As this quote implies, community members have been the main actors in implementing project activities, providing most of the labour and local resources and assuming the responsibility of day-to-day management. The PUCD project's role, and that of other institutional partners, have almost always been limited to providing selected services or inputs for facilitating the implementation of activities, such as capacity-building, technical assistance, micro-credit, and the purchase and transportation of selected materials.

This approach was instrumental in achieving two basic objectives regarding the process of participatory implementation:

• empowering communities - This entails promoting the development of people's self-reliance in dealing with their main social, economic and environmental problems and needs through an effective use of local resources and external inputs.

• ensuring social and economic sustainability - This entails testing solutions to selected priority needs and problems that communities and local development institutions can effectively continue to implement and replicate even after withdrawal of project support.

To fulfil these objectives, the project has adopted a comprehensive strategy that included: