Development Planning in Rural Communities in Bolivia: A Study in the Department of Oruro

Abstract

This research aims to determine the most important elements that contribute to the development planning processes in the rural communities of the department of Oruro, Bolivia; It is based on the proposition that democracy in Latin America is in a situation characterized by advances in political rights and deficiencies in the civil and social rights of citizens, rural communities are where the most acute indicators of political, social, cultural and economic exclusion occur. Therefore, the effective membership of rural communities emerges as a peremptory task for the consolidation of their development based on community development planning. It assumes a quantitative qualitative approach, and is of a correlational descriptive type, which seeks the association and relationship of the variables that intervene and influence the community planning processes. A survey is applied to 384 people who live in communities in rural areas, among them the actors in the development of the localities are considered, such as community leaders and heads of households. For the statistical analysis, descriptive statistics and a multiple regression model are incorporated. The research establishes that community participation, ancestral knowledge, along with natural resources are the most important elements that contribute to the planning of the development of rural communities.   Received: 16 February 2024 / Accepted: 8 April 2024 / Published: 5 May 2024