Revolutionising sanitation in Zambia: scaling up CLTS
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This overview introduces the concept of community-based planning (CBP) looking back at its development and how it has evolved in the light of an increased emphasis on decentralisation in many countries during the 1980s and 90s. In this context it also considers the relevance of community-driven development models, including participatory poverty analysis, being promoted by parts of the World Bank over the last five to ten years, which typically have included a CBP component. It looks at the end uses of CBP in integrated development planning and sectoral planning; in promoting community action and control over development; and to comply with policy or legislation for public participation in planning. It examines approaches and methodologies, with the use of PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) methods; the role of facilitators and training; community managed funds; accountability, monitoring and evaluation; and linkages to local government and higher-level planning. It evaluates the impacts of CBP on different policy levels, the quality of services and community participation and action. The future development of CBP is discussed with a need for an increased effectiveness and widening of the approach. It concludes by linking the topics discussed with the following articles of pla notes 49.
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This paper introduces the work of the project introduces the work on the project Action Research on Community-Based Planning (CBP), providing both the background to the topic and findings after two years. How community involvement in planning and management can link to decentralised delivery systems has formed the basis of this DFID funded action research project covering Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and South Africa. The CBP project was developed as a response to two challenges: an analysis of the institutional issues in trying to implement a sustainable livelihoods approach; and a realisation of the limitations of efforts to promote decentralisation, where these concentrated on local government itself, and not also on how local government serves citizens. The paper begins by looking at the challenges of implementing a Sustainable Livelihoods Approach on micro (community) and macro (local government) levels. It goes on to describe the purpose and approach of the action research on community based planning project. An approach was adopted addressing all the focuses of CBP in a manner that is implementable and sustainable using the resources available to local governments and in local communities. The principles underlying this approach to CBP are described together with the main challenges of the approach. The core methodology of the approach involved the use of a variety of PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal)/PLA (Participatory learning and Action) tools, combined in a three to five day strategic process. In the first year of piloting two million people were covered by the methodology. The paper concludes with a discussion of the challenges of upscaling CBP projects.
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The concept and practice of participatory planning is not new in Ghana, however the link to the national planning system is either weak or non-existent. This article highlights the experiences of two projects which aim to deepen community participation in planning and link it to the existing planning system of the country. It also discusses GhanaÆs experience in planning at the sub-district level, reviewing approaches by the communities, NGOs, project interventions, etc.; and outlines GhanaÆs local government system, CBP (community based planning), and the way forward. It describes the application of CBP in Ghana with experiences from a project which was part of DFID funded action research project covering Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and South Africa, where GhanaÆs experiences of participatory planning processes were reviewed and a steering committee established. The councils, New Edubiase and Morso/Kuofa, were chosen to host a CBM pilot project which proved successful. The second project was the Village Infrastructure Project (VIP) which aimed to empower local communities to manage infrastructure investments; increase local access to development resources; strengthen institutional capacity at community level; and support government strategies for decentralisation. The article goes on to look at some of the innovations in the use of participatory methodologies used in the projects, and lessons learned. It concludes with some recommendations for future CBP in Uganda such as reactivating the council as an appropriate level for managing community driven development (CDD); harmonisation of CBP and CDD approaches; the need for promotion of CBP within the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development; and the institutionalisation of an experienced CBP steering committee.
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This article briefly describes the experiences and lessons of community based planning (CBP) in two pilot districts (Gwanda and Chimanimani) in Zimbabwe. The CCP process created the need to revitalise the planning and development structures in the pilot districts and engaged government throughout the process, which resulted in the mainstreaming of community empowerment principles in the decentralisation of the government of Zimbabwe. The article gives a background to governance systems in Zimbabwe and describes the more recent systems for participation and local government, as well as participation in the NGO sector. It explores the evolution of CBP in Zimbabwe naming the key concerns such as the lack of public participation in decision making and development, lack of communication between governing institutions, and domination of top-down strategies; together with the potential benefits of CBP in handling these issues. It illustrates the CBP approach used with an adaptation of the four-countries (a DFID funded project covering Uganda, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and South Africa) CBP training manual; training of facilitators; ward planning; community documentation of plans; integration of plans at Rural District Council level; budget allocations; and knowledge sharing. Some of the innovations in the use of participatory methodologies were the setting up of a core facilitation team; the creative involvement of respected community leaders as facilitators; establishment of District Training Teams; a financing system to sustain community participation; and building consensus of divergent groups. The impact and outcomes of the project are accounted for, together with lessons learned and visions for the future.
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This article gives account for experiences from the Centre for Alternative Technologies (CTA), an NGO working on alternative futures for and with rural small-scale farmers in Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais, in Brazil. CTA staff work with a Local Development Plan (LDP) focussing on developing participatory Municipal Rural Development Plans (MRDP) in three municipalities: Araponga, Tombos, and Acaiaca. This article compares the three municipal planning processes, offering them as an exiting alternative methodology for local development in the Brazilian context. The article starts by describing the study area, CTA's evolution to municipal planning, and CTA's vision for pro-poor municipal planning. It goes on to explain the main building blocks of the CTA-supported MDRP, including participation as a learning process; planning process and methodology; working with new partners giving and giving farmer groups a more prominent role in the process; building accountability structures; non-neutral pro-poor facilitation; and finally learning from diversity, where the importance of differences between the participating communities are and how that forms the process are discussed. The key impacts and challenges are examined, with the problems of standardisation of methodologies in scaling-up of these types of processes. However despite many differences, several elements were found to be effective in all the three cases: the value of PRA (participatory visioning, problems appraisal and solution identification); the importance of some kind of supervision and decision making body; the needed for patience in conflict solving in the group (internally and in interaction with external parties); capacity-building of leadership, facilitation, and negotiation skills; and the need for clear facilitation at the onset of the process with a gradual transformation of the role of external bodies to advisory bodies.
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This review looks at ActionAid's (AA) Accountability Learning and Planning System (ALPS), which was introduced in 2000 in line with the strategy Fighting Poverty Together (FPT). The aims of the review are to assess how and in what way ALPS has supported AA in putting FPT in operation through its core requirements and seven key principles; to identify key achievements, lessons and gaps in the system; and to provide a set of practicable recommendations for changes and improvements. Three core and standard elements formed the basis for the review: short focused visits to five country programmes (Kenya, India, Brazil, Italy and United Kingdom) with targeted interviews with key staff, some partners and local people working with AA; extensive documentation review of both core literature and country-specific material; and a written survey sent to all country programmes, international functions and Northern counterparts. It is concluded that ALPS is not yet being applied systematically within each country or across countries, themes and functions. Some of the critical gaps in ALPS logic and its implementation are identified, and in response recommendations are given on how to clarify ALPS in AA; support the ongoing uptake of ALPS; improve the quality of ALPS; and setting clear ALPS agendas. (See record no. 4706 for full report)
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The international NGO, Concern Worldwide, decided to assess whether its Integrated Rural Development Projects (IRDP) are reaching the extreme poor. Dimla was chosen as a site for a participatory research study which asked two questions 1) Who are the extreme poor? and 2) Is Concern's Dimla project reaching the extreme poor effectively through its existing activities? This article presents the process and findings of this research. The research focuses on a category of extreme poor termed the 'helpless poor' and why they have not often been able to participate fully in the project. It concludes with key learnings and suggests a specifically targeted pro-extreme poor strategy is required.
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This book reflects upon the introduction, implementation, and assessment of a participatory monitoring and evaluation (PM&E) training program in China. It documents a PM&E training process in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, China, illustrating how PM&E can strengthen the learning and accountability of research teams and, consequently, the effectiveness of their research work. The training programme was part of a the International Development Research CentreÆs community-based natural resource management programme, and involved the Kunming Institute of Botany and the Guizhou academy of Agricultural Sciences and Community-based Natural Resource Management. Some of the issues dealt with in the programme was watershed management; accessing and distributing water resources; natural resources management; and rural development. Through the proceedings of several workshops and practical experiences from the field, the book examines the processes of: learning by doing; building a common understanding; and PM&E. Using concrete examples, the book shows that it is not only what is being assessed that matters, but also who is doing the assessment and for whom the assessments are intended.
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Understanding the allocation of public resources through national and local budgets has become an increasing focus of development. This has been driven by two principal trends. Donor agencies, on the one hand, are seeking to deliver growing proportions of their financial assistance to partner countries through mainstream government systems - while, at a different level, a vibrant civil society movement has developed which seeks to promote goals of citizen empowerment, gender equity and poverty reduction through the potentials offered by the budget process. Norton and Elson aim to contribute to the evolving understanding of public expenditure management as a political, rather than a purely technical, process. In particular, they explore the ways in which a rights approach can contribute to strengthening voice and pro-poor outcomes in budget processes, and include examples of pro-poor and gender-sensitive budget initiatives from countries such as Brazil and South Africa. The work was commissioned by DFID as part of the programme of work to take forward it's human rights strategy, and identifies issues, partners, tools and methods that may help development actors to support citizen accountability and a pro-poor, gender-equitable, focus in public expenditure management.
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This research examines the conduct and consequences of the use of participatory rural appraisal techniques in four rural development projects in The Gambia. It includes a review of literature on PRA and the identification of a series of themes that allow for an assessment of PRAÆs usefulness. The fieldwork in The Gambia included reviews of project documentation, key informant interviews, and periods of village-based research using PRA methods. The main research findings were that PRA has had some positive effects, particularly in motivating rural development workers, and generating a spirit of enquiry. There are a number of concerns, however: whether these can be maintained over the longer term; data quality, cost-effectiveness and high transaction costs of PRA use; the idealisation of the nature of æcommunityÆ and a bias towards the literate; little evidence that PRA is effective in empowering the poor or challenging long-term power relations. The main policy implications that arise from this are, firstly, although methodological instruments like PRA have some potential for capacity building in development organisations and communities, institutional structures and relationships are likely to be more important. Secondly, practitioners need to acknowledge the limitations of PRA as an analytical tool as its capacity to relate norms and values to other variables in the social system appears very limited. Thirdly, PRA can help engender greater community participation in development, but it is necessary to guard against the substitution of tools and methods for more concerted efforts at changing social relationships.
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This is a resource book designed primarily for development workers working within the field of the rural poor. It describes a range of first-hand experiences with participatory approaches in the context of projects funded by The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and governments in Asia and the Pacific. The book is divided into a number of sections. Part One examines poverty and participation and explains why the poor should be targeted and in what ways this is possible. Part Two describes in detail the actual participatory approaches. Part three concentrates on participation in the project planning and implementation stage. Part Four assesses the monitoring impact and Part Five examines issues in participation with regards to institutions, partnerships and governance.
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This tool kit from the African network on Participatory Approaches provides a training manual and tool box for participatory village planning based on experiences with Village Level Participatory Approaches (VLPA) in five West-African countries (Mali, Guinea, C¶te d'Ivoire, Benin, and Burkina Faso) and Madagascar. The process of participatory village planning is explained step by step and illustrated by examples from several case studies in these countries. A set of cards (tools) spells out the successive steps in the planning process. Constraints and enabling conditions for a country-wide implementation of the approach in the new political and social setting of African countries are also dealt with. The manual is directed towards field practitioners, but also to policy makers who are responsible for formulating strategies of rural development and agricultural extension services. It comprises three parts. Part one presents the objectives and general principles of the participatory approach. It also discusses participatory methods and provides details on the steps and tools appropriate to each stage of the process. To facilitate their use, the tools are also presented in individual worksheets, which form part of this manual (the tool box). Part two describes the underlying conditions necessary for successful implementation of the participatory approach. It also discusses the roles of the various actors involved. Part three describes the conditions necessary for successful implementation of the participatory approach. It also describes what adoption of the approach means for organization of service delivery at the local, regional and national levels.