Anthropological Contributions to the North Shaba Rural Development Project

摘要

Although policies which target the amorphous category of 'the rural poor' as the beneficiaries of development projects have stimulated demand for the specialized knowledge of the anthropologist, in many cases anthropologists have found their roles limited to approving or disapproving of a project's social soundness. As a point of contrast, this paper discusses a major project in North Shaba, Zaire in which anthropological contributions decisively influenced project design and implementation. The author traces the project's origin in response to the region's decade-long economic decline, rising maize imports, and low level of agricultural production. The Government of Zaire (GOZ) initially intended to increase maize production through compulsory resettlement of small farmers onto large mechanized farms. Upon application to A.I.D. in 1975, however, the project was redesigned into an ambitious experiment in bottom-up development characterized by A.I.D.'s processual approach to project design-slow initial implementation, flexibility, small farmer participation in decisionmaking and commitment of resources, strengthening of local organizations, and inclusion of an information system.