Community-driven Development Research Articles

PARTICIPATION AND DECENTRALISATION IN RURAL DEVELOPMENT: LESSONS FROM THE LESOTHO HIGHLANDS WATER PROJECT / DEELNAME EN DESENTRALISASIE IN LANDELIKE ONTWIKKELING: LESSE VANUITDIE LESOTHO HOOGLAND WATERPROJEK

Emerging experience from many countries, including some African countries, suggests that an approach that puts communities at the centre of the development process is likely to have considerably more chance of success than the centralised, bureaucratic approach that has characterised previous rural development initiatives. In Lesotho, the establishment of a central source of finance—the Development Fund—to fund community-driven development has had a positive impact on mobilising communities to implement a range of development projects. The experience of the Development Fund provides important lessons for other countries that are interested in promoting development projects that are sustainable and, at the same time, meet communities' felt needs.