Participatory Development Approaches Asset Based Community Development (ABCD)

Participatory Development Approaches Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Def: ABCD Asset-Based Community Development is an approach that recognizes the strengths, gifts, talents and resources of individuals and communities, and helps communities to mobilize and build on these for sustainable development. Asset-based Community Development (ABCD) is a powerful approach focused on discovering and mobilizing the resources that are already present in a community ABCD def ABCD is based on the principle of community-driven development rather than development driven by external agencies, where communities, public and private sectors work in closer partnership. Yet recognizing that there may also be disagreements between these three ‘stakeholders’ and that to date it is the community’s voice that has lost out ABCD def ABCD is a strategy for sustainable community-driven development. The appeal of ABCD lies in its premise that communities can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilizing existing, but often unrecognized assets, and thereby responding to and creating local economic opportunity. ABCD takes a “grassroots” approach to community development, drawing upon the best of what a neighborhood has to offer. It is a shift of focus on community development from “problem solving” to “asset building”. ABCD approach involves identifying and tapping all of the potential assets in a neighborhood. It operates under the premise that neighborhoods can drive the development process themselves by identifying and mobilizing existing (but often unrecognized) assets, thereby responding to and creating local opportunity for positive changes. Such unrealized assets include not only personal attributes and skills, but also the relationships among people that fuel local associations and informal networks. Mobilizing social assets can activate more formal institutional resources such as local government, formal community-based organizations, and private enterprise ABCD is an approach to CBD based on the principles of:- Appreciating and mobilizing of individual and community talents, skills and assets rather than focusing on the needs of the community or employing the problem posing approach which is an approach that blames the community for their state of despondency and lack of knowledge. It emphasizes on community initiated and managed projects unlike ideas implemented by the external agencies in the attempt to solve the community problems ABCD Builds its premise on:- Appreciative inquiry Social capital formation Full participation by the community members Economic development Strengthen civil society Facilitating ABCD ABCD is a process of self-mobilization and organizing for change. It enables individuals to mobilize the resources that are available for their retention and effectively manages them for their own benefit Change agents have to facilitate community’s realization of these potentials without causing dependency of external aid. ABCD and CDD employ similar guidelines in facilitating sustainable community development. ABCD is facilitated through:- Collecting stories Organizing a core group Mapping the capacities and assets of individuals, associations and local institutions Building community vision and plan Mobilizing and linking assets for economic development Influencing activities and external investments and resources Collecting stories It builds confidence in the community Employing informal discussions and interviews brings people’s experience of successful activities talents, skills and projects leads to rediscovering gifts, skills, talents and the assets that people have. It also strengthens people’s pride in their achievements This celebrations of achievements and realization of what they have contributes in building self confidence in the abilities and capabilities Organize a core group Leaders are easily identified during the process of collecting stories. They prove to understand the community better and protect the needs of the community members. A group of committed community members is identified and commissioned to do asset mapping and explore the available opportunities Each person involved in the group may have individuals who have personal interested in the progress of their assignment and when called upon, are self-motivated to act Capacity mapping Capacity and asset mapping is more than data collection. For sustainability, give the community members an opportunity to do the mapping exercise. This will give them a wider scope of what they have, how they can manage it and how they can replicate if need be. This will give them a wider scope of what they have, how they can manage it and how they can replicate if need be:- Identify associations. This is the first asset. Association relationships are the driving force behind community action. Identify individual skills, capacities and talents: Appreciate what people can do, their contribution and abilities Local institution assets: NGOs FBOs CBO… Physical assets and natural resources The local economy The associations existing in the community are the main driving force behind ABCD. There is capacity building and empowerment for better performance. This is a strategy directed towards community-driven sustainable economic development. Convening broad representative groups to build a community vision and plan A community vision and mission is formed. Strategies to remain focused on the mission are put in place. Objectives are clearly marked and policies formulated. This serves as guiding parameters for better performance. Mobilizing assets for community development Continuous process in the community. Enables identify community assets for economic development and accepted channels of communication Associations are encouraged to advocate for their interests and space for economic development. Mobilizing individual assets is inevitable for sustainable development Influencing activities, investments and resources from outside the community to support Asset-Based, locally defined development Realize local resources before outsourcing for external resources. This empowers the community to effective manage their own resources and ensure sustainability. External resources are sought out of the demand not greed by the community project leaders. Asset-based community development (ABCD) is a philosophy that was developed by John P 'Jody' Kretzmann and John L McKnight from the Northwestern University in Illinois, USA. The key principles of ABCD were laid out most extensively in the book Building Communities from the Inside Out. A glass as being half full rather than half empty. See assets rather than needs Guiding Principles for ABCD Everyone has a gift Build relationships in the community. Leaders recruit their colleagues People care about something. Motivation to act must be identified Listening to conversation. Ask, ask, and inquire A people-centered organization is the driving force to community engagement. Problem-solving in institutions. Servant leadership Key assets in ABCD Individuals : people, gifts and talents Associations: small informal groups Institutions: Paid groups of people who generally are professionals who are structurally organized are called institutions. They include government agencies and private business, as well as schools, etc. They can all be valuable resources. The assets of these institutions help the community capture valuable resources and establish a sense of civic responsibility. Physical assets: physical assets both private and public assets Connections: networks

Community Driven-Development (CDD) Approach

Understand Community Driven-Development (CDD)

Community Driven-Development is a community initiated and managed project or intervention for the purpose of improving the living standards of the people or transform and effectively managed the change for the common good. In this case, a CDD is a community based intervention where the community members directly control the project prioritization, planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating the progress of the intervention, ensuring sustainability and effective management of the entire project. The project is homegrown, indigenous and local community’s thoughts.

Community-driven development enables the community members to take the lead and empowers them with the skills of decision making and local resource management for the common good. For efficiency, community members are enabled to form local groups of like minded people whose capacity is build so that they realize their ability and capability to alleviate their suffering and pain in the community. The members have something in common which makes them unit. These groups often work in partnership with demand-responsive support organizations and service providers present in the community. They also work hand in hand with the local administration to ensure they have an enabling environment. The local groups are encouraged to partner with the private sector, other NGOs working in the community or who worked in the community and the central government agencies. CDD is a way of:-

• ·  Providing social and infrastructure services in the community,
  ·         Organizing economic activity and resource management,
  ·         Empowering the poor people and enabling them address their challenges,
  ·         Improving on the local authority and leadership structures
  ·         Enhancing security and enabling environment for self mobilization and self development for the common good.

 

CDD treats all people and their institutions as assets and partners in the development process.

 Benefits of CCD in Community Development

The sustainability of CDD depends on an enabling environment which requires commitment and accountability. When capacity is build, people can cause their own transformation. Creativity in CDD can:-

 Enhance sustainability to community interventions
    The community members are enable to drive their own development by deciding, planning and implementing their own development interventions. This leads to project sustainability
    Community members are consumers and not clients, they contribute towards the intervention
    Necessary facilities that enable the community members to meet their basic needs are availed in the community. (Schools, health facility, clean and safe water) These facilities are effectively managed by the community members
    For sustainability, the community members put in place rules and policies that will enable them raise some money locally for maintenance.
    Improve effectiveness  and efficiency in service delivery
    It is evident that CDD influences effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery. If the community members engage in business, then they will ensure that the infrastructure is improved so that they delivery their farm products on time. To effect this, they work hand in hand with the public sector and other NGO’s, FBO’s and CBO’s working in the community. They also involve the social networks and linkages that they collaborate with.
    Capacity building is essential for acquiring knowledge. The community members will organize for capacity building workshops so that they share experiences and best practices for better performance. With this view, they will ensure their children also acquire the necessary education to be competent community members. To facilitate this, the community members effectively manage the schools, support the administration and liaise with the government to provide the technical capacity.
    Work as an approach to poverty alleviation
    When the people’s capacity is build, they implement the knowledge and skills acquired for individual and collective development. This enables them to alleviate poverty and improve on their living standards. Equipped with the knowledge and skills, people can explore their ability and capability in addressing their challenges and come up solutions for the common good.
    Improve on infrastructure
    Facilitates the availability of the basic needs
    Facilitate Small Scale Business (SSB), Small Scale Farming (SSF) through microfinance empowerment. This is effective through group based programs.
    Effective management of natural resources, community resources and individual property
    Make development more inclusive- giving space for dialogue to the every member in the community  (including the poor, the vulnerable groups, the marginalized …)
    Advocates for the marginalized or excluded community members giving them power  to control their own initiatives
    Works and manages the community resources effectively
    It empowers the community members by building their social capital through collective participation in CDD and strengthen the local government
    Empowers community members and enables them have holistic freedom
    The poor have power to decide their cause
    Community members control their own resources and have the final decisions on what is viable which leads to sustainable development
    They strengthen local associations that will advocate for the community’s diverse needs in political processes and governance.

Principles for Community Driven-Development sustainability and effectiveness

The following principles can be used to facilitate policy formation in CDD. Thus:-

1.      Establish an enabling environment through relevant institutional and policy reform

ü  Build the capacity and establish an enabling environment

ü  Put in place effective policies for program sustainability

ü  Encourage effective collaborations among local administrative leaders and agencies working in the area

ü  The enabling environment includes

a)      Responsible elected leaders who are empowered to execute tasks

b)      Conducive legal framework that supports community development

c)      Clear policies with well defined roles and responsibilities of key players

d)     Empower the community and generate the upward pressure

2.      Make investments responsive to demand

ü  Makes informed decisions by taking into consideration the cost and benefits of a viable community project

ü  Promotes local asset formation and investments

ü  Makes informed choices. The stakeholders should have the necessary information that will enable them make SMART choices and options that meet their needs. The decisions made should be viable, culturally accepted, workable and sustainable

ü  Make environmental friendly decisions which will not compromise the livelihood of the future generation

3.      Build participatory mechanisms for community control and stakeholder involvement in community development intervention

ü  Program ownership and sustainability

ü  Effective participation provides the community with knowledge and skills to have control and authority over their decisions and resources

ü  Engage relevant stakeholders in all programs

4.      Ensure social and gender inclusion

ü  CDD has the potential to increase the power of the poor people in the community so that they negotiate with the government or NGOs on needs

ü  CDD is responsive to the priorities of the poor groups, the marginalized and the voiceless

ü  Promotes women empowerment for community development

ü  Advocates for equitable distribution of resources and fair trade

5.      Invest in capacity building

ü  Successful CDD’s are grounded on effective capacity building and empowerment of CBO’s to effectively provide goods and services on a sustainable basis

ü  Promotes and strengthens links and networks with institutions, business sector and the donor agencies

ü  CBO’s capacity is build through learning by doing approach

ü  Capacity building builds on the community’s existing strengths, knowledge, culture and local organization structure

6.      Facilitate community access to resources and information

ü  CDD facilitates the flow of information and funds in all groups

ü  Informs the community on market opportunities, available support resources and how to use the resources productively and sustainably

ü  Explore effective communication channels

ü  Explore information technology, internet use or available social networks.

ü  Communities should be informed about program contents and conditions. Mass communication mitigates risks of manipulation from political leaders.

ü  It facilitates effective interaction between the government and the market by providing the community with the knowledge and information on how to conduct a transaction on the market or with the government

ü  Learns from the experiences of other change agents good practices and innovations. Facilitate learning on how to replicate successful programs

ü  Technical information is important for successful leadership. Leaders should be trained in leadership and management skills, accounts, counseling for efficiency and competence

7.      Develop simple rules and strong incentives that are supported by monitoring and evaluation

ü  Simple rules

a)      Simple and transparent processes enhances CDD

b)      Facilitate community access to resources

c)      Effective management of community resources

ü  Strong performance incentives

a)      Key actors should be rewarded, congratulated and acknowledged for their performance

b)      Actors should have strong and consistent incentives for performance

ü  Regular monitoring and evaluation

a)      It ensures program progress as designed

b)      Efficiency and effectiveness

c)      Project focus on the set objectives

8.      Maintain flexibility

ü  Be flexible in program planning. The community members are the experts in their issue prioritization

ü  Create space for equal representation, equal opportunities for decision making and equal opportunities

9.      Design for scaling-up

ü  High potentials for scaling-up

ü  Achieves long lasting and sustainable results

ü  Home-grown projects build the capacity f the community members in leadership and management

ü  Highly successful

10.  Invest in an exit strategy

ü  Face out strategy is essential

ü  Sustainability requires putting in place leadership structures that will oversee the management of the project

1.            Leave the office better than you found it