Voluntary efforts in decentralized management

This report, however, cautions that there are major differences in perspectives, interests, and expectations among rural peoples, their governments, and donors. Chapter I analyzes the shift to small-scale rural development which resulted from a growing awareness of food and energy scarcity and of the failure of past interventions. Chapter II explains how local elites may benefit more than the poorest of the poor from development efforts. Chapter III investigates the role and the views of the rural poor, arguing that what may appear to be negativism, hostility, or passivity is actually a strategy for maintaining local control over local resources. Chapter IV highlights the fact that donors and national governments emphasize increased farm production, while the local people instead seek improvements in amenities (e.g., transportation and schools) to make life easier. Chapter V analyzes the difficulties in recruiting local voluntary organizations to assist in development efforts and provides examples from Thailand, India, and the Caribbean. Continuing, Chapter VI describes the spectrum of grassroots organizations in terms of recruitment and purpose and explains the role these qualities play in decentralization. In Chapter VII, the authors recommend that when there is neither time nor personnel for on-site preparation, projects should be simple, short-term, require little maintenance, and depend on local resources. For more complex projects, local people must be involved and room for change allowed; decentralization is not applicable to refugees. Also, it must be realized that there are different standards of success and urgency. Project evaluations should account for changes in local organizational capacity, living standards, and perceptions. The authors conclude by outlining the characteristics of a local organization likely to succeed within a decentralized framework: access to power and funds, trust of the local people, ombudsmen-like staff, a long-term commitment, attention to education, realistic expectations, flexibility, and a willingness to analyze a project"s ramifications. An extensive, 43-page bibliography (1939-80) is included.