One key principle in Mozambican rural development policy is community participation. Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) play an important role in the process. Taking the district of Mocuba, in Zamb6zia province (Mozambique) as an example, this dissertation analyzes the way NGOs implement community participation following national policies and promoting environmental awareness. The study evaluates the implementation of community participation as a critical contributing factor to environmentally oriented. and sustainable development projects by assessing and systematizing NGOs' interpretations and practices through specific development projects. Following its specific objectives, the study focuses on the importance of community participation and the role of NGOs. It characterises NGOs operating in Mocuba, tackling their co-ordination with other development stakeholders, and the extent to which community participation is put into practice. The study also presents and discusses stakeholders' knowledge on the relevant rural development legislation, focussing on NGOs' perceptions, interpretations, experiences, practices, weaknesses, limitations and problems related to community participation and the environment in local development. Although limited in scope to only one district and six NGOs, the present dissertation represents in microcosm the extent to which NGOs know and apply the principle of community participation and environmental issues in response to the country's relevant official policies, particularly considering those findings and discussions on: limited interNGO co-ordination and limited interaction with private enterprises and political parties, limited knowledge about rural development and its legal framework and community participation methodologies, the little weight given to environmental issues, and the token community participation. As a consequence and in line with its conceptual framework this research document appeals also for urgent and critical reassessments in the way development policies are prepared, issued, disseminated, implemented and monitored at relevant levels and by relevant stakeholders. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2002.

There are strong arguments in the literature on development that underdevelopment of rural areas is caused by lack of grassroots participation in the development process. Participation of the rural poor in the whole development process is therefore regarded essential for redressing problems of underdevelopment. This study sets out to explore whether the level of participation of the rural poor is satisfactory and whether the participatory approach is capable of effectively redressing underdevelopment problems. A qualitative, interpretative approach was used in attempting to answer this question. Interviews and questionnaires were used to find information on project, participants and supporting organisations. This information was interpreted and analysed to find out if the current practise of participation has the potential for sustainable development. The study concludes that the current practise of participation has not reached a satisfactorily level required for sustainable development. The main stress on this participation seems to be the weak institutional support which fails to match the development efforts of the poor within the broad spectrum of the rural development process. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1996.

Fishing, and artisanal fishing in particular, plays a key role in the provision of rural employment and more importantly, household food security in the developing nations. The importance of artisanal fishery is shown in Malawi where artisanal fishery produces between 85-95% of the total fish production, and about 70% of the animal protein in human consumption comes from fish. About 43,000 people are employed directly in artisanal fisheries and approximately 100,000150,000 are indirectly employed within the artisanal fishery. Owing to increasing human population in the developing countries coupled with the common property, open-access nature of the fish resource, the resource has not been able to cope with the ever-increasing socio-economic demand placed on it. The resource is so degraded that it is has started to decline beyond capacity to sustain itself. This study was an attempt to examine and understand the artisanal fishery as it contributes to the socio-economic well being of the rural population particularly, the enclave communities of Lake Malawi National Park. The present study used structured interviews, focus group interviews, key informant interviews and personal observation to collect socio-economic information of the fishery. These research tools revealed that among the enclave communities income levels are low and unsustainable due to declining productivity of fishing. The decline may be a result of increasing human population, weak community-based institutions, limited agriculture, poor infrastructure with regard to processing and marketing of fish, limited supplementary and alternatives economic activities, and the fishing methods. Documentary information was used to contextualize artisanal fishery, to examine and understand the common-property and open-access nature of the fish resource as it relates to the exploitation Of fish among the enclave communities. Integrated development that brings together conservation and socio-economic development is the only option that will increase the income of the enclave communities to sustainable levels and achieve the Park's conservation objectives. The socio-economic intervention options should include provision of basic social facilities such as education, health, safe water etc, increase the economic power of the enclave communities through irrigation, adding more value to the fishery, engaging in aquarium trade, community-based eco-tourism and beekeeping. These options would lead to socio-economic sustainability among the enclave communities and would bring about the conservation objectives of the Park. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Harvard University, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 535-546).

M.Ed. / With the democratic government in place in 1994, many donor agents put a lot of money into rural community development. This was done with the hope of addressing disparities that were caused by the apartheid era. Yet the availability of funds for rural communities has often not resulted in development as anticipated. This study looks at how community development projects should be planned, implemented and monitored. A case study of the Boschkop sanitation project has been used. In this case interviews, documents and observations (to a limited extent) were used to gather information. Two members of the Regional Sanitation Task Team, three Project Steering Committee members, three community members and two trainers were interviewed. Documents, ranging from the business plan to the closure report, were used. The data were analysed using the constant comparative method. From the data analysis it became apparent that the Boschkop sanitation project was not successful. The project was implemented over a very short period of time. There was not sufficient education on the project as the participants were not afforded the opportunity to apply what they had learned immediately. The community was not involved in making decisions and somehow they do not think they own the project. The study shows that reckless disbursement of money is not necessarily a solution to a problem. For rural community development projects to be successful there should be sufficient time allowed, a period of at least twelve months, to allow the participants to be actively involved right from the inception of the project to its evaluation. During the planning phase all the stakeholders have to indicate what it is they would like the project to achieve. Indicators of success have to be agreed upon

Digital geographical information systems (GIS) are tools for handling spatial data. Initially developed in First World countries, the technology is fast being taken up as a tool for handling spatial information by many Third World countries. GIS has been used for any number of applications involving spatial data, one of its primary uses has been in various planning fields where the advantages offered to planners by the technology have been highlighted by a number of publications and studies. GIS has been actively used as an urban planning tool in South Africa since the mid-1980s, (Vosloo 1987) however its use as a tool for rural planning has not developed to the same extent. As early as 1986 reference was made to the possible advantages offered by GIS to rural planning in South Africa (Fincham 1986). Despite this early recognition, the use of GIS in the rural planning sphere remains negligible. This study examines the. possible reasons for this by attempting to answer the question, "is GIS appropriate to rural planning in South Africa?" A number of approaches to rural planning are practised in South Africa. This study examines the appropriateness of applying GIS to one of these approaches, rural community development planning. Components of the study included i) an examination of the issues affecting the use of GIS in the rural development field, achieved through the use of a literature and questionnaire survey and ii) a case study examining the feasibility of incorporating GIS as a tool to the Shixini Development Project, Transkei. The study does not examine the intricacies of rural development theory, but it does acknowledge the fact that the approach employed by an organisation to rural development will have important implications concerning the use of a GIS in a project. The approach adopted to a project affects amongst others the administrative structure, the planning process, the flow of spatial data and its use, and consequently the possible role of GIS. The Shixini Rural Development Project was classified as a community development project, and as a result the study concentrates on this approach to rural development. This may limit the study to a particular planning process, however most rural case studies will have certain aims and factors which are unique to its situation. In order to place the results of the Shixini case study in a wider context the results of the study are linked to the questionnaire and literature survey. From this basis the usefulness of GIS in the rural development sphere was examined. Available literature on GIS indicates that the majority of problems associated with GIS rarely reside with the technology itself but rather with its supporting mechanisms. The study identified and concentrated on these support mechanisms, both at the project level and what is referred to in the study as the operating environment in South Africa. The results of the study revealed that a number of problems exist with regard to the attitude with which GIS is regarded in development organisations. It was found that these attitudes are legitimately based on a number of problems associated with incorporating the technology into project based organisations. It was concluded that GIS was appropriate to rural community planning, but is presently limited to certain aspects of the planning process and possibly to certain applications.

Rural community participation in tourism-based developments in and around protected areas has emerged as a major trend in the Developing world during the last three decades. The basic design of rural community participation in tourism-based developments involves the empowerment of rural communities to participate in such a way in the planning and management of these developments that they have a greater level of control on the effects that these developments have on them and on their environment. The motivation behind the popularity of the approach towards participatory development stems from the dissatisfaction with the centrally driven, top-down type of development that originated during the previous century and out of a desire to purposefully involve rural communities to the extent where they can effectively and sustainably develop and manage their resources. The research of this study presents an analysis of the participation of the Mbila community of the Sodwana Bay National Park in the tourism-based developments of the region. The literature in the study revealed that the principal fundamentals of rural community participation in tourism-based developments reside in the empowerment of the community to be able to involve themselves sufficiently in the tourism-based developments of their region. The focus of the research was therefore on determining the quality of the empowerment that the Mbila community enjoy and on the subsequent levels of control that this empowerment provides them with. The research results revealed however, that although the community seems to be sufficiently empowered to legally participate in the tourism-based developments of their area, they are still not involved to the degree that this participation generates meaningful changes to their overall livelihood. The reasons for these low levels of participation include aspects such as the harshness of the physical environment and the subsequent limited development opportunities in the area; the prevalence of insufficient levels of education and training; difficulties experienced in the communication between some of the institutions and the presence of certain forms of restrictive legislation. The study argues that satisfactory levels of participation can only be achieved if these difficulties are overcome to the extent where they permit community participation that achieves the enhancement of the quality of life for the Mbila community. Copyright / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Geography, Geoinformatics and Meteorology / MSc / Unrestricted

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Magister Technologiae: Civil Engineering and Survey, M.L Sultan Technikon, 2002. / The new South African Government that came into power in 1994 faced a daunting task of undoing the political injustices of the past. The government immediately introduced a Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) to address these injustices / M

The current study aimed to evaluation of a Rural Development project in this case the (Kabelo Trust), by evaluating the factors that contributes to its sustainability even though 70% of the members did not undergo high school education. Qualitative research methods was employed in gathering accurate information from the project members about the strategies that they are employing in sustaining the project while many government funded project does not last for even a year. The involvement of the stakeholders like Setsoto Local Municipality, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, the role they played in the project was also explored. It was therefore suggested by the researcher that the main stakeholder which is the Department of Agriculture should assist the project in establishing market for products in other countries.