The research indicates that the construction of irrigation canals has done the most to transform the economic livelihoods of village communities. While the building of irrigation canals and roads have produced immediate economic gains; the construction of wells, health centres and schools have provided more long-term social benefits. Loan activities, in general, have been more important to villagers as subsidies to subsistence, and do not meet all of their credit needs. Most interventions related to improved agricultural practice have been small in size and implemented as pilot projects at the periphery rather than at the centre of development efforts. Strategies for reaching the poorest through special projects which are strictly limited to the participation of the poor have been the most promising.

People’s participation in the development process has been enabled by the creation of village development committees (VDCs) in most development programmes. How effectively VDCs can respond to the needs of village populations to a large extent depends on the size and layout of the village and on whether there is an established pagoda in the village. One cause of concern is that community development is beginning to emphasise only the creation of VDCs, and that other strategies are not being used.

At village level, some programmes are developing effective strategies for sustaining activities, especially through village-level management in the case of credit activities, and through clearly defined and contracted responsibilities for maintenance of infrastructure introduced with local contributions and adequate training. Generally, however, the sustainability of rural development is threatened by the lack of government financing, and the fact that funding from overseas cannot be guaranteed. In these circumstances, the private sector may be able to produce more sustainable options than the government or NGO sectors, and there are some examples of organisations attempting to stimulate this.

While development organisations have dealt primarily with village leaders, an emphasis of building capacity through extended presence in a community has been identified as an important lesson for everyone. Likewise relief efforts that have sought to reduce the vulnerabilities of communities while increasing their capacities have been seen to be compatible with development because they foster responsible participation rather than creating dependency. An exciting approach to large-scale community development now being pursued by sev-eral organisations involves supporting local planning processes within programmes jointly undertaken with government. Local planning processes work well when links between project identification and funding decisions are clear. Among the development programmes studied, some emphasise the importance of output, the direct material benefits to be gained from an intervention, while others insist on the importance of process, the relationships that must be in place for genuine development to take place. There are risks in pursuing either strategy too far without the other. Similarly, organisations that are able to learn from their experience and correct their shortcomings are better able to implement effective programmes.

Introduction

Chapter One - Distribution of benefits

Impact of infrastructure projects on economic well-being and standard of living
Impact of loan activities on economic well-being and standard of living
Impact of agricultural extension projects on economic well-being and standard of living
Strategies for reaching the poorest

Chapter Two - Participation, decision-making and ownership

Participatory rural appraisal, participation and decision-making
Village development committees, participation and decision-making
Ownership and dependency

Chapter Three - Sustainability

The funding of rural development
Organisations' plans for the sustainability of their programmes
Sustainability of infrastructure
Sustainability of credit activities

Chapter Four - Organisational structure and approach

Engaging the local community
Relief and development approaches
Local planning processes
Output and process approaches
Monitoring and evaluation
Conclusion