Community development has been hijacked

Abstract

Abstract Community development lacks a proper theory. This paper postulates that the reason for this intolerable state being that community development has been hijacked by charity organizations and politicians with ‘do good’ intentions, simply because it lacks proper scientific theory that offers some element of prediction in the outcome. Current development approaches are revisited and the basic needs theory proposed as a useful theory that takes community development beyond just various ‘approaches’. It merges the complexities of the community development concept into a distinct scientifically based theory that includes an assessment technique (Priority Index), which makes it possible to identify and prioritize the basic or ‘true’ needs in a community. The theory equates addressing the basic community needs with the ‘art of timing’, which means doing the right thing at the right time is the only real solution to trigger the upward development spiral. In doing so, the basic needs theory postulates that once the identified basic needs in the target community are brought within their locus of control, the upward development spiral is triggered and a predictably new set of ‘higher level’ needs will emerge. This process is essential to the change principle inherent to the community development process.