Centre for Community and Rural Development (CCRD) is a centre whose main goal is to connect the “Gown with the Town”. This is expresses in the vision of CCRD which is to help transform our grassroots communities and rural areas into a dynamic fast growing and developing entities to serve as a solid foundation for transforming our country Nigeria into a truly black African State. Furthermore, the CCRD will help to create awareness and energize all round growth and development at our grassroots community and rural areas to serve as a springboard for the continuous improvement of their Communities, Local Government Areas, States and the Nation at large; this is the mission of CCRD.
Centre for Community and Rural Development, Nnamdi Azikiwe University encompasses a range of approaches and activities that aim to improve the welfare and livelihoods of people living in rural areas within Anambra. As a branch of community development in the university, these approaches pay attention to social issues particularly community organizing. This is in contrast to other forms of rural development that focus on public works (e.g. rural roads and electrification) and technology (e.g. tools and techniques for improving agricultural production).
Community and Rural Development is important in Nigeria where a large part of our population is engaged in farming. Consequently, a range of community development methods have been created and used by CCRD. Most of these efforts to promote rural community development are led by ‘experts’ from outside the community such as government officials, staff of Nnamdi Azikiwe University and foreign advisers. This has led to a long debate about the issue of participation, in which questions have been raised about the sustainability of these efforts and the extent to which rural people are – or are not – being empowered to make decisions for themselves.