Ownership in Small Scale Organizations Supported by Foreign Aid

This is an investigation of ownership in §development cooperation. The purpose is to describe §and analyze if there are any common factors §affecting the achievement of ownership in Small §Scale Organizations, SSOs, supported by foreign aid, §and how methods and approaches used in development §cooperation may affect those factors. Recognizing §the complexity of ownership, the thesis discusses §potential factors that can affect the achievement of §ownership. Using the case of the Ubuntu project, a §SSO based in South Africa, the thesis argues that §there are some factors that can explain the apparent §lack of ownership. The thesis §emphasizes that many of the aspects found in the §Ubuntu project are similar to other SSOs. The most §common factors that affect weak ownership seem to §among other things be participation without paying §sufficient attention to local culture, and donors §that take much responsibility. §Due to the fact that much development cooperation §has been insufficient, a rejection to phase out §foreign aid does not seem to be the solution. The §thesis argues that efforts are needed to further §develop and improve development cooperation.