Despite so many determined efforts, the fight against poverty and hunger, especially in rural areas, remains a huge challenge! Given the complexity of the problems and the enormity of the task, more innovative and effective approaches are urgently needed. The key actors are those who suffer most - the rural poor themselves. It is crucial to recognize that they have their own strategies to secure their livelihoods which vary from household to household depending on numerous factors such as their socio-economic status, education and local knowledge, ethnicity, and stage in the household life cycle.
At the same time, the strategies of these different groups of people are heavily influenced by and respond to the broader socio-economic, cultural, political, religious and institutional context in which they live. In many cases, the strategies of different groups are complementary and mutually beneficial while in some cases they may uncover latent conflicting interests that call for negotiation and resolution.
Within this broader context, these different categories of households belong to and draw support from a multiplicity of formal and informal local institutions. The latter often provide essential goods and services to the rural poor, particularly in the absence of appropriate public policies, well-functioning markets, effective local governments and official provision of safety nets for the vulnerable. However, policy-makers and development practitioners have paid relatively little attention to understanding this local institutional context and its positive or negative impact on the livelihood strategies of the rural poor. At times, acting in a top-down manner, policy-makers and development practitioners have even created new institutions that did not meet the needs of poor rural stakeholders or have undermined existing institutions that were appreciated by the rural poor.
These guidelines attempt to address these issues by suggesting practical ways of analyzing the role of local institutions and their influence on the lives of the rural poor with a view to assisting policy-makers and development practitioners in identifying more appropriate entry points for strengthening these institutions as well as the legislative and regulatory framework in which they operate.
We hope that these guidelines will be broadly disseminated and used by professionals working in rural and agricultural development.
Maximiliano Cox
Director, Rural Development
Division
Sustainable Development Department
