Learn more about the workshop ‘Developing Grassroots Entrepreneurs: the ABCD Approach’ that will be run by Corné Theunissen of the Greater Rustenburg Community Foundation.

Register HERE for this workshop

Asset Based Community Driven Development in South Africa

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has”
– Margaret Mead

“We were rich, we just weren’t aware of it!”
– Hero, ABCD workshop participant

Community members draw maps to help identify assets

The Asset Based Community Driven (ABCD) approach to development espouses the belief that communities can take the lead in identifying their own problems and the solutions to those same problems. Put simply, the approach argues that instead of identifying needs, the emphasis should be on identifying the assets in any given community. While the traditional needs based approaches tend to prescribe solutions to problems they see, the ABCD approach focuses on empowering citizens to drive their own development.  One of the basic theses of ABCD is that needs based approaches create a dependency culture which limits people’s potential and ability to exercise control over their lives. For organizations that truly wish to engage in community participation they must step back and enable the community to decide what the priorities are.

The Greater Rustenburg Community Foundation (GRCF) in South Africa, together with the Coady International Institute at St Francis Xavier University in Canada, the world research leader in community driven development, have formulated a practical Community Asset Mapping Programme (CAMP) approach of combining ABCD with the notion of Philanthropy of Community (PoC) or horizontal philanthropy to facilitate development in the community.  PoC is an approach to grantmaking and community interventions that acknowledges the fact that there are assets in communities, that people do share and help one another and that communities do have the ability to find solutions to their own problems as identified by them. Development agencies and grantmakers play a facilitating role in community development while the communities themselves take the lead role in driving their own development, thus truly becoming empowered.

At the request of the community the University of South Africa came in to help with agricultural training for a gardening project started by Mathopestat community.

The GRCF adopted the ABCD model and started the pilot projects in spring of last year. Currently the GRCF is in the process of adapting and improving the paradigm for differing communities in the Bojanala region within South Africa’s North West province. So far the effects of the workshops have been staggering and GRCF staff were amazed to see the change in attitude and thinking that comes about in a community as a result.  Community members are often surprised when they realize they are much richer than they thought and that by working together to pool their assets they can accomplish a lot with little outside help.  These changes are also seemingly enduring, though of course, this tends to be true more for some individuals than for others, which is to be expected. We are finding that even two or three strong leaders that emerge out of ABCD can help lead a community transformation process with a rippling out effect. Since the GRCF is primarily a community grantmaker we do many follow ups and provide capacity support to the ABCD empowered communities with the goal of ultimately funding the most successful and sustainable projects for further scaling up and impact. This paradigm therefore also helps us identify where our grants can be the most effective.

As Dambisa Moyo says, aid is dead.  The old top down approaches not only have less impact and sustainability, but they preach a sort of arrogance that presumes that outsiders to a community would know what is best for it. The ABCD approach allows organizations to work as facilitators of development only and leaves the steering of this process to the community.  Ultimately this makes for happier and more self-confident communities, and creates a maximum impact of any interventions that may take place subsequently at the request of that community.  The model can be adapted to a wide range of settings and situations and indeed, the GRCF staff live by the basic philosophy of ABCD in their daily lives.  As the saying goes, if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change. We at the GRCF have changed the way we look at things, now we are helping communities do the same.

Appendix (the ABCD process explained in chart form)