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JOMO KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

OF
AGRICULTURE & TECHNOLOGY

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SCHOOL OF OPEN, DISTANCE AND eLEARNING

P.O. Box 62000, 00200
Nairobi, Kenya
E-mail: elearning@jkuat.ac.ke
HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

LAST REVISION ON July 9, 2013

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HRD 2102 Development Studies and Ethics

This presentation is intended to covered within one week.
The notes, examples and exercises should be supplemented with a good textbook. Most of the exercises have
solutions/answers appearing elsewhere and accessible by
clicking the green Exercise tag. To move back to the same
page click the same tag appearing at the end of the solution/answer.
Errors and omissions in these notes are entirely the responsibility of the author who should only be contacted
through the Department of Curricula & Delivery
(SODeL) and suggested corrections may be e-mailed to
elearning@jkuat.ac.ke.

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HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

LESSON 1
Meaning of Development

A study of this lesson should enable students to:

Define development
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Learning Outcomes

Explain the components of development

Appreciate the development studies as a discipline

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HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

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1.1. The Concept Development

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Every Person and nation strives after development. This means

that development is honorific term (it is universally desired).
However many people define it in their own context according
to their surroundings, immediate needs, ideology and historical
experiences. Development is a subjective and value-loaded concept and, hence, there cannot be consensus on as to its meaning
According to Seers (1979), development is the process of creating the conditions for the realization of human personality, which
implies a reduction in poverty, unemployment and inequality.
Development is about change in social, political and economic structures of society/county and with relations among
different countries. In this way development can be defined as
planned positive change meant to improve peoples lives and enJKUAT: Setting trends in higher Education, Research and Innovation

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HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

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able them to meet their needs and aspirations as individuals,

groups and societies.
Generally it is assumed that the development process will
lead to greater material and spiritual welfare of the society concerned e.g., development activities are supposed to lead to better
organized economy, government and social relations.
According to Robert Chambers (1983) Development is a concept that is a synonym for improvement, advancement or progress.
Development is positive change involving improvement in Education Standards, health care and economic measures of prospects
such as Gross National Product (GNP) - per capita income.
Chambers argues that development must entail deliberate efforts to achieve higher levels in terms of a societys set objectives
such as,
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HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

1. Increase in real income per capita(economic growth)

2. Improvement in the distribution of income(equity)
4. Equitable access to resources, education, health care, employment opportunities and justice
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3. Political and economic freedom

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Thus defined, development is applicable at all levels ranging

from individuals to communities, and nations and the world as
a whole. Development is cherished by all individuals, communities and nations, irrespective of their culture, religion and geographical location. Any process of growth that does not lead
to the fulfillment of these objectives, (or disrupts them), is a
contradiction of the idea of development.
Therefore chambers concludes that development can be understood at three levels: as a vision or an idea, it can also be
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HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

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understood as a historical process of social change in which societies are transformed over long periods of time or simply as consisting or the activities of development agents that includes the
government, civil society, organizations and social movements.
From chambers analysis it is clear that the term development
should be understood as a multi dimension process of change involving the reorganization and reorientation of entire economic,
political and social systems.
According to Todaro (2004) besides improvements in income
and output development commonly involves radical chamber in
institutional, social and administrative structures of society as
well as the popular attitudes, customs and believes.
In this way development represents the full spectrum/scope
of changes by which entire societies satisfy their diverse basic
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HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

needs and desires of its members so that they can move from a
condition of life perceived as unsatisfied towards a condition of
life regarded as materially and spiritually better.
It means that development is an elevation of a society towards a better and more satisfying life. This better life has
3 component values which together represents common goals
bought by all individuals and societies. This are,
1. Life sustenance
2. Self Esteem
3. Freedom
1.1.1. Life Sustenance

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Refers to the ability to provide basic human needs without which

life would be impossible. It means that no country can be reJKUAT: Setting trends in higher Education, Research and Innovation

garded as fully developed if it cannot provide its people with

basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, education, security etc.
Therefore a basic function of development is to provide as many
people as possible with the aims of overcoming the misery arising
from lack of basic needs.
1.1.2. Self Esteem
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Refers to A Sense of worth/self respect. It can also be referred to

as identity, dignity, respect, honors or recognition. The nature
and form of self esteem may vary from society to society and
from one culture to another. Today economic prosperity has
become the most important measure of worth. This is because
society gives high value for material things and therefore confers
high value and prestige to those having material wealth.
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Therefore once the common view of a better life includes

materials things, it becomes difficult for those who are materially
disadvantaged to feel respected or esteemed. Therefore poor
people and societies seek development in order to gain the esteem
which is denied to societies living in disgraceful poverty freedom.
1.1.3. Freedom
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Means liberation/emancipation from alienating material conditions of life which enslaves people to nature, social system, other
people and institutions as well as dogmatic belief. Freedom involves expanding the range of choices for people and their countries/societies while at the same time minimizing the constraints
that limits the pursuit of life goals such as happiness.
Amatya Sen (2001) has proposed that developments should
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be regarded as freedom. Freedom for him entails removal of all

the major sources of unfreedom such as poor economic prospects,
social deprivation, poor leadership etc. According to him therefore, development as freedom must be about ability and opportunity in equality with other members of society to obtain and
satisfy ones needs without any influence from somewhere.
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1.2. Objectives of Development

Development is both a physical reality and a state of mind in
which societies have secured the means for obtaining a better
life. In other words the main objective of development is the
promotion of human well being. However for all societies development must have the following three objectives;
1. To increase the availability and widen the distribution of
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basic life sustaining needs such as food, shelter, health

care, Security etc

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2. To raise the levels of living which may include higher income, provision of more jobs, better education and more
attention to cultural and humanistic values. According to
Tordaro (2004) this not only enhances material well being
but also generates individual and national self esteem.
3. To expand the range of economic, political and social choice
available to individuals and nations by freeing them from
the servitude of nature and dependence to other people
and nations and also from the forces of ignorance which
create human misery.
According to Arthur Lewis (1978) for a society to be free it has
to generate economic growth because economic wealth increases
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the retch of human choice.

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1.3. Poverty
Like development poverty is a concept does not have a standard
definition. However it is commonly defined as a state of deprivation in all dimensions of life including economically, spiritually
and intellectually.
In reality poverty is a relative, since all people have developed in a one way or the other to greater or lesser extent therefore, poverty is a relative phenomenon. Commonly people and
nations are said to be poor if they are characterized by;
i) Low incomes
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ii) Backward technology

iii) Poor leadership
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HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

iv) A relatively low life expectancy

vi) Under utilization of natural resources etc

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v) They are prone to political stability and insecurity due to

few policemen per head of population

According to Chambers (1983), these deprivations create apoverty

trap which indicates a situation where poor are held together by
interlocking self reinforcing forces that sustain and perpetuate
poverty. This includes:
i) Vulnerability
ii) Powerlessness
iii) Isolation

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iv) Voicelessness

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HRD 2102 DEVELOPMENT STUDIES AND ETHICS

These disadvantages are interconnected and act jointly to reinforce and perpetuate poverty. As a result it leads to a state of
affairs where a society;

ii) Lacks a sense of self respect and therefore suffer low esteem
iii) Is unable to exercise choice because its people are not free
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i) Lacks the ability to provide basic needs adequately

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iv) Lacks capacity for self reliance and therefore are not responsible for their own livelihood and have effectively the
future
In most cases these interlocking forces are referred to as obstacles to development. According to chamber these forces can be
regarded as both a cause and consequence of poverty.

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1.4. Development Studies as an Academic Discipline

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Development is a multi disciplinary branch of social sense which

addresses issues of concern in developing nations. Development
Studies is an inter-disciplinary and applied subject area which
is concerned with analyzing the processes of social, cultural economic and political change in poor parts of the world. Originally development studies emerged as a branch of economics
but it has grown to become increasingly inter disciplinary and
multi-disciplinary subject incorporating political, sociology, geographical, international relations, gender studies, disciplinary
etc
People study development because they want to focus on real
world issues and problems rather than being concerned with disciplinary perspectives. A study of development studies enables
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I) Understands the main development theories, concepts and

debates in their historical and contemporary context with
a view to applying this knowledge in their professional
work.

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students to;

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II) Engage in an informed and critical way with professionals

from diverse backgrounds concerned with development issues in particular diplomats, lawyers, economists, political
scientists, economists, anthropologists etc
III) Approach development problems with confidence and knowledge and to have the ability to work collaborate with others to identify solutions to national and global development
challenges.
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Example . Defines the concept development and show its

various dimensions?

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Solution: Todaro and Smith define development as the process

of improving the quality of all human lives. They refer to three
important aspects of development.
Raising peoples living standards their income and consumption levels of food, mechanical services education etc, through
relevant economic growth
Creating conditions conducive to the growth of peoples, self
esteem through the establishment by social and economic systems and institutions their promote human dignity and respect;
Increasing peoples freedom by enlarging the range of their
of choice variable as by increasing varienties of consumer goods
and services.

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Exercise 1.
Define the concept development and show its
various dimensions?

1. Tudaro M. (1992) Economics for a developing world, London: Longman.

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References and Additional Reading Materials

2. Jhingan M. L., (2003). The economics of Development

and Planning, Delhi Konark

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Solutions to Exercises
Exercise 1.
Development is about change in social, political and economic
structures of society/county and with relations among different
countries. In this way development can be defined as planned
positive change meant to improve peoples lives and enable them
to meet their needs and aspirations as individuals, groups and
societies.
Exercise 1

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