Community Project Funding in Malawi under the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) Demand-Driven Approach: Potential for Perpetuating Imbalances in Development

Abstract

This paper gives an overview of the kind of community development projects that the Malawi Social Action Fund (MASAF) has supported since its inception in July 1996. The MASAF has tended to subscribe to a demand-driven approach in its evaluation of projects, thereby introducing an element of competition in commu nity development. This has led to imbalances in socio-economic infrastructure, between those districts whose communities have been unable to initiate their own projects, and those where there is more sophisticated “development-conscious” leadership. Ways in which more equitable and effective grassroots development can be implemented are presented in this paper, where the author believes that non governmental development agencies in particular, have a positive role to play.



Journal of Social Development in Africa Vol 15 No 1 2000, pp. 5-14