Research Report No. 143Since 1994, public works programs with community participation have been part of South Africa's efforts to reduce poverty through increasing employment, skills, infrastructure, and local capacities. This report is an analysis of the intended and actual responsibilities of community forums and community-based committees; the value added by community participation in project selection, design, and management, and the problems introduced; the impact of community participation on project performance; and the factors that have constrained the ability of community-based committees to play the role envisioned for them in policy documents. The research provides a window into the developmental changes and challenges faced by South Africa since its transition to democracy in 1994 and reveals the dilemmas and possibilities pertaining to community-driven development projects.
Michelle Adato is a senior research fellow in IFPRI’s Food Consumption and Nutrition Division. Her research focuses on the social dimensions of poverty reduction programs, poverty dynamics, and policy processes. She has conducted research in South Africa for over 15 years, on topics at the intersection of democracy, governance, employment, and poverty. She received a Ph.D. in development sociology from Cornell University.
John Hoddinott is a senior research fellow in IFPRI’s Food Consumption and Nutrition Division. His overall research focus is on the design and impact of policies and programs to reduce poverty and malnutrition. Before joining IFPRI he held university appointments in Canada and the UK, including a University Lectureship in Economics and Fellowship at Lady Margaret Hall, University of Oxford. A Canadian citizen, Hoddinott holds a D.Phil. in economics from the University of Oxford.
Lawrence Haddad was the director of IFPRI’s Food Consumption and Nutrition Division at the time this report was written. He is now the director of the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex. Haddad's research focuses on a wide range of issues related to the well-being of the poor, including the design of policies and programs intended to reduce poverty and malnutrition. Haddad received his Ph.D. in food research from Stanford University.
The report is available for download in PDF format as an entire document or by chapter.
- Full Report
- Abstract
- Table of Contents, List of Tables, List of Figures, Foreword, Acknowledgments, and Summary
- Chapter 1: Introduction
- Chapter 2: Participatory Development and the Origins of Community-Based Public Works in South Africa
- Chapter 3: Research Methods
- Chapter 4: The Impact of Participation on Project Outcomes: Evidence from the Full Sample
- Chapter 5: Community Participation in the Western Cape Projects
- Chapter 6: Social, Political, and Institutional Challenges to Participation
- Chapter 7: Conclusions
- References
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