Stakeholders’ experiences of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach in Makhanda, South Africa

Abstract

This study explores and analyses stakeholders’ experiences of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) approach in Makhanda, South Africa. The ABCD approach has gained some momentum in the community engagement field at universities in the past decade. However, in that time, there has also been doubt cast on the efficacy of the approach. This study focuses on the implementation strategies, effectiveness, and challenges of the approach. To contribute to the advancement of knowledge and add to the discussion on the efficacy of the approach, the Siyakhana@Makhanda programme of the Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE) division is utilised as the case study. Through various qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, the study presents findings on the experiences of the ABCD approach from stakeholders involved in the Siyakhana@Makhanda programme. Findings in this study suggest that the stakeholders experience ABCD as an effective approach that promotes social cohesion through mutually beneficial partnerships and provides inclusive, empowering, and sustainable community engagement. However, stakeholders also encounter some challenges which include participation apathy and some implementation hurdles. This study concludes that the implementation of the ABCD approach in this context is experienced as effective albeit with some challenges that disrupt the project process. The study is intended to contribute to studies analysing the implementation, effectiveness, and challenges of the ABCD approach in the community engagement field at universities.