Pierre Geoffrey L.

Macalino | 142426

EC 177 – B

Long Test 2

Total words used: 1198

1. Having undergone theory and practice of social development in Economics 177, provide an
overview of the process of developing a community project or development intervention form
constructing livelihood profiles of the beneficiary communities, undertaking an analysis of
problems, choosing project alternatives (basis for selecting projects) to identifying goals
(targeted impact), objectives, outputs and activities. Be sure to identify the approaches and
tools used in the process, including important issues that should be noted. Words used: 642

It is necessary to consider the perspective of the community itself when planning a development
project to ensure that the project is inclusive. Failing to do so would only result to an ineffective project
that fails miserably since it was done from the perspective of outsiders – more popularly known as the
top-down approach. This approach is commonly utilized in the planning of economic projects and it
has been criticized in recent years for the reasons stated above. This step should be actualized in every
other step of this process: the community should always be considered in attempting to identify and
evaluate anything related to them.

The first step in undertaking the task of building an inclusive development project is the proper
historical analysis of the community on issues that have propagated in the area before. This step
includes the proper setup of the sectoral profile of the community: it is easier to identify and amend
issues in a community by looking at similar communities. For example, a development project issued
at Barangay Daraitan would study the Indigenous People’s Sector of the Philippines. This preliminary
step is necessary to maximize the time used by the researchers, and also to ensure that redundancies
of ineffective projects are prevented.

The next step requires the analysis of the assets and vulnerabilities of not only the specific sector,
but the community as well. While a community typically belongs to a wider structure (e.g. sectoral
profile), it is still important to take note of the particulars that vary across different areas. An
assessment of the vulnerabilities of the community will help evaluate which issues are most prevalent
in a community, and how they are intertwined with several, if not all, of the problems. Furthermore,
identifying the assets of a community is crucial in any attempt at constructing a sustainable
development project. As aforementioned before, this step should not be limited to simple research;
neither should it be limited to a qualitative study derived from community interviews. A collaboration
of these two processes is necessary to affect a more accurate and unbiased assessment. It is important
to take note that the vulnerabilities of a community are usually indicative of a larger underlying
structure. A proper development project should look at these structures and identify how they help
propagate the vulnerabilities of a community.

The next step requires the intertwining of the identified vulnerabilities and assets of the
community with the assessment of their livelihoods. For instance, if a community has adequate access
to resources or capital needed for handiworks then it would be sufficient to look into this livelihood.
Likewise, it is also necessary to analyze how this access can be limited and how the capital itself can
be diminished. By properly analyzing the circumstances of the community in regard to assets and
vulnerabilities, the project is able to propose alternative livelihoods: ones that utilize the available
resources most effectively while considering the susceptibility to shocks.

The next step in this process is the identification of the goals of the project that are both feasible
and respective to the analyses of the community. A key thing to remember is that the parameters in
which the goals of the project are set should tackle the core issues of the community – which is
identified in the previous process of analyzing both the community’s and the sector’s structures. In
other words, in the process of proposing alternative livelihoods or development plans for the
community it should also tangentially consider its impact in the overall outlook of the community. The
goals of the project should also be in line with the objectives that it primarily set to achieve. More
often than not, the objectives of the project should not change: the proposed amends or solutions for
the identified issues of the community only becomes more guided through the proper analysis of the
community.
 2. Having undergone interdisciplinary guidance n conducting research (class lectures and
exercises, immersion, actual field research, write up of integrated paper and “community”
presentation), expound on your personal experience by explaining yourself relative to the
following. Words used: 556

It is important to realize that our perspectives as researchers would always be limited owing to
the fact that we are not part of the community. The preliminary research that we do of the community
will always be from the lens of an outsider. This may result in ineffective projects due to the fact that
it does not tackle the correct issues of the community. Considering the perspective of the beneficiaries
themselves is an important aspect of planning development projects because more light is given to
the realities that their communities face and not simply derived from research.

For instance, our study on Barangay Daraitan was focused on the economic aspect of the land of
the Dumagats. We surmised that the land was necessary for them to continually sustain a livelihood
through farming, handicrafts, and tourism. The main issue we tackled was through this lens: the loss
of their land will result to the loss of their livelihoods. We assumed that the struggle against the
dispossession of their land is similarly only a struggle for their jobs. These assessments merely
preliminary; they were prior to the qualitative and quantitative study of the community itself.
However, after various interviews across the barangay, we realized that while our assessment did not
directly coincide with the community’s they were still ultimately lacking. Their own assessments of
not only their land, but also their assets and vulnerabilities vastly surpassed the usefulness of our
research. The people of Daraitain did not only value their land for economic reasons, they also valued
it out of respect – this land was giving to them life and they believed that it was necessary for everyone
to have access to it.

Social life in Daraitan was more connected in contrast to our understanding. In fact, when the
community was asked to evaluate their social capital, they held a very high regard to it – only coming
second to natural capital. Social life in their community was one where everyone helped each other.
The formal processes commonly associated with relationships among different people in a community
became more, in a sense, abstract. For example, money lending was never an issue: it was easy to find
money lenders, and the and the money lenders never worried about getting payment. Money lending
did not utilize receipts or logbooks as well; it was understood that money owed had to paid, and it
was always paid. Similarly, while labor should always be associated with wage, work done in the
handicrafts sector was usually done out of ‘closely-knitted relationships’. There was no payment
needed: it was simply a friend helping another friend. These are only some of the instances which
portray the holistic image of the community, however it is far from being the only factor in doing a
proper evaluation of the community.
 This being said, it is still important to take the position of neutrality when conducting a
research. It is necessary to ensure that the primary objectives of the researchers are achieved. Only
through the intertwining of our own assessments and personal insights with that of the community’s
can there be an accurate depiction of reality. There needs to be an emphasis on the consideration of
the community’s perspective because the research should be inclusive, but that is not to say that it
should only be from the community’s perspective.