Participatory approaches to development to facilitate ownership and sustainability of the development initiatives within target groups
Emmy, this is an interesting topic but I don’t fully understand your question but maybe it’s a suggestion. I’d appreciate if you would say more about your question or suggestion. Thanks, Glen
Thanks Glen for reaching out, I wanted to hear experiences from practitioners on some of the participatory development approaches they use with target farmers to enhance ownership and sustainability of development initiatives/techniques on sustainable agriculture
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What we generally find is the folks we work with are always polite and attentive and say they appreciate our ideas and techniques and they plan to use them BUT they don’t. In other words, talking and telling seems to have limited value. We are in Honduras and I am told that Honduras is extremely conservative…very reluctant to change…especially the rural poor which is our target demographic. It may be different where you are.
What we find that works best is modeling without talking or telling UNTIL they begin to inquire. So for example, all the locals passing by our site notice that we don’t burn the ground nor plow the ground nor kill the weeds with herbicides nor use commercial fertilizers and they find that totally strange. After seeing our success, they begin to inquire. Then we explain the cost savings of not plowing, etc.
Not sure if this is what you had in mind Emmy. If not, I could try again.
Great answer, Glen. Context matters in how we engage.
Participatory learning is applied well in many places. Here are some resources to consider that may be helpful to the discussion. Others?
Hi Emmy, We are strong proponents of participatory methods in our work in Haiti. Roland Bunch’s book “Two Ears of Corn” is a guiding resource in our work.
Two other great resources for participatory lessons are: Christian Veterinary Mission’s book “Learning Together” and the workshop they do and CHE TOT1.
We’ve found it very important to walk the farmers through a diagnostic process, facilitating their diagnosing why yields have dropped dramatically over the last 3 generations. And then introduce techniques that can restore soils.
Good morning Martin,
Nice to hear that you are strong proponents of participatory methods in your Work. I strongly believe that participation in development is a very key component that will facilitate sustainability in the development initiatives within target groups. I work with groups as well and we use People Owned Processes (POP) , a participatory approach to development that enables target populations to do self awareness creation for positive mind set change. This participatory approach to development enables one to realize the great potentials within themselves that they can explore on own development initiatives and for self improvement as well.