Discussion on Research Question 1: ABCD Principles and Practices reflected in the Work

This section discusses the first research question of this study: What ABCD principles and practices are utilised by WIBDI and THA in Projects 1 and 2 to enhance local development?

In order assess the work of WIBDI and THA, this study uses the principles and practices offered through the work of Mathie and Cunningham (2003), as the basis for analysis (see Table 1 and also the four component summary, shown in Table 2). The results of this assessment are presented in Chapters 5 and 6.

The findings also document that, together with the acknowledgement of NGO accomplishments, there is also a suggestion that NGOs should be involved predominantly at the initial stages of planning, and then shift to a more facilitative role and leave communities to drive and deliver the services and products. The role of NGOs should not be overemphasised mainly because, within the Samoan context, there are cultural and traditional factors that must be incorporated into these development processes, in order for NGOs to be representative of the local context, as promoted in the ABCD approach. These factors are further illustrated in the diagram in Figure 5 (see Chapter 3), which offers a ‘bigger picture’ viewpoint of utilising ABCD, in order to enhance local development, as opposed to an externally driven approach.

To reiterate what ABCD represents and what it offers: it is not only a people-centred approach ― it is also citizen-driven approach (Mathie & Cunningham, 2003). It is important to draw out the insight described in Bebbington (1999) that assets are more than just resources with instrumental value for economic purposes. Rather, the value of assets (assets identified as important in this study include natural, human, social/institutional, cultural and financial), which is why defining “asset” and the tem ABCD into the Samoan context was very important (as presented in Chapter 7), which also lies in their power to give people the capacity or potential to act and thus secure a source of meaningful engagement with the world. The significance of focusing on assets, capacities and capabilities, is to encourage a proactive role for the citizens, thus replacing the passive and dependent role of clients on the state and affluent agencies of a needs-orientated approach, with a positive language of action that includes

135 ownership and wealth (Gibson-Graham, 2005). However, such assets cannot be activated without people having accessto them.

An understanding of ABCD as a citizen-driven approach is now presented in Table 17 below, which comprises characteristics of development that is locally driven. In Table 17, I compare the two projects from this study, showing that the THA project demonstrates higher levels of locally-driven or asset-driven development than the WIBDI project. In the WIBDI project, aspects such as planning, monitoring and decision-making are not substantially driven by community members.

136 Table 17: Characteristics of locally-driven development from an ABCD perspective, as observed in Project 1 and Project 2

Characteristics of Locally Driven Development

(LDD)

THA Project WIBDI project

Low Medium High Low Medium High

Local initiatives dominant Active contribution by members Some contribution by

community

Identify and map available resources to local capacities and aspirations

Actively identified by community members

NGO and community both contribute

NGO involvement at initial stages

Actively identified by members who are board members and also regular members

Community involved mostly at implementation phase NGO mainly designed the project

Local people involved in every phase from planning,

implementation and monitoring to decision-making processes

THA members actively involved throughout the process

Some contribution by the community members

Citizen-driven development Initiatives actively driven by

THA members (e.g. THA

organisation was an idea initiated by Vaiusu villagers themselves)

Some extent of involvement by local citizens

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Implication

Table 17 shows the structure of NGO impact and how it influences the alignment of its goals to community aspirations ― and I would suggest that the use of ABCD principles can help enhance this alignment.

The issue to be addressed, according to the findings of this study, is the level of involvement of NGOs, as raised by some of the participants from the various levels involved in this study. The legitimacy of NGO work becomes questionable, as addressed in Chapter 2 by Edwards & Hulme (1992), Curtis (1999), Storey, (1998) and Miraftab (1997), in addition to recent studies by Teegan et al (2004) and Saibul (2010), if they are not in alignment with the cultural, traditional and environmental aspects of the local society with which the NGO is involved. Therefore, it is important to take into account the local context, when NGOs or any other development agent or practitioner take a role in local development. This awareness is promoted by ABCD concepts that include valuing, appreciating, mapping and utilising the local assets – whether these are natural, human, cultural, social and/or financial – as suggested by the pioneers of ABCD, Kretzmann and McKnight (1996) (see Figure 2 and Figure 3 in Chapter 3) and they are supported by Eloff and Eborsohn (2001), Mathie and Cunningham, 2003, Haines (2009), Chirisa (2009) and Green and Goetting (2010).

In conclusion, WIBDI and THA approaches to development (based on the assessment completed for this research) do to some degree reflect the principles and practices of ABCD. However, as shown in Tables 15 and 16, WIBDI approaches are not so locally- driven compared to THA, but due to its long establishment and regional and international recognition and linkages, WIBDI can offer more economic opportunities for local people. These findings also show that these NGOs have been applying the principles of ABCD and this study suggests that they continue to do so, as a means to further enhance the role of NGOs, in order to achieve development that is locally driven.

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8.3 Discussion on Research Question 2: The Value of ABCD and the Extent to