Capacity Building in Developing Countries: Human and Environmental Dimensions

The term capacity building refers to enabling the indigenous people of developing countries to carry out development processes successfully by empowering them through strengthened domestic institutions, provision of domestic markets, and improvement of local government efforts to sustain infrastructures, social institutions, and commercial institutions. Capacity building also involves the need to recognize indigenous interest groups, encourage local efforts, provide incentives for privatization, and coordinate local, regional, and international strategies to enhance productivity and wise use of natural and human resources. Most important, capacity building encourages a bottom-up or grassroots effort for sustainable development.

The grassroots effort begins with the family unit. Capacity building addresses all areas of social, economic and health, and environmental processes through a holistic approach. The chapters of this book, written by experts in their fields, address these three areas of the developing societies.

Argues that building the educational, industrial, and economic capacities of societies, while fostering indigenous talents and skills, allows developing nations to direct their destinies through their own policies and collaborative efforts.

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Capacity building is a process designed to empower the indigenous people of developing countries to carry out development processes by strengthening infrastructures, social institutions, and commercial institutions. The 18 contributions in this volume address the capacity building concept, present country examples of development, and examine the problems confronting developing countries when dealing with capacity building in order to guide sustainable development. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

VALENTINE UDOH JAMES is Associate Professor of Social Science and Director of the African Studies Program at Kalamazoo College in Michigan.