Community-Based and Driven Development: A Critical Review

Mansuri, Ghazala; Rao, Vijayendra

Community-Based and Driven Development: A Critical Review

Autores

Mansuri, Ghazala

Rao, Vijayendra

Editor

World Bank, Washington, D.C.

Descripción

Community-based (and driven) development (CBD/CDD) projects have become an important form of development assistance, with the World Bank's portfolio alone approximating 7 billion dollars. The authors review the conceptual foundations of CBD/CDD initiatives. Given the importance of the topic, there are, unfortunately, a dearth of well-designed evaluations of such projects. But there is enough quantitative and qualitative evidence from studies that have either been published in peer-reviewed publications or have been conducted by independent researchers to glean some instructive lessons. The authors find that projects that rely on community participation have not been particularly effective at targeting the poor. There is some evidence that CBD/CDD projects create effective community infrastructure, but not a single study establishes a causal relationship between any outcome and participatory elements of a CBD project. Most CBD projects are dominated by elites and, in general, the targeting of poor communities as well as project quality tend to be markedly worse in more unequal communities. However, a number of studies find a U-shaped relationship between inequality and project outcomes. The authors also find that a distinction between potentially "benevolent" forms of elite domination and more pernicious types of "capture" is likely to be important for understanding project dynamics and outcomes. Several qualitative studies indicate that the sustainability of CBD initiatives depends crucially on an enabling institutional environment, which requires upward commitment. Equally, the literature indicates that community leaders need to be downwardly accountable to avoid a variant of "supply-driven demand-driven development." Qualitative evidence also suggests that external agents strongly influence project success. However, facilitators are often poorly trained and inexperienced, particularly when programs are rapidly scaled up. Overall, a naive application of complex contextual concepts like "participation," "social capital," and "empowerment" is endemic among project implementers and contributes to poor design and implementation. In sum, the evidence suggests that CBD/CDD is best done in a context-specific manner, with a long time-horizon, and with careful and well-designed monitoring and evaluation systems.

Palabras clave

COMMUNITY BASED DEVELOPMENT, COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, POOR COMMUNITIES, COMMUNITY LEADERS, SOCIAL CAPITAL, POVERTY MITIGATION AID, ANTIPOVERTY PROGRAM, ANTIPOVERTY PROGRAMS, BENEFICIARIES, CAPACITY BUILDING, CASE STUDIES, CASE STUDY, CENSUS DATA, CLINICS, COMMON PROPERTY RESOURCES, COMMUNITIES, COMMUNITY, COMMUNITY CAPACITY, COMMUNITY DEMAND, COMMUNITY GROUPS, COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, COMMUNITY LEADERS, COMMUNITY LEVEL, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION, COMMUNITY SUPPORT, CORRUPTION, DECISIONMAKING, DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES, DEVELOPMENT AGENCIES, DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE, DEVELOPMENT FUNDS, DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONS, DEVELOPMENT ISSUES, DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATIONS, DEVELOPMENT POLICY, DEVELOPMENT PRACTICE, DEVELOPMENT PRACTITIONERS, DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS, DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS, DEVELOPMENT RESEARCH, ECONOMIC GROWTH, ECONOMICS, ECONOMISTS, ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA, EMPOWERMENT, ENABLING ENVIRONMENT, EXPENDITURES, FACILITATORS, FOOD POLICY RESEARCH, GAPS, GEOGRAPHIC SPREAD, GEOGRAPHIC TARGETING, GROUP DISCUSSIONS, HUMAN CAPITAL, IMPLEMENTATION AGENCIES, INFORMATION PROBLEMS, INSTITUTION BUILDING, INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENT, INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, LOCAL INEQUALITY, LOCAL INSTITUTIONS, LOCAL LEVEL, LOCAL MANAGEMENT, LOCAL OFFICIALS, MARGINALIZED GROUPS, MATERIAL WELL-BEING, MODERNIZATION, MONITORING TOOLS, NEIGHBORHOOD, NEIGHBORHOODS, NONGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS, NUTRITION, PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION, PARTICIPATORY APPROACHES, PARTICIPATORY PLANNING, PARTICIPATORY PLANNING EXERCISES, PARTICIPATORY PROJECTS, PARTICIPATORY STRATEGIES, POLICY RESEARCH, POLITICAL CONTEXT, POOL RESOURCES, POOR AREAS, POOR COMMUNITIES, POOR HOUSEHOLDS, POOR PEOPLE, POVERTY IMPACTS, POVERTY REDUCTION, POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY, POVERTY TARGETING, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PRIORITIES, PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION, PROJECT BENEFICIARIES, PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION, PROJECT MONITORING, PUBLIC SECTOR, PUBLIC SERVICES, RESEARCH INSTITUTE, RURAL AREAS, RURAL POOR, SELECTION BIAS, SERVICE DELIVERY, SOCIAL ASSISTANCE, SOCIAL CAPITAL, SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT, SOCIAL FUNDS, SOCIAL INVESTMENT FUNDS, SOCIAL NETWORKS, SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS, SOCIAL SCIENTISTS, SUSTAINABILITY, TARGETING PERFORMANCE