3 - Developing Sustainable Communities in Africa : Components for a Framework

Abstract

This paper puts forward components for a framework for the development of a sustainable community. The components of the framework are drawn from the literature. The premise of the task is the absence of crucial variables, such as culture, in most attempts to provide a framework for development in Africa. These attempts have seen theoretical ‘turns’, which have been matched by twists in ‘ practice ’. The former is in the academy and the ‘thinking arm’ of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund. The latter is among socio-political decision makers and Non-Governmental Organisations. “ Sustainability ” has become an almost unavoidable point of reference in this attempt since its popularity by the World Commission on Environment and Development (the Brundtland Report) in 1987. The term is, however, used more in relation to the environment and the economy than it is to the community. The idea of a sustainable community, as is well known, signalled a shift of focus on sustainability to the local level, which reflects the political and indeed cultural difficulties associated with the attempts to achieve sustainability at a global level. This paper argues that for the development of sustainable communities, we must begin to take seriously the use of practices and systems which maintain or enhance the ability of people to provide for their social and cultural well-being, the economic viability of agriculture, the natural resource base of agriculture, the ecosystems influenced by agricultural activities and the quality and safety of food and fibre.