Rethinking Community Development Strategies and Tools in Zambian Cities

Abstract

Urban Africa encounters intricate obstacles when it comes to implementing good governance within infrastructural development. This paper examines the operationalization gaps and the roles and relationships of stakeholders in the distribution, selection, and execution of Zambia's recently increased Community Development Fund (CDF). By studying the overall CDF operationalization frameworks, actor roles and responsibilities, power-interest dynamics related to achieving CDF infrastructure development, the paper seeks to contribute to the debates on urban governance, servant leadership, and advancement of effective methodologies for transformational urban practices. CDF is a strategic instrument that facilitates infrastructure development by identifying needs from the bottom-up with the assistance of local-level management and community-level leadership. CDF falls under a decentralized development process and has governmental support. Its participatory methodology involves public and civic stakeholders at various stages to ensure selection of projects that meet community needs. The process of receiving CDF starts with information dissemination, identification of needs and potential projects, followed by community decision-making, proposal submission, evaluation and selection, and ideally project launch. Overall, it is a requirement that project submissions must align with existing development plans at the district or local level. Analysis shows that a lack of coordinated governance and actors’ long-term engagement and a contradictory legal framework lead to problems translating infrastructural ‘proposals to socio-economically impactful and transformational urban projects. Major gaps have been identified and elaborated in this paper including communication, legal and policy, local capacities, and coordination gaps. How do the different actor relationships of existing flows (knowledge, capital, capacities) and states (power, policy, interests) shape the infrastructural development ideal and system in Lusaka's Kanyama settlement? The paper seeks to provide insights into this process and based on the findings provide some first recommendations for a revised CDF operationalization and methodological strategy for Zambia.