Benefits of Community-driven Development program to improve livelihood: Case Study of Dana Desa (Village Funds) in Indonesia

Indonesia has been implementing Dana Desa (Village Funds) program since 2015. It is a form of the community-driven development approaches in rural areas which involves more than 74.000 villages. This research presents a case study from Ponggok village, Jetak Village, and Ngadas Village, which have successfully implemented Dana Desa. The central government appoints them as the national role models on implementing Dana Desa. They show that benefits from CDD (community-driven development) program can fulfil their needs, especially on developing clean water and sanitation access which leads to improving their livelihood. This research uses a qualitative approach using case study methodology. The research uses purposive sampling, by which, collecting data is done by interviewing, documenting, and observing the samples. It discusses several social factors which are claimed to have been contributing to the success of the implementation of Dana Desa programs, such as the role of central and local government, social capital and community participation. It aims to analyse the study case that is expected to be a lesson learned for government, practitioners and other village government, to make sure that Dana Desa is well-implemented in their areas. It is concluded that Dana Desa can be well-implemented if the villages have decent community participation, leadership, and suitable planning.