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NGOs, participation and rural development
Vivian, Jessica Maseko, Gladys
Vivian, Jessica
Maseko, Gladys
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DP49.pdf
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"In recent years, a large literature has emerged to explore the possible contribution of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to rural development, and has described a significant potential for development NGOs. By undertaking comparative or case study analysis, it has been able to establish many factors that have contributed to the success of certain NGO initiatives. Partly because of this literature, NGOs are increasingly being called upon to play a larger role in development efforts. However, this same literature also recognizes that the potential shown by some NGOs has not been realized more generally, and that "development NGOs cannot yet claim collectively to have made a contribution to be proud of" (Clark, 1991: 210). Therefore calls are increasingly being made for research which explores the impact of the NGO sector as a whole on development efforts in a particular country. The study described here was designed in part to meet this challenge. The approach taken was to enumerate the assumptions made about development NGOs, and then to test these assumptions in a particular country context: that of Zimbabwe. The study design was based on the premise that a set of relatively untested assumptions are currently held regarding development NGOs, and that these assumptions form the basis of the general understanding of the NGO sector, the policy approach taken to NGOs, and the operations of development NGOs themselves. The study was comprised of three different elements, designed to address different aspects of, and perspectives on, NGO operations. First, a series of interviews was held with groups of rural NGO members. Second, interviews were conducted with professionals - governmental and non-governmental - who deal with problems of rural development. Third, a formal survey of the rural development NGOs operating in the country was carried out. The main findings of the study are given below. As the report indicates, evidence for some of the questions addressed by the research is more conclusive than that for others. In particular, it should be stressed that the research was concerned with only one particular category of NGOs - those carrying out rural development initiatives. Obviously, evidence from this sector is not indicative of the experiences of the entire NGO community. This subset of NGOs was selected because it is quite clearly the fastest growing element of the NGO community, and that to which the bulk of external funds are allocated."(pg 1)
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1994-01
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With permission of the license/copyright holder