Mobilizing And Utilizing The Assets Of A Local Association In Ethiopia Abcd In The Abbo Iddir Of Bishoftu Town

This PhD dissertation reports the results of a qualitative investigation of Asset BasedrnCommunity Development (ABCD) intervention processes through a local community-basedrnParticipatory Action Research (PAR) approach with Abbo Iddir of Kurkura Community.rnKurkura community was one of the communities found in Oromia National RegionalrnState, East Showa Zone, Ada’a District but recently it is included under Bishoftu townrnadministrative. Specifically, it is one of the communities from eight rural peasant associationsrnwho had been leading their life by agricultural activities specially, by farming land for years butrnbecause of the recent rapid expansion of Bisghoftu town and investment issues to all directions,rnKurkura community lost their permanent assets and faced life challenges. The purpose of thisrnresearch was thus to help these people to help themselves through mobilizing and utilizing thernexisting assets of their local association using community intervention research.rnIn this regard, data were gathered during an ongoing process of community interventionrnover the two years period of time through interview, participant observation and focus grouprndiscussions. The data were thematically analyzed and presented in chapters four, five and six ofrnthe thesis.rnThrough this community intervention research, one local association called ‘KurkurarnTwo Consumers Cooperative Association’ was formed and became aware of its assets andrncreated a local business by mobilizing and utilizing its assets. The research found that localrncommunities need practical development change supported by evidence based in their settingrnrather than teaching them what theory says. It also found that local community elders play majorrnroles in settling disputes among members of the local community based on their traditionalrnivrnconflict resolution strategies which in turn contributed to sustainable neighbourhood communityrndevelopment.rnThe research found that there were opportunities and challenges in building thernfoundations for sustainable community development at the local level, through creating andrnenhancing the capacity of a community association. The study explored individual lifernexperiences through narrative interviews of their life challenges and ways of overcoming theirrnchallenges, their success stories and future vision.rnIn this regard, from June 2014 till March 2016 when I withdrew from active participation,rnthe association provided 44,400kg of sugar, 19,000kg of wheat flour, and 54,466 litters of ediblernoil to community. Members began to saving from two birr per individual per week at thernbeginning and reached 49240 Ethiopian birr (ETB) until this thesis was organized. Bothrnmembers and the surrounding neighborhood communities (non-members) directly or indirectlyrnsaved their time and energy by getting access of services in their village.rnSimilarly, Kurkura communities were saved from extra expenses of 953346 ETB as thernfirst association’s external audit report revealed. Though the research covered those activitiesrnthat were done between May 2014 to March 2016, the association’s capital reached 109, 465.68rnETB at the first audit report of March 2016 and increased to 374,163.52 ETB at the secondrnexternal audit report of May 2017. This, include 60225.68 ETB net profit members obtainedrnfrom the local business in 2016 which increased to 142,779.84 ETB net profit in May 2017 asrnthe second audit report revealed. In addition, the association built permanent assets which costrn9,665.00 ETB and also which increased to 11,943.42 ETB permanent assets’ cost.rnFormal and informal ssocial relationships as well as networks created and becamernstronger with different civic organizations. The association created networks with nine differentrnvrnassociations, institutions, and companies. Women also got relief due to access to basicrncommodities at their village so that their children helped them without the risks of car accidents.rnSustainable community development was achieved as some indicators showed. Forrninstance, the number of members and customers of the association have increased. Thernassociation became profitable. The community is leading the association as well as running thernbusiness on their own. The association also created job opportunities for four individuals: threernfemales and one male from surrounding community paying 920 ETB each per month. Eelders ofrnthe association settled and also ready to settle conflicts among members in the future.rnIn general, from the researcher’s perspective, this work brought a meaningful andrnpractical positive change in particular, on the lives of the members of the association twenty fivernindividuals who headed their households as well as on more than 2,700 families of Kurkurarnvillage and its surrounding communities in general because each customer is considered to bernrepresenting one family

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