Women's involvement in community development : a study of Mambuka rural community
type: CreativeWork
description: The purpose of the study was to investigate the involvement of women in community development with special reference to rural women in Mambuka area. The study focused on the reasons influencing women to participate in community development projects. The investigation looked at various aspects involved in the process of community development. The motivation for this study came from, among other reasons, the author's experience in working with rural people. From a historical perspective, women have experienced and survived many difficult situations. These have included marginalisation, poverty and subjudication, all of which have led to their poor socio¬economic status. The design of this study included both qualitative and quantitative methods. The sampling strategy used was the non probability sampling and a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using the interview schedule for quantitative data and the focus group for qualitative data. The sample was drawn from a total of eight (8) projects. Each project consists of about fifteen (15) members. One member was drawn from each of eight (8) projects totalling to eight (8) women and two (2) men. Two (2) other people who were not involved in the projects were interviewed. The focus group was convened to elicit more exhaustive and also grounded data. The study found that the involvement of women in community development had a positive impact because of the following: (i) Income from women ensured food security for their families. (ii) There was acknowledged recognition of what women did in the community. (iii) The infrastructure or community resources were slowly being developed. The study further found that the women face constraints in their development attempts. These include: (i) Lack of a repertoire of skills. (ii) Lack of capital infusion. Consequently, women's development efforts remain at subsistence level. They have not fully liberated women from poverty. It also came to light that there was a need for m…
abstract: The purpose of the study was to investigate the involvement of women in community development with special reference to rural women in Mambuka area. The study focused on the reasons influencing women to participate in community development projects. The investigation looked at various aspects involved in the process of community development. The motivation for this study came from, among other reasons, the author's experience in working with rural people. From a historical perspective, women have experienced and survived many difficult situations. These have included marginalisation, poverty and subjudication, all of which have led to their poor socio¬economic status. The design of this study included both qualitative and quantitative methods. The sampling strategy used was the non probability sampling and a purposive sampling method. Data were collected using the interview schedule for quantitative data and the focus group for qualitative data. The sample was drawn from a total of eight (8) projects. Each project consists of about fifteen (15) members. One member was drawn from each of eight (8) projects totalling to eight (8) women and two (2) men. Two (2) other people who were not involved in the projects were interviewed. The focus group was convened to elicit more exhaustive and also grounded data. The study found that the involvement of women in community development had a positive impact because of the following: (i) Income from women ensured food security for their families. (ii) There was acknowledged recognition of what women did in the community. (iii) The infrastructure or community resources were slowly being developed. The study further found that the women face constraints in their development attempts. These include: (i) Lack of a repertoire of skills. (ii) Lack of capital infusion. Consequently, women's development efforts remain at subsistence level. They have not fully liberated women from poverty. It also came to light that there was a need for m…
author: Linda, Mirriam Sindisiwe.
keywords: Community development, Community development--Women involvement, Rural development strategies
license: https://devspace.unizulu.ac.za/bitstreams/ff2f70ae-350d-452d-b79a-cc93bba0734c/download
date published: 1998
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:16:55Z
provider: University of Zululand
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Zululand