Beyond the development impasse: the role of local economic development andcommunity self-reliance in rural South Africa

The failure of successive generations of imported, Western development stra tegies and projects to deliver meaningful reductions in poverty and achieve basic needs in Africa, has provoked a deep questioning of Western concepts and methodologies of development. Non-governmental organisations and devel opment practitioners are increasingly focusing their attention on strategie s which build upon local knowledge, skills and resources. The concepts of ' self-reliance' and local economic development are examined in the context o f development challenges which face Africa. This is followed by a detailed case study of local economic development in the rural Mpofu District of the former Ciskei Homeland, which was incorporated into the Eastern Cape provi nce of South Africa with the demise of apartheid in 1994.