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CHAPTER ONE

This study investigates the role of community-based initiatives (CBIs) in enhancing well-being in Gwadangaji, Nigeria, where local efforts address challenges like healthcare and education. It aims to identify key initiatives, assess their impact, examine challenges, and propose strategies for improvement. The research is significant for policymakers, the Gwadangaji community, and academia, contributing to the understanding of community development and well-being in rural Nigeria.

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6 views6 pages

CHAPTER ONE

This study investigates the role of community-based initiatives (CBIs) in enhancing well-being in Gwadangaji, Nigeria, where local efforts address challenges like healthcare and education. It aims to identify key initiatives, assess their impact, examine challenges, and propose strategies for improvement. The research is significant for policymakers, the Gwadangaji community, and academia, contributing to the understanding of community development and well-being in rural Nigeria.

Uploaded by

abdulmalikgarba494
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Community-based initiatives (CBIs) play a pivotal role in fostering social


cohesion, economic empowerment, and overall well-being of members,
particularly in rural and semi-urban settings. In Nigeria, where government
interventions are often insufficient, local communities like Gwadangaji in Birnin
Kebbi LGA rely on collective efforts to address challenges such as healthcare
access, education, poverty, and infrastructure deficits.

Well-being promotion encompasses physical, mental, social, and economic health,


which are often improved through participatory community projects. This study
examines how Gwadangaji’s indigenous initiatives—such as cooperative societies,
skill acquisition programs, and communal labor—contribute to the well-being of
its members.

The Evidence Programme on community wellbeing is part of the What Works:


Wellbeing Centre (WWWC), a member of the ‘What Works Centres’ in the United
Kingdom, and will be referred to hereon as CWEP:
(http://whatworkswellbeing.org). The CWEP draws together existing evidence on
best practice for improving wellbeing, in this case, community wellbeing, through
a series of outputs that synthesise evidence on selected aspects of community
wellbeing, including housing, social relations, local participatory processes and the
five ways to wellbeing. Alongside this work on synthesising evidence, this report
offers a review of how community wellbeing is defined and measured, the
assumptions underlying the dominant modes of doing this and possible alternative
understandings for reflection. This conceptual review is a companion piece to two
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other outputs: a review of indicators used to assess community wellbeing (Bagnall
et al., 2016) and a theory of change for building community wellbeing (South et
al., forthcoming). Assessments of community wellbeing aim to gauge what is
currently being experienced with a view to taking action in the public and social
sectors along with private partners to achieve desirable goals. However, since
community wellbeing is ‘a relatively new idea in social science, it still lacks the
theoretical structure for explanatory purposes’ (Sung and Phillips, 2016:2). There
has been growing attention to using first-hand accounts of how people feel their
life is going, but there is a variable use of terminology in the literature to describe
different approaches to individual and community wellbeing. This report will use
the following terminology:

• Subjective Wellbeing (SWB) describes an individual’s perceptions and feelings


about different aspects of their life. This includes what the United Kingdom’s
Office of National Statistics term ‘personal wellbeing’ which is based on four
questions about satisfaction with life, levels of happiness and anxiety
(https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/methodologie
s/pers onalwellbeingsurveyuserguide). An important distinction needs to be made
between the feelings people have about personal aspects of their life and feelings
about their immediate context and their wider social, political and physical
environment. This distinction is recorded as individual subjective wellbeing
(ISWB) and community subjective wellbeing (CSWB) where the qualifier,
individual or community, refers to the scale of what is being assessed.

• Objective wellbeing (OWB) assessments cover aspects for which reliable and
valid data exist or can be collected, or which can be accurately reported by an
appropriate informant. Again, it is important to distinguish assessments for and at
individual scale (IOWB) and assessments for the community scale (COWB)

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• Individual Wellbeing (IWB) describes the range of wellbeing measures, both
subjective and objective (including objective measures that are reported by the
informant) for the individual. Thus, IWB combines ISWB and IOWB such as
individual income, individual education level, individual networks etc. • Domain
refers to different categories of indicators, such as education, safety, social
relations etc., and a comprehensive approach refers to frameworks that use a wide
range of domains and drawing on both subjective and objective assessments.

• Community Wellbeing (CWB) is the subject of this report and can comprise
various combinations of these terms as illustrated in Figure 1. A consultation with
stakeholders across the country made by CWEP identified understandings of
community wellbeing as being ‘about social connectedness…. [and] having one’s
voice heard’ (CWEP, 2017: 6). Wiseman and Brasher (2008) stress that ‘any
definition of wellbeing needs to be contextualised within communities of
population and interest as well as of place’ (p357). As such, they propose a broad
definition that stresses the importance of local voice; we propose adopting this as a
useful initial working definition: ‘Community wellbeing is the combination of
social, economic, environmental, cultural, and political conditions identified by
individuals and their communities as essential for them to flourish and fulfil their
potential.’ [Wiseman and Brasher, 2008: 358] The report is based on three sources
of information on existing practice and conceptual framing. 1) A comprehensive
and systematic review of indicators of community wellbeing in the United
Kingdom collated by the CWEP partner team at Leeds Beckett University (Bagnall
et al., 2016). Bagnall et al. searched for community wellbeing and a series of
related terms and identified 47 data-sets. 2) The review of indicators has been
supplemented with examples that are widely referenced in the international
literature and identified by search for the use of the term ‘community wellbeing’

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specifically using google scholar. 3) Critical engagements with mainstream
approaches to wellbeing are introduced and discussed in relation to their
application to community wellbeing so as to identify additional issues in
conceptualising community wellbeing. The report is presented in three sections.
Part 1 –‘Mobilisation’ reviews how community wellbeing is understood and
operationalised in existing practice. It identifies common elements and differences
in the most widely used approaches and draws out some of the underlying
assumptions. Part

2 – ‘Conceptualisation’ introduces three types of social theory, each of which


offers a different way of understanding the nature of personhood or the self. These
different theories in turn shape understanding of the relationships between the
internal self and the external environment (including social, political, cultural,
physical etc.), and as such describe different ways of conceptualising community
wellbeing. Part

3 – ‘Moving Forward’ discusses how to consolidate understandings to enable the


most useful and practical advances in the practice of community wellbeing

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Despite the potential of CBIs to enhance well-being, many communities in Birnin


Kebbi LGA, including Gwadangaji, face persistent issues like poverty, poor
healthcare, and low literacy rates. While some initiatives exist, their effectiveness,
sustainability, and impact on members’ well-being remain understudied. This
research seeks to bridge this gap by evaluating how Gwadangaji’s CBIs influence
the well-being of its residents and identifying barriers to their success.

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1.3 Objectives of the Study

The study aims to:

1. Identify key community-based initiatives in Gwadangaji.

2. Assess the impact of these initiatives on members’ well-being.

3. Examine challenges hindering the effectiveness of CBIs in Gwadangaji.

4. Propose strategies to strengthen community-led well-being promotion.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What are the major community-based initiatives in Gwadangaji?

2. How do these initiatives contribute to the well-being of members?

3. What challenges limit the success of CBIs in Gwadangaji?

4. How can these initiatives be improved for sustainable well-being promotion?

1.5 Significance of the Study

To Policymakers: Provides insights for designing grassroots development


programs.

To Gwadangaji Community: Highlights strengths/gaps in existing initiatives for


better planning.

Academia: Contributes to literature on community development and well-being in


rural Nigeria.

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1.6 Scope of the Study

Geographic Focus: Gwadangaji Community, Birnin Kebbi LGA, Kebbi State.

Content Focus: CBIs related to health, education, livelihoods, and social support.

Time Frame: Cross-sectional data collection (specify period, e.g., 2024).

1.7 Definition of Key Terms

WWWC What Works Wellbeing Centre (UK

COWB Community Objective Wellbeing

CSWB Community Subjective Wellbeing

CWB Community Wellbeing (Subjective and Objective)

CWEP Community Wellbeing Evidence Programm

Community-Based Initiatives (CBIs): Local, collective actions aimed at improving


members’ quality of life (e.g., cooperatives, communal farms).

Well-being Promotion: Efforts to enhance physical, economic, and social health.

Gwadangaji Community: A rural settlement in Birnin Kebbi LGA, predominantly


agrarian.

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