Rethinking Participatory Development: A Case for Communicative Ethics

Abstract

Participatory development has long been touted as a panacea to the development failures resulting from highly burecraticesd and top down development programmes instituted by international donor agencies (Jennings, 2000;Neef, 2003;Mohan, 2001;Cleaver, 1999)

An evaluation of donor agencies’ policies on participatory development: The case of Ghana

“…Numerous benefits are perceived to derive from participatory development. For instance, the UNDP (2012a) report identifies some core benefits of participation (Drysdale & Purcell, 2005;Osikhena & Chikadzi, 2014). Generally, participation in the view of Finsterbusch and Van Wicklin III (1989) is seen as enhancing four basic benefits in particular.…”

“…Duraiappah, Roddy, and Parry () have suggested that PRA as a participatory approach also assists researchers to learn about communities in addition to developing relevant interventions communities. PRA is effective in cooperating with the subject communities to evaluate their constraints and the prospects that can have an impact on them, hence assisting to make decisions regarding development projects (Osikhena & Chikadzi, ).…”

“…These are identified as social benefits, including reduced social costs, equality, community capacity and the sustainability of projects. Osikhena and Chikadzi () refer to various studies that share the view that as long as participatory development makes room for local people to participate in development initiatives, generating local knowledge of their situation is ultimately an advantage to the development initiative. Thus, proponents of participatory development suggest that development practitioners must aim to relinquish their preconceptions about having supposed knowledge of the circumstances of the poor, and allow the intended beneficiaries to determine their development path because they are the experts with the relevant knowledge needed for their progress.…”

“…In addition, both frameworks seem to address some importance and advantages of employing a participatory approach to development such as building the capacity of beneficiaries and the acquisition of local knowledge (Osikhena & Chikadzi, ). On the other hand, the statement of principles by USAID addresses one hindrance to participatory development.…”

“…Also, with capacity building considered a benefit of participatory development (Chikadzi & Osikhena, ), the beneficiaries of the USAID's project are seen to clearly enjoy this benefit through the training of Watsan communities in GWASH, capacity/building of school management committees and parent–teacher associations (PTAs) to be empowered to sustain the development process in their community (World Bank, 2014).…”