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Background and use of SL
Many
small-scale farmers in developing countries are finding it
increasingly difficult to improve their livelihoods using
traditional strategies based on agricultural production, particularly
when they work as individual family units. This RAD project
aims to address the entrepreneurial development needs of rural
communities working in collectives and the institutions that
support them. It is a decentralised project, which has offices
in a range of countries, and works in partnerships on a range
of themes (marketing, training, organisation, technology,
and local support systems) which contribute to identifying
and operationalising economically feasible opportunities for
marketing that permit adoption of alternatives for sustainable
development, support the conservation of natural resources,
and benefit small farmers and their agroenterprises. The project
has developed a methodological framework; a range of products
to assist in dissemination and implementation of the framework;
pilot projects for testing and evaluating the methods; and
partnerships in a range of countries to carry the work forward.
The RAD
framework draws on the SL concept as analytical tool for assessing
the context, level of resources and processes of social organisation
in the project area; as a tool for better project design and
preparation and organisation building; and as a goal against
which to monitor and evaluate interventions. The analytical
framework for the manuals produced by the project to guide
implementers and other stakeholders emphasises both the nature
and uses of different kinds of assets, and the influence of
local institutions and their relationships with target groups,
drawing attention to the need to consider interventions in
structures, processes and social relationships in support
of agroenterprise development.
The
framework also highlights the importance of participation
in decision making and in the learning and action process.
It conceptualises participation as generating both rights
and duties: the rights of actors to participate in all parts
of the process from analysis and administration to evaluation
and accessing benefits; and duties of local actors towards
the project and the group that represents them. Implementers
are advised to understand that fruitful participatory processes
require time and effort and a philosophy oriented to collective
learning. Since the market environment is highly dynamic,
this approach to agro-enterprise development is not intended
as a blueprint. Service providers are advised to implement
the methods and institutional arrangements based on local
conditions and resources, and to build skills for planning,
change and flexibility.
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