Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

In rural Nigeria, several development projects have been implemented by government agencies and private organisations over the years, aimed at driving economic growth and poverty reduction through agricultural productivity, entrepreneurship, healthcare, climate adaptation, and education. However, many of these programs have been rigged with overwhelming challenges and have raised critical questions about rural development strategies in the country. Some investigations have indicated the lack of cultural sensitivity and adaptation as a central contributing factor in the poor delivery of desired outcomes for rural community residents. While local culture may be inherent in some discussions, analyses, and even intuitive practices, it is usually not explicitly considered as an aspect, element or lens critical in rural development endeavours.

This study investigates the process of cultural integration in the design and implementation of development projects targeting rural communities across the southwest and northern Nigeria.. It provides an understanding of how culture and its integration process are perceived by both the project implementing organisation and rural community residents in these parts. Using the concept of culture, the post-development theory and the capability approach, the study engages with findings on development practice, how development providers engage with local culture and what role culture plays in shaping development objectives for rural communities in Nigeria.

The study takes a qualitative approach, using in-person semi-structured interviews and non-participatory observation to collect data across four rural communities, four project implementing organisations, and perspectives drawn from several ongoing and past projects spanning 12 states in Nigeria.

The results suggest that while culture is indeed considered crucial for meaningful, lasting, and desired outcomes in rural communities, in the parts of Nigeria considered in this study, its practice remains intuitive, inconsistent, and often superficial; constrained by an enduring top-down decision-making approach, and near invisibility of cultural priorities in project budget allocations, and a lack of inter-organisational coordination within the development landscape.

Though the reality shown within the context and scope of this study is that external funder-priorities and top-down approach of decision making and design tend to override local culture, identities, and voices, and result in disparities between what is desired by rural communities and what is produced by development projects, I highlight that community voices, when genuinely heard, offer rich insights that can shape outcomes which fit their cultural contexts, and are desired and meaningful for rural communities.