THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION

At a 1986 Economic Development Institute (EDI)‐sponsored workshop, the value of community participation in development projects was emphasized, including greater possibilities for project efficiency and effectiveness, cost‐recovery, social acceptability, and sustainability. Among the possible dangers brought out at the workshop were included: delays, additional costs, sabotage by powerful economic or social groups, hostility to or distrust of the government, intensification of community conflicts, and diversion of benefits to the well‐established rather than to women or the disadvantaged. Some of these potential problems can be reduced by careful research, flexible project design, appropriate technology and two‐way flows of communication. For projects to be effective, more research, training, information dissemination, and interorganizational coordination may be essential, in which EDI could play a role. Copyright © 1991 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.