Toward a fluid definition of development projects: an ethnographic study of meanings ascribed by multiple stakeholders to a rural water supply and sanitation project, Southern Highlands, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

At a basic level water is essentially important for life. Its meanings, though, are socially constructed by the multiple ways in which people interact with water in specific contexts. This research looks at the meanings of water in the context of an aid funded water and sanitation project in a rural community in Papua New Guinea. The study examines the meanings ascribed by three main stakeholder groups involved in the project. These include the donor, implementing agency and the beneficiary community. This is a stark divergence from the logical linear deductions made about changes emanating from rural development projects. It used a qualitative approach, including an ethnographic process of data collection, to investigate these meanings. Interviews (semi-structured and unstructured), focus group discussions, participant observations, unobtrusive methods and participatory (interactive) methods were the primary data collection methods employed. Data collected were inductively sorted and coded to identify key themes and meanings. The study found that in this context that there were multiple and fluid meanings ascribed to the project by the three groups. The meanings ascribed by each group were found to be influenced by the group’s physical distance, level of interaction (usage and access) and the organisational or institutional objectives of each group. These meanings have implications for the behaviours, actions and perceptions of stakeholders that, in turn, affected the implementation of the project. Through more interactive processes of project implementation, the fragmentation of meanings can be minimized to produce more coordinated and meaningful outcomes from development projects.