October 2015 A research report submitted to the Faculty of Management, University of the Witwatersrand, in 25% fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Management (in the field of Public and Development Management) / Over the last forty to fifty years the industry that supports international development cooperation, has become more complex in its pursuit of multifaceted development objectives. Studies suggest that history, politics and a power differential between aid recipients and the foreign aid workforce undermine the development policy process locally. This study explores local engagement on development policy in Malawi, between public officials/aid recipients and donor-agency practitioners/foreign aid workforce; and the role of the 2008 Paris Declaration (PD) on Aid Effectiveness in this engagement. The two significant findings are that, while there are some adverse effects of history, politics and power in engagement on development policy, there is also evidence of replicable outcomes that can bolster the policy process. Secondly, the democracy model in practice in Malawi is struggling to deliver development policy dividends. The study concludes that both the state and donor agencies working in Malawi should mutually leverage global commitments, domestically, and use them to negotiate an increase in development aid committed to improving the development processes, for greater national ownership. The study specifically recommends the adoption of deliberative democratic development processes. This nuanced approach may improve Malawi’s ability to yield development policy dividends

D.Tech. Organisational Leadership. Business School.

<p>This research was aimed at assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of community based targeting and self-targeting methods in the selection of beneficiaries in Safety nets programmes in Malawi. These methods have been chosen because they have been largely used for selecting beneficiaries in Safety net programmes. The focus was on assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of these methods where effectiveness refers to the ability of the methodology to reach out to the poorest while efficiency is a measure of the costs that are associated with the identification of these people. In order to objectively assessed the challenges associated with these methods, the study concentrated on Public Works Programmes, which targets relatively high number of people compared to the other programmes and have used both methods for identifying beneficiaries.</p>

<p>This research was aimed at assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of community based targeting and self-targeting methods in the selection of beneficiaries in Safety nets programmes in Malawi. These methods have been chosen because they have been largely used for selecting beneficiaries in Safety net programmes. The focus was on assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of these methods where effectiveness refers to the ability of the methodology to reach out to the poorest while efficiency is a measure of the costs that are associated with the identification of these people. In order to objectively assessed the challenges associated with these methods, the study concentrated on Public Works Programmes, which targets relatively high number of people compared to the other programmes and have used both methods for identifying beneficiaries.</p>