As a development practitioner who has spent 14 years working in civil society, I have seen my fair share of development projects and programmes supported by different donor agencies. Almost without exception, local communities have tended to be at the centre of these interventions – the projects are designed in their name, and communities are generally said to have participated in the process. Beyond that, when these projects end, evaluation reports will highlight the different benefits that accrued to communities, most likely with a view to attract more funding from donors for scaled-up, follow-on projects. More funding, more aid, more of donor agencies determining the development agenda on behalf of the masses. I should state at this point that I am not an anti-aid proponent, and I believe that aid, particularly that which is channeled through non state actors such as civil society organisations has contributed to the improvement of livelihoods in many places in Africa, Zambia in particular.
However, I have always been intrigued and possibly even frustrated by the fact that Africa appears to have firmly put the power to fund its own development in the hands of external donor agencies. We have done little to explore the wealth of resources and assets that exist within the confines of our local communities and how these can fund development within those communities. We have become complacent in our comfort zone knowing that there will be another donor-funded project coming round the corner. Nevertheless the goalposts have shifted. The landscape is rapidly changing. Development aid from Western countries has been on the decline for several years now and nowhere has this been more apparent than in civil society. In many ways, reduced donor funding is the most pressing fear that CSOs have. Well, the reality now is that we have reached that point and the time has come for CSOs to face those fears.
Given the changing context I have described hitherto, I have taken an interest in seeking to understand how else local development can be financed. How resources and assets of local communities can be harnessed and utilised to support their own development prospects. Where and how CSOs can pitch their interventions to support local communities in their endeavors to improve livelihoods and attain development. It was thus heart-warming for me to participate in the 2017 Durable Development conference in Nairobi, Kenya and to meet kindred spirits in the quest to explore the potential of community-funded development interventions. The conference, which was also a celebration of the 20-year anniversary of the Kenya Community Development Foundation (KCDF), was a platform to interrogate and learn from each other on what Durable Development really means and how we can shift the power towards communities to enable them to take charge of their own development. In the words of Mr. Arthur Namu, the KCDF Chairperson, “Having local people involved in development as key donor partners is an opportunity to enhance sustainability prospects and broaden the arena for participation in development.”
A personal reflection: Towards locally funded development
By Maurice K. Nyambe
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