Barriers to community participation in development planning: lessons from the Mutengene (Cameroon) self-help water project

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Periodical article

Title:	Barriers to community participation in development planning: lessons from the Mutengene (Cameroon) self-help water project
Author:	Njoh, Ambe J.
Year:	2002
Periodical:	The Community Development Journal: An International Journal for Community Workers
Volume:	37
Issue:	3
Pages:	233-248
Language:	English
Geographic term:	Cameroon
Subjects:	community development popular participation water supply self-help
External link:	http://cdj.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/37/3/233
Abstract:	This study draws on the experience of the Mutengene (Cameroon) self-help water project to underscore the indispensable role of community participation (CP) and identify and discuss leading barriers to CP in development planning. The project preoccupied community development and other authorities during the 1960s and 1970s. Eleven constraints, including the paternalistic posture of authorities, prescriptive role of the State, embellishment of successes, selective participation, inattention to negative results, hard-issue bias, intra/inter-group conflicts, gatekeeping by leaders, excessive pressures for immediate results, lack of interest, population size, and belief systems, are discussed. Efforts to promote understanding of CP as a viable strategy for implementing capital improvement projects in LDCs are recommended. Bibliogr., notes, sum. [Journal abstract]