An Assessment of Community Participation in Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) development projects in Zimbabwe: The case of Bulilima and Mangwe Districts, Matabeleland South

Since the mid 1970s there has been an increasing effort to adopt community participation as a necessary instrument for people driven development. NGOs and governments have come to use this participatory approach not only to empower local people, but also to give them a platform to plan and implement their own development projects. However in Zimbabwe, the government has failed to fund most projects and it has created a gap for NGOs to provide most, if not all services in rural communities. NGOs have been seen as better institutions to facilitate development projects and to engage local people to actively participate in development issues. Community participation is a central component in development projects as the projects respond to the people’s needs and that local people are in full control and ownership of these projects. This study is an assessment of community participation in NGO development projects in Zimbabwe. The study investigates the extent of community participation in development projects and it is guided by the Participatory Development (PD) theory. Research findings reveal that community participation is minimal in development projects of Bulilima and Mangwe districts in Zimbabwe. Local people are just passive participants of the development projects who are told what to do. The local people’s contributions and influences are sidelined in the planning and decision-making processes; instead these are made by the rural elite who plan and make decisions on behalf of the local people. It is the view of this study that the purpose of community participation is to create opportunities for local people to participate in planning, decision making, implementation, allocation and distribution of resources. The development projects should be responsive to the people’s needs. Similarly, participatory development just like community participation is a process whereby communities are given the opportunity to determine their future in terms of their needs and resources. In this regard, it is relevant that rural communities actively participate in planning, decision making, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development projects. By so doing, the projects become not only successful but also sustainable