Posted November 1997

Participation in practice / 13 Replicating the PPP approach

THE DECISION on whether or not to replicate a pilot participatory project depends on a number of factors. These include the extent to which groups organized under the pilot project have reached a satisfactory level of maturity or self-sustainability, whether a well-trained cadre of group promoters and project staff exists, and whether government and donor support is forthcoming. Replication can be pursued in one of three ways:

• through expansion of project activities in adjacent areas
• through multiplication, i.e. the launching of similar projects in other areas of the country
• through the introduction of participatory components in larger-scale rural development projects and programmes.

Recognizing the right to organize A primary condition for the promotion of rural people's participation is the removal of barriers to their association in organizations of their choice. This calls for the ratification and enforcement by governments of International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions and recommendations on the role of rural workers organizations in social and economic development. ILO Convention No. 141 calls on governments to give rural workers "every encouragement" to develop, on a voluntary basis, "free and viable organizations". ILO Recommendation No. 127 defines a cooperative as a voluntary, democratically controlled and independent organization that is expected to become an instrument through which members are able to participate in decisions at higher levels. ILO Recommendation No. 149 calls for "active encouragement" of rural workers organizations and recommends that they "be independent and voluntary in character" and "free from all interference, coercion or repression".

In preparing for expansion or multiplication of participatory projects, planners should consider several basic points. First, expansion carries with it the risk of diluting key features of the ongoing participatory project. Planners should seek, therefore, to consolidate progress made in establishing groups and inter-group federations and in redirecting the services of delivery agencies. Without this consolidation, the expansion phase of the project could entail a decline in group activities.

New areas to be covered by the project during its expansion or multiplication phase should be adjacent to the original project area. This facilitates project management and supervision, as well as cooperation among existing and potential project participants and service agencies. Expansion and multiplication also implies a need for more field staff, particularly group promoters. GPs should be carefully selected and trained, preferably by senior group promoters who performed well during the project's first phase. Inter-group associations can play an important role in project expansion by assisting in recruitment of internal cadres, training new groups and federations, and disseminating improved technology.

To establish fruitful linkages in the expansion phase, it is indispensable to obtain information on existing groups, people's organizations and public and NGO development agencies in the new project areas, and ongoing projects and programmes with which the expanded project could cooperate.

Finally, in planning expansion and multiplication, various operations involved in the identification and preparation of the original project can be streamlined, thanks to the experience accumulated. For example, data collection can be more selective as considerable information will already be available. Incorporating participatory elements in large scale rural development programmes PPP projects are not pursued as ends in themselves, but rather to demonstrate to donor, government and NGO decision makers the benefits and cost-effectiveness of using group-based participatory approaches. These decision makers are best convinced by concrete results achieved in the field. Therefore, results must be communicated to them effectively.

The local and national level coordinating committees described in Chapter 6 play a key role as forums for discussion and exchange of views. However, other strategies may also be needed. They include:

• Influencing policy makers. Policy makers of national and NGO development agencies should be encouraged to participate in dialogues on the need for the adoption of policies favourable to participatory development. These policies include appropriate legislation to promote rural people's organizations, including freedom of association as well as reorientation of delivery systems towards the needs of the rural poor. Other policies should promote full integration of women in development, decentralization of decision making, planning and resource allocation, and expansion of non-agricultural employment.

• Influencing development planners and administrators. Many of the development agencies involved in implementation of large-scale programmes and projects may have little or no experience in participatory development. Development planners and implementation agencies can be influenced through meetings and field workshops, periodic informal exchanges of views, briefings on participatory projects, and incorporation of participatory issues in project identification, preparation, appraisal and evaluation missions.

• Influencing local leaders. The support of village leaders is often crucial to a participatory project. This support should be obtained through meetings and project initiation workshops aimed at convincing local traditional and administrative leaders that the project is in their own short- and long-term interest.

• Influencing donors and international development agencies. The support of donors, development agencies and international financial institutions is essential for widespread adoption of the participatory approach. Efforts to obtain this support should aim, first, at convincing those donors and agencies that support participatory projects to continue their assistance. Other donors, development banks and agencies should be influenced through policy dialogues and field workshops to support the participatory approach. It will be crucial to demonstrate the achievements of participatory projects, through effective monitoring and evaluation systems and case studies on their benefits and cost-effectiveness.