Determining the significant factors for implementing and managing a rural development program: A case study of the Comprehensive Rural Development Program (CRDP) in the Mpumalanga province of South Africa

Rural development is a process of engagement that is based on interactions between physical, economic, technological, socio-cultural and institutional dynamics with the aim of improving the wellbeing of people in rural areas. Unfortunately, many rural development initiatives both locally and internationally have not delivered the desired change. The challenge therefore is to identify factors that may hamper the attainment of the set goals of the programs and also to identify those factors that can potentially increase the success and limit the risk of failures. The Mpumalanga province championed the Comprehensive Rural Development Program (CRDP) which is a collaborative effort by various stakeholder entities in an effort to improve rural livelihoods. The research study was directed at uncovering the perceptions of the members of the CRDP Provincial Technical Task Team who represent the collaborating entities and play both a strategic and managerial role in the implementation of the CRDP. The research methodology constitutes a case study with a qualitative narrative inquiry as the basis for the empirical study. Information gathering was through a combination of three methods namely one-on-one interviews, direct observation, as well as a literature review. The findings revealed the three factors that are significant for rural development.