An analysis of agricultural development projects as a tool to increase community resilience: a case of Monze district in Zambia
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Date
2013-02
Authors
Banda, Bowen
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Free State
Abstract
The aim of this study was to analyse why social vulnerability was on the increase in
Monze District, Southern Province of Zambia despite the many agricultural
development projects that were implemented. To understand this phenomenon, the
study evaluated the design and implementation of current agricultural development
projects in Monze District from two perspectives. The first perspective focused on the
user and the second focused on the planners.
This evaluation was done to understand how these developmental projects were
designed and implemented, and how the projects contributed to enhancing community
resilience to reduce social vulnerability among people at risk in two sampled
communities in Monze. The two communities had the same weighted magnitude of
risk and social vulnerability but different number of agricultural development projects
being implemented.
From a user perspective, one of the two communities assessed with less project
interventions was treated as a control whilst the second with more project
interventions was treated as the intervention study area. Thus, the study utilised a
mixed design method to undertake field community resilience analysis. It further
utilised the sample survey and focused group discussions.
The study randomly sampled 74 households to solicit views on their inherent
community resilience and how they perceived it to have been increased by
agricultural development projects. Views from the community members were
collected and analysed using a modified sustainable livelihoods framework.
From a planner’s perspective, the projects were analysed using content analysis and
personal contacts with some planners, monitoring and evaluation officers including
projects officers.
Results show three main outcomes. The first outcome is that Keemba Community
with seven developmental projects out of twelve being implemented in Monze
exhibited less resilience when analysed using the modified sustainable livelihoods
model. Nalutanda with three developmental projects exhibited more resilience. The third outcome was that the communities did not attribute their current resilience
capacity levels to the effects of the current developmental projects except for hazard
early warning awareness.
The study expectations were that Keemba should have had more resilience since it
had more developmental projects being implemented. In this way the increased and
enhanced resilience in Keemba would have been attributed to appropriateness,
effectiveness, efficiency, relevancy and sustainability of the many agricultural
developmental projects that were being implemented. Since the findings were
contrary, the study concluded that the agricultural development projects being
implemented were not effective at increasing community resilience in terms of their
design, planning and implementation. As such, the projects did not contribute
effectively to the reduction of social vulnerability and needed to be redesigned to
mainstream disaster risk reduction. The study further discovered that poverty levels
were still high in both communities studied despite the interventions. The high
poverty levels contributed to the prevailing low resilience and thus to increased social
vulnerability in Monze, as well.
Description
Keywords
Community resilience, Non-emergency agricultural development projects, Social vulnerability to food insecurity, Disaster risk reduction, Poverty alleviation, Project planning and design, Project implementation, Monitoring and evaluation, Dissertation (M.Disaster Management (Disaster Mangement))--University of the Free State, 2013, Agricultural development -- Zambia