Partnerships between NGOs and Community Groups: Implications for Central Uganda's Rural Development

This study investigated the viability and relevance of partnerships between NGOs and Community (smallholder farmer) groups as a conduit for rural development in Uganda. The study attempted to establish factors that facilitate rural institutions’ contributions and effectiveness of partnerships (including the system theory perspective) to rural development for the case of Uganda. The study used primary data collected using questionnaires, focus group discussions, interview guides, key informants, and literature review from a sample of 87 respondents from 40 organizations working in partnerships between 19 NGOs and 21 SFGs from the Central Region of Uganda. The data was analysed by employing the probit regression technique. The empirical results reveal that improving health, education, agriculture and industry efforts of rural institutions promotes rural development. It also posits that innovative effective rural-based partnerships enhance rural development. The study further found that if one system within partnerships fails to interact well, it adversely affects the other systems, which negatively reinforces the outcome. Although some of the findings are inconsistent with the theoretical literature, and generally expected to promote effectiveness, I fount out that local underlying control factors are determinants of whether a factor will cause or not cause improvementsin health, education, agriculture and industry as well as effectiveness of partnerships. It is recommended that rural institutions increase investment in facilitating improvement in health, education, agriculture, and industry, and limit those with negative influence. The study suggests analysis, evaluation and understanding of the underlying unique rural environments, and their varying effects on partnership contributions to rural development, and to partnership effectiveness. From the systems perspective, interactions of partnership system components should effectively reinforce, complement, and/or strengthen each other or otherwise. In instances where such factors dilute and/or undermine each other, the negative influence on rural development is bound to be registered.