Making development work in Africa (part 1): uplifting livelihoods

In Africa, the world's poorest continent, community-based development has a key role to play in ensuring human survival and uplifting livelihoods. This article, presented in two parts, examines some of the key factors that can affect the success and failure of community-based development initiatives. Drawing upon 30 years of field-based research in and experience of small towns and rural areas in a number of African countries, the article critically examines the extent to which seven key criteria might impinge, both individually and collectively, upon the success of local development initiatives. The importance of achieving a detailed understanding of relationships between people and environment is identified as a prerequisite for project success.