Discuss the concept of Participatory development approach and critique with an example from the SA context

People's participation became more pronounced in humanist approaches since the late 1970s which allowed for the concept of Participation development. Within the Participation development approach, the development process involves the participation of the beneficiaries from the inception stage to the implementation of the development intervention. This approach enables society to build their own capacity and self-reliance, as well as allow grassroots people to become partners in the development process.

In South Africa, there is an example of UNESCO's "Finding a Voice" Project who employs ICT (information and communication technologies) for development initiatives. However, it must be kept in mind that there are a lot of challenges that come to the forth in Participation development such as centralization of power, limited capacity, inappropriate technologies, and limited coordination among the communities. Which makes it difficult for participation development to be effective.