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Development Cannibalism and the Sustainable Development Goals

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Partnerships for the Goals

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

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In an allusion to cannibalism which refers to the eating of one by another of one’s own species, “development cannibalism” refers to the situation where one development organization with the aim of improving its capacity to achieve set goals deploys various strategies to draw in resources belonging to another development entity which are critical to the survival or success of that organization leading to that entity’s eventual collapse. To illustrate, development cannibalism is when actors responsible for implementing development program A use various strategies covert, overt, or both to entice or draw in resources of development program B they consider necessary for their program to succeed leading to the collapse of development program B. These resources may be staff, key partners, funds, etc.

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a set of 17 goals adopted by the United Nations as “the blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all” (United...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography Education, University of Education, Winneba, Ghana

    Benedict Arko

Authors
  1. Benedict Arko
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Correspondence to Benedict Arko .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. HAW Hamburg, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Amanda Lange Salvia

  5. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. School of Social Sciences and Global Studies, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK

    Sonja Rewhorn

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Arko, B. (2021). Development Cannibalism and the Sustainable Development Goals. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Lange Salvia, A., Wall, T. (eds) Partnerships for the Goals. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71067-9_105-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71067-9_105-3

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71067-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71067-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Development Cannibalism and the Sustainable Development Goals
    Published:
    11 February 2021

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71067-9_105-3

  2. Development Cannibalism and the Sustainable Development Goals
    Published:
    13 December 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71067-9_105-2

  3. Original

    Development Cannibalism and the Sustainable Development Goals
    Published:
    08 November 2020

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71067-9_105-1

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