In the past, many development projects have been marked by the gap between research and development. This had led either to unsatisfactory ways of appraising the social and economic context in which local populations live and produce, or to the establishment of initiatives which failed to respond appropriately to the real problems and aspirations of local communities.
The experience of projects such as the IRLDP points out, to the contrary, to the necessity of combining the two components in an effective manner.
In conclusion, we may add that two major lessons can be drawn from the socio-economic experience of the IRLDP in Balochistan:
· Sustainable development initiatives have to be based on the findings of relevant socio-economic research;
· A functional socio-economic research component has to be directed towards the real problems of local populations, especially the poor and vulnerable.
Another working paper will more particularly illustrate, on the one hand, how findings of socio-economic research provided the basis for the establishment of development initiatives in the areas covered by the IRLDP and, on the other hand, how these initiatives led to the necessity of new studies to monitor social changes and economic evolutions.
