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