76 Boo«Rel/~W8
In Part 2 of the book the author analyses selected areas of social development: social
welfare, education, health,. housing, poJQlation planning, social security and social
development training. However, the discussion on urbanisation is misplaced and would
have been more useful if it had been part of the :rD.troductory Chap~. The aulhor's
conclusion is that these areas of social development were moulded on the experiences and
value premises of the former colonial powers, hence their inability to respond approJIiately
to the needs of Africa. The author sums up his discussion by pointing out that development
in Africa is unbalanced as it favours the mban elite - whilst the rmal people who constitutes
70% of the population remain impoverished and marginalised.
Social development is a topical subject, particularly in developing countries, and this
book makes a meaningful contribution towards an understanding of social developnent
Unfortunately the author spoiled the flow of discussion by dwelling on unnecessary and
unfocused details and the issues raised in the discussion do not seem to link. However for
the patient reader the book provides an interesting analytic framework for understanding the
problem of underdevelopment in Africa.
Reviewed by E Kaseke, Principal, School of Social Work. Harare.
The Role of Community P&rtk:lpatlon In Development Planning and Project
Management, Report of a Workshop in Washington DC Sept 22 - 2S 1986, Michael
Bamberger, Economic Development InstituteJIBRD, Seminar Report No 13, World BIIIk,
Washington IX, 1988 (361 + xpp, USS5,95).
The concept of community participation has gained enormous popularity in social
development circles. It pe.1:Vades the literature and is a recurring topic for discussion It
international gatherings. A large number of reports, studies and journal articles on the
subject have been JQblished, and it is an integral element of the philosophies of large
development agencies such as UNICEF which has been an avid proponent in recent years.
Non Government Organisations (NGOs) have also campaigned for enhanced community
participation, particularly at the 1oca11evelwhere many of their programmes and services
are focused. Community participation has a strong appeal for social workers.
Although community participation is frequently claimed as unique terrain for social
development endeavour. It has attracted the attention of economists as well. As this report
shows, hard headed economists at the World BII11k'sEconomic Development Institute
(ED!) have come to the conclusion that social factors are important in development mdthat
(pvii) "the involvement of intended benefIciaries in the planning and implementation of
projects, applications of social analysis in developnent platming, and gender issues in
developing planning and project management" are worthy of careful consideration.
Founded by the World BII11kin 1955, to train economists responsible for development
planning, investment analysis and project implementation. the ED! has served as 11\
important resomce for World Bank personnel and senior civil servants concerned with
economic development issues in member countries. Recognising that the social aspects of
development have beenneglected in its training programmes, EDI organisedan international
workshop on community participation in Washington in September 1986. Participants
Book RClIi«ws 77
came from government and NGOs throughout the world. from staff at various international
agencies. and from the World Bank's departments of urban development, population,
health. nutrition and rural development. Twenty two papers wereprese:nted at the workshop.
The Report of the workshop, which was published in 1988, contains a summary of the
proceedings.
Although it is commendable that the Institute involved itself in issues of social
development and community participation, the report contains little that is new. Much of
what was said at the wOIkshop had been said previously in numerous United Nations reports
and other documents. Indeed. given the anti-poverty em~is of the MacNamara years, it
is somewhat surprising that the Institute awoke (in 1986) to the realisation that it needed to
be more sensitive to the social development perspective. It is almost as if the organisers of
the workshop had never heard of the efforts of the United Nations to promote integrated
socioeconomic developmentpIanning in the late 196Os,or of the WorldBIlIIk's sponsorship
of the redistribution with growth ideal in the mid-1970s. Similarly, discussions at the
workshop on the definition of community participation, the need, benefits, and feasibility
of community participation, etc, will be familiar to most social workers who have a
knowledge of the issues ..
Nevertheless, the fact that economists are interested in social development issues such
as communityparticipationis very important. Theharshausteritypolicies being implemented
in many Third World countries today, by economists under International Monetary Food
conditionality policies, is having a devastating effect on the welfare of millions of ordinary
people. Sensitising economists to these realities may mitigate the Darwinistic themes
implicit in current economic development policies. More contact between economists and
social development professionals is urgently needed. The Economic Deve10pmentInstitute
is to be congratulated for initiating a dialogueofthis kind. Hopefully, it will undertake many
more similar ventures in the future.
Reviewed by James Midgley, School of Social Work, Louisiana State University, Baton
Rouge. USA.
Successful Development in Africa. Case Studies or Projects, Programmes and
Policies, Economic Development Institute of the Third World, World Bank, Washington
DC, 1989 (222pp, US$II,95).
This publication focuses on the COootriesof SubSaharan Africa. It is basically a collection
of case studies of a variety of development projects, programmes and policies undertaken
in selected countries. The common denominator, in the eyes of the authors, appears to be
that all the case studies are based on activities that have been deemed successful. In Part I
the case studies covered include an Agroforestry Project in Burkina Faso, an Ochorerciasis
Control Programme in West Africa, a Gravity-Fed Piped Water System in Malawi, and the
production and export of horticultural commodities in Kenya. In Part 2 the following
activities are covered: a case study of the Export Processing Zone in Mauritius, the
Economic Recovery Progranune in Ghana, and the Macroeconomic Management of
Commodity Booms, 1975-86, in Botswana.