-Natal
Poverty predominant among Blacks (61%) followed by Coloured’s
(38%), Indians (5%) then Whites (1%).
There is a clear relationship between poverty & the size of the
household, large households with many dependents are generally
much poorer.
Female-headed households poorer than male-headed
Poverty in SA has a strong rural, race, gender bias.
(Black, rural women bear the brunt of poverty in South Africa).
