INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT: PERSPECTIVES AND PROSPECTS; A STUDY OF THE NORTH WEST INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (NWIRDP) OF CAMEROON
INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT: PERSPECTIVES AND PROSPECTS; A STUDY OF THE NORTH WEST INTEGRATED RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (NWIRDP) OF CAMEROON
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Date
1997-03
Authors
KHAN, SAMA EMMANUEL
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Abstract
ABSTRACT
Increasing agricultural productivity is an important
factor in improving the standard of living of rural dwellers,
since without it, most rural family incomes can not rise. But
the extent to which agricultural productivity will in fact
lead to the amelioration of rural poverty depends on a number
of factors. Firstly, not all rural dwellers are farmers or
farm labourers. Some are employed in various service
activities or are currently underemployed or unemployed. For
them, family incomes must rise from some other sources than
farming. Secondly, some aspects of improving rural standards
of living are largely independent of family incomes. These
depend more on the availability of social services -
education, clean drinking water, public health facilities,
farm to market roads, and family planning services.
Orthodox Rural Development (ORD) defines rural
development only in terms of agricultural development (AD).
It neglects the provision of social services and the fact that
not all rural dwellers earn farm incomes. In the study area
of this thesis, 47 per cent of rural dwellers depend on nonfarm
incomes for their livelihood.
Integrated rural development (IRD) on the other hand
recognizes the fact that even when increasing agricultural
productivity is the main objective of a development project,
the provision of social services is of vital importnce for
increased productivity in the rural economy. It also
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recognizes the fact that the design of a rural development
project must make provision for rural dwellers who are
involved in non-farm occupations if the objective of
alleviating rural poverty is to be achieved.
This study has three main objectives:
1. to determine the extent to which the NWIRDP can be
classified as an IRD project.
2. to evaluate the performance of phase I of the project and
establish the strength of the relationship between
agricultural production and some independent variables.
3. to examine the prospects of the success of phase II of
the NWIRDP.
Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, the
following conclusions were arrived at:
that the NWIRDP is not an IRD project. At best it is an
AD project.
that apart from the field staff training programme of the
project, no other project component met the project
appraisal report (PAR) targets.
Field staff training also comes out as the most
significant determinant of agricultural production while
credit is the least significant.
The thesis also arrives at the conclusion that barely 43
per cent of agricultural production is accounted for by the
explanatory variables while 57 per cent is explained by
variables outside the model. The provision of social services
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and the incorporation of non-farm activities in the project
design are isolated as factors that can raise agricultural
production and at the same time alleviate rural poverty in the
North West Province of Cameroon.
The thesis also concludes that phase II of the project
will not be viable if the Government of Cameroon does not
increase its financial commitment to the project. And if the
project design is not reformulated to include the active
participation of the main project beneficiaries.
Description
A Thesis Submitted to the Postgraduate School in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the Master of
Science (M.Sc.) degree in Economics at the Faculty of Arts and
Social Sciences, Department of Economics, Ahmadu Bello
University Zaria.
Keywords
INTEGRATED,, RURAL,, DEVELOPMENT,, PERSPECTIVES,, PROSPECTS,, STUDY,, NORTHERN,, WEST,, INTEGRATED,, RURAL,, DEVELOPMENT,, PROJECT,, CAMEROON.