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Whose wants in ‘needs‐based planning’? Some examples of unwritten agendas from the provincial integrated rural development programmes of Papua New Guinea
Author(s) -
Crittenden Robert,
Lea David A. M.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
public administration and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 44
eISSN - 1099-162X
pISSN - 0271-2075
DOI - 10.1002/pad.4230090502
Subject(s) - new guinea , indigenous , rural development , rhetoric , process (computing) , sociology , political science , public relations , computer science , geography , agriculture , ethnology , archaeology , ecology , linguistics , philosophy , biology , operating system
The rhetoric of ‘needs’‐based planning requires little refining. What must be questioned and recognized are the values of decision makers and the unwritten agendas of those involved in the planning process. Taking the example of some of the integrated rural development programmes (IRDPs) in Papua New Guinea, this paper looks at the way planners and others cast development and information ‘nets’. These nets abrogate indigenous development processes. The ‘nets’ make it easy for development professionals and others involved in planning to follow unwritten agendas and difficult for target groups to articulate their ‘needs’ and to understand what is going on. It is suggested that these problems are not unique to PNG and may well be relevant to ‘needs based planning’ in other situations.