Victor A. MAH & Gordon BOWEN

Abstract It is currently estimated that over 40% of community-driven development projects are not properly functioning in developing countries despite several efforts made by international development agencies such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to drive local communities into being self-reliant. This paper argues that coordination of resources between and among communities at grassroots level is a prerequisite for sustainable community development in emerging countries. The paper identifies ways in which community’s capability could be strengthen to respond to emerging and re-emerging management challenges facing local communities in developing countries, while emphasizing the importance of coordination of resources between local community stakeholders as key for sustainable community development. It concludes that real development occurs at the micro level when local conditions such as stakeholder networking and institutional strengthening for management as well as capacity building are respected.
Key words sustainable community development, community driven management, stakeholder networking, resources coordination, developing/emerging countries,
JEL classification D24