Pervasive low levels of education and weak civil society activism in poor rural communities are cited as constraining factors for participatory development (PD), resulting in technical capacity for participation being...Pervasive low levels of education and weak civil society activism in poor rural communities are cited as constraining factors for participatory development (PD), resulting in technical capacity for participation being skewed against the community participants. This paper highlights the outcomes of a research study that examined the applicability of the participatory development concept in conditions characterised by low levels of education and weak civil society. The research was undertaken in two rural villages in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, utilising both quantitative and qualitative approaches entailing interviews with 18 key informants followed by two focus group discussions each with seven participants respectively. The research found that rural communities were not aware of the government policy placing people participation at the centre of rural development interventions;and that they would not support it as they believed it was government's role to champion their development. The research also found that the government officials that lead the implementation effort of the rural development programmes did not believe that the participation policy was practical, citing capacity limitations among rural communities. The researcher recommends a moderated rural people participation process, which features creation of a facilitative institutional infrastructure to optimise productive participation of rural people in local development processes.展开更多
文摘Pervasive low levels of education and weak civil society activism in poor rural communities are cited as constraining factors for participatory development (PD), resulting in technical capacity for participation being skewed against the community participants. This paper highlights the outcomes of a research study that examined the applicability of the participatory development concept in conditions characterised by low levels of education and weak civil society. The research was undertaken in two rural villages in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, utilising both quantitative and qualitative approaches entailing interviews with 18 key informants followed by two focus group discussions each with seven participants respectively. The research found that rural communities were not aware of the government policy placing people participation at the centre of rural development interventions;and that they would not support it as they believed it was government's role to champion their development. The research also found that the government officials that lead the implementation effort of the rural development programmes did not believe that the participation policy was practical, citing capacity limitations among rural communities. The researcher recommends a moderated rural people participation process, which features creation of a facilitative institutional infrastructure to optimise productive participation of rural people in local development processes.
