Role of Community Based Organizations in the Development of Rural Communities
CHAPTER ONE
Objectives of the study
The main objective of the study is to examine the role of community based organization in the development of rural communities in Delta State.
Specific Objectives
The general objective of the study was achieved through the following four specific objectives
- Identifying economic activities facilitated by CBOs operating in Communities in Delta state
- Establishing approaches the CBOs use in facilitating community development activities in Delta
- Establishing the level of CBOs partnership with other development agencies within and outside Communities in Delta state.
- Establishing the level of community participation in CBOs facilitated projects.
- Establishing the Relationships between CBOs activities and development
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
Theory is crucial in building the thinking of all involved in processes of development, as individuals, as communities, organizations, social movements, donors and researchers. Following that argument, the central objective of this chapter is to discuss a theoretical framework providing basis and assumption for this study. The focus is on review of literature on the influence of CBOs activities on development of Communities in Delta state. The literature sources include information from administrative document, development agencies reports, previous studies, official economic development records, books and journals.
The chapter has been divided into six parts discussing the important theory supporting this study. The first part include; Theoretical basis for understanding community economic activities and empowerment Community development models which discusses; asset (latent) versus deficit (needy/victim) and right based approach (RBA); system theory; social change theory; sustainability theory; civil society and social capital theories and summary of theoretical framework. The second part discusses the Reasons for CBOS in developing countries. Part three discusses the theories on study variables which includes; development; CBOS Activities and their roles in community development; CBOs Activities and Community Development; CBOs Approaches to Development Activities in Relation Community Development. Part four deals with CBOs partnership in relation to development of the community and the level of community participation in CBOs Activities in Relation Development. The fifth part gives conceptual Framework and lastly the Summary of the literature review.
Theoretical Basis for Understanding Economic Activities and Empowerment
These bodies of literature highlight different aspects of the relationships between communities and community development organizations and structural platforms under which community development take place. Asset based Community development model explain that in community development approaches one should view community as a resource and also endowed with many un exploited potential that requires some body to trigger exploitation. The implication is that there is no community that is absolutely powerless or resource less. The opposite approach is deficit model suggesting that a community is needy and victim of problems whose solution can only come from outside. These two contrasting approaches have triggered interest among researchers and development agencies by leaving them asking question on what would be the right approach and whether development organizations are adopting assets of deficit models. In this study, the question was whether CBOs activities in Communities in Delta state had influence on community development. The argument justifying the proposal for investigation is the assumption that community based organizations activities contribute to sustainable livelihood and the outcome expected to have a positive influence on development of the community.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Introduction
This chapter describes the research design, target population, sample size and sample selection, data research instruments, validity, reliability of research instruments, data collection procedure and data analysis techniques.
Research Design
The research design that was employed in this study was descriptive survey design. This method is considered adequate in line with Cohen and March (1986) and Kothari,(2004) who noted that this is a method of gathering data at a particular time with the intention of describing the nature of existing conditions; identifying standards against which existing conditions can be compared; determine relationship that exist between specific events.
A survey is an attempt to gather data from members of a population in order to determine the current status of that population with respect to one or more variables (Mugenda 1999). This design was chosen because it makes it easier for the researcher to collect data from a sample rather than from every member of the population, and make descriptive inferences. This made the research to consume less time and cost. It also utilized questionnaires which consisted of both open ended and closed ended questions, which constituted items on how CBOs activities influence the development of the community. This design was used in exploring the existing status of two or more variables at a given point in time.
CHAPTER FOUR
DATA ANALYSIS, PRESENTATION AND INTEPRETATION OF THE FINDINGS
Introduction
This chapter contains the findings and presents the results of the procedures described in the methods and presents evidence in form of tables, charts, text and figures.
The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of CBOs particular influence on the development of the rural community of Delta state in Nigeria. The information on CBOs particular activities influence on community development is a gap identified that led to this study.
Development of the community is a dependent variable in this study predicted by Economic Activities carried out by CBOs; Approaches used by CBOs in community empowerment; Level of community participation in CBOs facilitated projects and Level of CBOs partnership with other development agencies as independent variables. In this study, important themes related to the variables stated include; CBOs projects background information, funding, benefits, partnership, community participation, project management, local economy, empowerment and sustainability. Following these, themes variables were established and their relationships predicted by developing related indicators for measurement. For each variable indicators were developed on the basis of the stated themes that provided basis for developing a research instrument-questionnaire with five sections. Each section was addressed by certain number of questions answered by the respondent but within thematic areas of this study. Semi structured questionnaire, self observation and one on one conversation was used as the main method of collecting data.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY OF THE FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Introduction
The summary of the study findings, conclusions drawn and recommendations made are contained in this chapter. The purpose of this study was to establish the influence of CBOs particular influence on the development of the rural communities in Delta state.
The information on CBOs particular activities influence on community development is a gap that requires attention. Therefore, the problem being addressed by this study is to establish whether there is influence of CBOs’ particular activities on development of the Communities in Delta state.
Conclusion
The literature reviewed in chapter two of this study indicates that particular CBOs activities influence the community development. Following the analysis, the following conclusion can be drawn.
The duration in which CBOs has been operating is likely to influence the way the CBOs are managed, and the access of business information, income and saving among its members. Also, Business development Information access and level communication can influence the level of CBOs member’s assets. The methods used in selecting the CBOs projects are likely to influence the level of community participation and level of capacity building. Partnership and level of government support is likely to influence the access to business information among CBOs members. From this study and related analysis, CBOs selected for this study present unique characteristics and people interviewed could view things differently in terms of how their CBOs activities related with development.An important fact in this study is that not all indicators need to be present for a CBO to be analyzed in terms of how its activities influence community development.
Recommendations
For the development agencies, the CBOs experiences, access to development information, level of partnership and methods of project selection should be focused as one of the factors for analysis when selecting CBOs activity if development is a priority.
Secondly researchers interested in the study of CBOs activities and their influence on community empowerment should consider allocating themselves reasonable time and identify more variables for correlation and regression analysis in order to get better conclusion.
Suggestions for Further Study
The purpose of this study was to establish whether community based organizations (CBOs) activities influenced development of rural communities – a case of selected CBOs in Delta state. The study ends at showing that there is a relationship between the CBOs activities and development. The study does not indicate how the variables studied influence the community development. In this case, further study to establish how the community based activities influences community development presents a gap for further study.
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