Anthropology and rural development in West Africa /

The first volume in a series from the Institute for Development Anthropology, this anthology presents articles by ten development practitioners recounting their experiences in the African Sahel. The contributors worked with donor and national agencies to meet US aims to create ``equitable growth based on genuine participation of the rural poor.'' The topics range from practical problems of training, research, and program evaluation, to more general questions facing development anthropologists who wish to benefit the people concerned. Several articles illustrate the persistence in development agencies of institutionalized inattention to the realities of microlevels as well as the donor constraints on nations to expend funds in ways undermining goals of equality. This book provides the kind of analysis on the microlevel, which is needed to inform macrolevel decision making. A.F. Robertson's theoretical treatment of such issues (People and the State, CH, Sep '85) would complement this unique collection of West African case studies. Includes a good bibliography. Recommended for upper-division undergraduates and graduate students in anthropology, economics, and African Studies.-R.J. Kurtz, Grinnell College