Three success stories from IFAD funded programs in Nepal, Pakistan and India highlight why a community-based development approach is useful. The most outstanding reason is that the approach is demand-driven. That means the community participates in making decisions on what they need and where the programs can help. The approach is also very open as it allows plans to be revised in accordance with villagers’ needs. Moreover, demand-driven development helps to mobilize and link different resources and contributions from donors, the Government and the community.
Mr. Abdul Karim shares his lesson learnt from how to involve women in decision making in mountainous area in Pakistan where most villagers are Muslim. The project design required high ratio of women participation in the implementation of project activities. This was very challenging for the project as the Muslim women are not allowed to socialize much - even when outsiders were not welcomed in this area. The decision to involve women led to the formation of women groups with 10 to 25 members in each. Groups held meetings on a monthly basis to discuss their demands and create "demand lists" which were sent to the project. Project funding was then allocated to groups and used in the most effective way.
The story shared by Mr. Raj Babu Shrestha is about the participatory planning process. Many different tools were used to capture the needs from the community level. In other words, the planning process allowed the villagers decide what they wanted to produce and how much capital was needed. The project supported their efforts by standing beside them to establish common interest groups, provide micro-finance and mobilize outside resources and contributions.
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