Abstract
Amidst shrinking budgets for community development in most of sub-Saharan Africa, the social solidarity economy is touted as a model in local development. This article situates solidarity initiatives and capability-focused outcomes that deliver enhanced livelihoods, social security and community development. The conceptual framing of social theory, social capital and social economy informs this case study with focus on the Ndong Awing Cultural and Development Association, North-West region, Cameroon. The analysis of semi-structured interviews and secondary sources suggests that solidarity networks such as njangis, cooperatives, quarter development unions and diaspora networks promote village-centric development. These overlapping networks generate scarce financial and human resources–essential packages for livelihoods and welfare. Emerging state policy is yet to calibrate these mechanisms of ground-up, mutual development drives. Galvanising these solidarity assets require meaningful co-productionand revamped state−community relations. This article offers a paradigm shift in how village groups mobilise income, capital and financing of village projects, nurtured through human development and agency.
Highlights
An array of state policies have been implemented to salvage emerging economies in sub-Saharan Africa with social solidarity economy (SSE) as a possible alternative (Barkin & Lemus, 2014; International Labour Organization (ILO), 2020)
SSE has been considered as a policy instrument that can ease the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the local level (UNRISD, 2016), within the remit of community-based mutual health organisations (Alenda-Demoutiez & Boidin, 2019)
As an alternative economic paradigm, we have argued that SSE is anchored on the ability of villagers to mutually generate scarce financial and human resources for the benefit of the community.Village solidarity is a paradigm shift in the way villages position themselves to address burning social development concerns
Summary
An array of state policies have been implemented to salvage emerging economies in sub-Saharan Africa with social solidarity economy (SSE) as a possible alternative (Barkin & Lemus, 2014; ILO, 2020). The research question is based on two key ideas: we investigate the notion of SSE at the village level and measure outcomes.We engage with the challenges, question of sustainability and the implications for an emerging state policy. This article is structured as follows: introduction, objectives of the article, theoretical propositions of SSE as an alternative strategy, study context, methodology, data collection and presentation, discussion, implications for emerging state policy and conclusion. SSE has been considered as a policy instrument that can ease the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the local level (UNRISD, 2016), within the remit of community-based mutual health organisations (Alenda-Demoutiez & Boidin, 2019)
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