Social innovations in rural communities in Africa's Great Lakes region. A social work perspective

Abstract

In Africa's Great Lakes region, many rural communities face serious challenges including chronic poverty, lack of infrastructure, high unemployment, inadequate education systems and healthcare services, as well as a fundamental absence of public social protection mechanisms. In some contexts, rural dwellers suffer from the additional burden of armed conflict and political violence. Yet, rural populations show remarkable indications of resilience and exhibit innovative ways of handling their problems by themselves. Some of these approaches can be qualified as social innovations.With its focus on the role of social work in rural social innovation processes, this article aims to contribute to some under-researched aspects at the intersection of social innovation, rural studies, and social work practice. Empirical evidence of rural social innovations is based on a regional study on indigenous and innovative models of problem solving in five African countries. Here, the focus is on two case examples from Uganda and Rwanda. For Uganda, a community-based concept of household clusters to promote rural development called akabondo is presented. The example from Rwanda is called umugoroba w'ababyeyi and refers to a family strengthening and community development program that has been mainstreamed into government policies. This model is located in the challenging context of a post-genocide society.A critical analysis of these models refers to the question whether they fall into the category of a social innovation; to major players in implementing such innovations; to their impact on rural communities and the wider society; as well as to challenges facing such innovations.