COMMUNITY-BASED INITIATIVES AND POVERTY

Abstract

This study investigated the nature and challenges facing community-based initiatives in Rwanda and recommends options which, if implemented, would maximise positive effects in combating poverty through the said initiatives. The scourge of poverty is one of the main challenges facing developing countries like Rwanda today. Community-based initiatives in Rwanda have been implemented for the past two decades as key component of the fight against poverty. The study assumes that organisations involved in community initiatives have a great chance of success in poverty reduction efforts because they interact directly with the people who experience poverty. The results analysed in this study were extracted from the Community Reintegration and Development Project in Rwanda (CRDP). The findings have demonstrated consistency with theory in community development and in the fight against poverty. The case provides a useful understanding of CBI as a poverty reduction tool. For community-based initiatives to ably confront challenges of poverty as a development problem, it is recommended that capacity building, community participation, and demand-driven approaches be engendered in the development and sustainability of CBI