IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg/v25y1994i1p167-193.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

NGOs and Sustainable Development in Zimbabwe: No Magic Bullets

Author

Listed:
  • Jessica Vivian

Abstract

A number of case studies of NGO projects have suggested that NGOs may have an important role to play in addressing environmental problems in developing countries. Drawing on research conducted in Zimbabwe, this analysis seeks to broaden and contextualize the discussion of NGO involvement in sustainable development initiatives. It reviews the theoretical basis for the current emphasis on NGOs, assesses the environmental problems in Zimbabwe within their historical and social contexts, and summarizes the findings of recent research on the characteristics of the NGO sector in the country. The purpose is not to evaluate specific NGO environment projects, but rather to assess the mechanisms through which the NGO sector as a whole might make a significant contribution to sustainable development, and the problems in doing so. It is argued that one major obstacle faced by NGOs is the demand made upon them to find simple, neat and comprehensive solutions to complex development problems. The tendency on the part of donors and NGO supporters to expect success stories is called here the ‘magic bullet syndrome’, and it is argued that this emphasis on simplicity and on success is unrealistic and counterproductive.

Suggested Citation

  • Jessica Vivian, 1994. "NGOs and Sustainable Development in Zimbabwe: No Magic Bullets," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 167-193, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:25:y:1994:i:1:p:167-193
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-7660.1994.tb00513.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7660.1994.tb00513.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-7660.1994.tb00513.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alan Fowler, 1991. "The Role of NGOs in Changing State‐Society Relations: Perspectives from Eastern and Southern Africa," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 9(1), pages 53-84, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carrie A. Meyer, 1996. "NGOs and Environmental Public Goods: Institutional Alternatives to Property Rights," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 27(3), pages 453-474, July.
    2. fyvie, Claire & Ager, Alastair, 1999. "NGOs and Innovation: Organizational Characteristics and Constraints in Development Assistance Work in The Gambia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(8), pages 1383-1395, August.
    3. John‐Michael Davis & Liam Swiss, 2020. "Need, Merit, Self‐Interest or Convenience? Exploring Aid Allocation Motives of Grassroots International NGOs," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(8), pages 1324-1345, November.
    4. Brüntrup-Seidemann, Sabine, 2011. "Actual and Potential Roles of Local NGOs in Agricultural Development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 50(1), pages 1-14.
    5. Gauri, Varun & Galef, Julia, 2005. "NGOs in Bangladesh: Activities, resources, and governance," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 2045-2065, December.
    6. Edwards, Michael & Hulme, David, 1996. "Too close for comfort? the impact of official aid on nongovernmental organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 961-973, June.
    7. Chowdhury, Tamgid Ahmed & Mukhopadhaya, Pundarik, 2012. "Assessment of multidimensional poverty and effectiveness of microfinance-driven government and NGO projects in the rural Bangladesh," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(5), pages 500-512.
    8. Anna Fruttero & Varun Gauri, 2005. "The Strategic Choices of NGOs: Location Decisions in Rural Bangladesh," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 759-787.
    9. S. Akbar Zaidi, 1999. "NGO failure and the need to bring back the state," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(2), pages 259-271.
    10. Anna Fruttero & Varun Gauri, 2003. "Location decisions and nongovernmental organization motivation : evidence from rural Bangladesh," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3176, The World Bank.
    11. Kohnert, Dirk, 1993. "Simbabwe Bestandsaufnahme der Förderpolitik und -praxis der evangelischen Hilfswerke EZE / BfdW," AfricArxiv 657vg, Center for Open Science.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Brass, Jennifer N., 2012. "Why Do NGOs Go Where They Go? Evidence from Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 387-401.
    2. Edwards, Michael & Hulme, David, 1996. "Too close for comfort? the impact of official aid on nongovernmental organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 961-973, June.
    3. Arshed Hossain Bhatti, 2000. "Matching Intentions with Divergent Agendas: Interplay of the State, International Donors, and the Civil Voluntary Initiatives in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 39(4), pages 1031-1053.
    4. Jessica Goldberger, 2008. "Non-governmental organizations, strategic bridge building, and the “scientization” of organic agriculture in Kenya," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 25(2), pages 271-289, June.
    5. Michael W. Kpessa, 2011. "The Politics of Public Policy in Ghana," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 27(1), pages 29-56, March.
    6. Christy Cannon Lorgen, 1998. "Dancing with the state: the role of NGOs in health care and health policy," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(3), pages 323-339.
    7. Southgate, Chris & Hulme, David, 1996. "Environmental Management in Kenya's Arid and Semi-Arid Lands: An Overview," Rural Resources\Rural Livelihoods Working Papers 30572, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM).
    8. S. Akbar Zaidi, 1999. "NGO failure and the need to bring back the state," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(2), pages 259-271.
    9. Claire Mercer, 2002. "NGOs, civil society and democratization: a critical review of the literature," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 2(1), pages 5-22, January.
    10. White, Robert & Eicher, Carl K., 1999. "Ngo'S And The African Farmer: A Skeptical Perspective," Staff Paper Series 11532, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    11. Wiktorowicz, Quintan, 2002. "The Political Limits to Nongovernmental Organizations in Jordan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 77-93, January.
    12. Eric Mvukiyehe & Cyrus Samii, 2021. "Peacekeeping and development in fragile states: Micro-level evidence from Liberia," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 58(3), pages 368-383, May.
    13. Christopher Barrett & Joanne Csete, 1994. "Conceptualizing hunger in contemporary African policymaking: From technical to community-based approaches," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 11(4), pages 38-46, September.
    14. Brass, Jennifer N. & Longhofer, Wesley & Robinson, Rachel S. & Schnable, Allison, 2018. "NGOs and international development: A review of thirty-five years of scholarship," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 136-149.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:25:y:1994:i:1:p:167-193. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0012-155X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.