"We Have Done This Ourselves": Evaluating Participatory and Sustainable Development Practices in Rural Senegal
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Date
2014-06-17
Authors
Grigsby, Kaitlyn
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
The World Bank paradigm of large-scale neoliberal development projects has repeatedly failed to deliver durable and sustainable changes for the world's poorest nations. Although the World Bank and other multilateral development organizations have committed themselves to forging new participatory intervention methods, the core objectives of development have not changed.
This thesis explores the work of CREATE!, an organization that funds and implements rural and community-based projects that address the increasingly devastating impacts of climate change in Senegal. This analysis is an illustrative case study of a small-scale and participant focused development intervention in West Africa. I use interviews and participant observation to describe (1) how CREATE! understands and responds to beneficiary needs through participatory development, (2) how participatory methods influence CREATE!'s programs, and (3) the organization's sense of success or failure in promoting poverty alleviation and community sustainability in rural Senegal.