100% found this document useful (7 votes)
23K views146 pages

DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Notes - 1

This course outline introduces development studies and covers key concepts like growth, development, underdevelopment, and theories of development. It outlines 12 weekly topics that will be covered including concepts of development, social economic indicators, strategies like agriculture and urbanization, Kenya's Vision 2030, and ethics and cultural values in development.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
100% found this document useful (7 votes)
23K views146 pages

DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Notes - 1

This course outline introduces development studies and covers key concepts like growth, development, underdevelopment, and theories of development. It outlines 12 weekly topics that will be covered including concepts of development, social economic indicators, strategies like agriculture and urbanization, Kenya's Vision 2030, and ethics and cultural values in development.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
  • Course Outline: Provides an overview of the course, objectives, and key development concepts for students to engage with.
  • Key Topics Overview: Lists key weekly topics and sub-topics covered in the course, including development theories and strategies.
  • Development Concepts and Theories: Explores detailed concepts of development, underdevelopment, and theories explaining these phenomena.
  • Socio-Economic Indicators: Discusses various socio-economic measures that indicate growth and development trends and challenges.
  • Development Strategies: Covers the strategic approaches and policies, including Vision 2030, to improve scientific and economic development.
  • Urbanization and Development: Examines the processes, challenges, and impacts of urbanization on development within different regions.
  • Sustainable Development Goals: Details on sustainable development goals, including strategies for achievement and integration into national policy.
  • Group Dynamics: Analyzes the characteristics, roles, and dynamics of groups within organizations and communities.
  • Leadership: Focuses on leadership roles, styles, and its importance in guiding successful organizations.
  • Project Management: Discusses the essentials of managing projects, including stakeholder involvement and project planning.
  • National Cohesion and Integration: Explores the concepts of national identity and strategies for enhancing cohesion and integration.
  • Role of Professional Environments: Discusses the influence of professionals in rural and industrial settings on development initiatives.
  • Ethics in Development: Evaluates the ethical considerations in development, focusing on historical and theoretical perspectives.

COURSE OUTLINE

UCU: 3101 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS


Introduction
Development studies is a multi-disciplinary social science which studies the principles and
processes governing structural and qualitative changes in the way society functions which
increase its capacity to accomplish objectives. In the broadest terms applicable to all societies
and historical periods. Development studies is concerned with upward directional movement of
society characterized by greater levels of energy, efficiency, quality productivity, complexity,
comprehension, creativity, mastery, enjoyment and accomplishment
COURSE PURPOSE
This course seeks to introduce students to a broad view of development with key challenges,
constraints as opportunities for development.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of their course the student should be able: co
1. Identify indicators of growth and development
2. Recognize challenges of societies in growth and development
3. Evaluate the emerging trends and their impact o development
4. Identify processes and stages common to all fields and expressions of developmental
change

1
WEEKS TOPICS SUB-TOPICS REMARKS
1 CONCEPTS OF  Introduction to concept of
DEVELOPMENT AND Development and
UNDERDEVELOPME Underdevelopment
NT
 Concept of Development

 Underdevelopment

 Growth and Development

 Social scientist view on


Development

 Freedom and Development

 Core values of Development

 Objectives of Development

 Approaches to Development

2 THEORIES OF  Classical economic theories


DEVELOPMENT
 Modernization theories

 Dependency theories

 World systems theory

 Strategy theories

3 SOCIAL ECONOMIC  Some development strategies


INDICATORS OF and related social economic
GROWTH AND indication
DEVELOPMENT

2
 Population control

 Food and agricultural


development

 Health

 Conservation of environment

 Industrial development

4 DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGIES

Science and technology


 Definitions of Science and
in development
technology

 The linkage between science,


technology and development

 Science, technology and


development in the south

 Kenya’s position on science


and technology

5  Introduction
Agriculture and
development  Agriculture and farming
practices or systems

 Contributions of agriculture to
national economic growth

 Some constraints of
agricultural development

3
 Devolution and development

6 Urbanization and  Introduction


development
 Urbanization

 Trends and patterns of global


urbanization

 Problems of urbanization

 Challenges of urbanization

7 Kenya vision 2030  Introduction

 Executive summary

 Foundations of Kenya vision


2030

 Economic pillar

 Social pillar

 Political pillar
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT  Sustainable development goals
GOALS
 Linkages of SDGs with vision
2030 pillars

8 GROUP DYNAMICS  Definition of group and group


dynamics

 History of group

 Reasons of joining group

 Stages of group development

4
 Contribution of groups to
development

9 LEADERSHIP  Definition of leadership

 Importance of leadership

 Theories of leadership

 Leadership styles

 Division of labour

10 Fundamentals of project  Definition of Fundamentals of


management project management
 Stakeholders and the
organization:
 Taking stakeholders into
account:
 Taking stakeholders into
account:
 Project planning
 Project proposal format
 Project development cycle
 Project appraisal
 The common pitfalls may
affect the projects

NATIONAL  Meaning of terms


11
COHESION AND  Indicators of cohesive society
INTEGRATION  Benefit of cohesive and
integrated Nation .
 Challenges to National
Cohesion

5
 Challenges in achieving
National Cohesion and
Integration in Kenya
 Strategies for promoting
National Cohesion and
integration
 Actors Involved in the
promotion of National
Cohesion and Integration.

 Role of professionals on
Role and responsibility
Rural environment
of professionals in rural
 Role of professionals on the
and management
industrial environment
industrial

ETHICS AND  Define


12
CULTURAL VALUES development ethics
IN DEVLOPMENT  Describe the
sources of
development ethics
 Discuss the areas of
disagreements in
development ethics
 Define culture and
its role in

6
development
 Discuss the various
models of
development and
cultural change

COURSE EVALUATION

CATS/Assignments/Presentation 30%

Final examination 70%

Total 100%

COURSE TEXT BOOKS

1. Jeffrey Haynes(2008) Development studies ,palgrave


2. Jeffrey Haynes(2005), Advances in development studies
3. Katie Willies (2011)Theories and process of Development Routledge
4. Vandana Dsai and Robert Potter(2008), the companion of Development studies A hodder
A nold publication

REFERENCE TEXTS;

1. Chadra P.(2009) projects planning, Analysis ,Financing implementation and Reviw, 7th
Education Tata Mc Graw
2. Todaro P.M Smith C.S (2009), Economics development 8th edition, peason Educ. Ltd
Publishers, U.K
3. Allen, Y and Allan T(1992), Poverty and Development, Oxford University Press UK.

COURSE JOURNALS

 Journal Of Development Studies

7
 Canadian Journal Of African Studies
 Organization Management Journal

REFERENCE JOURNALS

1. Forum for Social economics


2. Asia pacific journal of social work and development
3. International journal of sustainable building technology and urban development
politics groups and identifies journal.

LESSON ONE

CONCEPTS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Introduction

In this lesson, we will learn the basic concepts of development and underdevelopment. We will
also briefly discuss the concept of growth and development. Social scientist view about

8
development and freedom and development will also will be discussed. Core values of
development and approaches to development is vital in broadening the students understanding
about the concept of development and underdevelopment

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Define the terms development and underdevelopment


2. Explain the concept of growth and development and characteristics of developing
world
3. Discuss approaches to development

Development

We will now start our lesson by defining first the concept of development and then
underdevelopment.

The concept of development is somehow problematic to define. The term development has been
given many meanings, whichare not always clearly specified in practice or in research. Phillips
(1990:6) states that these meaning can include:

General improvement in progress

Economic growth

Increased labour productivity

Satisfaction of basic human needs

Modernization including education

Social change.

Development

Refers to a situation where there is reduction or elimination of poverty, inequality and un-
employment within the context of a growing economy.

9
Thus we need to ask ourselves what has been happening to poverty, unemployment and
inequality. If this has declined from a higher level then this would be referred to as development
for the country concerned.

The above stated view of development ends up giving the features, goals and process of
development.

Note:

Development can be presented either as a desirable and state or as a continuous process. It


could also be seen quantitatively in terms of tangible ends such as income per capita,
Gross National Income, physical manifestations such as kilometre of road, buildings,
social facilities has been the most dominant. This perspective reduced development to a
teleological concept, that is, one with an end state.

Let us also introduce you to a qualitative view of development where, the process and the end-
state of development are important. People are seen as both ends and means of development.
Note what Walter Rodney says,

Rodney (1989:9) states that development at the individual level implies increased skill and
capacity, greater freedom, creativity, self discipline, responsibility and material well being.

In talking of development of human beings, ten what we are talking about is human
development. Since human beings and their needs keep on evolving as time moves on, then
development should be defined as a dynamic process that involves positive change in the total
life of a society it is in this light we adapt the Gender Issues Awareness Trainers 1994 definition
of development which pens the scope of what development ought to be:- a continuous process of
positive change, collectively defined and aimed at optimum distributive justice, economic
growth and individual and collective self reliance in politics, economics and culture through the
participation of that community and of related communities.

Underdevelopment

10
Let us now define the concept of underdevelopment, Jhigan (1986:11) observes that there is not a
single definition, which is so comprehensive as to incorporate all the features of an
underdeveloped country

It is, however important to note that underdevelopment does not denote absence of development.
This is because, as Rodney (1998:21) notes, every people have developed in one way or another
and to a greater or lesser extent. So underdevelopment is a relative phenomenon. It therefore can
best be explained in terms of comparison of levels of development. This is actually in noting that
different levels of resource endowment. Thus, there are more developed societies and less
developed or underdeveloped societies

However, underdevelopment as concept has largely been associated with economic


backwardness, which is characterized by low incomes, poverty, low labour, productivity and
“backward” technology.

Generally, we can conclude that an underdeveloped society can be developed, but only to the
extent that most material welfare needs of the people are largely partly or wholly met.

At the international level, underdeveloped countries have the following as some of its basic
characteristics:-

 A relatively low per capital production


 A relatively higher proportion of the population in agriculture
 A relatively high unemployment and underemployment
 A relatively higher rate of population growth
 A relatively lower life expectancy
 A higher rate of infant mortality
 A relatively lower rate of literacy and smaller percentage of young people in schooling
and training at all levels.
 Relatively few doctors per head of population
 less access to basic health care services and sanitation

Let us caution that the processes of development and underemployment should however not be
seen as mutually exclusive, such as if a society or an economy is developing aspects of

11
Underdevelopment may not be found.

GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

Some countries of the world are extremely poor, whereas others are very prosperous.

The discussion of development is always ties with basic questions like, why are poor countries
poor and other countries rich. Why do poor countries lag behind rich countries in the
development of the standard of living? How can poor countries catch up with the rich countries?

Differentiate economic growth from economic development

Development is conceived of as economic growth is qualitative concept. Economic development


is more than economic growth alone. Economic development is the sustained, concerted actions
of policy makers and communities that promote the standard of living and economic health of a
specific area. Economic development can also be referred to as the quantitative and qualitative
changes in the economy. Such actions can involve multiple areas including development of
human capital, critical infrastructure, regional competitiveness, environmental sustainability,
social inclusion, health, safety, literacy, and other initiatives. Economic development differs
from economic growth. Whereas economic development is a policy intervention endeavour with
aims of economic and social well – being of people, economic growth is a phenomenon of
market productivity and rise in GDP. Consequently, as economist Amartya Sen points out
economic growth is one aspect of the process of economic development.

Economic growth is the increase in the market value of the goods and services produced by an
economy over time. It is conventionally measured as the percent rate of increase in real gross
domestic product or real GDP. The growth of the ratio of GDP to population (GDP per

Capita), which is also called per capita income. An increase in per capita income is referred to
as intensive [Link] growth caused only by increases in population or territory is
called extensive growth.

Growth is usually calculated in real terms – i.e., inflation- adjusted terms – to eliminate the
distorting effect of inflation on the price of goods produced. In economics economic growth or

12
economic growth theory typically refers to growth of potential output, i.e, production at full
employment.

Economic development is more than economic growth alone. Economic development refers to
growth accompanied by qualification changes in the structure of production and employment,
generally referred to as structural change.

Economic growth would take place without any development. An example is production by
those oil exporting countries, which experienced sharp increases in national income but saw
hardly any changes in their economic structure.

Another important qualitative change is technological change the on-going process of change is
process and product technologies, resulting in radically new modes of production and new
product ranges.

In the 1960’s the identification of development with economic growth came under increasing
criticism.

Authors like Dudley seers, Paul Streeter and institutions like ILO pointed out that developing
countries did not experience much change in the living conditions of the masses of the poor in
spite of the impressive growth figures in the poor World War II period. They came to the
conclusion that development involves more than economic growth and changes in economic
structures. Seers further indicated that for development to have been achieved there should be a
decrease in poverty and malnutrition that income inequality should improve.

Take note that a country can grow rapidly but still do badly in terms of literacy, health, life
expectancy and nutrition.

The environmental costs of growth are insufficiently recognized pollution. Economic growth
does not necessarily make people more happy or satisfied. Masses of the poor in spite of the
impressive growth figures in the poor World War II period. They came to the conclusion that
development involves more than economic growth and changes in economic structures. Seers
further indicated that for development to have been achieved there should be a decrease in
poverty and malnutrition that income inequality should improve.

13
Take note that a country can grow rapidly but still do badly in terms of literacy, health, life
expectancy and nutrition.

The environmental costs of growth are insufficiently recognized pollution. Economic growth
does not necessarily make people more happy or satisfied.

Take note that growth is a pre-requisite for development, while development involves more than
just growth.

SCIENTISTS VIEW OF DEVELOPMENT

Social scientists have stated that development should not be viewed in terms of economics only.
One should also pay attention to other changes i.e. family structure, attitudes and mentalities,
cultural changes, demographic development, political changes, and nation building, the
transformation of rural societies and forces of urbanization.

The broad concept of development involves a change of the entire society in the direction of
modernization ideals.

MODERNIZATION IDEALS ADVANCED BY MYRDAL

1. Rationality: in policy, application of technological knowledge, in structuring social


relations in thinking about objectives etc.
2. Planning for development: Searching for coherent system of policy measures in order to
change situations that are considered undesirable.
3. Increase in production, per capita and production per worker primarily through
industrialization and increased capital intensity of production.
4. Improvements in the standard of living
5. Decline in social and economic in-equality
6. More efficient institutions and attitudes that is conducive to an increase in productivity
and to development in general.
7. Consolidation of the national state and national integration
8. National independence
9. Political democratization e.g. parliamentary democracy
10. Increased social discipline.

14
FREEDOM AND DEVELOPMENT

Amaryta Sen (1999) sees development as an integrated process of expansion of substantive


freedoms. Economic growth, technological advancement and political change are all to be judged
in the light of their contribution to the expansion of human freedoms such as freedom from
famine and malnutrition, freedom from poverty, access to health care and freedom from pre-
mature mortality.

According to Sen, freedoms are both ends and means.

Political freedom can contribute to economic dynamism but are also goals in themselves. He
further argues that all freedoms are strongly interconnected and reinforce each other. But he
under-emphasizes classes between freedom of different groups of people and the value of
choices that still need to be made.

Are growth and development desirable?

The desirability of economic growth and socio- Economic development is undisputed. However,
some critics have pointed to the desirable disruption of traditional societies and lifestyles and the
spread of a uniform materialistic mass culture which lead to cultural shallowness, increased
exploitation of peoples as a result of spread of capitalist market relations, etc.

sometimes it is suggested that people are happier in traditional societies than in modern societies,
(ever heard of the saying, ‘you can take a villager out of the village but you can never take the
village out of the village): In such set ups they were in tune with their natural environment and
their needs and wishes would balance their potentialities.

The Malthusian movement maintains that continued economic growth will disturb the balance of
nature and will eventually lead to ecological catastrophes e.g. the current incidents of
environmental pollution, global warming and climate change are good examples.

Some authors see “development” as a euphemism ( ) for western penetration and domination
of the world, involving great misery and exploitation in both past and present. Such penetration
is done under the pre-texting development and progress i.e civilization.

15
Diamond argues that process of civilization have always involved conquest, violence, coercion
and oppression on less civilized peoples.

He further adds that whenever people try to spread their civilization, the fire and the sword are
always involved. This shows that there is a cost involved in development. Take note that what
one understands by “development” in a particular historical period is strongly influenced by
dominant cultures and powers of that period.

Fieriest criticism of growth and development are often formulated by the elites in rich countries.
Take note that when traditional societies come in contact with modern consumer goods their
needs seem to be many.

Criticisms of economic growth and development are sometimes inspired by a romantic


idealization of a harmonious and balanced society that may never come to existence.

Problems developing countries are facing today have much to do with the fact these countries
have already been “opened up” to trade investment, colonial domination and partial penetration
by the money economy.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEVELOPING WORLD

1. Lower levels of living and productivity


2. Lower levels of human capital
3. Higher levels of inequality and absolute poverty
4. Higher population growth rates
5. Greater social fractionalization – Formation of class society
6. Larger rural population and rapid rural to urban immigration
7. Low levels of industrialization and manufactured exports
8. Lingering colonial impacts
9. Relative importance of the public and private sectors and civil society

THREE CORE VALUES OF DEVELOPMENT

1. Sustenance

16
Sustenance is the ability to meet basic needs without which life would be impossible. These
include food, shelter, health and protection. When any of these is absent or in critical short
supply, a condition of ‘Absolute Undevelopment’ exists. A basic function of all economic
activity therefore, is to provide as many people with the means of overcoming the helplessness
and misery arising from a lack of food, shelter, health and protection. Thus we claim that
economic development is a necessary condition for the improvement in the quality of life that is
development.

2. Self Esteem

This refers to a sense of worth and self-respect of not being used as a tool by others for their own
ends. It relates to identify, dignity, respect, recognition etc. the esteem may vary from society
and from culture to culture. Due to the significance of material values i.e. developed nations,
worthiness and esteem are nowadays increasingly conferred only to countries that possess
economic wealth and technical power those that have ‘developed’ As Dennis Goulet put “
development is legitimized as good because it is important, perhaps even indispensable way of
gaining esteem.

3. Freedom from servitude: To enable to choose

Freedom involves an expanded range of choices for societies and their members together with a
minimization of external constraints in persuit of social goal called development.

Amartya Sen writes of ‘development as freedom’

W. Arthur Lewis stressed the importance of freedom when he said that the ‘advantage economic
growth is not that wealth increases happiness, but that it increases the range of human choice’

The three objectives of development

Development in all societies must have at least the following objectives:-

a) To increase the availability and widen the distribution of basic life-sustaining goods such
as food, shelter, health and protection.
b) To raise levels of living including in addition to income, the provision of more jobs,
better education greater attention to cultural and human values.

17
c) To expand the range of economic and social choices available to individuals and nations
by freeing them from dependence.

Approaches to development

We have two thus,

a) The fight against poverty (short term approach)


b) The analysis of the long-term economic and social development
1. The fight against poverty (short-term approach)

This approach focuses on the problems of widespread poverty, hunger and misery in developing
countries.

It also looks at what can be done in order to realize improvements of the situation in the short
term.

The approach is strongly involved with the problem of developing the inhabitants. It tries to
address the present levels of poverty, misery and injustice. Thus it aims at arriving at concrete
recommendations or local levels.

Some people choose a technocratic interpretation, focusing on policies, instruments and projects
while others choose a more radical- political interpretation.

Kenyan context

 DDC: District Development Committee


 Jua Kali: Sheds
 CDF: Constituency Development Funds

Tanzanian context

18
 Ujamaa villages

Take note that a common characteristic of the above slogans/ideas is their short term perspective.

Time and again proposals have been put forward in order to achieve certain goals within a
decade or two.

Further, take note that some of the major mistakes in development policies are a direct
consequences or erroneous advice from development advisers and experts.

2. The analysis of the long term economic and social development (Long –Term
approach)

This approach concentrates on comparing development in different countries, regions and


historical periods in order to gain a better understanding of the factors that have long- term
effects on the dynamics of socio-economic development.

This approach tries to comprehend why there is a difference in development that has occurred in
different parts of the world.

It tries to identify the factors that may help explain different patterns of development such as the
accumulation of production factors, the efficiency with which these factors of production are
being used, technological changes, external, political and economic. It involves institutions and
cultural differences etc.

It emphasizes that economic growth is associated with economic development of the western
countries since the mid 18th Century. Thus reference to these countries on matters of
development could be referred to with a view to gaining an insight in the indiscriminately to
developing countries.

The historical study of processes of economic growth reveals the importance of saving and
investment in the accumulation of the factors of production.

REVI EW QUESTIONS

1. Define the concept of development and under development


2. Differentiate growths from development

19
3. Explain the causes of under development in developing countries
4. With use examples explain the approaches to development, which is the best approach for
developing nations

LESSON TWO

THEORIES OF DEVELOPMENT

Let us now move on to the next objective of this unit. To look at some of the theories of
development.

20
There have been various attempts and approaches to understand how the processes of
development and underdevelopment take place. Initially however, concern for development was
within the realm of economic development. Economists started theorizing about development in
the 18th century.

We will group the theories into classical economic theory, modernization and dependency theory
and strategic theories. Let us now start with the classical economic theories.

Classical economic theories

Adam Smith, writing in 1776, is regarded as the father of classical economics. Smith, in his
renowned work, an inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of nations, 1776, presented a
recipe for economic growth. He noted that economic growth was necessary to raise people’s
welfare. Savings should be mobilized and invested as a way of generating income. He also
believed in the doctrine of natural law in economic affairs and regarded every person as the best
judge of his/her self interest. He therefore called for every person to be left to pursue his/her own
advantage and market forces be left to regulate economic activities – a laissez faire sort of
system.

Subsequent scholars such as David Ricardo and Arthur Lewis subscribed to this naked capitalist
market driven model of development. It was not until during the great depression in the 1930s
that it was found necessary to control market forces. John Maynard Keynes in the 1950s
submitted the government intervention in free trade was necessary so as to regulate market forces
and put order through taxation and use of interest rates in the process ensures people’s welfare
was catered for. The realization was essentially that market forces did not have people’s welfare
at heart.

Modernization theory

Let us now introduce you to modernization theory, which emerged after the Second World War
as an analytical tool to provide a framework in which the transition from traditional to modern
forms of society could be analyzed (Taylor 1979:33). Thinking in the 1940s and 50s was that

21
development was a linear process; it was felt that the underdeveloped countries could follow the
same path followed by the more developed nations and become modern and therefore developed.

According to W.E Moore, the concept of modernization denotes a total transformation of a


traditional or pre-modern society into the types of technology and associated social organization
that characterizes the advanced economically prosperous and relatively politically stable nations
of the western world. (Moore 1963:89).

Dependency theory

We are going to introduce you to dependency theory, which views the underdevelopment of
developing countries are resulting mainly from their dependence on the rich countries. This
school of thought has its origins in Marxist (Karl Marx 1850-1880) thinking. Marx observed that
with the international movement of capital, colonies develop as outlets for excess goods of the
industrial capitalist economies. The colonies also supply raw materials. As the interaction of
colonies with the international capitalism proceeds and grows, indigenous systems are broken
down and modelled to serve the needs of the local people. A phenomenon of colonial capitalism
ensues.

Paul Baran (1982) widely regarded as the father of dependency theory observes that such
unequal relationships between the centre and periphery renders attempts by poor societies to be
self-reliant and independent in their development efforts difficult and sometimes even
impossible.

Let us introduce you to what a renowned dependency scholar said about dependency. Andre G.
Frank (1967) a renowned Latin American underdevelopment scholar argues that:

The massive and persistent poverty in Latin American countries is a result of exposure to
economic and political influences of advanced countries. The progression of industrial centres in
the world today means simultaneous underdevelopment of those countries whose economic
surplus the western countries exploit.

He rejected the progressive nature of capitalism as advocated by Marxism imperialism a


contended that as long as developing countries continue to be subject to the dominance of
Western economic imperialism, their poverty will persist.

22
Frank sees the solution to this exploitation process as being in the cutting of the chain of
dependency through which surplus production is transferred. Frank says the solution lies in a
revolution of a socialist nature.

World Systems Theory

A variant of dependency theory was postulated by Ibrahim Wallenstein (1974). He called I the
World System Theory

This theory‘s focus is to explain world patterns of inequality. Wallenstein argues that over the
last five centuries, a world system based on the expansion of a capitalist economy has developed.
The world is thus not a bunch of independent societies but a large system that unifies the world’s
societies and cultures into a single economic system that is tied together through a complex
global exchange system.

The ensuing world political organizations are essentially an inter-state system of completely
sovereign but capitalize nation states. Each competing and feeding each other. The capitalist
world’s economy is made up of the core countries (same as A.G Frank’s Metropolitan centre);
the semi periphery, the periphery and the external area.

1. The course states: are those in which modern economic enterprise first emerged and
which subsequently underwent industrialization. E.g. Britain, Netherlands and France and
later German, Japan and the U.S.A
2. The semi periphery’s composed of societies situated in the South of Europe’s around the
Mediterranean(such as Spain)
3. The periphery or the ‘outer edge’ of the world economy was until two centuries ago,
mainly the Eastern fringes of Europe
4. The External arena: Much of Asia and Africa.

Wallenstein argues that since his core countries dominate the world system, they are able to
organize world trade to favour their interests. In this systems, are two distinct classes of people;
the owners of production and those who do not own.

IV. THEORY OF STAGES OF ECONOMIC GROWTH by W.W. Restow

23
He identifies five ideal types of stages which all societies pass:

a) The traditional society

It has more than 75% of the population engaged in food production and political power is in the
hands of landowners or a central authority supported by the army and the civil servants.

b) Transitional stage

Creates preconditions of take off by bringing about radical changes in the non-industrial sectors.
Export of raw material gains momentum; a new class of businessman emerges; and the idea of
economic progress coming from outside spreads through the elite.

c) Take off stage

Brings a sharp increase in the rate of investment as per the capital output. It is a stage of
industrial revolution characterized by change in the production techniques. Expansion takes
place in a small group of leading sectors at first hand and on the social side its accompanied by
the domination of the modern sector of society over the traditional one.

d) The drive to maturity

More growth is witnessed leading to other sectors and a broader application of modern
technology followed by necessary changes in the society at large.

e) The stage of high mass consumption

Normally attained after reaching a certain level of national income. There is formation of
economic policy giving priority to the increased private consumption.

Review Questions

1. Explain the main features of classical economic theories.


2. List down five characteristics of traditional societies and five of a modern society.
3. Do you think it is possible to find an exclusively traditional, or modern society? Explain.
4. From your understanding of the Kenyan situation, do you agree with this line of thinking?Explain.

24
5. In view of the widespread poverty in the developing world, how would you improve on A. [Link]’s
position?
6. From what we have already gone through about theories of development, which one best explains
Africa’s state of development? Why?

FURTHER READING

Seers, D. 1979. The Meaning of Development, in Lehmann, D. (Ed) Development Theory: FourCritical
Studies. London: Frank Cass

Sen, A. K. 1989 "Development as capability expansion" In Journal of Development Planning,No. 19


pp. 41 - 58.

Taylor, J. G. 1979. From Modernization to Modes of Production. A Critique of the Sociologyof


Development and Underdevelopment. London: Macmilla

Todaro, M. 1977. Economics for A Developing World. London: Longman.

Ul Haq, Malbub 1973. Crisis in Development Strategies

UNDP1996HumanDevelopmentReportOxfordUniversityPressNewYorkn.

LESSON THREE

SOCIO-ECONOMIC INDICATORS OF GROWTH DEVELOPMENT

In this topic we will learn social indicators of growth and development. There are social
economic indicators of the progress of development which tell us whether development has
taken place or not in a given developing nation. We will indentify some various sectors in a

25
given economy for instance population control, food and agriculture development, education and
many others.

Learning objectives

1. Indentify the indicators of growth and development in various sectors of the


economy
2. Explain with use of examples the challenges that developing nations are facing.

There are socio-economic indicators of the progress of development within each strategy in a
given period of time.

a) To test and know whether development has taken depends on what has been achieved in
terms of improving people’s standards of living.
b) In this case, development would refer to process of change towards the enhancement of a
people’s socio-economic welfare and the realization of individual’s desire for self
fulfilment.
c) It involves societies, transforming through its institutions, organizations, social rules and
attitude.

Indicators of development are measures of social and economic conditions that show how much
development has taken place. These may be at the level of individual groups within society, or
society as a whole. They are usually given in descriptive terms, in the forms of averages,
proportions, rations and indices.

Socio-economic indicators may be as follows:

Those concerned with individual members of the society of groups on household activities,
attainments and conditions of life.

For instance:

- Activity profiles for women, men, girls and boys. This shows time used in productive,
reproductive leisure and community activities.

26
- Profiles of human deprivation. These could be numbers of refugees by country of asylum,
illiterate adults, population without access to safe water or percentage of the
malnourished and child morality under five.
- Profile of human development. This could be life expectancy at birth, adult literacy rate,
daily caloric supply per capita.
- Rural-urban gaps, examples are rural-urban disparity in provision of health services or
rural-urban disparity in provision of safe drinking water.

Those concerned with social services in the country. This may indicate the volume and value
of services, the inputs and the outputs, the benefits derived by the people, and their impact of
the services on the people. For instance:

- Health profile – maternal mortality rate, population per doctor or qualified nurse,
HIV/AIDS cases or records of various immunizations.
- Educational imbalance–pupil teacher ratio, educational enrolment or dropout rates
repetition and performance rates.
- Profile of human distress – these may be unemployment rates, adults with less than
primary education, number of school going age children not in school, the rates of child
labor or teenage pregnancies.
- Unemployment – number of unemployed people, male and female or percentage of
unemployed graduate.
- Indicators of socio-economic are expressed in terms of how they relate to major goals of
social-economic development.

Some development strategies and related social, economic indicators.

All the strategies adapted by a country at any given time depend in primary needs.

Population control

27
The development process has to concern itself with human population in terms of density, size,
birth rates and growth rates. Human population is defined as the number of people in a given
location.

Population density is the number of people per given area while population size is the result of
additions and subtraction through birth, immigration, emigrations and death.

Birth rate is defined as the number of babies per 1,000 per year and growth rate is the number of
births minus deaths per 1,000 people per year.

In both developed and developing countries, increasing human numbers place intense pressure
on ecosystems and natural resources. This pressure is expected to increase until world population
stabilizes at 10bn (2050 and 2070). This will only be achieved if the present efforts to check
population growth and pursed vigorously.

Population control remains an important strategy in the development process. This is because
rapid population growth has caused serious concerns about the outlook of economic growth,
human development, and the environment in developing countries. The present population
growth rate threatens the world population growth rate threatens the world population with
starvation.

In many developing countries, high fertility rates and mass poverty together form a vicious cycle
that threaten the welfare and of the population.

Malnutrition, disease and poverty in many poor countries have led to more infant and child
deaths, and this induces some couples to have children to guarantee the survival of some. If the
rate of population growth is not taken up as an important strategy in the development process,
then the expanding population will exhaust the world’s supply of natural resources. If lack of
resources and food does not spell doom, the environmental damage by expanding population will
do. This is largely being witnessed has caused to the air, water and land pollution. This is an
indication of a disaster in the making.

Clearly, world population grow this controversial and vital issue in the development process.
Unless drastic action is taken to reduce it, the welfare of the human kind is threatened world over
and thus a need for population control. Even people living in vast lands are clamouring for

28
population control government policies have laid emphasis on family planning measures to
reduce population growth. In general developed countries have low fertility rates than
developing ones.

Family planning has contributed significantly to decline of fertility rate in developing countries.

Food and agricultural development

Lack of the right food affects the extent to which people contribute to development efforts. Poor
nutrition can affect mental performance as well as physical productivity. Where back of enough
quality food has been a global problem, it is more prominent in developing nutritional deeds.
World food production has to increase in order to maintain the current nutritional level for its
high population. To achieve this cropland must be expanded or the yields must increase. Another
way to solve the problems would be to increase the share of the world’s food going to poor
countries.

In most countries lacking in minerals, agricultural development continue to be one of the primary
development strategies. Agricultural provides the basis for developments of other sectors of the
economy. Thus most countries lacking in minerals, agricultural development continue to be of
the primary developments of other sectors of the economy. This strategy needs emphasis because
development is expected to achieve internal sufficiency in food production, provide adequate
raw materials for agro-based industries and finally generate additional supplies for export.
Towards agricultural production and trade and as the environmental green revolution
technologies which have been developed by international public sector institution.

These are expected to reduce the present food shortage.

Health

29
The emphasis on the importance of health as a strategy for development is based on the fact that
a healthy population is not just a social by product of economic development but a precondition
of such development. Weakness and illness due to energy reduce capacity to learn, work,
produce and learn.

The provision of health services is not a basic need but also an essential condition for overall
economic development. All people in all countries are expected to have a level of health that
allows them to lead a socially and economically productive life. health as a strategy in the
developmental process needs to be emphasized because, although there has been marked
progress in improving health conditions throughout the world enormous gaps still remain
between the rich and the poor countries.

In Africa health services need to be improved to ensure improved life expectancy age which
stands at 50.9 years in developing nations as opposed to 74.3 year in developed countries (UNDP
1996).

To have a healthy productive population calls for two tasks.

1) Provide nutrition to improve the mental and physical well being of children and adults.
2) The control and treatment of disease. (The control and treatment of diseases).

Malnutrition disease and health in developing countries contributes to poverty in developing


countries and therefore for the need to fight it.

Another health challenge facing third world countries is HIV/AIDS pandemic. it is now the only
known health problem that has the potential to reverse the significant gains made in human
mortality rate its cost in terms of resources and responsibility to men and women home lost in
sickness, ill health and management of opportunities infections is enormous. Enhanced
HIV/AIDS/PSALTS are educating community members on prevention, control and management
of AIDS. STIS programme also aim at achieving improved home-based care and counselling
services within communities.

The health status of the population can be assessed by a number of indicators including Crude
death rate, infant mortality rate and life expectancy at birth and the number of medical staff and
facilities available per unit of population.

30
The WHO (1996) notes that there has been a remarkable improvement in health and nutrition
services the world over. There has been expansion of health personnel and health infrastructure.
Due to this life expectancy at birth has improved in the developing countries. Tremendous
improvements have also been noted infant noted in infant mortality rates.

Education

Education remains an important developments strategy because as a human right you influence
the quality of life of an individual by improving people’s ability to acquire and use information.
Education is able to deepen their understanding of themselves and the world, enriching their
minds by broadening their experiences and improving the choices they make as consumers,
producers and citizens.

Therefore education strengthens people’s ability to meet their wants and those of the families by
increasing their productivity and their potentials to achieve a higher standard of living.

The opportunities for personal and social achievements are multiplied through education and it
improves people confidence and their ability to create and innovate (World Bank, 1991): Skilled
human labour is a product of the education process. This forms to focus the backbone of a
nation’s productivity.

Without education, a nation would be deficient in the supply of middle and high level skilled
human resources which are important in provision of leadership to plan; manage and run the
economy of any country. Without education will depend on other countries to provide technical
and professional skills.

In post-independent nations education has been expanded to provide indigenous leadership from
many tasks of development. Free education has been provided to produce high level man power
to meet the changing demands of the economy. The importance of education is reflected in the
growing proportion of the government budgets allocated to education.

Women education enhances community development. Their education is valued for health care
personal hygiene and child morality.

31
The education status of the population can be measured by literacy rates a primary school
enrolment rates.

Possession of professional technical skills can also be used as an indicator of educations status of
the population.

World’s governments have also committed to providing education for all in order to meet the
growing demands of their economies. The reason why nations spend much of their GNP on
education is a clear indicator that as long as a nation is developing, education continues to be an
important development strategy.

Conservation of environment

The environmental degradations has worsened over years. World populations are spoiling the
natural resources through their wide varieties of activities. This destruction has direct result on
poverty.

Current misuse of the environment include soil erosion, increasing pollution and destruction of
vegetation have been major governments concern.

This concern is a necessary part of development strategy and governments have a duty to reverse
the deteriorating environment.

1980 was launched world consecration strategy by UNEP with a major objective of encouraging
sustainable developments though conservation of available resources.

The inception of 1972 stock holder conference on the human environment, UNEP has played a
major role in establishing the principle of sound environment management, and in laying the
foundations for environmental discussion and raising of public awareness.

Environmental activists to restore the environment are in place by agents of developments;


volunteer organization, government and individuals; and businesses.

Industrial development

32
The Kenya development plan(1984-1988) identifies long term industrialization goals as follows;

i)
ii) Diversification of national economy.
iii) Accomplishment of rapid rates of growth.
iv) Improvement in export performance.
v) Production of supplies required to support development in primary sectors of the
economy.
vi) Generation of employment.
vii) Production of goods and services to meet human needs and
viii) Development of a diversified technological base.

The industrialization process aims at producing local products for the local markets; reducing of
foreign dependency to achieve self-reliance promoting innovations through the development of
human resources; generating national as well as individual income and utilizing the available
resources.

Industrialization as a strategy of development remains crucial for developing nations. The


situation on industrialization is weak.

Further foreign multination own most of the industries with links to foreign supplies of
intermediate inputs, making it necessary to impost skilled manpower. There is also repatriation
of capital or currency with negative effects to developing countries. Developing nations lead in
industrialization through sale of hardware and software and recently electronics all over the
world. Developing countries sell goods from textile and clothing industry.

There has been move to encourage developing countries to expand small-scale industries in rural
areas. This worked well in some African countries. This has proved to be a useful move in the
overall development of rural areas. Specific role of the small scale industries for country include:

- Creation of employment in rural areas.


- Increasing income and employment.
- Creating markets for agricultural produce.
- Introduction of rural industries.

33
- Diversification of rural activities.

All the rich and the poor nations recognize the need for industrialization in nation growth and
development.

Challenges

1. Infrastructure–roads, railways, water, telephone and electric power provisions.


2. Purchasing power in the market.
3. Availability of entrepreneurs and skilled industrial expertise.
4. Lack of credit systems and to support industrial undertaking.

Industrialization leads to development. It leads to establishment of new centers of production and


distribution leading to national and international development of trade.

Saves foreign exchange through substitution of imports and local products and reduce
dependence on the outside world.

Review questions

1 Discuss the socio-economic indicators of growth and development in the following areas;

a) Food and agriculture


b) Health
c) Manufacturing
d) Education

34
LESSON FOUR: General Introduction

Lesson FOUR will be covered under four topics. Topic one will look at science and technology;
topic two will deal with agriculture and development; and topic three will look at urbanization,
and development. Kenya vision 2030.

All these are major sectors of development where various strategies have been put in place to
facilitate development.

Topic One: Science and Technology in Development

Introduction

In the contemporary world, science and technology have come to be closely associated with the
development process. This association is not an accidental one and has very strong historical
roots in that the developments of new science and technology have almost always preceded
greater human and social development. This topic therefore explores this linkage generally and
then focuses on more local issues. It attempts to place the development problems in Africa and in
Kenya in the context of science and technology.

Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. Define the key concepts, science and technology

2. Compare and contrast the two key concepts

3. Explore the linkage between science, technology and development

4. Outline the origins of contemporary science and technology in the developing world (the
South) and to look at the problems and challenges of African development from this
perspective.

5. Explore some alternative strategies in overcoming the science and technology constraints
to development

6. Examine Kenya’s position; and

35
7. Look at the contributions of science and technology in the crucial area of health and medicine.

Definitions

What is science?

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, science is defined as:

What is science?

According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary, science is defined as: “…organized
knowledge especially when obtained by observation and testing of facts about the:

• Physical world

• Natural laws

• Society”

It also defines it as the “study leading to such knowledge”

We may elaborate as follows:

• That it is the search for explanations of physical reality, a reality that is manipulable by
hand or instruments, and separate from the mind.

• That science is a way of organizing reproducible knowledge about some problems (not all)
in our everyday existence.

As a system of knowledge it exists in many forms and branches and thus the popular association
of science with white lab coats and laboratories while describing one type of scientist and some
types of science fails to do the concept justice.

36
There are therefore many types of sciences and scientists:

• Natural sciences: geology, biology etc

• Physical sciences: physics, chemistry etc

• Social sciences: sociology, political science, economics etc

The talk of marvels of modern science often obscures the fact that science is not only concerned
with very complicated problems but also with the practical everyday things or problems of
ordinary life e.g. cooking, farming, construction etc.

In traditional life as well we see science in action in many areas of everyday life and many kinds
of scientists: herbalists, brewers, fishing, farming etc.

What is technology?

The dictionary gives two definitions of the concept:

• The scientific study of mechanical arts e.g. engineering

• Application of such knowledge to production

We may elaborate as follows:

• That technology is concerned with technical arts.

• It has a high linkage with social purposes.

• That it is concerned with the pursuit of knowledge and know-how for specific practical
ends.

 As such, the range of technology includes everything from problem identification, to the
design and implementation of solutions. these processes not only involve technical and
physical elements alone but human ones as well.

37
Although science and technology are closely related in the minds of most people, they are not the
same. In spite of the fact that in the practical world there is unity of “knowing and doing”, the
belief that technology is the translation of scientific knowledge into practical form is rather
simplistic.

It is not an automatic relationship and the two concepts are not synonymous.

The Differences between Science and Technology

There are several criteria by which we can differentiate the two:

Products

The products or outcomes of technology are more readily visible than those of science.

Goals

The goal of science is to obtain fundamental understanding of nature and the physical
universe. The goal of technology is to create the human capacity to do: to create new and
useful devices, products, machines or systems.

Problems

The problems of science are small, (not simple) highly detailed and manageable problems
designed to contribute to a body of knowledge that may provide a base for generalizable
theories. They are small in the sense that more often than not, the scientist uses a sample.

On the other hand, the problems of technology are usually complex and inter-related
problems involving design, materials, energy, information, and control. In addition, they
involve many variables, both social and technical design.

Setting

The pursuit of science is isolated from requirements of meeting direct social needs.
Technology by contrast, is situated directly in the social environment.

38
Transferability

Because science consists primarily in knowledge, given a common language, it can be


easily transferred from one place to another.

Technology on the other hand is greatly influenced by local conditions, culture, customs
etc. This fact means that it is more difficult to transfer.

At the same time, whenever it is transferred, it often carries with it, characteristics of the
culture from which it originates (the concept of “cultural gene of technology”).

For example, it is quite apparent especially in towns that fashions of dressing are
sometimes greatly influenced by movies. The movies are an embodiment of the cultures
from which they originate and when they influence the ways in which we dress, we
assume or adopt these cultures

The Linkage between Science, Technology and Development

Development results from two simultaneous processes: growth and change.

Science and technology undoubtedly have the capacity to increase growth through the devising
of more knowledge and better ways of production.

It is mostly in these senses that they are related to development; because of their close
association with economic growth, industrial production etc.

Today, technology accounts for between 20-50 per cent of the annual growth experienced in the
west.

As a result, technology specifically has the potential to create more income, more food, more
public utilities, more schools etc.

However, merely having more of these does not result in development. There has to occur
change in the sense of greater equity and distributive justice.

This is what must constitute the social perspective of technology.

39
Society must be organized in such a manner that science and technology can be made to play
their role in reducing:

Poverty

Ignorance

Unemployment

Disease

Human misery

In other words, improving the quality of life of all members of society.

Science and technology have the potential to do all these but only if society is organized
appropriately for them to do so.

Thus, science and technology are only as good or as bad as society makes them to be.

They have the capacity to make life better or worse.

Science, Technology and Development in the South.

Science and technology as they exist in the south today are largely an implant from the north via:

• The Industrial revolution

• Colonialism and neo-colonialism

• Universities and research institutions based on European models

The problem with this science and technology is that although it may be important practically in
some ways, it is often mediocre in creativity and has failed to produce any originality in thought
in any significant fashion.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s contribution to the world scientific output as measured by publications fell
from 0.5-0.3 per cent between 1985-1995.

40
Considering its population this volume should have been at least 10 per cent.

The state of science and technology in the south is therefore itself experiencing severe
underdevelopment.

Science and technology in the south has effectively been cut off from any meaningful interaction
with the pre-colonial formalized knowledge and traditions and from among their own
communities.

Problems and Challenges

What are the actual problems that continue to hinder Africa’s development as far as science and
technology are concerned?

According to the Lagos Plan of Action for the Economic Development of Africa: 1980-2000, the
issues include the following:

• The old international economic order continues to prevail and influences the ways in with
technology in particular is handled with negative results for Africa.(nieo).

• National mechanisms for developing local technologies are inefficient.

• Imported technologies continue to have negative effects e.g. pollution etc.

• Policies for science and technology in Africa are too imprecise

• There is a widespread lack of education and training in areas of science and technology that
are relevant to development.

 For example, the average annual expenditure on each African university student fell from
Ksh. 378,000/= in 1980 to Ksh. 90,000/= in 1988 (Kenya at that time averaged Ksh.
110,000/=).

• That there is a dichotomy between rural and urban technologies that disadvantages the rural
areas.

• There is a lack of contact between production and research sectors.

41
• There are poor or no mechanisms for regulating technology transfer

• That too little money is devoted to science and technology.

For example, investment in research as a proportion of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that is
required to make breakthroughs should be 2-3 per cent and yet hardly any African country is
allocating even one per cent and the average is .04 per cent.

• The lack of political will is clearly evident.

Viable Alternatives

• Long term and midterm solution is to develop independent capacity in science and
technology.

• The short-term solution is to continue to rely on transfer of technology.

However, the short-term solution requires much planning and caution as the following have
demonstrated:

• The present transfer seems to be reinforcing the south’s dependence rather than reducing it.

• The north’s self-interests dictate continued dependence and the south seems to suffer from a
chronic lack of decisive action and technology seems to be a largely forgotten issue.

• The “industrialization” that seems to be taking place in Africa does so with very little actual
transfer of technology. It is happening without “technologization” and only creates an
illusion of transfer.

Kenya’s position on science and technology

The Sessional paper no. 5 of 1982 on Science and Technology is the official policy document of
the Kenya Government.

It sets out the aims of the government as far as the integration of science and technology in all
spheres of national development is concerned.

42
In that paper the government reveals its:

• Commitment to develop independent capacity in science and technology.

• Its recognition of the necessity of technology transfer in the short term.

It sees the first major step in developing independent capacity as the development of human
resources in science and technology through education

It outlines all the areas in which science and technology need to be integrated into development.
These include agriculture, livestock development, health, forestry, fisheries, industry, water,
housing, education, energy, information etc.

Science and Technology in Health and Medicine

Among the foregoing sectors, health is an extremely important one and deserves special
attention.

This is because of its obvious linkage with the quality of life.

Science and technology have certainly played a big role in the development of:

• Immunization

• Treatment

• Diagnosis

• Other "hi-tech" options

However, the orientation towards curative methods, especially in developing countries, has been
questioned.

This is because of the gradual but sure movement away from health promotion for the many
towards expensive treatment for the few who can afford it.

And yet historically it has been proven time and again that:

43
• Significant improvement in longevity has been achieved through improved food supplies
and sanitation without recourse to drugs.

• Diseases are most prevalent among the poor and “health for all” may be impossible to attain
unless the issue of poverty can be resolved.

As already discussed, the above situation as desirable as it may be is beyond the mere capacity of
science and technology and requires a capacity for society to organize itself in a certain manner.

However the situation is not totally hopeless.

What Science and Technology can do: Primary Health Care (PHC)

At Alma-Ata in the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in 1978, world health
experts met at a conference and arrived at the conclusion that the most viable route to “health for
all” in the developing countries was through the adoption of primary health care (PHC).

The PHC approach is a preventive as opposed to the curative approaches that are too expensive
for the majority to afford. There are important areas relevant to health in which simple, cheap,
and readily available science and technology exist that can be used to improve the health status
of most Kenyans.

• Improvement of environmental hygiene

• The supply of safe drinking water

• The prevention and control of diseases

• The control of disease vectors

• Extension and improvement of health services when preventive approaches fail.

44
Summary

Activities

It is self-evident that science and technology are fundamentally at the heart of the
development process. However, it is just as obvious that Africa in general and Kenya in
particular are yet far from realizing this intrinsic relationship. This topic has presented some of
the obstacles that need to be overcome if the full benefits of science and technology in the
development process are to be realized. The success with which these obstacles can be
overcome will depend, to a great extent, on the support (both political and financial) that such
attempts receive and the innovativeness with which they are approached.

1. Identify two instances in the daily life of your community in which you rely on knowledge that
could be defined as being scientific. Briefly discuss why you think that they qualify to be
described as scientific.

2. Look around you and identify the two oldest kinds of technologies and the two most recent
kinds of technologies that you can see are in daily common usage. Why do you think that the
oldest technologies are still in use?

Further Reading

Goonatilake, S. (1984) Aborted Discovery: Science and Creativity in the Third World. London:Zed Press.

Halty-Carrere, M. (1979) Technical Development Strategies for Developing Countries. Montreal:Institute


for Research on Public Policy.

30 Kenya, Republic of. (1982) Sessional Paper No. 5 of 1982 on Science and Technology forDevelopment.
Nairobi: Government Press.

45
Topic Two: Agriculture and Development

Introduction

In this topic, we will learn the critical role agriculture plays in development and especially rural
development. We will learn about the systems of agriculture practiced in Africa; contributions of
agriculture to national economic growth; and some constraints to agriculture and devolution

Objectives

By the end of the topic, you will be able to:

1. List down the systems of agriculture practiced in Africa

2. Describe the contributions of agriculture to national economic growth

3. Explain the challenges of agriculture to development

4. Define devolution

We will start the topic by defining agriculture and discussing the systems used in agriculture in
Africa before moving to the contribution of agriculture to rural development.

Agriculture and Farming Practices or Systems

Agriculture is the practice of farming that includes growing of crops and keeping of animals.
Talk about development in the rural areas is essentially talking of agricultural development in
many respects. This is because agriculture plays a vital role in the economic development of a
nation especially in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Its successful development is essential for
national economic growth. Again, agriculture is the world’s biggest user of land and water
resources.

Agriculture is the world's biggest user of land and water resources. It does this through the
following agricultural practices:

46
Traditional Agriculture

This is small scale farming and includes such practices as crop rotation; mixed farming involving
growing of crops and keeping of animals; fallow cropping; ox-plough practices; etc.
Many African small-scale farmers practice some or all of these practices.

Extensive Farming/Plantation or Estate Farming

This is large scale farming that maximizes on the amount of land used. Farming under
one cash crop, e.g., tea, sugarcane, coffee etc. This type of farming maximizes on use of
chemicals for continuous cropping. It is labour and capital intensive.

Alternative Agriculture

This type of faming emphasizes biological weed control, crop rotation, integration of livestock
with trees and crops, reduced or no use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, integrated
pest management and provision of nutrients from various organic sources (animal
manure/legumes). Organic agriculture is a good example of this type of farming practice.

Intensive Agriculture

This type of farming emphasizes on the amount of products per unit of land. It capitalizes on
increased use of chemicals rather than machinery.

Contributions of Agriculture to National Economic Growth

In almost all African countries, agriculture plays a very important role in economic development.
It does this through the following:

• Supplying raw materials to agro-industry and producing food to feed both the rural and
urban population as well as producing export crops -hence earning a country foreign
exchange.

• Generating demand for additional inputs and non-farm consumer goods and services that
provide major stimulus for the non-farm economy.

• Contributing to government's revenue

47
• The sector plays a major role in national employment, food security and export earnings.

• In low-income countries, the fast majority of the population is poor and live in villages and
rural towns. They depend on agriculture for their incomes, either directly in the case of
farmers and agricultural workers - or indirectly in case of self employed persons and
workers engaged in agro processing trades, service and other rural non-farm activities
that cater largely to rural demand.

• Farmers are custodians of the country's natural resource base. Agricultural development has
a direct bearing on how the natural resources are managed. In low-income countries, rural
poverty, rapid population growth and low productivity farming is leading to the
degradation of land, water and forestry, many of which are critical to sustaining the
livelihood of the poor. Agricultural intensification that increases the productivity of
scarce resources is crucial to relieving these pressures.

• Agricultural growth stimulates economic growth in non-agricultural sectors which results in


increased employment and reduced poverty. Sustained non-agriculturalgrowth,
particularly in the poorest countries in not likely without first addressing agriculture. An
inadequate linkage of the rural and urban economy through the food marketing system is
essential to foster growth across the national economy and sustainable growth of the rural
economy.

Some Constraints of Agricultural Development

 The population growth that places heavy demand on agricultural land with the result that
land for agricultural production declines fast. Rapid population growth has also resulted
in migration from high potential areas to the less well-endowed areas and at the same
time has reduced the land available to household.
 Technology based agriculture has not come to Africa on a significant scale. Although
there are large reservoirs of appropriate food crop technology in Africa, more often than
not, these technologies have failed to reach African farmer, especially small scale
producers because of ineffective technology transfer models and government pricing
policies that discriminate against agricultural producers. This is due to poor technological
design; poverty of farmers etc.

48
 Lack of incentives to the farmers to produce for the market.
 Lack of commitment by the governments to invest in rural infrastructure.
 Institutional frameworks not supportive to agricultural policies and ill-fated government
interventions that discriminated against the rural sector.
 Natural factors such as deteriorating resource base, climatic changes,
 Unpredictable weather.
 Overtaxing, directly or indirectly, agriculture to support all other sectors. For example, in
licenses
 Lack of funds for investment. Credit banks are known to shun small holder farmers citing
the risky nature of business.
 Civil disturbances that is so characteristic to many African countries and that has lead to
declining agriculture as a result of insecurity and destruction of farms where this has
taken place.
 Gender issues – ownership and control of inputs and resources a typical problem

49
DEVOLUTION AND DEVELOPMENT IN KENYA

INTRODUCTION

Devolution in Kenya became a reality upon the promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya,

2010. The implementation of devolution has presented many opportunities and successes.

The opportunities include the formation of forty seven (47) county governments as well as the
subsequent transfer of functions, resources and responsibilities from the national

Government to the county governments, and the high expectations by the citizens. However,
there have been a number of challenges ranging from conflicts about roles and functions, misuse
of resources, inadequate capacity and citizen apathy.

The move to the devolved system of governance started with the publication of the Sessional
Paper on Devolved Government, 2010 that guided the formulation of devolution laws and
informed the setting up of structures for the transition to devolved governance. Since then, a
number of issues have emerged that require to be addressed.

DEVOLUTION AND OTHER FORMS OF DECENTRALIZATION

Devolution is a form of decentralization where political, administrative and fiscal authority is


transferred from the national level to independent sub-national constitutional or statutory

agencies. Kenya's devolution model involves the National Government transferring powers,

Functions and responsibilities by legal and constitutional provisions to independent popularly


elected county governments. By this, the Constitution gives full responsibility and public
accountability for certain functions to the counties.

De-concentration entails the transfer of some regular functions performed at the

Headquarters of Ministries Departments and Agencies [hereafter MDAs] to sub-national levels


closer to the people they serve or are supposed to interface with. However, power and authority
are retained by the Centre and the MDAs take instructions from the national level, implement
national level decisions and provide feedback from the sub-national level to the national level

50
MDAs. While this may lead to greater access and more opportunities for the public to interface
with the services provided by the central government, de-concentration, does not allow any
participation by the population in any form of decision making.

Delegation is the transfer of functions and resources to a subordinate authority with the

Capacity to act on behalf of the superior authority but without a formal transfer of' authority to
the sub-ordinate structure. The entity delegated to does not to take full responsibility and the
principal does not abrogate its own public accountability for those functions and retains the right
to retract those functions. Of all these forms, devolution as perceived by the Kenyan people is the
most effective as it ensures technical efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery and
enhances popular

Participation. Therefore, if properly implemented devolution can lead to efficient and

Effective delivery of services to the people of Kenya. However, the success of devolution is

not guaranteed. It must be nurtured, aided, assisted and supported by citizens and

Institutions.

VALUES OF THE DEVOLUTION POLICY

D – Development First;

E – Equitable Sharing of National Resources;

V – Vigour and Vitality in the pursuit of the Objects of Devolution;

O – Open and Accountable Governments;

L – Leveraging on the strength of each County;

U – Unity of Purpose;

T – Tapping into local resources;

51
I – Involvement of all Kenyans in their Diversity;

PILLARS OF DEVOLUTION

The following are the pillars that will guide the effective implementation and realization of
devolution in Kenya. They are derived from the Objects of Devolution as captured in Article

174 of the Constitution of Kenya and underpinned by the Principles of Devolution (Article

175).

Devolution is anchored on the following interlinked eleven pillars: Capacity Building for
Devolved Governance; Leadership and Governance; Decentralized (Devolved) Units; Public

Service Transformation; Public Finance Management; Inter-Governmental Relations; Public

Participation in Governance; Civic Education; Public Communication; Equity and Inclusivity;


and the Management of Transfer of Responsibilities, Powers, and Functions between the
National and the County Government

The role of Kenya’s devolution process in implementing the sustainable development goals

With seventeen (17) goals and one-hundred and sixty-nine (169) indicators, it has been observed
in both policy and academic circles, that implementing the Sustainable Development Goals’
(SDGs) agenda is an ambitious and complex exercise. Concerted efforts and clear pathways are
therefore needed to ensure that the implementation of the SDGs is kept on course. One such
platform in Kenya is the devolution (sub-national governance) process as a key component of the
Constitution of Kenya and subsequent to a general election in March 2013, forty-seven (47)
counties were formed and functionalized. The Constitution stipulates that the decentralization of
government serves several fundamental functions, including:

 Ensuring equitable sharing of national and local resources throughout Kenya

52
 Promoting accountability, transparency, participation and decision making at the lowest
level of government

 Formally granting rights to communities to manage their own resources

 Bridging economic and social inequality gaps by decentralizing state organs and public
resources to enable ease of access to public services throughout Kenya and

 Fostering unity, cohesion and co-existence among communities.

In the light of the above, the formation of the counties has been commended as the most
transformative and promising aspect of Constitution of Kenya which provides an appreciable
pathway through which pro-poor economic growth and social inclusion have an institutionalized
framework to thrive. It is expected that, if well implemented, devolution will guarantee
accelerated development and reduced levels of inequalities and vulnerabilities. 

There are strong research and policy potentials in: (1) the link between science, technology and
society; (2) establishing an issue based ethical and value system; (3) strengthening public
institutions and systems; (4) delivery of the Constitution; and (5) understanding multi-
stakeholder approaches in tackling development issues.

A number of critical actors to actualize research, knowledge transfer and policy formulation and
articulation include: Governments (national & county), Development Partners, academia, the
Civil Society and the private sector.

Emerging issues which need further interrogation to establish clear relationships between
devolution and implementation of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda in Kenya include:

Managing the process of devolution

The overall framework on devolution needs constant dialogued reviews to facilitate development
of dynamic devolution policies and operational guidelines that contribute to: effective and
conclusive transfer of devolved authority, mandates and functions as stated in the Constitution;
timely disbursement of sharable funding for devolved activities; adequate technical support in
Human Resource Management and Public Finance Management; monitoring progress; and
development of devolution-supportive laws in the Senate and at County Assemblies.
53
Ensuring inclusivity

Ensuring existence of a multi-stakeholder and inclusive process that guarantees wider citizen
participation (involving representatives Civil Society, private sectors, faith-based, youth &
women and other special groups), in public matters.

Consolidating gains

Consolidating gains made since devolution was operationalized in 2013 i.e. in infrastructural
growth, health, use of ICT in revenue collection, agriculture and early childhood education.

Inform teaching and research

Documentation of good practices and challenges of the Kenyan devolution model by the
academia and policy groups to inform teaching and research at universities including the IDS.

Public debate

Encourage objective public debate on devolution i.e. through print and electronic media and
social media.

Learn lessons from MDGs

Identify synergies among the national government, bilateral and multi-lateral agencies and other
relevant entities that have documented Kenya’s performance in implementing the Millennium
Development Goals and take forward lessons learned in the management of the Sustainable
Development Goals. I.e. ensure that the goals are linked with the Vision 2030 through the
Medium Term Plans, the County Development Integrated Plans and County Fiscal Strategy
Papers.

Addressing corruption

In addressing corruption, which is a big hindrance to the realization of the SDG agenda, there is
need to pursue opportunities that: enforce rule of law; facilitate whistle blower legislation;
sensitize citizens and mainstream content into education curricula; support capacity building,
training opportunities and  media campaigns; benchmark international best practices; strengthen

54
audit  and reporting system; adequate remuneration of public servants; and judicial
implementation of leadership and integrity.

Addressing county contextual needs

Development of tailored academic programmes that address contextual devolution needs i.e.
counties have different contexts, so there is need to design programmes that can drive
development in the different counties.

ADVANTAGES OF DEVOLUTION

- Makes the government more responsible


- Facilitates participatory decision making
- Brings the government closer to the governed
- Accommodates and manages social diversity
- It is an anti-dote for concentration of power
- Balances economic development in the whole country

Disadvantages of devolution

- Can promote ethnicity


- May lead to exclusion
- It may compound marginalization of minorities
- Can inflate religious and cultural diversities
- Can lead to decentralized authoritarianism
- Can lead to separation secession
- It may also create rigidity and slow down decision making process
- It can lead to unnecessary duplicate of roles
- It is expensive to run especially due to diversity of roles

55
Topic Three: Urbanization and Development

Introduction

In this topic, we will learn about the concept of urbanization and briefly discuss the causes of
urbanization including the indicators of urbanization. We will lay emphasis on the problems of
urbanization including its challenges and how both the communities and the management have
contributed to these. We will familiarize ourselves with the trends of urbanization including the
role of urbanization in development.

Objectives

By the end of the lesson, you will be able to:

1. Define the concept of urbanization

2. List down the criteria for defining urban areas

3. Explain the global trends in urbanization

4. Describe causes of urbanization

5. Explain the problems and challenges of urbanization

6. Describe the role of urbanization to development

We will now start our lesson by defining the concept of an urban area and urbanization and the
criteria used for defining an urban area.

Urbanization

Urbanization is a process by which large numbers of people move from rural areas to the towns
and cities. Urban areas are settlements in which most of the inhabitants (over 65%) are engaged
in non-agricultural occupations such as commerce, manufacturing, administration and trading.

56
Criteria for defining an urban area

The criteria used to define an urban area include:

• Population size

• Population function (what people do)

• Population density

• Legal administration

Most of the criteria used is the population size. However there is no consensus on the degree of
density or the size of the population cluster, which makes up an urban center. Different countries
use different population size to define an urban.

For example,

• In Ghana an urban area is a settlement with a population of over 5,000 people

• In Kenya, an urban area is a settlement with a population of over 2,000 people

• United Nations defines an urban area as a settlement with a population of over 20,000 people

• In Denmark, a settlement with a population of over 250 people is said to be an urban area.

• In Korea, a settlement with a population of over 40,000 people is considered an urban area.

We will continue to discuss causes of urbanization. There are many causes of urbanization
including:

• High natural population growth

• Rural to urban migration

• Government decrees – Dodoma, Lilongwe

• Availability of a resource – for example, during the coffee boom, Chepkumbe suddenly
grew into an urban center; mining – Magadi and Gilgil

57
Trends and patterns of Global Urbanization

The twentieth century is the % Of world population


century of urbanization and living in cities
city life. The global trend
of the world population
reveals a rapid increase in
urban population as can be
seen in the table below.
Year
1950 29.3%
1994 44.8%
2025 61.1%
Source: UNESCO Publication – Our Creative Diversity

These figures imply that there has and continues to be massive movement of people from rural
areas to towns. Added the natural growth of population, the urban areas are growing rapidly.
Each continent is affected differently.

In the high income developed countries, three quarters of their population live in urban areas. In
Europe, 73% live in urban areas. In Canada, USA, Australia and New Zealand, more than 75%
of their population live in urban areas. In Latin American countries, the degree of urbanization
has reached the level of North America i.e. 75%. In South America and the Carribeaans 75% of
their population live in urban areas.

In the least developed countries, the urban population makes less than a quarter of the total
population. By the year 1996, 21.9% of their population was living in urban areas and this will
grow to 43.5% in the year 2025.

In Africa the rate of urban growth is high especially in Algeria, Tunisia and South Africa where
50% of their population is urban. The rest of Africa and Asia, the urban population make one
third of the total population.

58
Cities in less developed countries are growing at a rate of over3.5% per annum. At this rate, the
population is expected to double in 20 years.

Another phenomenon that is rising is the growth of mega cities. There is a continuing trend of
cities merging to form larger conglomerates. For example;

• 1950 -only New yolk and London fitted this category

• 1994 – There were 22 cities of this size and 16 of them were in developing countries –12 in
Asia

• Year 2000 – there were 261 cities in developing countries with a population of over 1
million people compared to with 213 in 1966.

• Examples of mega cities include Sao Paulo – 22.1; Mexico 25.6; Shanghai – 17; and
Calcuta 15.7 million people.

Why do people move from Rural areas to Urban areas?

We will continue to examine the factors that make people move from rural areas to urban areas.
There are many reasons why people decide to migrate from the rural areas to urban areas and
these include:

• Unremunerative and risky rural life especially during the times of drought

• To seek employment, adventure and other opportunities

• Underemployment in the rural areas and decline in income generating activities due to decline
in agriculture

• Attraction of urban life due to availability of social infrastructure. Life in the rural areas is dull
and hopeless sometimes

• Land fragmentation and population pressure over

59
Solutions to Rural-Urban Migration

As rural-urban migration continues to create problems to urban areas, we need to discuss how
this may be reversed to become urban-rural migration. Some of the solutions may include:

• Initiating development programmes such incentives for growth of industries and improvement
of agriculture

• Policies put in place designed to stimulate development of secondary towns and also act as
economic incentives

• Urban renewal programmes as a policy measure to expand the economic and social base – to
enable them to absolve influx of the migrants

• Preach the doctrine “return to the land” by making rural areas attractive and satisfying by
expanding the social amenities – electricity, water, good infrastructure, telephone etc.

• Facilitate the improvement of infrastructure between rural and urban areas

• Decentralization of government investments in regional administration, registration and allied


industries

• Attracting foreign investors in rural areas

Role of urbanization in development

Urban centers play the following important roles in development:

• Urban areas especially the capital city is the contact points to the outside world. Foreigners
assesses the country through the perceptions of the capital urban center

• The urban areas especially the capital city is the seat of government where policies, planning
and programming is done

• Capital cities are the recipients of the investment funds especially the external funding

• Intake for the rural inhabitants

60
• Linking its hinterland with other urban networks

• Supporting the rural areas with incomes generated from the urban areas through income
transfers to support family members

• Source of information, innovations and change. Urbanization has been linked to creativity and
modernity and application of new technology.

• Encourage rural- urban trade.

• Cities create and nurture their own culture. This is contributed by people from different
geographical regions joining together into communities more by physical proximity, spatial
interaction and mutual dependency.

Problems of urbanization

We will now move to examining the problems of urbanization and the challenges posed.

• The rural – urban migration creates a situation of high dependency on relatives living in urban
areas

• High unemployment and rising urban poverty

• Development of spontaneous settlements which results in high numbers of female headed


households

• Shortage of shelter and overcrowded living conditions

• Overstressed and Inadequate services especially social amenities such as water, electricity

• Environment degradation with garbage heaps found everywhere and poor sewage systems

• Congestion and pollution – traffic, air pollution

• Mismanagement and ineffective collection of revenue for maintenance of services

• High crime rate and rising insecurity.

61
Challenges of Urbanization

As we continue to discuss the problems of urbanization, we will examine the challenges the
urban centres pose to the planners. These include:

• How to reverse rural-urban migration to urban –rural migration

• Diversification of employment opportunities

• Environment upgrading and how to maintain quality environment

• How to improve slum settlements

• How to improve and maintain infrastructure

• How to humanize the social environment

Summary

Activities

Further reading

In this lesson, we have been exposed to the concepts of urbanization and urban areas. We have
discussed the causes of urbanization the current trends of urbanization. We have seen that
urbanization is directly linked to development and that the richer the country, the more
urbanized it is.

1. What is an urban area? What are the criteria used to define an urban area?

2. Critically discuss how the government could do to attract its inhabitants to rural areas

3. What role do urban areas play in the development of their countries?

UNESCO Publishing, 1995. Our Creative Diversity: Report of the World


Commission on Culture and Development.

62
LESSON FOUR:

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIES IN PLACE SUCH AS VISION 2030, and sustainable


development goals

Learning objectives

1 Discuss the development strategies in developing countries eg Kenya


2 Discuss the economic social and political pillar in Kenya vision 2030
3 Explain with use of examples how far the vision has been achieved.

Kenyan’s Development Agenda has been set out in various government publications mainly
development plans and Sessional papers. Key among this is the ‘sessional paper No.10 of 1965
on African Socialism and its implication to planning in Kenya, the government laid down
development policies aims at correcting regional imbalances and removing poverty, ignorance
and disease. It is imperative to vote that Kenya’s Development Agenda has revolved around the
three themes namely removing poverty, ignorance, illiteracy and disease.

TOPIC FOUR: KENYA VISION 2030

The unveiling of Kenya Vision 2030 marks an important milestone in our country’s development
as it comes soon after the successful implementation of the “Economic Recovery Strategy for
Wealth and Employment Creation” (ERS) over the period 2003 to date. The Kenya economy
recovered from the slow growth rate of 0.6 percent in 2002 to a projected growth of over 7
percent in 2007. The last five years of President Kibaki’s rule (2002-2005) represent the best
phase of sustained economic growth in our country in all sectors of our economy notably,
agriculture, and tourism, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and telecommunication as
well as the social Sectors.

The vision has been implemented through five year medium –term rolling plans, starting with the
first one which covers the period 2008-2012. Thus, the performance of the government should in
future be gauged on the basis of these medium term benchmarks. Thevision also aims at creating
a cohesive, equitable and just society based on democratic principles and issue –based politics
grounded on our rich and diverse cultures and traditions.

63
In year 2005, the government accepted a recommendation by the National Economic and Social
Council (NESC) to prepare a long-term vision to guide our development u to the year 2030. This
was done in recognition of the fact that the goal of economic recovery, as outlined in the ERS,
had been largely accomplished. This long-term national planning strategy is anchored on three
main pillars namely; economic, social and political, under which flagship projects and other
priority programmes will be implemented during the next 20 years.

Right from the beginning, it was found imperative to involve a broad cross-section of the Kenyan
population in the formulation of Vision 2030, in order to ensure national ownership of the vision.
A team of local and international expert was therefore commissioned to work closely with both
the public service and the private sectors in preparing the vision document. The consultative
process was launched in October 2006, after which numerous open forums were held in all the
eight provinces, attracting keen interest and enthusiastic participation. The preliminary findings
were submitted to the Cabinet in May 2007. Thereafter, t he finding were subjected to further
country-wide deliberations through public consultative forums in July, August and October
2007.

Since year 2003 to date, income per capita has been rising steadily thereby giving Kenya a real
chance of escaping from poverty after a long period of decline in real personal earnings. For
instance, poverty levels fell from 56% in 2002 to 46% in 2006. This healthy trend is set to
continue in coming years. However, we must sustain this momentum and consolidate the gains
that we have achieved so far towards the realization of the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs) and elimination of poverty.

MDGs are internationally accepted standards for measuring progress towards poverty alleviation.
It is indeed encouraging to note that Kenya is on track on a number of these goals especially in
the education and health sectors but we need to accelerate our pace in meeting the remaining
ones. As we pursue these noble development goals and the Vision 2030 targets through
internally generated resources, Kenya will continue to benefit from remittances by the Kenyan
diaspora, increased foreign direct investments, more portfolio inflows and cooperation from our
development partners.

64
The Kenya Vision 2030 is a vehicle for accelerating transformation of or country into a rapidly
industrializing middle-income nation by the year 2030. The journey to 2030 will require;
sacrifice hard work, self-discipline and determination. It is hoped that Kenyans will meet these
challenges, in order to make our country globally competitive and prosperous, where every
person will enjoy a high quality of life.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Under the guidance of the Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation
(ERS), the Kenyan economy has recovered and resumed the path to rapid growth. The economy
grew by more than 6 percent in 2007 from 0.6 per cent in 2002. The growth has been widely
distributed, covering all economic and social sectors resulting in reduction in poverty levels from
56 per cent in 2002 to 46 per cent in 2006. Also this growth has not only impacted positively on
the indicators of other MDGs, for example; education, health, gender, and environment, but also
availed more resources to address the MDG s across the economy. Currently, more resources
have been devolved to the local level through such schemes as the Constituency Development
Fund, the local Authority Transfer Fund, the Constituency Bursary Fund and the Constituency
Aids Fund among others to directly address the MDGs at this level. Despite the development
registered under the ERS, the country continues to face challenges in infrastructure and in
institutional reforms the need for highest efficiency in production at firm and household levels.
On the whole, Kenyans have reason to be satisfied by the results even though much remains to
be done. ERS expired in December 2007 and Kenya has now embarked on a new long-term
vision to guide her development up to 2030.

Kenya Vision 2030 is new long-term development blueprint for the country. It is motivated by
collective aspiration for a much better society than the one we have today, by the year 2030. The
aim of Kenya Vision 2030 is “the globally competitive and prosperous country with a high
quality of life by 2030” It aims at transforming Kenya into “ a newly –industrializing, middle
income country providing a high quality of life to all its citizens in a clean and secure
environment”. In other words the vision aspires to meet the MDGs for Kenyans. The Vision was
consultative and inclusive stakeholders’ process carried out between October 2006 and May
2007. Specifically, the process involved international and local experts, ordinary Kenyans and
stakeholders from all parts of the country. Between July and August 2007, the contents of the

65
Vision 2030 were again subjected to open consultations in all districts in Kenya, before the
finalization of the document.

The Vision is anchored on three key pillars; Economic, Social and Political Governance. The
economic pillar aims to achieve an economic growth rate of 10 percent per annum and sustaining
the same till 2030 in order to generate more resources to address the MDGs. The vision has
identified a number of flagship projects in every sector to be implemented over the vision period
to facilitate the desired growth than can support the implementation of the MDGs on a
sustainable basis. In addition the vision had flagged out projects addressing the MDGs directly in
key sectors such as agriculture, education, health, water and environment. The social pillar seeks
to create just, cohesive and equitable social development in a clean and secure environment. The
political pillar aims to realize an issue-based, people centred, result oriented and accountable
democratic system.

Foundations for Kenya Vision 2030

The economic, social and political pillars of Kenya Vision 2030 will be anchored on t he
following foundations; macroeconomic stability, continuity in governance reforms; enhanced
equity and wealth creation opportunities for the poor infrastructure, energy, science, technology
and innovation (STI); land reform; human resources development, security and public sector
reforms.

Macro-economic stability for long term development: Kenyans appreciates the key role of
macroeconomic stability has played in economic recovery and rapid growth experienced by the
country since 2003. This has resulted in low levels of inflation, strictly limited public sector
deficits, a stable exchange rate, and low interest rates. For this reason, Kenya Vision 2030 places
the highest the highest premium on the stable macroeconomic environment the country now
enjoys, and experts it to continue in the future as a matter of policy. This is the only way in
which confidence among Kenyans and investors can be created and sustained. A stable economic
environment also works in favour of the poor who stand to lose the most in periods of high
inflation. All he projects proposed under Vision 2030 will, therefore, be implemented subject to
the parameters set under the macroeconomic stability framework.

66
Continuity in Governance Reforms: Kenya remains fully committed to continuing governance
reforms. These will be deepened and accelerated in order to create a better environment for doing
business, and for the full enjoyment of individual rights that Kenyans are entitled to under the
constitution. Toward that end, the Government will continue and intensify the anti-corruption
programme already in place through; better investigation and prosecution; eliminating
discretionary decision making in a public service that is prone to bribery; public education; and
judicial and legal reform. The Government also recognizes that in an open, democratic society in
Kenya, the people themselves, parliament, civil society, and a vigilant press are the ultimate
defence against abuse of office. These institutions will continue to receive full support from the
Government and from the people of Kenya.

Enhanced Equity and wealth Creation Opportunity for the poor: No society can gain the
social cohesion predicted by Vision 2030 if significant sections of it live in abject poverty. To
that extent, Kenya Vision 2030 includes equity as a recurrent principle in all its economic, social
and political programmes. Special attention has been given to investment in the arid and semi
arid districts, communities with high incidence of poverty, unemployed youth, women and all
vulnerable groups.

Infrastructure: The 2030 vision aspires for a country firmly interconnected through a network
of roads, railways, ports airports, and water ways, and telecommunications. It should provide
water and modern sanitation facilities to her people. By 2030, it will become impossible to refer
to any modern sanitation facilities to her people. By 2030, it will become impossible to refer to
any region of our country as “remote”. To ensure that the main projects under the economic
pillar are implemented, investment in the nation’s infrastructure will be given the highest
priority.

Energy: Development projects recommended under Vision 2030 and overall economic growth,
will increase demand on Kenya’s energy supply. Currently, Kenya’s energy costs are higher than
those of her competitors. Kenya must, therefore, generate more energy and increase efficiency in
energy consumption. The government is committed to continued institutional reforms in the
energy sector, including a strong regulatory framework, encouraging private generators of
power, and separating generation from distribution. New sources of energy will e found through

67
exploitation of geothermal power, coal, renewable energy sources, and connecting Kenya to
energy surplus countries in the region.

Science, Technology and innovation (STI): Vision 2030 proposes intensified application of
science, technology and innovation to raise productivity and efficiency levels across the three
pillars. It recognizes the critical role played by research and development (R & D) in accelerating
economic development in all the newly industrializing countries of the world. The Government
will create the STI policy framework to support Vision 2030. More resources will be devoted to
scientific research, technical capabilities of the workforce, ad in raising the quality of teaching
mathematics, science and technology in schools, polytechnics and universities.

Land reform: Land is a critical resource for the socio-economic and political development spelt
out in Vision 2030. Respect for property rights of land, whether owned by communities,
individuals or companies, is an important driver of rapid economic transformation everywhere.
The transformation expected under Vision 2030 is dependent on a national land use policy,
which, therefore, must be completed as a matter of urgency. The policy will facilitate the process
of land administration, the computerization of land registries, the establishment of a National
Special Data infrastructure in order to track land use patterns, and the introduction of an
enhanced legal; framework for faster resolution of land disputes.

Human Resource Development: Kenya intends to create a globally competitive and adaptive
human resource base to meet the requirements for a rapidly industrializing economy. This will be
done through life-long training and education. As a priority, a human resource data base will be
established to facilitate better planning of human resources requirements in the country.
Furthermore, steps will be taken to raise labour productivity to international levels. Other steps
will include the establishment of new technical training institutions, as well as the enhancement
of closer collaboration between industry and training institutions.

Security: The overall ambition for the security sector under “Vision 2030” is ‘a society free
from danger and fear’. The Government is determined to improve security in order to attract
investment, lower the cost of doing business and to provide Kenyans with a more secure living
and working environment. Specific strategies will involve: improving the practice of community
policing, reducing the police to population ratio to recommended UN standards, adopting

68
information and communication technology (ICT) in crime detection and prevention, enhancing
police training and use of modern equipment in law enforcement. All these measures will be
supported by accelerated reforms in the judiciary. The country will also implement reforms in
the prison service, starting with reduction of the number of suspects in remand homes, improved
training and working conditions for prison staff, and a reorientation of the service to correctional
activities.

Public service: An efficient, motivated and well trained public service will be done one of the
major foundations of t he vision. Kenya will build a public service that is citizen-focused and
results-oriented, a process whose achievements so far have received international recognition and
awards. The Government will intensify efforts to bring about an attitudinal change in public
service that values transparency and accountability to the citizens of Kenya. Results-based
management and performance contracting will be pegged to the implementation of the Vision’s
goals, making it easier to reward public servants on merit and performance. Reforms in the
public service will further enhance strategic planning in government, continuous improvement,
and stakeholder’s engagement. A Kenya school of Government will be established to provide
research and training for transformative leadership to the highest international standards.

Economic pillar: Moving the economy up the value chain

After a comprehensive analysis of Kenya’s global competitiveness, six key sectors have been
identified to deliver the 10 per cent economic growth rate per annum envisaged under the
economic pillar: tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, business process
outsourcing (BPO), and financial services.

Tourism: In the tourism of Kenya aims to be one of the top ten long-haul tourist destinations in
the world, offering a high-end, diverse, and distinctive visitor experience. Specific strategies for
realizing this aim will include:

i) Aggressively developing Kenya’s coast by establishing resort cities in twokey


locations

69
ii) Achieving higher tourist revenue yield by increasing the quality of service and
charges of county’s premium safari parks, and by improving facilities in all under-
utilized parks
iii) Creating new high value niche products (e.g. cultural, eco-sports and water-based
tourism)
iv) Attracting high-end international hotel chains and
v) investing in new conference facilities to boost business tourism

Agriculture: Kenya aims to promote an innovative, commercially-oriented, and modern


agricultural sector. This will be accomplished through:

i) Transforming key institutions in agriculture and livestock to promote agricultural


growth
ii) Increasing productivity of crops and livestock
iii) Introducing land use polices for better utilization of high and medium potential lands
iv) Developing more irrigable areas in arid and semi-arid lands for both crops and
livestock
v) Improving market access for our smallholders through better supply chain
management

Wholesale and retail trade: The 2030 vision for wholesale and retail trade is to raise earnings by
giving our large informal sector opportunities to transform itself into a part of the formal sector
that is efficient, multi-tiered, diversified in product range and innovative. This will be realized
through.

i) Training and credit


ii) Improving efficiency by reducing the number of players between the producer and the
consumer
iii) Creating formal market outlets for small-scale operators who will then graduate from the
formal sector
iv) Encouraging more investment in retail trade
v) Developing training programmes to improve retail skills

70
Manufacturing: Kenya aims to have a robust, diversified and competitive manufacturing sector.
This will be achieved through the implementation of the following strategies

i) Restricting key local industries that use local new raw materials but are currently
uncompetitive (e.g. sugar and paper manufacturing)
ii) Exploiting opportunities in value addition to local agricultural produce
iii) adding value to intermediate imports and capturing the “last step” of value addition
(e.g. in metals and plastics)

Business process outsourcing: This is a new but promising sector to Kenya and especially to its
young people. It involves providing business services via the internet to companies and
organizations in the developed world, e.g. Britain, USA, Canada etc. The vision 2030 for BPO is
for Kenya to quickly become one of the top three BPO destinations in Africa. The goal is to
create at least 7,500 direct BPO players to Kenya. This will create an estimated additional 5,000
jobs.

Kenya aims to become the top off-shoring destination in Africa. BPO will therefore, become the
sector of choice for employment for youth and young professionals. The country will move
quickly to establish the necessary capacity in the sector through:

i) Attracting at least five major leading information technology (IT) suppliers and large
multinational companies and global BPO players to the country
ii) Strengthening at least five local players to become champions through stand-alone
operations or joint ventures

Financial services: The 2030 vision for financial services is to create a vibrant and globally
competitive financial sector promoting high-levels of savings and financing for Kenya’s
investment needs. Kenya also intends to become a regional financial services centre. This will be
achieved through:

i) Undertaking legal and institutional reforms to make Kenya more competitive as a


financial centre
ii) Reforms in the banking sector that will be undertaken to facilitate the consolidation of
small banks in Kenya to larger and stronger ones

71
iii) Introduction of credit referencing in the country,
iv) Streamlining informal finance and Savings and Credit Co-operative Organizations, as
well as micro-finance institutions
v) Deepening financial markets by raising institutional capital through pension funds,
expanding bond and equity markets, as well as tapping international sources of
capital.

Social pillar: Investing in the people of Kenya

Kenya’s journey towards prosperity also involves the building of a just and cohesive society that
enjoys equitable social development in a clean and secure environment. This quest is the basis of
transformation in eight key social sectors namely: Education and training, health, water and
sanitation, the environment, housing and urbanization as well as gender, youth, sports and
culture. It also makes special provisions for Kenyans with various disabilities and previously
marginalized communities.

Education and training: Under education and training, Kenya will provide a globally
competitive and quality education, training and research. Kenya aims to be a regional centre of
research and development in new technologies. This will be achieved through:

i) Integrating early childhood education into primary education


ii) Reforming secondary school curricula
iii) Modernizing teacher training
iv) Strengthening partnerships with the private sector
v) Developing key programmes for learners with special needs
vi) Rejuvenating ongoing adult training programmes
vii) revising the curriculum for university and technical institutes to include more science
and technology
viii) In partnership with the private sector, the Government will also increase funding to
enable all these institutions to support activities envisaged under the economic pillar.

The Health sector: To improve the overall livelihoods of Kenyans, the country aims to provide
efficient integrated and high quality affordable level, through a decentralized national health-care
system. With devolution of funds and decision-making to district level, the Ministry headquarters

72
will then concentrate on policy and research issues. With the support of the private sector, Kenya
also intends to become the regional provider of choice for high-specialized health care, thus
opening Kenya to “health tourism” , Improved access to health care for all will come through;

i) The provision of a robust health infrastructure network country wide


ii) Improving the quality of health service delivery to the highest standards
iii) Promoting of partnerships with the private sector
iv) Providing access to those excluded from health care for financial or other reasons.

Water and sanitation: Kenya is a water-scarce country. The economic and social development
anticipated by Vision 2030 will require more high quality water supplies than a present. The
country, therefore, aims to conserve water sources and enhance ways of harvesting and using
rain and underground water. The 2030 vision for water and sanitation are available and
accessible to all. This will be realized through specific strategies, such as:

i) Raising the standards of the country’s overall water, resource management and
storage and harvesting capability.
ii) Rehabilitating the hydro-metrological data gathering network
iii) construction multipurpose dams (e.g on Nzoia and Nyando)
iv) Constructing water and sanitation facilities to support a growing urban and industrial
population.

The environment: Kenya aims to be a nation that has a clean, secure and sustainable
environment by [Link] will be achieved through:

i) Promoting environmental conservation to better support the economic pillar’s


aspirations.
ii) Improving pollution and waste management through the application of the right
economic incentives
iii) Commissioning of public-private partnerships (PPPs) for improved efficiency in
water and sanitation delivery
iv) Enhancing disaster preparedness in all disaster-prone areas and improving the
capacity for adaptation to global climatic change.

73
Housing and urbanization: Given the current demographic trends, Kenya will be a
predominantly urban country by 2030. The country must, therefore, plan for high quality urban
livelihoods for most of her people by that date. The 2030 vision for housing and urbanization is
“an adequately and decently-housed nation in a sustainable environment”. This will be attained
through:

i. better development of and access to affordable and adequate housing


ii. Enhance access to adequate finance for developers and buyers
iii. Pursuit of targeted key reforms to unlock the potential of the housing sector
iv. Initiation of a nationwide urban planning and development campaign, starting with
Kenya’s major cities and towns.

Gender, Youth and vulnerable groups: The 2030 vision for gender, youth groups is gender
equity in power and resource distribution, improved livelihoods for all vulnerable groups, and
responsible, globally competitive and prosperous youth. In addition, Kenya aims to capitalize on
her international reputation as an “athletic super power” by opening up the country for top global
sorts events, encouraged by corporate sponsorship. The government will provide stricter
enforcement of copyright laws in music and the performance arts, and provide facilities for the
most talented musicians and actors. The country aims to be a competitive destination for global
film producers. These aims will be realized through the implementation of specific strategies
such as:

i. Increasing the participation of women in all economics, social and political decision-
making processes (e.g. though higher representation in parliament)
ii. Improving access of all –disadvantaged groups (e.g. business opportunities, health
and education services, housing and justice)
iii. Minimizing vulnerabilities through prohibition of retrogressive practices (e.g.
families genital mutilation and child labour) and by up scaling training for people
with disabilities and special needs)

Political pillar: Moving to the future as one nation

The transformation of the country’s political governance system under Vision 2030 will take
place across six strategic areas: rule of law, electoral and political processes, democracy and

74
public service delivery, transparency and accountability and security, peace building and conflict
management.

Rule of law: Under rule of law, the 2030 Vision is “adherence to the rule of law as applicable to
a modern, market based economy in a human rights-respecting state”. Specific strategies will
involve:

i. Aligning the national policy and legal framework with the needs of a market-based
economy, national human rights, and gender equity commitments
ii. Increasing access and quality of services available to the public and reducing barriers
to justice
iii. Streamlining the functional capability of legal and judicial institutions to enhance
inter-agency co-operations,
iv. Inculcating a culture of compliance with laws, cultivating civility and decent human
behaviour between Kenyans, and between Kenyans and outsiders.

Electoral and political processes: The 2030 Vision seeks to cultivate “genuinely competitive and
issue-based politics”. Specific strategies will involve:

i. Introducing laws and regulations covering political parties


ii. Enhancing the legal and regulatory framework covering the electoral process
iii. Conducting civil education programmes to widen knowledge and participation among
citizens, leading to an informed and active citizenry.

Democracy and Public Service Delivery: The 2030 Vision aims to create “a people-centred and
politically-engaged open society”. Specific strategies will involve

i. Pursuing constitutional and legal reforms necessary to devolve to move resources and
responsibility to local governance institutions
ii. Encouraging formal and informal civic education and action programmes
iii. Promoting pen engagement between government and civil society, as well as the free
flow of information (e.g. through better and continuous engagement with the media).

75
Transparency and Accountability: Under transparency and accountability, the 2030 Vision is
“transparent, accountable, ethical and results-oriented government institutions”. Specific
strategies will involve:

i. Strengthening the legal framework for anti-corruption, ethics and integrity


ii. Promoting results-based management within the public service
iii. Encouraging public access to information and data
iv. Introducing civilian oversight around the key legal, justice and security institutions
v. Strengthening Parliament’s legislative oversight capacity.

Security, Peace-Building and conflict management: Vision 2030 aims at “security of all persons
and property throughout the Republic.” Specific strategies will involve:

i. Promoting public-private cooperation and civilian/community involvement for


improved safety and security
ii. Deepening policy, legal and institutional reform for improved enforcement of the law
and order
iii. Promoting national and inter-community dialogue in order to build harmony among
ethnic, racial and other interest groups
iv. Promoting peace building and reconciliation to improve conflict management and
ensure sustained peace within the country
v. Inculcating a culture of respect for the sanctity of human life that does not resort to
the use of violence as an instrument of resolving personal and community disputes.
This should start with the family, schools, the church and all public institutions.

Sustainable development goals

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), otherwise known as the Global Goals, are a
universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace
and prosperity. These 17 Goals build on the successes of the Millennium Development Goals,
while including new areas such as climate change, economic inequality, innovation, sustainable
consumption, peace and justice, among other priorities. The goals are interconnected – often the

76
key to success on one will involve tackling issues more commonly associated with another
([Link]).

Goal 1 End poverty in all its forms everywhere

Goal 2 End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable
agriculture

Goal 3 Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages

Goal 4 Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning
opportunities for all

Goal 5 Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Goal 6 Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all

Goal 7 Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Goal 8 Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all

Goal 9 Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster
innovation

77
Goal 10 Reduce inequality within and among countries

Goal 11 Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

Goal 12 Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

Goal 13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts*

Goal 14 Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable
development

Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage
Goal 15 forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity
loss

Goal 16 Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to
justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

Goal 17 Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for
sustainable development

Linkages of SDGs with the Vision 2030 Pillars

78
Kenya Vision 2030 Pillar SDG
Economic Pillar-To maintain a Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
sustained economic growth of Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition
10% p.a. and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 8: Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic
growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
Social pillar- A just and Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all
cohesive society enjoying ages
equitable social development in Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and
a clean and secure environment promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and
girls
Goal 6: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water
and sanitation for all
Goal 7: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and
modern energy for all
Goal 9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and
sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient and sustainable
Goal 12: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its
impacts
Goal 14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and
marine resources for sustainable development
Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of
terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat
desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt
biodiversity loss
Political pillar-An issue-based, Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable
people-centered, result-oriented, development, provide access to justice for all and build effective,

79
and accountable democratic accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
political system Goal 17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize
the global partnership for sustainable development

LESSON FIVE

INTERPERSONAL AND GROUP RELATIONSHIPS

INTRODUCTION TO GROUPS

GROUP DYNAMICS

Definitions

A group is defined as two or more individuals, interacting and interdependent who have come
together to achieve particular objectives

Groups are classified into two categories

80
Formal groups

Informal groups

A. Formal groups

Formal groups are those created to fulfil specific goals and/or to carry out specific

tasks. They usually have some official status bestowed on them, either by society

or community at large /or organization which created them. They often have definite structures
with laid down rules, group processes and formal roles.

Examples of such groups are: a trade union branch, departmental work group, local political
party, Parent-Teacher association, a branch of green peace, a football supporters club, ex-
college/school societies etc.

B. Informal groups

Informal groups are those which are created by individual members for the purpose of sharing a
common interest and/or serving their common needs .These groups emerge from the interactions
of individuals ,often within formal groups and sometimes having all the same members. They are
likely to be for less structured.

Examples of such groups are: family, friends, colleagues who go out for a drink

together, people who jog together every morning, an art class, the disgruntled passengers from a
train complaining to a station manager etc.

Not all groups are clearly formal or informal, but there are degrees of formality and or
informality.

OTHER CHARACTERISTICS OF GROUPS

A. Norms

81
All groups have a set of rules governing appropriate behaviour, opinions and attitudes.

The expected behaviour are called norms and have purpose of exerting tremendous power over
members.

a) Purpose of norms: norms develop to influence the way in which a group will achieveits goals,
e.g. standards of quality, amounts of work to be done etc.

b) Maintenance norms develop within the group in order to keep it together. They include
particular forms of social interaction (style of speaking, games played between each other and
topic of conversation) and the groups rituals such as; having lunch together. This defines the
group.

c) Relationship norms develop to establish common ways of treating different people. These
include attitudes and behaviour to individuals, particularly management or to other groups.

Acquiring Norms

The process of acquiring norms is known as “socialization “ and it’s a process embarked on from
the earliest days of childhood and continues throughout the life as one encounter’s new and
different environments.

1. Conformity

This is adjusting one’s behaviour to align with the norms of the group. These pressures derive
primarily from the “sanctions” available to groups

Sanctions may be positive or negative:

Positive sanctions constitute rewards for appropriate behaviour and include, approval and
recognition

82
Negative sanction constitutes punishment for inappropriate behaviour that includes rejection
and disapproval.

2. Deviance

This is voluntary behaviour that violates significant organizational norms and in doing so,
threatens the well-being of organization or its members.

Disassociation is caused by a failure to internalize the group norms and this can arise from a
number of factors including:

- Personality disorders.

- Conflict with other behaviour and norms derived from membership of other groups.

- Dissatisfaction with the appropriateness of the norms in relation to the achievements of the
group’s goals.

B. ROLES

A role is a set of expected behaviour patterns attributed to someone occupying a given position
in a social unit .Roles exist in nearly all social situations and particularly in groups. In formal
groups .these roles will be officially recognized e.g. chairperson, secretary, treasurer etc. required
to undertake. Anthropologist Robert Linton suggested five kinds of social systems giving rise to
roles.

Age /sex grouping, e.g. man, young women

Family, household groupings e.g. mother, grandfather, married women

Prestige /status groupings e.g. customers, chairperson, leader, mayor

Occupational groupings e.g. cleaner, clerk, administrator, manager

83
Friendship and common interest groupings e.g. friend, club member, competitor.

There are a number of ways of categorizing roles in group in terms of the contributions that an
individual can make to the group;

a) Certainty

Roles provide a source of stability and certainty in social situations knowing the roles of people
in a given situation helps in understanding the kinds of behaviour to express and how to behave
ourselves.

b) Role sets

Individual hold a variety of roles in different situations at different times .Here

People hold a number of permanent roles in the various groups to which they belong e.g. a
father, the manager of work group, a tutor, a trade union member, abadminton club member, the
secretary of local labour party bank etc.

c) Role problems

There are three classes of problems arising from roles;

Role conflict is where there is a difference between the expectations that others have of role,
say of a head teacher who has to deal with a number of difference expectations of his /her
position from teachers, pupils, parents, governors and local authority.

Role ambiguity is where there is inconsistency in the expectation of the role rather than
conflicting expectations e.g. in the situation of a manager’s autonomy and responsibility for
certain areas of work being sometimes represented and at other times being undermined by more
senior managers.

84
Roles and change is where individuals are resistant to changing roles, fearing the uncertainty
and frustration that this can cause. This applies both to the holder of a role to those around
him/her for example the changed role of women in society can be source of difficulty and
conflict for both women and men.

d) Role and status

Status is a person’s standing, rank or position. Status within the group often matters deeply to
each member. The individual employee gains status in various ways for example:

- Technical competence e.g. “the best fitter in the shop”

- General knowledge e.g. “Chris will be bound to know”

- The court jester e.g.“ cheer us all up”

C. GROUP COHESION

Group cohesion is the degree to which the group sticks together. There are a number of measures
of this, including its attractiveness to members, such that they want to stay in it and the extent of
interpersonal relationships and interdependence in pursuit of goals.

Factors influencing group cohesion

Homogeneity

The most important of these determinants is the extent to which members share similar attitudes
and values .This conditions the degree to which members will become involved and
communicate, understand and identify with each other .

85
Interaction

The amount of interaction between members can also be determined .A high degree of
interaction, which is common in work groups, families and campaigning groups at a particular
times, can help to promote similar attitudes and values.

Goals

The success of a group in attaining its goals is likely to influence group cohesion.

It is likely to engender positive feelings towards the group, in terms of a facilitating the
individuals own goals, his /her contribution to the whole and in belonging to and being identified
by outsiders with a successful group.

External threatens

External threatens to the group can create bonding between members in a

Sharing of protective feelings .These can arise from competition of a feeling of having the
groups attitude and values or even existence, attacked by others.

Size

Small groups facilitate interaction and increase the possibility of shared attitudes and values.
Conversely groups grow in size, become more differentiated and

They attract people with differing goals and can therefore lose a degree of Cohesion.

D. GROUP DEVELOPMENT

New groups are constantly being formed in all walks of life .These may be formal units,
committee’s working parties, project teams etc. Groups are formed to deal with the new
development or innovations or arising from a reorganization of existing work patterns. They may
also be informal group based around new friendships and interest.

86
Stages of Group Development

Stage 1 Forming

The first stage of group development is concerned with finding out the nature of situation with
which the group is faced and what forms of behaviour and interaction are appropriate. Members
will test attitudes and behaviour to establish their acceptability as ground rules for accomplishing
the task and getting along with other members. Competing powerful personalities can lend to
problems in early development explorations of what is acceptable within the group.

Stage 2 Storming

Leading on from the forming stage in which certain ground rules are explored, it is likely that
there will be a stage of conflict and disagreement as methods of operations and patterns of
behaviour start to be firmed up. This where different opinions and styles emerge with competing
sub-groups, challenges for leadership ,rebellions against control and resistance to the demands of
meeting task requirements. A degree of compromise is necessary here in order to allow
consensus to emerge.

Stage 3 Norming

As resistance is overcome and conflicts patched up, groups move into the norming stage
whereby they establish norms of attitudes and behaviour which the mutually accepted for the
task performance and interaction .Individual members begin the process of internalizing those
norms and identifying with group, building group cohesion. Members’ roles start to be clarified
and accepted at this stage. The role of leaders should be clearly established. The establishment of
consensus brings recognition of the value and different potential contributions of individuals and
these results to cooperation and mutual support from group work.

Stage 4 Performing

This is the final stage in development and it represents the position where the group energy is
now available for effective work, task completion and group maintenance. The established norms

87
now support the goals of the group and roles becomes functional, thus allowing constructive
work in relation to tasks.

E. PATTERNS OF GROUP INTERACTION AND COMMUNICATION

The way in which individual members interact and communicate within groups can have
important consequences for the way in which tasks are performed and also for the satisfaction of
individual group members.

The Wheel

In this interaction all communication goes through the centre. This pattern is common in
situation where there is little interaction between group members and there is reliance on central
decision making .The wheel works very well in providing quick answers to simple questions.

A B

D E

The Chain

In this pattern, no single member can interact or communicate with all the others.

88
Although the line of information and the process can be slow. These chains is to be found in
groups which are generally only concerned with transmitting messages and are geographically
dispersed.

B D

A E

Circle

The linking together of the ends provides the opportunity for each member to interact with two
other members directly. This gives a higher level of satisfaction for all members and is a
common pattern in many informal situations, such as discussion around the tables. It can also be
effective for transmitting messages although it suffers from the same problems as the chain in
being slow and prone to misinterpretations

B D

A E

89
The Y

This pattern combines elements of the wheel and the chain in that it focuses on C as the central
contract but does not allow for interaction and communication among members in the different
branches.

A B

The Webs

In the web, each person communicates freely with every other individual within the group. This
is the most common pattern of informal interaction and is often found in informal interaction and
communication such as within small teams.

B D

90
A E

F. GROUP IN THE ORGANIZATIONS

Individuals are employed by organization but in the work situation individuals

Invariably work together in groups. A variety of factors determine the behaviour of groups and
how successful they are .They include;

Size

The size of the group will affect how the group works together and the tasks completed.

Leadership /management style

This can affect the performance of the group – it involves the organization and direction of the
group to achieve its goals.

Cohesiveness

If the group is not cohesive it will tend to be ineffective.

Motivation of group members

The commitment of members to the goals and tasks of the group are a key determinant of
successful performance.

Norms of groups

This includes belief systems, attitudes and values of the group, that influence behaviour.

91
Group / team roles

Effective groups need members to carry out a variety of roles in order for the goals and tasks of
group may be achieved.

The environment

The work environment will have a direct bearing on the group and its performance.

The group task

This includes the task that groups are asked to complete, how important they

are and how urgent and how the results help the company achieve its objectives.

G. FUNCTIONS OF GROUPS IN ORGANIZATIONS

a) Distribution and control of work

This is bringing together and controlling teams of peoples with certain talent and abilities.

b) Delegation of work

Organization authority needs to be delegated to leaders of work groups.

c) Spread of information

Groups disseminate information better than individuals.

d) Uniting the organization in pursuit of its goals

The organization can use work groups as a means of gaining the support of workers for
organizations goals.

e) Analyzing and solving problems

In order to solve problems and make policy, the organization can use high level work groups
made up of people with a wide range of talents.

92
f) Conflict and resolution

The organization cannot resolve the conflicts of its employees at an individual level, because in
large organizations there may be too many conflicts hence its better done in groups.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1) Compare and contrast command, task, interest, and friendship groups.

2) Describe the stages of group development

3) How are status and norms related?

4) When do groups make better decision than individuals?

5) Describe patterns of group interaction and communication

6) Don’t groups create conflict? Isn’t conflict bad? Why then, would management support the
concept of teams?

7) Discuss the function of group organization

References

1. [Link] Astrley and Paramjit [Link], Structural Sources of Intraorganizational

Power: A theoretical Synthesis Academy of management review January 1984 p.104

2. Stephen [Link] 2007, Organization Behaviour, 12th edition

3. Stephen [Link] Shone and Mary Ann Von Glinow, Organization Behaviour, 3rd edition

4. Robert. A. Baron and Jerald GreenBerg 1989, Behaviour Organizations Third Edition

93
LEADERSHIP

INTRODUCTION

In this topic we will learn the role played by leadership in making organizations successful. The
function of management is viewed as not simply a set of practices and policies, but a crucial
component to total organization strategy. Leadership is a concept that has generated much
interest among academics and practising managers, politicians and sociologists among others. In
this lecture we shall examine some key aspects of leadership. To do so the following set of
objectives will be the main focus.

Learning objective

 Define and explain the meaning of leadership


 Explain the nature and importance of leadership
 Indentify and distinguish among the various research approaches to leadership
 Identify and discuss the various theories of leadership

94
 Explain the importance of leadership

Leadership is an important aspect of management and the ability to lead is one of the keys to
being an effective manager. The difference between success and failure is whether in war,
business, a protest movement or soccer game can be attributed largely to leadership

A large number of definitions can be found in literature e.g.

 Leadership is the art or process of influencing people so that they strive willingly and
enthusiastically towards achievement of group goals
 Leadership is the ability of management to induce subordinates to work towards group
goals with confidence and keenness
 Leadership is the ability of a person to influence the thoughts and behaviour of others
towards the accomplishment of some goal or goals
 The activity of influencing people to strive willingly towards group objectives
 The process of influencing activities of an individual or group towards goal achievement
in a given situation

In a nutshell
-leadership is a process not an individual position
-it involves a relationship between a leader and followers in a given situation
Leadership is a complex concept involving the leader ,the followers and the situation
Leadership consist of activities and is directional

From the above definitions, we can say managers lead by giving orders, handling
disputes, supervising, disciplining and taking steps to improve employee performance. In
so doing they use influence, power, authority, delegation of responsibility and be
accountable. It is these components of leadership that managers use to direct the actions
of their subordinates.

Theories of leadership

The main theories of leadership effectiveness and their essential features are described below:-

95
Trait theory According to the trait theory of leadership, a successful leader is one who possesses
certain traits or qualities. These qualities can be deduced by analyzing and personality of
successful leaders in different walks of life. The trait theory led to the belief that “leaders are
born, not made.” But some people believe that these traits can be acquired by training and some
people believe that these traits can be acquired by training and experience. For a long time, trait
approach was widely accepted by training and experience. For a long time, trait approach was
widely accepted because various studies of successful leaders indicated the presence of almost
similar traits to some degree.

However, the trait theory suffers from the following limitations:-

i) The theory does not consider the whole environment of leadership. Personal traits are
only one part of the environment. The theory does not consider the influence of
situational factors in leadership. The same person may prove a successful leader in
one situation but may fail in another situation.
ii) It is difficult to formulate a generally accepted list of traits of leadership. Different
people have the same traits in different degree and it is difficult to measure the traits
actually. Some studies have shown a contradicting array of traits possessed by
successful leaders. Many of the characteristics are found in followers as well. It has
not been possible so far to isolate and indentify traits that are common to all leaders.
In the words of Jenning “fifty year’s study have failed to produce one personality trait
on set of qualities that can be used to discriminate leaders and non leaders.” For
example, a good health is considered necessary for an effective leader but there are
some successful leaders who do not enjoy good health.
iii) It is not clear as to which of the traits are more important and which are the least
important. The theory does not distinguish between traits which are needed for
acquiring leadership and those which are necessary for maintaining it.

In view of these limitations, some of the important traits related to effective leadership are given
below:-

i) Intelligence

96
A leader generally has above average intelligence. He has the ability to think
logically, analyze accurately and interpret precisely the problems faced by the two
groups. He has conceptual clarity, the problems faced by the two groups. He has
conceptual clarity, sound judgment and decisiveness.
ii) Initiative and creativity
One of the main tasks of a leader is to initiate an appropriate sequence of actions at
the right time. Therefore, a good leader must possess strong inner motivation or the
urge to accomplish something. His thinking should be innovative.
iii) Open mind
A leader is always ready to adopt and absorb new ideas as per the needs of the
situation. He is prepared to accommodate other’s viewpoints and if necessary, to
modify his decisions. In other words, a leader has an objective and flexible attitude.

iv) Self confidence


A good leader has confidence in himself and in what he is doing. His outlook is
optimistic and he possesses adequate enthusiasm and resourcefulness to inspire his
subordinates and to boost up their morale. He must have determination and faith.
Enthusiasm, physical energy and stamina are equally important.
v) Vision and foresight
A leader should have the imagination to anticipate the problems well in advance and
creative thinking to design appropriate courses of action. His attitude should be
future-oriented.
vi) Maturity
An effective leader is emotionally mature and has a balanced temperament. He has
high patience and tolerance for frustration. He does not easily lose his balance of
mind. He must have sound judgment and ability to take quick decisions.
vii) Sense of responsibility
A leader is ready to shoulder responsibility for the consequences of his actions. He is
well aware of the duties and obligations of his job as well as dependability. He also
possesses integrity of character and sincerity.
viii) Human relations skill

97
A good leader has the tact and empathy to create mutual cooperation among his
followers. He can persuade and influence people by giving due attention to human
relationships. He must have ability to communicate effectively with people. He must
be able to guide and teach his subordinates.

Situational theory

Under the situational theory, leadership is considered to be function of the situation in which a
leader emerges and works. It is based on the assumption that leadership is basically situational.
In other words, the traits and behaviours of the leader are governed by the demands of the
situation. The ultimate test of leadership lies in obtaining the desired type of behaviour on the
part of the followers.

The situation theory focuses attention on the interaction between the leader, the group and the
environment in which they operate. According to the contingency model of leadership developed
by Fred Fielder, three major situational variables influence the behaviour and effectiveness and
the leader. The three variables are (a) leader’s position, i.e. the degree of informal power and
formal authority enjoyed by the leader, (b) the leader follower relations, and (c) task structure,
i.e. the degree to which the assigned task is structured.

According to Fiedler, these three variables can be mixed in eight possible combinations. At one
extreme lies the most favourable situation in which the task structure is well defined, the leader
enjoys high position power and the leader follower relations are good. At the other end is the
most unfavourable situation wherein the leader has little position power, the task is unstructured
and the leader follower relations are poor. As one moves from one end to the other, the
leadership situation falls into any of these eight combinations. Task oriented leaders tend to be
most effective in highly favourable or very unfavourable situations. On the other hand, relations,
oriented leader tend to be most effective in situations that are moderately favourable or
unfavourable.

Transformational leadership

Assumptions

 People will follow a person who inspires them.

98
 A person with vision and passion can achieve great things.
 The way to get things done is by injecting enthusiasm and energy.

Components of transformational leadership

Develop the vision

 Starts with the development of a vision, a view of the future that will excite and convert
potential followers. (This vision may be developed by the leader, by the senior team or
may emerge from a broad series of discussions. The leader must buy in completely).

Sell the vision

 Sell the vision immediately and continually.


 Create trust
 Rely on personal integrity.

Transactional leadership

Assumptions

 People are motivated by reward and punishment.


 Social systems work best with a clear chain of command.
 When people have agreed to do a job, a part of the deal is that they cede all authority to
their manager.
 Their prime purpose of a subordinate is to do what their manger tells them to do.

Transactional considerations

 The transactional leader often uses management by exception, working on the principle
that if something is operating as expected then it does not need attention.
 In the leadership vs. management spectrum, transactional leadership is very much
towards the management end of the scale.
 Relies strongly on principle of “rational man” and reaction to rewards and punishment.

99
LEADERSHIP STYLES

DEMOCRATIC/PARTICIPATIVE STYLES

Considers the suggestions of members and leader. It is a human relations approach where all
group members are seen as important contributors to decision.

Democratic communication which allows


Leader
an interchange of ideas between all
involved.

Advantages:

- Increased morale of members.


- Support for final decision.
- Better decisions through shared ideas.

Disadvantages:

- Slower decision
- Diluted accountability for decisions.
- Possible compromises designed to please all.

iii) Laisser faire leadership

Allow (them) to do style – leadership exercises very little control or influence over
groupmembers. Members are given a goal and left alone to decide how to achieve it. Role of
leader is facilitative.

100
Leader

Advantages

 Increased opportunity for individual development.


 All persons are given a chance to express themselves and function independently.

Disadvantages

 Lack of group cohesion and unity toward organization goals.


 Lack of direction and control.
 Inefficient and chaos.

IV) Autocratic or authoritarian leadership


An autocratic leader is one who takes all the decisions himself without consulting his
subordinates. He demands complete loyalty as unquestioned obedience form his
followers. Autocratic leadership is characterized by maximum possible centralization of
authority, to supervision, unilateral decision-making and one way communication. It is
boss-centred leadership. An autocratic leader is generally dislike as there is no scope for
initiative and self development. Behaviour subordinates becomes hostile and attention is
focused upon pleasing the leader. They remain uniformed, insecure and afraid of the

101
leadership authority. An autocratic leader may be successful in an emergency case of
undisciplined, illiterate and unorganized people who depend completely on their leader.

V) Bureaucratic leadership
A bureaucratic leader depends upon rules and regulations developed by him. The rules
specify the functions and duties of every member of the organization. The leadership is,
therefore, reduced to a routine job. There is a little scope for initiative and subordinates
like to play safe. Such a rule-centred leadership often results in red tape and inefficiency.
A bureaucratic leader is only a creature of the system existing only to serve it.
The style of leadership that should be adopted differs from situation to situation and
depends upon (a) the traits and value system of the leader (b) the characteristics of the
group (c) nature of the task. If the task is simple and subordinates are not competent the
leader may adopt and authoritarian style. On the other hand, democratic style may be
more appropriate when the subordinates are competent and the task is creative.

Division of labour

Meaning of division of labour:

It’s the process of dividing the many performed within an organization into specialized jobs.

The standard organizational chart makes clear that the many tasks to be performed within an
organization are divided into specialized jobs, a process known as the division of labour. The
more that tasks are divided into separate jobs, the more those jobs are specialized and the
narrower the range of activities that job incumbents are required to perform. In theory, the fewer
tasks a person performs, the better he or she may expected to perform them, freeing others to
perform the tasks they perform best. Taken together, an entire organization is composed of
people a collection of specialized jobs. This is probably the most obvious feature of an
organization that can be observed from its organizational chart.

102
When you might imagine, the degree to which employees perform specialized jobs is likely to
depend on the size of the organization. The larger the organization, the more the opportunities
for specialization is likely to exist. For example, an individual working in a large advertising
agency may get to specialize in a highly narrow field, such as writing jingles for radio and TV
spots for automobiles. By contrast, someone working at a much smaller agency may be required
to do all writing of print and broadcast and in addition to helping out with artwork and meeting
with the clients. Obviously, the larger company might be expected to reap the benefits of
efficiently using the talents of employees (a natural result of an extensive division of labour).

When companies downsize, many managerial jobs often become less specialized. e.g. at general
electric, quite a few middle-management positions have been eliminated in recent years. As a
consequence, the remaining managers must perform a wider variety of jobs, making their own
jobless specialized.

A stakeholder is an individual, institution, or community that has a stake in the operation of an


organization and in how it does business. Stakeholder include those who regularly transact
directly with the organizations most notably, employees customers, suppliers distributors,
shareholders and creditors.

Stakeholders also include institutions that are more remote but still have a stake in how the
organization operates and does business including government, communities and the general
public.

103
LESSON SEVEN

FUNDAMENTALS OF PROJECT MANAGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Stakeholders and the organization:

All stakeholders are in an exchange relationship with an organization. Each stakeholder group
supplies the organization with important resources (or contribution) and in exchange each
expects its interest to be satisfied. e.g.

104
a. Employees provide labor and skills and expect commensurate income, job satisfaction,
job security etc.
b. Customers provide revenue and want reliable products that represent value for money.
c. Distributors help sell an organization’s output, and in return they seek favourable
payment terms and products that will sell well.
d. Shareholders provide cooperation with risk capital and are also its legal owners. In
exchange they expect management to maximize the return on their investment.
e. Creditors such as bank provide the organization with capital in the form of debt and they
expect to be repaid on time with interest.
f. Governments provide an organization with rules and regulations that govern business
practice and maintain fair competition. In exchange they want business to adhere to rules
and regulations and pay their taxes.
g. Local communities provide organizations with local infrastructure and want businesses
that are responsible citizens.
h. The general public provides organizations with national infrastructure and seeks some
assurance that the quality of life will be improved as a result of the organization’s
existence.

Taking stakeholders into account:

 Managers need to take the various claims of stakeholders into account when making
decisions otherwise they may withdraw their support.
 A manager needs to cater for claims of different stakeholders group as a business
strategy. This will help the organization to survive and prosper in the long run.
 Unfortunately, managers cannot always satisfy the claims of all stakeholders as resources
may not be adequate to satisfy all the stakeholders’ claims that satisfy their needs.
 Thus a manager needs to identify the stakeholders most critical to the survival of their
organization making sure that the satisfaction of their needs is paramount.
 Three stakeholder groups that must be satisfied above others are: customers, Employees
and shareholders.

105
Stakeholder analysis for MUCST

The following are MUST principal stakeholders:

a. Students
b. Staff
c. Government
d. Parent/guardian
e. Alumni
f. Local community
g. Development partners
h. Research institutes and universities
i. Suppliers and creditors
j. Industry

STAKEHOLDER MUCST EXPECTATION


STAKEHOLDERS Quality and affordable Academic excellence
Students education

Variety of academic Compliance with university


programmes rules

Safe environment Sanity and order

\ Safe accommodation Discipline

Sustainability of the university Quality service


Staff
Job security Loyalty and commitment

Equity and fairness Professionalism

Conducive working Productivity

106
A, environment

Training and development


opportunities

Competitive pay

Quality human resource Adequate funding


development
Government
Industrial, innovations and Formulate fee payment
technological development

Community education and


extension

Competitive programmes

Quality education Prompt fee payment

Parents/guardians Student’s safety and security Participation in university


Mentorship development
Counsel their children
Maintain high standards of Participation in university
education development
Alumni
Strong Alumni office Ambassadorial roles

Transparency in use of Fund raising


donated funds
Development partners

107
Impact of the donated funds Participation in university
development

Project management

The term project has general definition, but has now acquired a functional meaning to suggest
some special management activities with specific short goals and objectives. At times, though
some short term goals end up being seen together in a specially related sequence of time and
hence become long term goals end up being seen together in a specially related sequence of time
and hence become long term in their achievement.

World Bank describes a project as:

An investment activity in which financial resources are expended to create capital assets that
produce benefits over an extended period of time in some projects. However, costs are incurred
for production expenses or maintenance from which benefits can normally be expected quickly,
usually within a year.

The term project refers to a wide range and variety of activities irrespective of the relative
professional or technical specialization. In our Kenya context, projects can therefore, include
some of the following examples:

a) Setting up a new factory complex to supplement the existing one in order to meet the
increased demand of the service or product being produced.
b) Establishing a new district or provincial hospital as a service to the nation.
c) Installing new or additional telephone lines or booths in urban and trading centers to
provide more efficient and effective public communication channels.
d) Constructing new boarding secondary schools for girls in given district or division.
e) Constructing a nursery school for a given population.

It is apparent from the cited examples that there is no precise definition of the word project.

Furthermore, there is a lot of overlap between one project and another, and this makes the term
rather general.

108
The major distinction tends to be the short time periods over which the project may span. It is the
short-term element entailed in the definition of the project that makes activities cycle around
project planning, project development, project implementation, accountability for the success of
the project.

All these special activities are aspects of management, and hence they all form a special activity
of management as opposed to the usual idea of general management. This explains why there is
always a notion that project management is a very special type of management and yet even all
general management is always concerned with projects; the only different thus, is the special
meaning now acquired by the term ‘project’.

It is not surprising, therefore, that most authors’ term it as project and control or project
development and implementation; or project development and control, or just a clear picture of
how special a management activity project is. That is why some practitioners just call it capital
investment or project cost control to avoid the idea of general management.

Project planning

Planning is a first activity in management function and principles. Planning therefore sound
knowledge of objectives, goals, target priorities, policy, standards and financial budgeting and
cost control. This is not to say the managers must be experts in financial knowledge, but an
appreciation of it is essential for any serious managers.

A viable project should be submitted to the sponsor/donor/organization management for


implementation in form of a formal project proposal.

Project proposal format

1. Introduction/background: indicate the needs or problems that give rise to the project, and
hence its title.
2. Project objectives: list objectives to be achieved by the project.
3. Project justification: provide reasons for the project. Why is the project necessary?

109
4. Project scope: a detail of project coverage, area, methodologies, work plan and
procedure, capacity etc.
5. Project viability: give the results of appraisal (quantitative), give other qualitative
statements supporting the project.
6. Project finance/budget: initial cost and sources.

Project development cycle

The undertaking of a project should be properly planned, appraised, authorized and controlled.
During its life time a project must go through a number of stages if it is to be successful. The
stages are:

1. Conception: this is the starting point of all projects. This involves the identification of a
need or \opportunity for action.
2. Investigation: this is an initial study of possible courses of action available to fulfil the
need identified in the first stage. This investigation should establish possible options.
3. Broad assessment: this stage involves the assessment of all the available options
(identified in the earlier stage) in terms of both their operational practicability and
financial performance (both costs and benefits). This exercise reduces the number of
options to those that are feasible and viable enough to warrant a closer examination.
4. Budgeting: this involves the inclusion of the project estimates into the organization
5. Budget system. Thus, a provision must be secured for the project in the budget.
6. Appraisal and selection of optimal option: a financial and economic appraisal of project
options is done to indentify the consequences of the options of the business/organization.
Appraisal is carried out by the use of discounting techniques and the option that depicts
the highest return is normally selected.
7. Authority to proceed: authority to proceed towards project implementation is normally
given by the board of management depending on the level of initial capital outlay. This
authority is granted based on the viability of the selected option.
8. Implementing: project implementation will commence once authority to proceed has been
granted. Continual monitoring of implementation in both financial and operational
progress against targets is necessary. Monitoring allows comparison of actual progress
against the expected results, and to look at the future expectations. Thus, early warning of

110
over speeding or expected results, and to look at the future expectation. Thus, early
warning of overspending or under performance is available to enable either corrective
action or complete re-evaluation of the project.
9. Post-implementation: this mainly involves project evaluation and is the final stage of the
project cycle. It includes a review of the performance during project’s development as
well as operational performance. The intention of this stage is to assess the project’s
contribution to the organization against the expected results.

Project appraisal (as control evaluation).

Project evaluation process entails the following considerations:

Cash flows: this is cash movement as funds both in receipts and payments.

a) Inflows: cash receipts (e.g. credits, dividends)


b) Outflows: cash spending (e.g. payments investments)
c) Net cash flows: profits made from payments and receipts as their difference.

Many pitfalls can cause the failure of any project. Generally there are two broad categories of
project pitfalls: i) Common pitfalls ii) Pitfalls unique to develop countries.

The common pitfalls may affect the projects anywhere in the world. Some of the are:

a) Insufficient support for the project


b) Poor project definition
c) Project plans contain too much details
d) Unwieldy plans
e) Too much focus on dealings
f) Over optimism in planning for time and costs
g) Omitting some activities in the plan
h) Poor project organization (inappropriate organisation structure).
i) Distribution of responsibilities not clearly defined.
j) Principles of cooperation not clear.
k) Key resources not available as and when required.
l) Unmotivated project staff.

111
m) Lack of commitment to the project.
n) Poor communication within the project and with other major players.
o) Use of technocrat as project manager.
p) Lack of effective project monitoring and control.
q) Lack of integration between project plan and progress reports
r) Lack of formalized communication between project manager and project task force.
s) Project manager has responsibility but not formal authority.
t) Uncontrolled scope and baseline changes
u) Failure to complete and document activity before the next one begins
v) Unbalanced targets of time, cost and quality.

Avoiding common pitfalls

Some useful strategies in avoiding the common pitfalls include:

 Focusing on result by:


 Aligning the project plan with the business plan
 Defining principles and policies of the project work.
 Maintaining the support of the project client and principal
 Clearly defining and documenting the overt goals and objectives
 Reflecting always on the covert goals and objectives
 Limiting the scope of the project
 Balancing the technical, and procedural changes that would result from the project.
 Giving robust and flexible project plan.

Planning by:

 Defining intermediate objectives to control time, cost and quality


 Carrying out all activities methodically
 Involving the project team members in planning.
 Accounting for competence, capacity and availability of resources.

Organized by:

112
 Adopting an appropriate organization structure that is flexible.
 Clearly defining goals and responsibilities
 Communicating deliberately and doing so formally and informally

Coordinating by:

 Creating a climate of cooperation


 Motivating project team members
 Committing resources
 Integrating plans and reports

Controlling by:

 Monitoring and evaluating progress at regular short intervals.


 Taking prompt and firm corrective actions in time.

Pitfalls unique to developing countries.

Developing countries have more complexities and problems that create unique and difficulties in
every area. These add the common pitfalls in project management in third world countries. Some
of these unique difficulties are:

 Delays in government approval


 Too much government bureaucracy/interference
 Failure to appreciate the money value of time
 Corruption
 Narrow personal interests
 Lack of good will
 Myopic and parochial objectives
 Pettiness
 Poor infrastructure
 Poor work ethics

Study questions

113
1. What is a project? Give examples.
2. Discuss the common pitfalls in project management
3. How can common project pitfalls be avoided or managed?
4. What is the relationship between a project and the management functions?
5. You have been asked to write a project proposal for you company. Provide the project
proposal format that you will use.

Lesson Eight

NATIONAL COHESION AND INTEGRATION

Meaning of Terms

1. Nation

A nation is a group of people sharing common land territory, resources, values, culture,
aspirations, common symbols such as language, flag, national anthem and Coat of Arms,
common history and government. In the Preamble of the Constitution, the people of Kenya are
committed to nurturing and protecting the well-being of the individual, the family, communities
and the nation.

2. Nationhood

114
This is the process of creating and sustaining the oneness of a nation through social, economic or
political organizations and institutions.

3. Nationalism

It is a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined as a nation;


creating a national identity. It can also include the belief that the state is of primary importance,
or the belief that one’s state is naturally superior to all other states. It is also used to describe a
movement to establish or protect one’s country.

4. State

A state is a political organization defined by international borders. It is composed of citizens,


either as individuals or communities.

Characteristics of a state

These can be categorized into two broad categories:

a) The physical base of a state


i) It is made up of a people/definite population,
ii) A definite territory: land, water and the air space.

b) The political base of a state


i) A functioning government; and
ii) Sovereign, self-governing.

Difference between state and Nation

115
State Nation

It is a legal and It is social/cultural


political entity
1.

People organized People psychologically


within a definite joined together with
2.
territory. the common will to
live together “the
general good.”

A state must be People continue as a


sovereign nation even if they do
3.
not remain sovereign.

5. Nation state

A political unit consisting of an autonomous state for example Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania
inhabited predominantly by a people sharing a common culture, history and /or language.

6. Statehood

One of the roles of a government is to promote statehood by making the state attractive to
individual citizens. This is achieved through the promotion of justice, fairness and affirmative
action. The state expects citizens and communities to surrender their political sovereignty, raise
funds to run state affairs, and remain patriotic in the event of external aggression. The
galvanization of the state is done through unifying symbols such as the Coat of Arms, the
National Anthem and Loyalty Pledge, national colours, the national dress, official language/s,

116
memorization of heroes, landmark buildings as well as natural landmarks like mountains and
lakes.

7. Government

It is the agency through which the will of the state is formulated, expressed and realized. It is the
institution that runs the affairs of state on behalf of the people or the citizenry.

8. Community

A community is a group of people who live together and subscribe to a similar culture and
values, and hold same aspirations and fears.

9. Stakeholder

Stakeholders are individuals or bodies with vested interests, whether positive or negative, in
what is taking place in the economic, political, cultural and environmental spheres of the society.

10. Integration

To integrate is to bring together. Integration is a key contributor to community cohesion. It


enables citizens to relate with each harmoniously.

11. Cohesion

Cohesion is the act or state of sticking together or close union. It is cohering or being in
consonance with each other. Cohesion implies positive group dynamics and positive energy that
is experienced within a community.

117
12. Social Cohesion

Social cohesion is the ongoing process of developing a community of shared values, shared
challenges and equal opportunities based on a sense of hope, trust and reciprocity. It also
involves the willingness of groups with diverse values and objectives to coexist, share resources,
have mutual respect for each other and abide by the rules of the land.

Social cohesion involves building shared values and communities of interpretation, reducing
disparities in wealth and income so as to generally enable people to have a sense that they are
engaged in a common enterprise facing shared challenges, and that they are members of the same
community.

13. Political Cohesion

Political cohesion is where structures and institutions are operating to ensure that citizens‟ needs
are met while ensuring that political actors are in harmony with each other.

14. Economic Cohesion

Economic cohesion occurs when financial and business structures and institutions work to ensure
fair and transparent distribution of resources devoid of discrimination.

15. National Cohesion

National cohesion entails the constructing of an integrated citizenry with a sense of belonging
amongst members of different groups and from different regions, through the regulation and
reconciliation of differences as well as competing interests and demands.

118
16. National Cohesion and Integration

In the Kenyan context, national cohesion and integration is a process and an outcome of instilling
and enabling all citizens to have a sense and a feeling that they are members of the same nation
engaged in a common enterprise, facing shared challenges and opportunities. National cohesion
and integration encompasses unity, equality, freedom, democracy, absence of war, just peace,
social justice and the rule of law.

The ultimate goal of national cohesion and integration is to create an overarching national
community that renders loyalty to competing ethnic, racial, regional, class and religious
communities secondary. National cohesion embraces unity of purpose in the citizenry‟s
participation in economic, social and political processes.

Indicators of a Cohesive Society

1. Common Vision and Sense of Belonging

a) A community is likely to be more cohesive at the local level where people have a relatively
strong sense of belonging to their neighborhood and local area.

b) To ascertain whether people share a common vision for their local area, there is need to
establish their perception of their quality of life.

c) A community is likely to be more cohesive where there are no major differences in people‟s
vision for their neighborhood.

d) A community is likely to be more cohesive where people feel they can influence decisions
affecting their local area.

2. The diversity of peoples‟ backgrounds and circumstances are appreciated and valued

119
a) A community is more likely to be cohesive where the majority of residents agree with this
statement, especially in areas with minority ethnic groups.

3. Those from different backgrounds have similar life opportunities

a) A community is more likely to be cohesive where there are low levels of deprivation and
fewer socio-economic differences between people.

b) A community is more likely to be cohesive where long term unemployment is low and not
concentrated among certain groups.

4. Strong and positive relationships are being developed between people from different
backgrounds in the workplace, schools and neighborhood.

a) A community is more likely to be cohesive where people of different ethnic origin and social
class regularly interact.

b) A community is more likely to be cohesive where people of different ethnic origin combat
discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability and age; and
promote cross-cultural and inter-faith contact.

Benefits of a Cohesive and Integrated Nation

1. National solidarity and togetherness in tackling national development issues;

2. Unity and harmony in dealing with national adversity and calamities;

3. Unified approach in confronting external threats to the nation;

4. Similar attitudes, values and positive cultural ethos beneficial to the nation;

5. Similar aspirations and desires that promote the growth and development of the nation;

120
6. Commitment to national ideals;

7. Increasing potential and ability for joint action by members of the nation;

8. Improving economic performance and well-being of Kenyans;

9. Facilitating the implementation of the new Constitution;

10. Promoting equity in the sharing of state resources;

11. Building a strong and enduring Kenyan identity which knits all the diversity into a strong
national fabric; and

12. Mainstreaming the provisions of the National Cohesion and Integration

Challenges to National Cohesion

Research suggests that there is a correlation between a lack of cohesion and inequality in life.
This could be political, economic or social-cultural.

Political Challenges

1. Polarization and division of the country along ethnic lines that determine political opinion and
positions;

2. Dishonesty and selfishness among leaders;

3. Lack of principles and ideologies to define political direction;

4. Weak leadership in governance institutions;

e) Work environment, trade unions, socialization work clubs, team building activities, bonding,
training, etc.;

121
f) Housing serves as an important meeting point. Residential areas create forms of solidarity and
cohesion; and

4. Shared spaces such as parks, beaches, gyms, communal farms, communal grazing fields,
common water sources like wells, under trees, social halls and merry go rounds.

5. Intergenerational and interfaith opportunities

a) Youth clubs, associations, movements, etc.;

b) Women groups such as income generating activities, associations, members clubs, etc.;

c) Inter- faith organizations such as National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK), Catholic
Peace and Justice Commission, Hindu Council of Kenya and the Council of Muslim Preachers of
Kenya among others;

d) Peace building initiatives, peace rallies, etc.; and

e) Inter-religious dialogue that brings together all religions in search of sustainable peace

6. Mapping communities

a) Communities mapping entails allocating resources appropriately and equitably;

b) Mapping also means including all groups in the national census and providing data on their
ethnic profiles;

c) It is essential to recognize changing demographics such as youth, men, women, people with
various challenges and other groups;

d) Migration involves recognizing movement as an integral part of human existence;

e) Migration also recognizes that the immigrants require government help and assistance and

f) New communities need to be integrated into the society according to the laws of the land.

7. Preventing anticipated problems

a) Anticipated problems should be prevented through conflict resolution and planning;

122
b) Responding to crisis in a timely manner averts a lot of adverse effects. This can be achieved
through a community intelligence monitoring system;

5. Complexity in migration and settlement patterns;

6. Failure to address historical injustices;

7. Proliferation of organized gangs and militia; and

8. Control of land, finance capital, technology and communication by the political elites

Economic Challenges

1. Inequality in access to and control of scarce resources such finance, land, technology and
communication;

2. Lack of innovation and creativity in generating wealth;

3. Lack of strategic planning for development funds like the Constituency Development Fund
(CDF), Local Authority Transfer Fund (LATF) ;

4. Corruption at individual and institutional levels; and

5. Minimal enterprise development for low income entrepreneurs

Socio-Cultural Challenges

1. Ethnicity – the management of diverse cultural values and practices;

2. Negative ethnicity – ethnocentrism;

123
3. High illiteracy levels;

4. Deteriorating morals and values - higher levels of crime, fear of crime and anti-social
behavior;

5. Weakening of the family unit;

6. Pessimistic negative populace - failure to appreciate the good in the country and

7. Cultural insensitivity.

Dimensions of Cohesion and Integration

There are many dimensions of cohesion and integration. These include:

1. A strong communication strategy which should entail working with local media among others
in a bid to counter stereo-types and other negative practices.

2. Visionary leadership that practices good governance and develops a vision for the nation. It
also involves community empowerment through participation and engagement through a bottom-
up consultation process.

3. Meaningful interaction and “bridging” activities that should include but are not limited to:

a) Education: Schools are important centres of socialization and political education;

b) Sports: Sports are not only meeting points but they also unite nations and states and they
create emotional bonding;

c) Culture is an important superstructure in a nation with many subcultures such as ethnic groups
and religions;

d) Recreational leisure activities;

c) There is need to have a disaster preparedness strategy in place;

d) Conflict prevention and management strategies should be disseminated to all citizens; and

124
e) All kinds of extremism and excesses within the nation such as vigilantes and militias should
be managed.

Fig 4: Dimensions of Cohesion and Integration

CHALLENGES IN ACHIEVING NATIONAL COHESION AND INTEGRATION IN


KENYA

1. Economic challenges

a. Land allocation in post independent Kenya

b. Political patronage in the distribution of national resources

c. Corruption

d. Inequitable distribution of national resources

2. Political challenges

a. Political Assassinations in 1965, 1969, 1975, 1991, 2005

b. Return of single party state 3rd June 1982

c. The 1982 abortive coup

d. Clamor for Multiparty-ism (sabasaba)

e. Return to Multiparty democracy

125
f. Ethnic/land clashes from 1991 and political violence during elections

g. The ICC process

h. Political disagreements

i. Change-the-constitution clamor

j. Crackdown on government critics

k. Ethnicization of the civil service

l. Threats of militias and informal repression

m. The 2007/2008 post-election violence

n. Internally displaced persons

3. Social/Cultural Challenges

a. Divisive educational system (Quota System)

b. Weak systems of operationalizing national values

c. Culture of greed and selfishness

d. Community superiority / inferiority complex

e. Negative ethnicity

f. Negative cultural practices

g. Inequitable provision of social services

Interventions for Promoting National Cohesion and Integration

1. Agenda item IV of Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation

126
a. Agenda item IV focuses on consolidation of national cohesion and unity.

b. Institutionalization of national healing, reconciliation, cohesion and integration process

c. The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC)

d. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC)

e. The National Steering Committee of Peace Building and Conflict Resolution (NSC)

f. The Department of National Cohesion (DNC)

2. Kenya Vision 2030: Blue Print for Development

Under the political pillar, the Vision lays emphasis on security, peace-building, conflict
management and resolution.

3. The Constitution of Kenya 2010

The Constitution was promulgated on 27th August 2010. It provides a conducive environment
for all citizens to live harmoniously. When fully implemented, it is expected that the nation will
be more cohesive and integrated. For the sake of brevity, details of how the constitution
enhances cohesion and integration are covered in Module 4 on policy, legal and institutional
framework for national cohesion and integration.

4. Policies and Guidelines

Formulation of Policies and Guidelines seek to enhance Cohesion. Some of the policies include:

a. Policy on National Cohesion and integration

b. Policy on Peace Building and Conflict Resolution

c. The National Land Policy etc.

127
STRATEGIES FOR PROMOTING NATIONAL COHESION AND INTEGRATION

The promotion of the national cohesion and integration requires deliberate strategies to
streamline the management of diversities in Kenya. These strategies that can be adopted to
promote national cohesion and integration include:

1. Strengthening Vital Institutions of Governance

There is need to strengthen social institutions and organizations as well as mechanisms of


governance to enhance national cohesion. The transformation of the political and governance
institutions such as the executive, legislature, judiciary, Civil Service, local government, public
administration, electoral rules, and party composition is particularly important for the
achievement of national cohesion and integration. The specific strategies for achieving this
include the following:-

a. Adoption of diversity concepts at all levels of organizational management at public and private
establishments.

There is need for a mandatory provision to infuse cohesion principles in all ministries,
departments and agencies within the public sector. Private sector agencies should also ensure that
they mainstream national cohesion in their respective institutions especially in their recruitment,
promotion and retention of staff.

b. Establishment and enhancement of local community dialogue forums

Creating, developing and/or expanding local community dialogue forums such as local
workshops and barazas are essential. This will offer a platform for individuals and community
members to discuss issues and generate solutions to the problems affecting national cohesion and
integration.

128
c. Strengthen the role of national, county and community leaders in promoting national cohesion
and integration

Community leaders and traditional systems that promote national cohesion such as the Councils
of Elders should be recognized and supported.

d. Enhance the use of education curricular and civic education to promote national cohesion

The quota system of education should be restructured so as to encourage greater learner


interaction across ethnic and social groups and regions/counties. In addition, massive and
enhanced civic education by public-private partnerships in diversity awareness will reduce anti-
sectarianism, assist in attitude change and promote patriotism.

On the other hand, effective and timely implementation of the Constitution will eliminate
Kenya‟s hitherto fragile and unstable institutional arrangements and unconstitutional practices in
the conduct of national leadership and public affairs.

e. Implementation and enforcement of legislation that relates to prosecution of individuals or


groups that promote negative ethnicity and hate speech in Kenya

Individuals who make utterances that promote negative ethnicity and hate speech should be
reported and prosecuted irrespective of their ethnic background or status in society. Communities
should not embrace such individuals and should instead reprimand them for fuelling animosity
against other communities. The media should equally avoid giving publicity to such individuals.

f. Embracement of diversity and symbols of national unity

129
Emphasis should be placed on the sovereignty of the people, effective management of
indigenous languages, national symbols, the national anthem, national days, national values and
principles of governance among others.

g. Build an all-inclusive Civil Service or public sector that reflects Kenya’s diversity

Public service composition should be representative and inclusive of all ethnic communities.
Affirmative action should be implemented to enhance inclusion of minority and other
marginalized groups.

h. Develop and monitor a set of indicators and indices that capture the role of governance
institutions in enhancing cohesion

These indicators will include: democratic governance, rule of law, reduction of corruption,
justice and human security as well as promotion of value systems and public policies.

2. Addressing Socio-Economic Inequalities

Kenya has various regional and inter-ethnic inequalities such as lack of access to education and
training in some regions, water and sanitation, health services and housing among others. Other
than being an impediment to national cohesion, these forms of inequality create feelings of social
exclusion and may represent forms of mismanagement of diversity. Disparities within and
between regions have been associated with the feelings of exclusion among many Kenyans. To
address regional and socio-economic group disparities, the following strategies and interventions
are essential:

a. Hasten the development of special economic zones to improve the socio-economic profile of
the less developed regions

It is imperative that the socio-economic profiles of less developed regions are improved through
investment in infrastructure and industries. The Government should ensure equitable

130
infrastructural development across the country with attention to roads, electricity, water and
sanitation among others.

b. Devolve a proportion of government resources to the counties through an equitable and


transparent mechanism

Marginalized areas should be facilitated efficiently through the Equalization Fund to bring them
at par with other parts of the country.

c. Facilitate equitable investments in social and economic amenities, education, training


institutions, health facilities, food, security and water among others.

Ensure universal access to fundamental human rights such as basic education, health services,
water and food security.

d. Improve land management practices and challenges related to natural resource


mismanagement/distribution.

Since many conflicts in Kenya revolve around land and management of resources, there is need
to improve land management practices and address land inequalities and resource
mismanagement/distribution.

e. Address youth unemployment and other forms of socio-economic exclusion

The economy should be improved with the aim of facilitating the creation of more job
opportunities. The youth should also be provided with relevant training skills and necessary
capital to generate wealth and become self-reliant.

131
3. Management of Ethnic and Socio-Cultural Diversity

Culture plays a significant and fundamental role in fostering identity and sense of security by
directing individual behavior. Cultural products serve to unify people while participation in
cultural activities ensure that issues of national importance are profiled and messages of
integration communicated thereby promoting mutual coexistence and respect.

In order to strengthen the role of culture and heritage in fostering cohesion and integration, the
following strategies can be applied:

a. Use traditional performances such as dance, music, drama and sporting activities to facilitate
cohesion amongst communities

Cultural performance and arts, especially those that are linked to specific events and national
days, should be used to encourage and support national cohesion and integration.

b. Use media and cultural activities such as art, music, motion pictures and film to broadcast
messages of peace and positive co-existence

The media should be used to promote various cultural activities that encourage and support
national cohesion and integration.

c. Establish and support community cultural centres in all constituencies / counties.

Community cultural centres will serve as focal points for the promotion of inter-cultural
dialogue, national cohesion and expression of cultural heritage. They therefore will encourage
cultural pluralism.

4. Reconciliation, Conflict Resolution and Prevention

132
Reconciliation and conflict resolution and prevention are critical in the promotion of national
cohesion. Efforts should be made to address conflict prevention, consolidate peace and promote
healing among conflicting communities. This can be realized through the following strategies:

a. Establish conflict resolution and reconciliation mechanisms;

b. Provide conflicting parties with safe and professionally administered forums for dialogue,
conflict resolution and reconciliation;

c. Engage the services of peace building professionals with the requisite skills and techniques for
long term conflict prevention and management and

d. Conduct peace education with groups of influential opinion shapers in conflict prone areas
aimed at delegitimizing the use of force in solving conflicts, thus fostering a culture of peace.

ACTORS INVOLVED IN THE PROMOTION OF NATIONAL COHESION AND


INTEGRATION

1. The Government

The Government provides visionary leadership through the executive. It entrenches or


mainstreams national cohesion and integration in national policies and creates a unified approach
to enhance national healing and cohesion. Nevertheless, the Government should strengthen vital
institutions that perform duties encompassing planning, policy making and coordination,
facilitation, implementation, regulation and monitoring of national cohesion and integration.

2. Ministry of Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs

The Ministry coordinates national cohesion and integration activities through planning, policy
making and coordination, facilitation, implementation, regulation, monitoring and evaluation and
reporting on progress made on these activities. The Ministry further ensures a more integrated
approach to national cohesion and integration by different stakeholders.

133
3. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC)

The mandate of the Commission includes eliminating discrimination on the basis of ethnicity,
race, religion or social origin, promoting participation of all communities in national issues and
supporting peace and harmony among different ethnic and racial groups.

4. Youth

Young people are a tremendous resource for national development and social change. They are
the largest and most active age group in the country and are therefore important actors who can
determine the destiny of the country. There is need therefore to incorporate them in all initiatives
geared towards national healing and reconciliation. The youths should be inspired, empowered
and motivated to participate at all levels in the country’s political, social and economic
development and in the fight against societal ills such as negative ethnicity, nepotism and
violence.

5. Women Groups

The synergy created by women on cohesion acts as a catalyst for development in society. Their
energy, innovation, character and orientation define the pace of development of a nation.
Through their creative talents and labour power, a nation makes giant strides in economic and
socio-political development. Women contribute in dispute resolution, peace building, national
cohesion and integration.

6. Media

134
The print and electronic media have an important role to play in promoting national cohesion and
integration through responsible journalism. This can be achieved by highlighting positive trends
and developments, ensuring fair and balanced reporting and emphasizing national issues over
sectarian issues such as ethnic-based politics.

7. Community Elders

Community elders are charged with the responsibility of instilling positive values that nurture
leadership, good governance and cohesion. Community elders should encourage and support
communities to embrace the values of integrity, honesty, chastity, humility, hard work,
patriotism, community service and dedication to national cohesion and integration.

8. Political Leaders

Strong leadership and engagement are essential to national cohesion and integration. A visionary
leadership that embraces the concept of unity in diversity will provide a positive focus for
community cohesion activities.

9. Faith Based Organizations (FBOs)

Faith Based Organizations play a crucial role in peacemaking and successful implementation of
peace programmes. They make significant contribution in dispute resolution, peace building and
in capacity building for peace and reconciliation initiatives. FBOs have the capacity to build
‟social capital‟ and contribute further to community cohesion in Kenya.

10. Community Based Organizations (CBOs)

CBOs promote national cohesion and integration by encouraging participation of local


communities in different activities that assist in managing diversity. Through their numerous

135
activities at the grass root level, they enable different communities to interact and come up with
their own solutions for peaceful co-existence, thus shunning divisive and segregated ways of
perceiving other communities.

11. The Security and Defense Forces

Kenya Defense Forces maintain peace and security, a necessary ingredient in the promotion of
national cohesion and integration. Security and defense forces promote cohesion and integration
by providing security services to all communities equally without discrimination. They also
undertake cohesion building projects among diverse ethnic communities.

12. Schools and Colleges

Schools and colleges encourage greater learner interaction across ethnic and social groups as
well as regions and counties. They provide the necessary platform for creating diversity
awareness, reducing anti-sectarianism, facilitating attitude change and promoting loyalty and
patriotism towards the nation.

13. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs)

Non-Governmental Organizations have been involved in a number of interventions that support


national cohesion and integration. These include resettlement of displaced persons, conflict
resolution, peace building, and

capacity building on issues related to national cohesion. They not only create awareness on the
challenges facing marginalized communities in the country, but also assist in the development of
marginalized areas.

14. Private Sector

136
The private sector is negatively impacted by lack of cohesion and as such it has an interest and
an important role to play in ensuring that national cohesion is achieved. The sector should be
encouraged to adopt and implement codes of conduct that promote national cohesion and
integration for its members. The private sector can also be incorporated as a key Government
partner in promoting national cohesion.

15. Donors and International Organizations

Donors and international organizations provide funds for peace building. They also offer
partnerships, technical support as well as information on peace building, conflict resolution and
national cohesion and integration.

Methods and Activities for Implementing National Cohesion

National cohesion and integration can be promoted by strengthening the capacity of community
members to interact, understand as well as work with other communities. The methods and
activities that can be employed to promote national cohesion include:

a. Joint sporting activities such as athletics, football, volleyball, netball, etc.;

b. Community linkages and exchange programmes;

c. Mutually beneficial entrepreneurial and business ventures;

d. Joint cultural events and activities such as festivals, ceremonies etc.;

e. National and regional celebrations such as national holidays and important regional events;

f. Inter-communal charity initiatives through church and NGOs and

g. Voluntary work through groups such as boy scouts, girl guides and rangers among others.

137
.

LESSON NINE

The role of professional or rural and industrial environment

Def: professional is an individual or a person who has specialized knowledge in a given field
which he has been trained for example lawyers, doctors etc.

Rural environment

1. Educators: professionals sensitizes the members of public on various issues e.g. teachers
train and impact
2. Knowledge and skills to the learners. This is offered in rural primary schools, colleges,
technical institutes and universities.
3. Agricultural sector: they train farmers in new techniques of farming in order to improve
their productivity. They also do research in grafting and come up with different plants
and seedlings which are suitable for different areas as per climatic conditions of these
areas.
4. Medical sector: professionals provide medical services to members of the community.
They bring their expertise to the rural people e.g. doctors, nurses.
5. Legal services: they provide legal services and advice to the community. They interpret
legal matters e.g. lawyers, advocates.
6. Security services: they ensure adherence to law and order in the rural set-up e.g.
policemen, administration.
7. Religious people: they encourage norms and values in the society through biblical
teachings.

138
8. Financial management: professionals offer advice and expertise on how to manage funds
in the rural areas e.g. CDF e.g. involvement of financial analysis, auditors, accountants.
9. Professionals among many other things advice the rural folks on:
10. How to help manage public expectations e.g. during discovery of oil and other minerals
or large projects are initiated in area e.g. the proposed lau port, oil exploitation in Isiolo.
11. They act as role models to the locals.
12. The sensitize locals on various government policies e.g. through civil education like
referendum.

Role of professionals on the industrial environment

1. Provide strategies and formulate policies for industrial development e.g. vision 2030.
2. Research and invention of new technologies to improve productivity and for faster
industrial development.
3. Create employment by opening up new industries.
4. They come up with new technologies/ ideas to reduce industrial pollution and
environmental degradation e.g. reduction in global warming.
5. They roll out financial plans to be adopted while setting up industries.
6. They come up with new products which meet the needs of the society.
7. Advice on how dispose their manufactured products e.g. exports.
8. Pass projects to be adopted by the local authorities, government and industries.
9. Participate in world conferences and forums to deliberate on how to safeguard local
industries with a view of streamlining trade.
10. They come up with better ways of disposing waste products e.g. recycling them.
11. Come up with better ways of disposing waste products e.g. recycling them.
12. Formulate and help to protect patent and copyright by registering them.
13. Encourage industrial relations.

139
LESSON TEN

Human centred ethics and place of humanity in the natural world.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson the learner should be able to:

i) Define ethics
ii) Benefits of ethics in development
iii) Define development ethics
iv) Describe the sources of development ethics
v) Discuss the areas of disagreements in development ethics
vi) Define culture and its role in development
vii) Discuss the various models of development and cultural change

Ethics can be defined as a systematic study of human actions from point of view from their
rightness or wrongness as a means of attaining man’s ultimate happiness.

The term morals commonly used in ethics is derived from Latin word mores and molaris
translated from Greek. Morals is again is a Greek word for ethical that means customs or
pertaining to character

Customs: means behaving in a systematic way or attaining a way of life. These set of conducting
oneself the same way was given the name by Aristotle hence ethics is closely related to customs.

140
Ethics uses ethical terms such a right, wrong, good, bad, duty, obligation etc.

These terms are used in statements when making ethical judgment on human actions. For ethical
judgment to be passed ethical, thinking must be invoked. Ethical standards differ form place to
place based on different customs, beliefs, values; these give rise to what is called ethical
relativism. It means that morality may be deeper than ethics in that some things that are ethically
acceptable may not be morally acceptable.

They should also make financial contribution to contribute to society well being.

They should take up leadership positions and fill in the leadership gaps.

Benefits of ethical practices:

a) Peace and harmonious relationship among people.


b) Respect is ensured
c) Minimizing crimes at organization and community
d) Retain or build good images
e) Increase in production levels
f) Build customers confidence
g) Good stewardship
h) Maximization utilization
i) Build trust between subordinates and senior/employers.

Development Ethics

Ethics may be defined as the branch of knowledge concerned with moral principles. It deals with
the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character, the
adherence to the code of behavior that is considered right or acceptable.

Development philosophers and other ethicists formulate ethical principles relevant to social
change in poor countries, analyze and assess the moral dimensions of development theories and
seek to resolve the moral quandaries raised in development policies and practice:

141
i) In what direction and by what means should a society 'develop'?

ii) Who is morally responsible for beneficial change?

iii) What are the obligations, if any, of rich societies (and their citizens) to poor societies?

Sources of Development Ethics

There are several sources for moral assessment of the theory and practice of development. First,
beginning in the 1940s, activists and social critics—such as Gandhi in India, Raúl Prébisch in
Latin America, and Frantz Fanon in Africa—criticized colonial and/or orthodox economic
development.

Second, since the early 1960s, American Denis Goulet, has argued that 'development needs to be
redefined, demystified, and thrust into the arena of moral debate. Goulet was a pioneer in
addressing 'the ethical and value questions posed by development theory, planning, and practice.
One of the most important lessons taught by Goulet, is that so-called 'development', owing to its
costs in human suffering and loss of meaning, can amount to 'anti-development'.

A third source of development ethics is the effort of Anglo-American moral philosophers to


deepen and broaden philosophical debate about famine relief and food aid in the 1970s. Many
philosophers debated whether affluent nations (or their citizens) have moral obligations to aid
starving people in poor countries and, if they do, what are the nature, bases and extent of those
obligations. By the early eighties, however, moral philosophers had come to agree with those
development specialists who for many years had believed that famine relief and food aid were
only one part of the solution to the problems of hunger, poverty, underdevelopment and
international injustice. What is needed, argued these philosophers, is not merely an ethics of aid

142
but a more comprehensive, empirically informed, and policy relevant 'ethics of Third World
development'.

A fourth source of development ethics is the work of Paul Streete Rand Amartya Sen. Both
economists have addressed the causes of global economic inequality, hunger and
underdevelopment and attacked these problems with, among other things, a conception of
development explicitly formulated in terms of ethical principles. Building on Streeten's 'basic
human needs' strategy, Sen argues that development should be understood ultimately not as
economic growth, industrialization or modernization, which are at best means (and sometimes
not very good means), but as the expansion of people's 'valuable capabilities and functioning':
'what people can or cannot do, e.g., whether they can live long, escape avoidable morbidity, be
well nourished, be able to read and write and communicate, take part in literary and scientific
pursuits, and so forth.

Areas of Consensus in Development Ethics

Although they differ on a number of matters, development ethicists exhibit a wide consensus
about the commitments that inform their enterprise, the questions they are posing and the
unreasonableness of certain answers. Development ethicists typically ask the following related
questions:

i) What should count as (good) development?

ii) What should be a society's basic economic, political and cultural goals and strategies, and
what principles should inform their selection?

iii) What moral issues emerge in development policymaking and practice and how should
they be resolved?

iv) How should the burdens and benefits of development be conceived and distributed?

v) Who or what should be responsible for bringing about development? A nation's


government, civil society or the market? What role—if any— should more affluent states,

143
international institutions, and nongovernmental associations and individuals have in the self-
development of poor countries?

vi) What are the most serious local, national and international impediments to good
development?

vii) To what extent, if any, do moral skepticism, moral relativism, national sovereignty
and political realism pose a challenge to this boundary-crossing ethical inquiry?

viii) Who should decide these questions and by what methods?

In addition to accepting the importance of these questions, most development ethicists


share ideas about their field and the general parameters for ethically based development:

First, development ethicists contend that development practices and theories have ethical and
value dimensions and can benefit from explicit ethical analysis and criticism.

Second, development ethicists tend to see development as a multidisciplinary field that has both
theoretical and practical components that intertwine in various ways. Hence, development
ethicists aim not merely to understand development, conceived generally as desirable social
change, but also to argue for and promote specific conceptions of such change.

Third, although they may understand the terms in somewhat different ways, development
ethicists are committed to understanding and reducing human deprivation and misery in poor
countries.

Fourth, a consensus exists that development projects and aid givers should seek strategies in
which both human well-being and a healthy environment jointly exist and are mutually
reinforcing

Fifth, these ethicists are aware that what is frequently called 'development'— for instance,
economic growth—has created as many problems as it has solved. 'Development' can be used
both descriptively and normatively. In the descriptive sense, 'development' is usually identified
as the processes of economic growth, industrialization, and modernization that result in a
society's achieving a high (per capita) gross domestic product. So conceived, a 'developed'
society may be either celebrated or criticized. In the normative sense, a developed society,

144
ranging from villages to national and regional societies, is one whose established institutions
realize or approximate (what the proponent believes to be) worthwhile goals—most centrally, the
overcoming of economic and social deprivation. In order to avoid confusion, when a normative
sense of 'development' is meant, the noun is often preceded by a positive adjective such as 'good'
or 'ethically justified'.

A sixth area of agreement is that development ethics must be conducted at various levels of
generality and specificity. Just as development debates occur at various levels of abstraction, so
development ethics should assess:

i) Basic ethical principles,

ii) Development goals and models such as 'economic growth', 'growth with equity', 'basic needs'
and, in the nineties, 'sustainable development', 'structural adjustment' and 'human development'
(United Nations Development Programme), and

iii) Specific institutions and strategies.

Seventh, most development ethicists believe their enterprise should be international in the triple
sense that the ethicists engaged in it come from many nations, including poor ones; that they are
seeking to forge an international consensus; and that this consensus emphasizes a commitment to
alleviating worldwide deprivation.

Eighth, although many development ethicists contend that at least some development principles
or procedures are relevant for any poor country; most agree that development strategies must be
contextually sensitive. What constitutes the best means—for instance, state provisioning, market
mechanisms, civil society and their hybrids—will depend on a society's history and stage of
social change as well as on regional and global forces.

Areas of Disagreements in Development Ethics

A first unresolved issue concerns the scope of development ethics. Development ethics originated as the
'ethics of Third World Development' there is no consensus, however, on whether or not development
ethics should extend beyond its central concern of assessing the development ends and means of poor

145
societies.

Some argue that development ethicists should criticize human deprivation wherever it exists and that rich
countries, since they too have problems of poverty, powerlessness, and alienation, are 'underdeveloped'
and, hence, fall properly within the scope of development ethics. Others contend that since development
ethicists address questions of rich country responsibility and global distributive justice, they should not
restrict themselves to official development assistance but also should treat international trade, capital
flows, migration, environmental pacts, military intervention, and responses to human rights violations
committed by prior regimes.

The chief argument against extending the boundaries in these ways is that development ethics would
thereby become too ambitious and diffuse. If development ethics grew to be identical with all social ethics

or all international ethics, the result might be that insufficient attention would be paid to alleviating
poverty and powerlessness in poor countries.

Development ethicists also are divided on the status of the moral norms that they seek to justify and
apply. Three positions have emerged. Universalists, argue that development goals and principles are valid
for all societies. Particularists, reply that universalism masks ethnocentrism and (Northern) cultural
imperialism.

A third approach tries to avoid the standoff between the first two positions. On this view, development
ethics should forge a cross-cultural consensus in which a society's own freedom to make development
choices is one among a plurality of fundamental norms and in which these norms are of sufficient
generality so as not only to permit but also to require sensitivity to societal differences.

Development ethicists also differ with respect to whether (good) societal development should have—as an
ultimate goal—the promotion of values other than the present and future human good. Some development
ethicists ascribe intrinsic value, equal to or even superior to the good of individual human beings, to
human communities of various kinds, for instance, family, nation or cultural group.

146

Common questions

Powered by AI

Group cohesion within a work organization can be enhanced through shared attitudes and values, frequent interactions, clear and achievable group goals, external threats that unify members, small group sizes, and effective leadership. Additionally, cohesive groups are formed when members understand and identify with the group’s purposes and norms, leading to increased cooperation and mutual support .

Developing countries face challenges with imported technologies, such as pollution and inefficient adoption, leading to stunted local technology development. These challenges undermine local innovation and economic independence, reinforcing dependency on foreign technologies and hampering sustainable development initiatives .

Education plays a critical role in promoting national cohesion and integration by serving as a central platform for social interaction and political education, fostering understanding and unity among diverse ethnic and social groups. Schools and colleges encourage interactions across different communities and regions, which helps to reduce anti-sectarianism and promote patriotism . Education policies, such as restructuring the quota system, can enhance cohesion by facilitating greater engagement among learners from varied backgrounds . Curricular and civic education initiatives further enhance awareness and respect for diversity, which are crucial in building a cohesive society . Educational environments thus serve as hubs for promoting mutual coexistence, reducing disparities, and altering attitudes towards inclusivity, all of which are essential for national unity .

Leadership styles significantly influence group performance in organizations. Democratic leadership, which encourages participation and idea sharing, often results in higher morale, better decision-making, and strong support for final decisions. However, the process can be slower and may lead to compromises that dilute accountability . Autocratic leadership, characterized by centralization of authority and unilateral decision-making, can be effective in emergency situations requiring quick decisions or with unorganized groups, but it generally leads to less satisfaction and creativity among employees . Transformational leaders inspire and energize their team, leading to greater innovation and enthusiasm, which enhances group performance and cohesion . In contrast, transactional leadership relies heavily on rewards and punishments to motivate members, ensuring tasks are completed but potentially stifling creativity and intrinsic motivation . These leadership styles impact group cohesion, motivation, and the overall ability to achieve organizational goals ."} Overall, selecting the right leadership style depends on the task, the situation, and the characteristics of the group involved .

Community-based organizations (CBOs) contribute to national cohesion and integration by promoting local community involvement in managing diversity. They facilitate grassroots interactions among different communities, enabling them to devise solutions for peaceful co-existence and reject divisive tendencies . CBOs also engage local communities in various activities that foster national cohesion, allowing for the appreciation of diversity and encouraging inclusivity . By doing so, they support the development of shared values and mutual respect, which are critical for creating a cohesive society .

Integrating youth into national healing and reconciliation initiatives can involve several strategies. Providing opportunities for youth to participate in economic, social, and political decision-making can empower and integrate them into national processes . Establishing local community dialogue forums can facilitate discussions and solutions to social issues, engaging the youth in meaningful conversations about national cohesion and integration . Promoting civic education tailored to the youth ensures they are informed and active participants in society, which supports a unified approach to national development challenges . Addressing youth unemployment by facilitating job creation, providing relevant training skills, and helping them acquire necessary capital for entrepreneurship can also reduce socio-economic exclusion and contribute to reconciliation efforts . Using cultural activities such as music, drama, and sports to unite groups can encourage interactions among diverse backgrounds, fostering a sense of national identity and mutual respect .

Key socio-economic challenges hindering science and technology development in Sub-Saharan Africa include inadequate financial investment in research and development, with most countries allocating significantly less than the recommended 2-3% of GDP, averaging only 0.04% . There is also a lack of efficient national mechanisms for developing local technologies and poor regulation of technology transfer, which results in continued dependence on foreign technologies and associated negative effects . Inadequate education and training in relevant areas of science and technology, coupled with reduced expenditure on university students, further exacerbate the issue . Additionally, there is a pronounced dichotomy between urban and rural technology that disadvantages rural areas, leading to a disconnect between production and research sectors . Political will to address these challenges is also lacking, as existing policies are too imprecise . Furthermore, the historical influence of colonialism and neo-colonialism has left the region with science and technology systems that are largely adaptations from the North, lacking originality and failing to engage with pre-colonial knowledge systems .

The Primary Health Care (PHC) approach facilitates healthcare access in developing countries by focusing on preventive measures rather than expensive curative treatments, making it more accessible and affordable for the majority of the population. It emphasizes improving environmental hygiene, supplying safe drinking water, controlling diseases, and enhancing health services when necessary . This strategy targets the root causes of health issues, particularly benefiting poorer communities where diseases are most prevalent, thus supporting the goal of "health for all" by ensuring basic health needs are met at a community level . PHC also aligns with the broader development strategy that views a healthy population as a precondition for economic development, thus integrating healthcare into the overall development process in these countries .

Small-scale industries play a crucial role in rural development by creating employment opportunities and increasing income within these areas. They also contribute to the diversification of rural economic activities by establishing markets for agricultural produce, which can boost local agriculture by providing a direct outlet for their products. These industries further enhance self-reliance by reducing foreign dependency and promoting local resource utilization . Additionally, small-scale industries support rural non-farm activities, which are critical given the dependency of a large portion of rural populations on agriculture, and they can stimulate demand for additional non-farm goods and services . This diversification and economic stimulation are essential for fostering sustainable economic growth and reducing poverty in rural areas .

Industrialization contributes to reducing foreign dependency in developing countries by promoting self-reliance and decreasing the need for imports. By developing local industries, countries can produce goods domestically, which decreases reliance on foreign supplies and the repatriation of capital. This process allows for the substitution of imports with local products, thereby saving foreign exchange and enhancing economic independence . Furthermore, industrialization fosters the development of human resources and supports local innovations, which can lead to creating national and individual income, further reducing dependency on external sources . Additionally, the establishment of new production and distribution centers spurs national and international trade, aiding in economic growth and development .

You might also like