DEPARTMENT SOCIAL WORK, FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES, UNIVERSITY

OF BENIN, BENIN CITY, NIGERIA

COURSE TITLE: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT THEORIES

COURSE CODE: BSW311

COURSE LECTURER: DR. SUNNY OMIGIE

A. COURSE DESCRIPTION

Community Development as a course attempts a critical examination of the concepts,

approaches, planning and administration of community development programmes. The course

also examines the assumption and limitations of major development theories and their

applicability in Nigeria. To achieve these, topics such as the meaning of the concepts

community, development and community development are examined. Other topics like

approaches to community development including matching grant approach, the directive

approach, non directive approach, sectoral approach etc and the problems associated with each

approach is discussed.

Besides, Government’s recent innovations in the area of community development in Nigeria are

exhaustively discussed. Attention is paid to the developmental efforts of such programmes as

Directorate for Food, Road and Rural Infrastructure (DIFFRI) National Directorate of

Employment (NDE), Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programmes (SURE-P) to

mention but a few. The availability of both local and international Non-Governmental

Organizations (NGOs) as good sources of funding for community development programmes are

also discussed. Mention again is made of such international NGOS like CSDP, SEEFOR,

USAID, UNICEF, DFID etc.

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B: Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the Semester it is expected that students will have had enough knowledge of what

community development is, know that government cannot bring about the needed development

alone but that as Social Workers they can unite the efforts of the people themselves with that of

government to bring the needed development to the community.

Students are also expected to know the different approaches to community development and

based on that knowledge will be able to determine and adopt the best approach that suits the

community they would work in.

Also they will have been equipped with the requisite skills and knowledge to serve as a link

between the community and government, community and local or international Non-

Governmental Organizations (NGOs). For example developmental agencies like SEEFOR,

CSDP which are World Bank funded are very active in the development of local communities in

Edo State.

COURSE OUTLINE

1. Definition of Concept
 Community-Meaning, Characteristics/Features
 Development
 Community Development
2. Basic Assumptions of Community Development
 Scope of Community Development
 The Roles of Community Development Workers
 Mobilization
3. Principles of Community Development
4. Approaches to Community Development
5. Planning, Administration/Organization of Community Development Programmes

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6. Recent innovations in Community Development in Nigeria
7. Appropriate Monitoring Strategies and Evaluation of Community Development
programmes

Recommended Text: The Dynamics of community Development: The Nigerian

Approach by Prince Francis E. O. Omoruyi (PhD)

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 TOPIC 1

DEFINITION OF CONCEPTS

Community: The concept community has been defined variously by different scholars but here
we are going to consider two of such definitions.

To Anyawu (1999) community can be commonly and popularly viewed in terms of all people or
a group of people living within a specific geographical area such as a village, a town or a city, a
neighbourhood or even a whole state.

Again a community can be perceived as a group of people who share or perform the same or
similar functions such as a farming group, education, cultural, religious group among others.
This second definition does not include every person within the same geographical area or
boundary but only those who perform the same or similar functions or who have the same
function in common.

CHARACTERISITICS/FEATURES OF A COMMUNITY

Generally and in the broad sense, a community has the following features or characteristics.

 Shared territory: This means that the people or members of the group occupy a
territorial area within which they live and develop their way of life. It is this
feature that gives the members their sense of identity.
 Shared belief: This refers to the belief system developed and highly cherished by
the people. This feature helps to shape and develop their common attitude, values.
Ideas and objectives.
 Shared bound of fellowship: This is explored by the demand of obligations from
citizens and the conferment of benefits upon them. This feature also helps to
differentiate one member of the community from another.
 Set standard or pattern of behaviour: This implies that the group has culturally
prescribed mutual actions and reactions or behavior for its members. Therefore,
no member can wholly cut-off himself from such social relations or behavior.
Members are expected all the time to comply with these ideals.

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  Common culture: This refers to the aggregate of the social norms, ends or
means, ethical, intellectual, artistic, industrial attainments of the community and
by which it can be distinguished from any other community. This feature is the
most remarkable of a community and is jealously guarded by the people in all
forms.

Development

In the 1950s and 1960s, development was used purely in the economic sense: in this regard, it
was conceived in term of the capacity of a national economy, whose initial economic condition
has been more or less static for a long time to generate and sustain an annual increase of its gross
national product, rates of five to seven percent or more. The emphasis here is on the growth in
economic and tangible sense without a corresponding improvement in the condition of living of
the vast majority of people. It was as fallout of this, that Okafor and Onokeroraye (1986) defined
development as the growth of per capital Gross National product (GNP). They add that
development is planned alteration of the structure of production and employment in such a way
that the contributions of agriculture decline while the contribution of the manufacturing and
service industry grows. To these scholars development means a growth in the Gross National
Product (GNP).

Thereafter came the realization that there could be growth without development. A consideration
of the human element in the conception of development is usually important.

This understanding led to the advocate for alternative approach to the definition of development.
Consequently the multidimensional process of development which includes change in structure,
growth, the reduction of inequality and eradication of absolute poverty was given expression in
the new concept of development. Emphasis is now placed on remarkable and sustained improved
socioeconomic, political and cultural wellbeing of the people. Real development is therefore
measured in terms of human development index (HDI). In the light of the above we want to look
at the definition of development as given by Oduaran (1994) where he defined development as
implying some form of change usually from a prior bad or poor condition of living to a better
one.

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Community Development

In its broad sense, community development is seen as a process in the life of a community by
which the people plan and act together for the satisfaction of their felt needs and according to
Anyanwu (1991), its primary aim is to bring about change for better living through the willing
cooperation of the people themselves.

Historically the concept of community development was first used in 1948 at the Cambridge
Conference on African Administration organized by the British Colonial Office (Oduaran 1994)
and it was seen then as meaning the same thing as Mass Education and was defined as “A
movement designed to promote better living for the whole community with the active
participation and if possible, on the initiative of the community, but when this is not forthcoming
spontaneously, by the use of techniques for arousing and sustaining it in order to secure its active
enthusiastic response to the movement. But in recent times, the United Nations (UN) has
summarized community development to means:

‘The process by which the efforts of the people themselves are united with those of
governmental authorities to improve the economic, social and cultural conditions of
communities, to integrate these communities into the life of the nation and to enable them to
contribute fully to national progress’.

This definition today has found the widest universal acceptance. We can see in the definition,
the emphasis on the people as the rallying point for community development.

Objectives of community Development

Community development process aims at bringing about improvements in the life of people
through changes in the condition of their community. It is a complex process through which the
people are educated. This means that the people must be stimulated to a point at which they
become desirous of better things and sustain the urge to attain such better things. It is on this the
objectives of community development is based.

One major objective of community development is the education and motivation of the people
for self-help. This is done by raising the awareness or morale of the people to the extent that they

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become desirous and willing to bring about better standard of living for themselves through or
depending on their own efforts.

Another objective of community development is the development of responsible leadership. In

other words, community development provides a forum for leadership training. A well explained
programme of community development can produce leaders both men and women who have
adequate grasp of the objective that community seek to achieve and also acquire the necessary
skills, knowledge and character for handling such task.

The third major objective of community development is to inculcate in the people or members of
the community a sense of citizenship and the spirit of civic consciousness. The people must learn
that they can only achieve the development they desire through their own efforts supplemented
by external or governmental assistance.

The next objective is to introduce and strengthen democracy at the grassroot level through the
creation of institutions designed to serve as instruments of local participation. This is very
important because community development makes use of existing local organizations or
institutions within the community. Community development relies on local leadership to
stimulate the interest of the people.

Another important objective is to initiate in the people, a self-generative, self-sustaining and

enduring process of growth. In the course of community development, the people learn that they
must not wait for readymade solutions to their problems worked out by outsiders without any
link with the community. The community has to be able through constant practice, find out its
problems and initiate action aimed at solving or finding solutions to the problems relying as
much as possible on the efforts of the people.

Community development is also aimed at bringing about gradual and self-chosen changes in the
life of the community. It enables people to identify what is good for them through assessment of
their needs. The people therefore must be able to choose their own programme based on their felt
need and decide on a favourable pace on how to achieve their set goal.

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 TOPIC 2

BASIC ASSUMPTIONS OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Community development operates on the assumption that people need change and possess the
potential for inducing change with a view to improving their individual conditions and those of
the community in which they live. Community development demands that activities undertaken
must be in response to the felt need or basic need of the people. This means that programme or
projects should be initiated in accordance with the identified or expressed needs of the people
since it is a people centred process.

Local participation and involvement are important ingredients of community development. This
implies that those who stand to benefit from development must be committed and regard all parts
of the community development as their own.

Although communities are expected to execute their programmes relying on their own resources,
the contributions of external agencies are quite important. It therefore means that projects
executed require both local and government to make them fully effective.

Where members of the community are apathetic or indifferent to the process of change, the
desire for better living can be generated by helping them to develop the awareness of need and
the imagination for better living condition.

Scope of community Development

One crucial thing that emanates from the definition of community development is the fact that it
can operate in different field. This portrays community development as multi-purpose and inter-
sectorial in natural. In rural areas for example, the component or scope of community
development include agriculture, irrigation, rural industries, education, health, housing, etc.
while in urban areas, community development covers a wide range of similar activities.

Specifically, the scope of community development includes Health, Rural Regeneration,

Education, Urban Renewal and Extension Services.

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Health: In the area of health, community development caters for public health campaign,
environmental sanitation and healthy family living, the use of preventive and curative medicine.

Socially, community development also seek to organize the local people to take active part or
become interested in activities or local programmes designed to bring about healthier and more
happy living of the people. Such local programmes include music and dance, care of the destitute
and assisting people to imbibe the tenets of Planned Parenthood etc.

Rural regeneration

One problem which community development seeks to address is rural neglect in term of
development. The neglect of the rural areas can be traced to intensive urbanization. This had led
to the emigration to the capitals of urban areas (human and material resources) which would
have been useful in the development of the rural areas. Rural regeneration is an activity centred
around the taking of initiatives by the people themselves with a view to developing their
community or bring about better living for the people. This also means helping the people to
sustain those factors that have always kept the rural communities afloat. Rural regeneration for
example can embrace the formation of cooperatives and vigilante group.

Education

Community development also has education as one its components. Community development
can be in form of campaign against illiteracy in which case extra mural classes can be conducted
for drop outs. Functional literacy, mass literacy, job training facilities and programme can be
mounted for the people.

Education in community development therefore, provides services to illiterate adults but does
more than that it provides the function of informing, enlightening and educating the people. It is
frequently geared towards developing the local leadership which is badly needed or community
development to take place.

Urban renewal

Community development programme has resulted in the transformation of many rural areas into
urban areas. Community development in this direction is oriented towards the amelioration of the

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dislocations accompanying urbanization. Community development in this area can take the form
of the provision of community centres, formation of community associations like civil defense
groups, development of neighbourhood units, community school or the construction of tangible
projects such as town hall, roads, markets, etc.

Extension Services

Extension services in community development takes the form of public enlightenment about
various subjects such as pest control, use of fertilizer and land use decree, village layout, etc.

The role of community development workers

The community development worker is a highly, trained and academically skilled professional,
working at the level of the local community. His aim is to help create in the people the awareness
of the need and the means to meet such needs. It is for this reason he is often referred to as
change agent or a catalyst for change. His training and wide spectrum of area of interest makes
him a worker of different parts.

To this end, a community development worker performs the following duties.

1. Enables communities to organize themselves in order to maintain and sustain

development process in the community. As an enabler he promotes organization in the
community by encouraging members to verbalize their feelings of discontent in order to
remove the barriers to the nourishment of good interpersonal relations and cooperative
work.
2. Guides the community to achieve the desired change or development. In other words, as a
guide he provides the expert direction aimed at an end or target. In this wise, he helps
community to identify and articulate their needs or problems as well as in finding
solutions to the problems or achieving its goals. He takes the initiative of working with
the people, associating himself with the entire community and letting the people know
and understand his role as a change agent or motivator in the change process.
3. Provides expert services that would facilitate the attainment of the planned change. To
this end he provides skill for research at the local level meant to foster information about
the community and diagnose its problems. In his capacity as an expert, he should know

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 where and how to get materials on any project being contemplated. He is also expected to
provide expert assistance as to how and where resources and government, private
concerns and international cooperation and assistance can be secured or obtained. He
advises on the methods to use or the organizational procedure that will be most suitable
or effective for selecting leaders for the people.
4. Provides therapeutic services. His role as a therapist includes diagnosing and treatment of
the community’s problems as a whole. To facilitate the efficient performance of this task,
he is expected to examine the origin, beliefs, taboos practices, the social roots of these
beliefs, customs, the social relationships and their role which are established in the
community. He should also consider factors affecting community integration (cohesion)
social structure (Differences in pattern of behavior, relationships between groups or the
degree of cohesion).

These numerous roles of the change agent in community development portray him as a
motivator, hardworking, intelligent, confident, sympathetic, sincere, determined, a cultivator,
resourceful, great forecaster and generous.

Mobilization

Mobilization is simply a process of gingering the people up to be part of the process of

change. It is also a movement or campaign to activate the masses who were supposed to be
actively involved in the process of change but have remained inactive. Mobilization therefore
serve as a vehicle for galvanizing the people into some kind of action, the objective of which
the people must remain committed to.

For mobilization to be effective, the people must be convinced about the object for which
they are being mobilized. It is this element of conviction that gives force to mobilization.
Mobilization also implies organizing the people for collective action aimed at the
achievement of an objective. To achieve this goal, we must make use of community structure
and solidarity. In planning to mobilize the people we must consider the collective action
based on social solidarity, social networks available for mobilizing people and the incentives
that go along with it.

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How to mobilize or ways to mobilize the people for development

Mobilization as earlier mentioned implies inducing them to accept change. Human beings are
known to be resistant to change but not incapable of accepting change. When the people are
reluctant in accepting change the development worker can do much to reverse the situation.
His training is expected to enable him to perform or live up to this task. There are different
techniques of mobilizing people to accept change. The most common way to achieve this is
to go by way of enlightenment, using educational campaign tactics. But this could be very
difficult process. A safer option therefore would be embrace to the use of

 Reaching the community through the influential and vested interest group within the
local environment
 Persuasion of one family to participate in a mini demonstration project thereby
committing them and using them as objects of comparison.
 Getting the influential to show interest and commitment to the programme by
informing them of the achievements of neighbouring communities.
 Involving members of the community in a series of acts which may seem unimportant
but which nevertheless constitute a series of cogent side bets so much so that they
find themselves willing to do them.

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 TOPIC 3

PRINCIPLES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Community development organization and practice involve the use of a number of terms which
are central and essential to the attainment of the universal goal of community development which
has to do with the elimination of such limiting circumstances of life such as poverty, hunger,
ignorance, sickness and fear in a bid to bring about improvement in the standard of living of a
people.

Therefore the successful organization, planning and execution of community development

programmes or projects require the effective integration of these various elements or principles
and adherence to the underlying ideas in them. These elements or principles include citizen
participation, self-help, self-growth, self-reliance and felt need.

We will examine briefly these principles one after the other.

The principle of citizen participation

Citizen participation is often used interchangeably with other similar concepts such as popular
participation. Citizen participation occurs in community development when the change agent
(community development worker) and members of a given community share in the formation
and execution of proposals or plans and programmes designed to bring about improvement in the
living condition of the community. The issue of citizen participation emphasizes the initiative of
the people as a means of stimulating the active participation of all citizens in the work of
community development. This means that the stimulus needed to ensure the success of
community development programme implementation must come from the community itself and
governmental authorities concerned.

The principle of citizen participation stipulates that the people should take active part in planning
execution, assessment and utilization of the social amenities or facilities designed for the
improvement or uplifting of the living standard or wellbeing of the people and their community:
it stresses the initiative of the people as a means of stimulating the active participation or
involvement of all citizens in the work of community development.

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Community participation can be in two forms namely voluntary and involuntary participation. It
is voluntary when such participation is readily provided without any attempt to stimulate it while
it is involuntary when it is stimulated by the development worker or change agent or other
specialists for that matter meaning that in this case a deliberate effort is made to encourage the
people to be part or get involved in the planned process of change. Community participation
enhances the possibility or success in the execution of programmes designed for better living in
rural communities. It also gives the people the pride of ownership of the facilities completed in
the process of community development.

Citizen participation also has the advantage of increasing project efficiency, promoting projects
effectiveness, helping to build the capacity of beneficiaries as well as enhancing and empowering
the members of the community.

The principle of self- help

Self-help is another important concept and principle in the process of community development. It
is inherent in the concept of participation. This is because participation invites self-help, for
when people participate actively in their own affairs, they are helping themselves. Self-help also
implies self-reliance. It is the main end-product of community development. It highlights
community development as a movement of the people. The concept underscores the fact that
social improvement can only come about from the aspiration of the people themselves.

It implies the improvement of the people through their own efforts largely for their own benefit
without any assistance from other quarters. It enables the local people to exploit to their
advantage those resources which would otherwise lie dormant and perpetuate the ignorance and
poverty of their community. Self-help for community development can increase the competence
and confidence of a community in the handling of its affairs.

In community development, the element of self-help is adopted to secure the active participation
and cooperation of the people in programmes designed to raise their standard of living and
promote their development or wellbeing.

The major assumption underlying the concept of self-help is that when people are given the
opportunity to work out their problems, they will find solution with a lasting effect. The principle

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of self-help also gives the ordinary citizen the opportunity to share in the taking of important
decisions bordering on their living condition. The essential fact about community development is
that it is people centred. Self-help guarantees active involvement of the people in bringing about
a change in their lives. So the primary change sought after in self-help is change in the people.
No wonder Castle (1972) conceived self- help as a situation wherein man himself becomes both
the object and subject of his own improvement and not merely an instrument in a process
imposed from about or within.

The principle of self-growth

This element stresses that a community does not have to accept or even wait to have ready-made
solutions to its problems worked out by outsiders who have no connections with the community.
The community must be able through constant practice, diagnose its own problem and initiate
action aimed at finding solution to the problems. In this process, the community should strive to
rely as much as possible on its own resources.

As an essential element in community development process, self-growth emphasizes the fact that
communities must be agents in improving their welfare. When people are involved in the
improvement of the socio-economic conditions, they master and appreciate the process of
community development. The mastery enables the people to learn to help themselves and grow
in the process.

Self-growth implies that the people can develop a stable responsible and self-reliant citizenry
capable of mobilizing local resources for the satisfaction of the needs of their community. Self-
growth also presupposes that people are capable of changing. As a result self-growth promotes
changes and highlights the role of citizens in community development.

The principle of felt-Need

The principle of felt need stresses that the people must be able to identify what they want to do in
order to bring about the desired development. The identification is possible only if the people are
able to identify what stands in their way to progress and are able to do something to remove it.
Such an obstacle is generally known as the problem arises from dissatisfaction with the way

15
people are living and the urge to induce desirable change to address the problem or improve their
way of living.

The idea of need arises from the lack of something which in the opinion of the people would
facilitate the improvement of the welfare of the community if it had been available. Hence
anything which may be considered essential for the maintenance of desired state of affair is a
need. A need therefore represent a gap between present situation and a new changed condition
assumed to be more desirable or an imbalance between what is and what ought to be in the living
condition of a community.

In community development practice, the former can be determined by a study of the present and
actual situation in a community. This is the process of need assessment while the later can be
determined by an examination of the value judgments of the people. This can be achieved
through research findings on the practice of a people. As essential factor in need identification is
that the particular situation that provokes the need must be identified and understood.

The felt need of the people can be assessed also from the angle of education. When the people
have grown in their ability to understand problems, their felt needs will be appreciated
accordingly. The process of education in needs identification and assessment of felt needs help
people to think for themselves, to execute project by themselves and to effect lasting solutions to
their community problems by themselves.

The principle of self-reliance

Self-reliance stipulates the need for people to take their destiny in their own hands as a means of
ensuring genuine development for themselves and their community. Self-reliance provokes self-
growth.

This principle according to Anyawu (2002) is fast becoming widely accepted as a new formula
for the development of communities. It has been argued that its wide spread acceptance in the
development planning of most African countries has the tendency of giving greater stimulus and
cohesion to community development activities in the country. The issue helps to promote
innovations and offer the psychological condition needed for self-improvement in the life of
people.

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Community development activities in most African societies have emphasized the involvement
of the people in planned process of change as a means of helping them to gain adequate
information or knowledge and skills that will enable them cope effectively with problems of
daily living community development activities in the process have operated majorly in voluntary
cooperative efforts of the people.

In relation to community development, self-reliance demand that members of a given community

should apply their knowledge and skills in exploring the resources at their disposal to promote
their own development in their community. This by implication means that the people must seek
to develop and sustain the community from the pang of problem of poverty, ignorance, disease
and lack and want in the course of community development. This is achieved by checkmating all
known limitations or weaknesses whether social, economic, political, cultural or otherwise than
can hinder the developmental efforts of the people.

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 TOPIC 4

APPROACHES TO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

There exist a great number of approaches to community development. But for the purpose of this
course, we are going to consider five of such approaches.

 Matching Grant Approach

 Directive Approach
 Non Directive Approach
 Integrated Approach
 The Sectoral Approach

Matching Grant Approach

This approach manifests itself in form of partnership between government and the people in
community development. This approach takes the form of self-help project initiated by the
various communities under the supervision of their local authority or leadership structure with
the government providing technical, financial and managerial assistance. In this approach, the
contributions of the people include money, materials and labour which are needed for
implementing a part of the programme or project. In using this approach, the people are expected
to identify their needs, arrange them in order of priority and work out strategies for meeting them
and thereafter take action when the action is on, the government chips in its support in form of
matching grants which are expected to sustain the interest of the people in continuing with the
programme implementation until it is successfully completed.

Although community development activities varies with communities. Many are employing this
approach in the construction of health facilities, schools, roads and bridges among other projects.

The major advantages of this approach are that the support provided by government will help to
foster the implementation of the programme. It will allow for easy participation and community
action since the resources are available. Above all, there will be rapid improvement in the socio-
economic and political growth of that community since the interest and enthusiasm of the people
is stimulated and sustain.

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The disadvantage is that the people may be disappointed where they have to depend on
government assistance which may not come. In such situation, projects are likely to be
abandoned thus retarding the progress of the community.

The Directive Approach

This involves a situation wherein the government or other outside development agency evolves a
programme for the people. Under this approach, the government or other agency acts as though it
is the ultimate judge of what is good for the people. In other words, it decides on what it felts the
people want and goes ahead to fashion out a project to achieve it. In the circumstances, the
agency or government supplies the staff, equipment, materials it considers necessary to meet the
need and interest of the people with the hope that people will avail themselves of the services or
activities it provides. This approach is particularly useful where there is mass illiteracy, lack of
resources or where community members have been apathetic, lethargic or indifferent to progress
or change and also incapable of projecting themselves into the mainstream of national
development.

The disadvantage of this approach is that it makes the people or community to rely on other
people. The people’s involvement in the planning and execution of the programme and projects
is minimal. In this sense, the main tenet of community development will not be imbibed by the
people because it negates the crucial element of democratic participation in community
development.

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Non Directive Approach

This emphasizes the people’s involvement in this approach. The people are allowed to identify
their needs prioritize the needs, decide on what to do to solve the problems and take action on the
basis of the plan drawn. This approach is sometimes referred to as inner resource approach. It is
the opposite of the Directive approach to community development. This approach thrives under
the conditions that

(a) The people are dissatisfied with their condition or with the way things are and agree on
what their problems are.
(b) They must realize that the problem will remain unresolved or unsolved unless they are
prepared to do something about it themselves.
(c) They have sufficient resources to deal with the problem i.e. they must have sufficient
resources such as man power, equipment, incentives and necessary management
capabilities to meet their problems or felt-needs.

In this approach, the role of the outside agency or government will be that of acting as a catalyst
that stimulates and motivates the people to be actively involved in the improvement of their way
of life. The approach gives the people the opportunity to acquire skills or knowledge needed to
induce or bring about desirable changes for ensuring an enduring community development
process.

The Integrated Approach

This is based on the recognition of the fact that community development is more than
improvement in material or tangible things like roads, building or the construction of dams and
bridges through self-help. The theme of this approach is that a comprehensive programme for
community development must include provisions for the socio-economic, cultural and political
development of the people. This helps to promote total community development. This approach
calls for the effective coordination of all the human and material resources available in any
community for the achievement of its maximum improvement. Its advantage is that it promotes
the judicious integration of all aspects of development of the people. The demerit is that action
may wind down where jealously or suspicion arises among the agencies involved.

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The Sectorial Approach

This manifests itself in divided approaches to community development: In this approach

different agencies, professional or government ministries and agencies may undertake different
or various development programmes in the area of health, agriculture, housing, education,
recreation or cooperatives within a given community. The programmes are usually undertaken
differently without any coordinating machinery.

The problem with this approach is that it is expensive in terms of manpower, finance and
infrastructural facilities required. It can also breed role conflict between the different agencies
especially where anyone encroaches on the area of interest of another. This can be resolved
where each agency plans its programme to achieve precise goals or specific objectives.

Problems of Implementing Community Development Programmes

We have already alluded to the fact that community development is a people-centred activity. It
is a movement of the people. It main objective is to bring about a positive change in the people.
But achieving such a change could be very difficult. There are some problems that could be
encountered in the process of seeking to achieve success in community development. They
include.

1. Wrong Idea or Notion of what Community Development is

The first problem arises from the wrong notion which people have about community
development. People appear not to be very clear about what community development is.
People see it more of governmental programme rather than as a movement of the people.
This probably explains why the active involvement of the people is yet to be fully achieved.

2. Lack of Participation
Very closely related to wrong notion of what community development is, is the lack of
participation. The full involvement of the people in community development is yet to be
fully achieved in the process of development. The involvement of the people is very
important since it is a people centred activity. Often time people are willing to partake in
programmes that are designed to bring about improvement in their living standard and
this may be due to a member of factors.

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3. Illiteracy, Apathy, Lethargy or Indifference of the People
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to community development arises from illiteracy, apathy,
lethargy among the people. People are sometimes unreceptive to change and are
indifferent to any new innovation.

4. Lack of Fund
Another problem arises from inadequate funding. The government grant which is
supposed to help eliminate the problem is not often forthcoming. Financial support from
other sources is not very easy to secure. Bank credit facilities and capital are very
difficult to come by because of collateral security which is often demanded by the
financial houses. The lack of has been responsible for the non-completion of most
community development programmes/projects all over the state and the country in
general.

5. Problem of Proper Coordination

This has led to the abandonment of projects and waste of scare resources committed into
community development programmes. The resources of any programmes are dependent
on proper coordination of efforts involved in the programme implementation.

6. Lack of Trained or Professional Workers

This has also affected the successful execution of community development programmes.
The presence of a community development expert will help to ensure success because the
training which he has acquired will enable him stimulate community members to be
involved in the process of community development.

7. Lack of Dedicated, Reliable and Trustworthy Leaders

The success of any community development depends in part on an efficient leadership
structure. The lack of such leadership structure can therefore spell doom for programme
implementation.

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8. Ethnic, Political and Religion Differences
This has been responsible for the non-completion and sometime complete neglect of
ongoing programmes or projects.

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 TOPIC 5

PLANNING, ADMINISTRATION/ORGANIZATION OF COMMUNITY

DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES

The concept of planning has been defined in different ways. Generally planning implies a
systematic way of developing a feasible programme. Planning simply means an attempt to
foresee the future requirements and provide for it in advance of the implementation of
programme. It involves a consideration of what is to be done and deciding on what strategies and
methods to be adopted in doing what is to be done ahead of time. This presupposes that policies
have to be evolved, goals set,, feasibility study carried out ad forecast made. In planning, attempt
is made to articulate what is to be done in meeting the goal of development in the future and how
the routine activities should be executed. Hence planning is said to describe a pre-determined
effort or future course of action to be embarked upon or undertaken in meeting development
goals or ends.

With particular reference to community development practice, planning can be described as the
application of rationale systematic analysis to the process of community development activities
with the aims of making them more effective and efficient in meeting the needs and aspirations
of the members of the community. It involves deliberate efforts in collecting, collating and
analyzing development needs of the people in relation to the resources, processes, methods,
inputs and outputs of the community in ensuring the attainment of their development goals or
ends.

Reasons for Planning Community Development Programmes

The relevance of planning in community development can be best appreciated when it is realized
that its absence has often led to the failure or abandonment of several programmes. It also
constitutes a major impediment to further initiation and execution of community intentions.

Besides, resources are scarce and planning enables us to judiciously allocate the available
resources to achieve our aim.

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Also, planning enable us identify facts and opinion which must be articulated in bringing about
desirable changes in attitude, knowledge, skills and behavior needed for community
development to happen.

Steps in Planning

Planning in community development follows the sequential and logical steps listed below

1. Selection of general objectives and target group based on identified needs.

2. The identification of available resources
3. The selection of appropriate means including the strategies for mobilizing the people and
utilizing resources
4. The formulation of specific projects within the general plan
5. The provision of the plan of action for implementation.

Contrary to the above traditional steps of planning development programmes, modern

scholars have suggested that the system approach should be adopted in planning for
community development. This involves only three stages which are

1. Problem analysis
2. Programme design
3. Evaluation

Problem analysis is expected to feature data collection and analysis and research

Programme design involves the framing of policy alternatives, allocation of resources, the
delivery system, mode and services to be provided and how it should be executed among other
things.

Evaluation is concerned with ascertaining the extent to which objectives identified during the
stage of problem analysis have been achieved.

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Basic Principles in Planning Community Development Activities

In order to ensure successful plan of action for the implementation of community development
programmes the practitioner should adopt the following principles:

1. Involve the people in the process of identifying their felt needs: prioritizing and when
deciding or discovering the resources for meeting them
2. Ensure that the programme plan is consistent with the community’s priority needs,
objectives, social, religious, political or economic structures.
3. Encourage bottom to top setting of goals. The development worker should not impose his
plan on the people.
4. Develop and use community leadership
5. Evolve popular citizen participation in planning implementation and evaluation of
community development programmes
6. Proper timing and sequencing of events
7. Consider always the reality of the budget available.

Administration of Community Development

This is another important aspect of the organization and implementation of community

development programmes. It involves the establishment of the desired leadership as well as the
guidance and control of both human and material resources in the bid to achieve predetermined
goals.

The administrative process of community development consists of planning, organizing,

directing, staffing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting. However scholars now see planning as
distinct from administration and so the concept has been removed from the administrative
process.

In community development there are different administrative pattern which include

1. Village or town/city
2. Local government area
3. State
4. Nation

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 5. International

However there is no universal clear cut administrative pattern to follow because community
development is so dynamic that there could be no uniform style of administration to prescribe.
The United Nations has suggested three administrative patterns that could be adopted to organize
community development.

1. Integrative Pattern: This is a nationwide approach and involves changes in

administrative system. This often led to the setting up of a special community
development administration.
2. Adaptive Pattern: This is also nationwide but relies on the already existing
administrative structures. This is the pattern adopted in Nigerian community
development.
3. Project Type: This is local and limited in scale and the administrative pattern is often
reflective of its size.

Funding Community Development Programme

Funding generally refers to the application of money, men and materials to the efforts aimed at
achieving the objectives of community development. There are two main principal sources from
which fund can be sought for financing community development projects. They are internal and
external services.

Internal Sources

1. Levy on the community members

A community may seek to fund its community development by levying its members. This
is one of the most common and simplest means of funding community development
programme. Those who fail to pay are often sanctioned and the fear of such sanctions
makes members to comply. However the amount of money generated through this source
is often very meager especially where income per head is low and majority of the people
are farmers who engage in subsistence farming, the amount levied is based on their
ability to pay. Nevertheless, the essence of levying members is to create a sense of
belonging and commitment to the course of the community’s development. It is also

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 aimed at fostering in the people, interest in local affairs and reinforcing solidarity and
cohesion among the people.
2. Voluntary contributions by members of the community
Some communities may choose to encourage voluntary contributions from their
members. In this sense, some members of the community deny themselves of some
pleasure and donate voluntarily physical cash or in kind in support of community
development. Like in the case of levying, much do not often come from this source.

3. Sales of community assets if any

Another good source of internal fund for development is the sales of community assets
where available. Some communities have lands which are communally owned and held
in trust by the community ruler and so can sell part of such land to fund community
development project.
4. Contributions from children abroad
One of the most potent sources of internal funding is the contributions from children
abroad. Children abroad refer to sons and daughters of the community who reside in
towns, cities and countries other than their own. Such children who reside abroad are
known to have formed formidable associations aimed at helping themselves and their
communities by way of making significant contribution to the growth of their home
communities on regular basis.

Eternal Sources

1. Support from governmental development agencies in field

Government agencies in the field are always out to assist community development
efforts. Government assistance may be in the form of award of prizes to the best
community which have been found to have effectively mobilized their resources for
development. It may also be in the form of matching grant to communities which have
been found or known to be initiating and completing viable projects in their area always.
It may also take the form of making available technical advice and equipment to the
communities to facilitate the execution of projects initiated.

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2. Support from voluntary organizations
Voluntary agencies are also partners in the funding of community development
programmes. Some of these agencies have been known to have donated physical cash and
equipment or may choose to single handedly initiate and compute projects that have been
collectively or jointly agreed or identified by the people. In Nigeria, voluntary agencies
like Rotary Club, Lion Club among others have rendered valuable assistance to
community development programmes in different communities.

3. Support from donor agencies/governmental and non-governmental agencies

International governmental and non-governmental agencies or donor agencies are known
to have offered viable sources of funding community development. Some of these
agencies however develop more interest in projects that are aimed at projecting their
objectives. For example World Health Organization (WHO), an arm of the United
Nations is more interested in funding health related programmes than educational
projects except of course there is a linkage. Many countries and communities have been
known to have benefited from the funding support of food and agricultural organization
(FAO), UNDP and UNICEF among others.
Some developed countries have been assisting in funding community development
programs in developing countries. Such countries often work through specific home
organizations and foundations. For example Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA), Canadian Universities Services Overseas (CUSO), International Foundation for
Education and Self Help (IFESH) have been doing serious business in Africa in terms of
funding viable projects aimed at uplifting the soul of the poor people. The Swedish
International Development Agency (SIDA), Danish International Development Agency
(DANIDA) and the German Adult Education Association have also been instrumental in
the funding of several projects in Africa.

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 TOPIC 6

RECENT INNOVATIONS IN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA

In the 1980s and 1990s Nigerian community development efforts witnessed a number of
innovations. Prominent among them are

Directorate for Food, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DIFFRI)

The Directorate for food, Roads and Rural infrastructure here in referred to as DIFFRI
was established by the government of General Babangida on 13 th May, 1987. Prior to the
establishment of DIFFRI, infrastructural development was only most noticeable in the urban
centers. The rural areas were largely neglected. Consequently while the urban areas were active
in community development process, the rural areas and its inhabitants were docile and passive.
There was therefore a wide gap between the rural areas and the urban centres in terms of
development. This led to rural – urban migration which further compounded the problems of
urbanization such as congestion, acute shortage of infrastructural facilities, poor accommodation
which were already being witnessed in the urban centres.

DIFFR1 was therefore set up primarily as an organ for bridging the perceived gap
existing between the passive and active rural communities in Nigeria on the one hand and
between the urban and rural communities on the other hand.

In relentless pursuit of its main objectives and in order to facilitate its operations
throughout the country, DIFFRI’s management set up a number of units or organs. Each of such
units were saddled with different responsibilities all geared towards the attainment of the
objectives of the body. DIFFRI therefore set out to provide portable water and electricity to rural
communities as well as improve on the existing infrastructural facilities.

ACHIEVEMENTS OF DIFFRI

Since the establishment of the agency, it has embarked on a number of activities. In this
regard, the body has achieved among other things the following

(a) Construction of rural earth roads

(b) Rural electrification

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 (c) Provision of portable water in many rural communities across the country through its
water supply scheme
(d) The introduction of community Development Association (CDA). Through this scheme
the rural communities were encouraged and stimulated to show interest in the
development of their own communities and be more active in community development
process.
(e) The introduction of the idea of establishing community banks as a means of assisting the
local people to raise funds for the development of their communities.

In order to move communities into the main stream of rural development, DIFFRI’s
various units or organs in the rural areas tried to open up the rural areas so as to facilitate the
easy flow and transportation of goods and services to and fro and between local communities.
This was aimed at bridging the gap between active and passive communities.

In addition, DIFFRI encouraged rural communities to identify their problems and be

involved in activities that will lead to the resolution of the problems that have been identified.

In spite of the contributions of DIFFRI to Nigeria rural development, it came under severe
criticism by people who did not see much good in what the agency did in the area of rural
development. The first major criticism levied against DIFFRI was that its activities were a
duplication of the efforts of the ministry of agriculture and Rural Development. Some argued
that since its establishment, there had not been any rural transformation in the country. The
alleged failure of DIFFRI may have been as a result of the problems which the agency faced as
discussed below

Problems of DIFFRI

The agency’s activities were greatly constrained by inadequate funding. This was
responsible for its inability to pursue its rural transformation exercise vigorously. Nevertheless, it
encouraged communities to organize themselves for development activities and to initiate self-
help electrification projects which may attract government assistance in the form of subsidized
materials or provision of technical expertise or services to facilitate development activities in
such communities.

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National Directorate of Employment (NDE)

The National Directorate of Employment is another organ set up by government which

has made its mark in Nigeria rural community development. NDE was also the brain child of the
Babangida’s government. It came into existence on the 22 nd November, 1986 and was formally
launched on the 30th January, 1987. The objectives of the directorate according to its handbook
includes the following

1. The creation of job opportunities for the teeming population of jobless Nigerians.
2. The inculcation of the spirit of self-reliance in the minds of Nigerians especially the
youths.
3. Providing for the Nigerian youths (majority of who were jobless at the time) practical
skills that will enable them to be gainfully self-employed and in the process provide
employment opportunities for other members of their communities.

As part of its efforts to achieve the objectives, NDE introduced four major programmes
which includes

The National Open Apprenticeship Training Programme

This programme was introduced as a means of providing the millions of Nigerians who
are jobless with productive and marketable skills that will enable them to be gainfully self-
employed or secure paid employment. Under this programme, a number of schemes were
developed to facilitate the attainment of its objectives. There were such schemes as the National
Youth employment and Vocational Skills, Development Programme, the waste to wealth
scheme, school on wheels scheme and the Disable work scheme.

The Small Scale Industries Establishment and Graduates Employment Programme

This was designed to encourage and aid unemployed Nigerians to set up small scale
business and run their own business. NDE conducted the entrepreneurship courses in order to
assist the beneficiaries of the loans given under this programme through its job creation loans
guarantees scheme make judicious use of such loans. There was the mature people’s scheme

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directed at helping the retirees or those preparing for retirement to set up their own small scale
business and the entrepreneurial or entrepreneurship development scheme under this programme.

The Agricultural Sector Employment Programme

This programme was aimed at providing self-employment to young school leavers and
graduates in agriculture and other related disciplines who were unemployed in the agricultural
sector. Under the programme, the school leavers agriculture scheme was introduced in order to
achieve the aim of the programme.

The Special Public Works Programme

This was designed to provide immediate temporary employment to a large number of the
unemployed Nigerians. Here the people were engaged in carrying out necessary public works
through intensive labour techniques. Some public work projects executed include the
construction and maintenance of roads, building and provision of other infrastructures, tree
planting exercise, environmental sanitation, land clearing and other form of supportive services.

The establishment of NDE was a clear demonstration of government keen interest in

solving or redressing the unemployment problem in the country and a clear manifestation of the
frantic efforts of government in trying to solve the problem of unemployment.

Contributions of NDE to Community Development

The National Directorate of Employment through its various programmes has contributed
immensely to rural community development. A good number of Nigerians have benefited from
their numerous programmes. Many others have also been provided with vocational skills. This
contributed to the increase in self-help activities. Many of those who were trained also benefited
from the loan scheme. Many now run their own establishments thereby helping to provide jobs
for other members of their communities.

The provision of employment opportunities has raised the purchasing power or the
finance available to the people. Consequently they are better placed to contribute financially or
otherwise to the development of their communities. Many can now also contribute to self-help
projects initiated in order to develop their communities. Recently, NDE introduced some new

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programmes aimed at strengthening its contribution and activities in rural community
development efforts in Nigeria. These programmes include the one million – job scheme, motor
cycle loan scheme, women development and National sanitation scheme. These various
programmes have spur and stimulated people’s interest in the development of self-help projects
as a means of facilitating rural transformation and development. Besides, many other business
concerns and organizations in the country have been stimulated to provide employment for the
Nigerian populace and this has had a multiplier effect on the promotion of rural community
development in this country.

Better Life for Rural Women Programme (BLP)

The Better Life Programme (BLP) was initiated by the wife of the then military
president, Mrs. Maryam Babangida. The programme was launched formally in Abuja in
September 1987. Thereafter, the states of the federation were mandated to launch their own
chapter of the programme with time, local community chapter of the Better Life Programme
came into existence.

The objectives of Better Life Programme include

1. To encourage the education of women in its entire ramification that is functionally,

formally and informally or non-formally.
2. To encourage self-sufficiency through the promotion of income generating activities
among the women folk so that they can benefit adequately from their labour.
3. To attend to the problems and needs of the rural communities by encouraging active
participation in rural communities activities as well as highlighting the plight of women
in all sphere of national life (cultural, traditional, economic, social and political aspect of
life).

Activities

Better Life Programme in order to achieve its objectives introduced a number of activities
such as weaving, mat making, poultry, soap making, jewelry making and farming mostly in food
crops, cassava processing among others. These activities were aimed at making women

34
particularly the rural dwellers become independent economically and be able to participate more
actively in local or rural transformation or development programmes.

Achievements

The Better Life Programme successfully embarked on some projects such as Garri
processing projects, Yam and Plantain processing, corn processing and the establishment of
Better Life Programme shopping centres in most parts of the states of the Federation.

In addition, various workshops on widowhood, income generating activities were

organized. Enlightenment campaigns on the value of educating women were also launched.
Lastly, a number of trade fairs were organized at state and national levels to enable rural women
exhibit their wares and skills. This exposure created a sense of belonging in the women as well
as brought dignity to their numerous efforts in the area of poultry, weaving, farming, traditional
midwifery, etc.

Sources of Fund

Apart from funds from the state and local governments and self-help efforts, grants came
from federal government organizations such as DIFFRI and the NDE.

Contributions/Relationship with Rural Community Development

The contributions to rural community development has manifested in the areas of

1. Decrease in mortality rate that is infant mortality decreased as a result of the education on
health care by the directorate given to women in the rural areas.
2. Lowering of the birth rate in the community

In addition there was political socialization of the women. The women became more
socialized in the rural and urban areas. This also increased political participation on the part of
the women. Women now show desire to vote and be voted for and the desire to occupy political
offices. Better Life Programme also provided literary education. Some literary centres were
established. Functional literacy programme was also pursued vigorously in the programme.
Consequently many rural women became literate and more functional in community
development activities. In other words, this made the women to become more useful to

35
themselves and their immediate communities since community development process is an
educational process.

The income-generating activities made women to become economically independent.

Some of the women were provided loans and this enables them to invest. This led to
improvement in their financial situation and ensured their active participation in community
development activities.

Many women were provided skills which helped to promote self-help efforts. Many
formed themselves into cooperative societies which increased their purchasing power and
financial base thereby enhancing the self-help project and self-reliance activities in their
communities.

However in 1994, with the coming on board of General Sani Abacha as the Head of state
of Nigeria, the Better Life for Rural women programme was abrogated and another programme
was introduced – the family support programme.

The Family Support Programme (FSP)

The programme was launched by the wife of the then head of state, Mrs. Maryam Abacha
in 1994. The programme was meant for a wider coverage (that is both rural and urban
population). The family support programme therefore was concerted programme of action
designed to monitor and give fresh impetus to existing family related programming efforts in
various ministries and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The programme aimed at improving on previous experiences of women in development

as well as showing the roles of the entire family in national development particularly as it affects
major social sectors such as health, education, commerce and industries, agriculture, social
development, child care, etc.

Objectives of FSP

1. To promote decent health care delivery in reducing maternal and child mortality through
improved health care system.

36
 2. To eradicate negative social and cultural factors affecting women and children through
education.
3. To assist families identify economically viable enterprises for income generation and to
provide technical and financial support for their implantation.
4. To assist rural families increase their agricultural productivity as well as their nutritional
status.
5. To establish a family round table for the promotion of discipline, morality and family
cohesion through projects such as Girl child scheme, the Boy drop out and children in
distress schemes.
6. To sensitize government on the need to provide adequate shelter for all Nigerians. Create,
arouse and sustain the interest of governments and non-governmental organizations,
international communities on the activities of family support programme.
7. Lastly to promote and improve on the welfare of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged
groups in the society notably the women, disabled, destitute, the aged and children.

A review of the activities of the Family Support Programme revealed that the programme
was instrumental in making women especially, become more involved and participates actively
in community development.

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 TOPIC 7

APPROPRIATE MONITORING STRATEGY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME

The need for monitoring has for long been recognized by policy makers especially for
large scale programmes. In Nigeria, recent programmes embarked upon by government require
reliable and valid built-in monitoring technique. Essentially monitoring provides guidance at the
stages of management and implementation of programmes.

The task of this topic therefore is to propose guidance for monitoring community
development programmes in the course of its implementation and management.

To achieve this aim this topic will address the following

 What is monitoring
 The objectives of monitoring
 Monitoring of information/conveying monitoring information
 Progress monitoring

What is Monitoring?

Monitoring could be regarded as an integral part of a comprehensive and development –

oriented System of evaluation. It is recognized as an important aspect of management process for
a programme activity. It is expected to be used as a tool for improving and maintaining the
effectiveness and efficiency of a given programme. To Dave (1982), monitoring refers to a
process which entails watching periodically the progress of a project in order to elicit its strength
and weaknesses for the purpose of taking redemptive steps so as to optimize the effectiveness
and efficiency of the project. Monitoring therefore involves a process of observing the progress
of different components of a given programme in order to identify barriers and bottlenecks so
that timely corrective measures can be taken. Monitoring is expected to provide timely
information on the progress and problems of programme in the process of implementation. In
other words, monitoring should be able to provide information on deviation from the programme

38
objectives, on problems that are encountered and on ways in which programme management is
going so that remedial action is taken promptly.

Objectives of Monitoring

An effective system of monitoring should fulfill the following objectives

1. It seeks to ensure the quality and efficiency of the entire programme

2. It provides information and insight for optimizing productive resources in order to ensure
accelerated completion of projects
3. A dynamic and vigorous monitoring mechanism will generate great impact and interest of
the masses or people in participating actively in the implementation of the programme
4. Monitoring can provide enough evidence and data for appropriate decision making to
strengthen and update the programme
5. An effective monitoring system creates rooms for a follow up action programme
improvement. It can help in diagnosing difficulties and improving results by providing
help and assistance.
6. It helps to provide pivotal feedback to government, policy makers and planners including
implementers and donors on progress made with regard to the implementation of a
particular programme.

Monitoring Information/Conveying Monitoring Information

Effective monitoring requires a built-in system of comprehensive information that would

lead to good decision making. Such information system will assist in the identification and
correction of problems in the implantation of the programme. However it is essential that the
source of the information should be accurate, objective, reliable, relevant, and timely and action
– oriented. The monitoring officer must assess the accuracy of the data or information and that
means that the information must be valid. Field visits, interview are some of the necessary
components of a monitoring system for checking the validity or accuracy of the information.
Other methods include direct observation, participant observation and group discussion with the
beneficiaries. Data or information should not be accepted without first validating it.

39
 Besides, the objective for monitoring must be clearly identified. This is necessary
because it provides a broad framework for guidance which assists in achieving the objectives.
The objectives must not be vague. They should be clearly stated and are best expressed in the
form of changes expected. They must be measurable and observable. They should be precise and
realistic in terms of time available. Thorndike (1969) observes that objectives should be
reviewed periodically in line with the findings and within the context of prevailing situations.

Information must also be reliable that is there should be consistency in the information.
The issue of relevance stressed that monitoring officers should use instruments suitable enough
to adapt or avert situation with minimum adjustment. In other words the instrument should be in
line with what is to be done in monitoring the programme. Being timely implies that the
information should be processed quickly without delay as delay is the collection or processing of
information can easily render it obsolete.

Conveying monitoring information is also very vital. This will enable the monitoring
officer get the information that is reliable, dependable and relevant. At our level efforts should be
made to provide the monitoring information required in an understandable way.

Why Evaluate Community Development Programme

There are so many reasons why we need to evaluate community development

programmes. They include: first there is an increasing demand from sponsor of community
development programmes for concrete evidence of the effects of their investment. This demand
has led to the placing of emphasis on the evaluation of programmes and projects.

Besides, community development workers are also concerned about the effectiveness of
their programme or projects. The workers is also always under pressure to justify investments
made on programmes hence the need to evaluate programme to ascertain the extent of success
made.

In addition evaluation enables the worker to do his job effectively, efficiently and
responsibly too. This outcome is only possible if they get feedback on their efforts. It is on the
basis of evaluation that one can determine the success or failure of the programme.

40
 Another reason for evaluation is that it will help practitioners to engage in serious
thinking about why and how he should achieve results. It also enriches the experience of
programme planners. A planner guided by feedback from evaluating reports is likely to find out
why and how a programme succeeded or failed or how it could be put on the right course if it is
found to be derailing.

How to Evaluate a Community Development Programme or Project

Evaluation is a scientific inquiry which proceeds in an orderly manner, embraces the

following considerations.

1. Identification of the specific objective of the programme or project

2. A determination of the actions taken and the procedure followed in trying to meet the
objectives.
3. The collection, analysis and interpretation of concrete evidence or data on the effects of
the project.
4. A comparison of the actual and expected outcome.
5. Reaching or drawing conclusions on the evidence available
6. Utilizing the findings in guiding and improving subsequent action or programmes.

In addition, the utilization of the findings of the evaluation often leads to some form of
modification of the process by which we seek to effect change in the people.

Indicators of Success of Community Development

The following are clear indications that development is actually taking place: in a
community

1. Increase in per capital income

2. Decrease in death rates
3. Lowering of birth rates
4. Increase in the literacy rate of the people
5. Increased progression of people through the institution of formal education.
6. Increased participation of people in political activities

41
7. Increase in the amount and rate of voluntary participation/involvement of people in
community or national affairs or matters
8. Increase in rational or reasonable decision by individuals or community members.

42