Sustainability and Social Justice

The Millennium Village Project and African Development: Problems and Potentials

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The Millennium Village Project (MVP) has come to embody hope for a new development path that might succeed where previous efforts have failed. A closer consideration of this project, however, suggests that this hope might be misplaced. Because of a general dearth of critical thought in key areas of project conceptualization, the MVP risks reproducing the problems of previous top-down, expert-driven development efforts. This article examines the conceptual issues raised by this absence of critical thought, and the reasons why project supporters have generally overlooked these issues. It then presents a critical grassroots framework which, if incorporated into existing MVP practices, might allow for the creation of a realistic, sustainable development path in Africa. © 2008 SAGE Publications.

Publication Title

Progress in Development Studies

Publication Date

1-1-2008

Volume

8

Issue

4

First Page

333

Last Page

344

ISSN

1464-9934

DOI

10.1177/146499340800800403

Keywords

Africa, critical grassroots approach, development, Millennium village project

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