Practical Action Publishing – förlag

This book is intended for all who are committed to human wellbeing and who want to make our world fairer, safer and more fulfilling for everyone, especially those who are ‘last’. It argues that to do better we need to know better. It provides evidence that what we believe we know in international development is often distorted or unbalanced by errors, myths, biases and blind spots. Undue weight has been attached to standardised methodologies such as randomized control trials, systematic reviews, and competitive bidding: these are shown to have huge transaction costs which are rarely if ever recognized in their enormity. Robert Chambers contrasts a Newtonian paradigm in which the world is seen and understood as controllable with a paradigm of complexity which recognizes that the real world of social processes and power relations is messy and unpredictable. To confront the challenges of complex and emergent realities requires a revolutionary new professionalism. This is underpinned by a new combination of canons of rigour expressed through eclectic methodological pluralism and participatory approaches which reverse and transform power relations. Promising developments include rapid innovations in participatory ICTs, participatory statistics, and the Reality Check Approach with its up-to-date and rigorously grounded insights. Fundamental to the new professionalism, in every country and context, are reflexivity, facilitation, groundtruthing, and personal mindsets, behaviour, attitudes, empathy and love. Robert Chambers surveys the past world of international development, and his own past views, with an honest and critical eye, and then launches into the world of complexity with a buoyant enthusiasm. He draws on almost six decades of experience in varied roles in Africa, South Asia and elsewhere as practitioner, trainer, manager, teacher, evaluator and field researcher, also working in UNHCR and the Ford Foundation. He is a Research Associate and Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, his base for many years. Can We Know Better? is essential reading for researchers and students of development, for policy makers and evaluators, and for all those working towards the better world of the Sustainable Development Goals.

People's Participation draws on the 165 papers discussed at the 1997 World Congress of Participative Convergence in Knowledge, Space and Time, to present the most significant themes arising from this important event. The book looks at the social, political, economic and cultural movements at the heart of Participative Research - where knowledge, space and time are seen as the principal tools for change for the advancement of peoples. It has been published to promote the ongoing discussion amongst economists, politicians, scholars, NGO workers, policymakers, engineers, scientists, social scientists and all those with a deep interest or involvement with Participatory Approaches and methodologies.

Step-by-step instructions on designing, installing and operating water supply systems based on hydraulic ram pumps. With illustrations and diagrams, and details of a pump designed for local manufacture and notes for those developing their own model.

The fortification of cereal-based food rations is increasingly accepted to be the most efficient way of preventing micronutrient deficiencies in large refugee camps. Little is known, however, about the degree to which such foods are acceptable to refugees, or how they actually use them. These factors are important in considering how, and when the foods are fortified, before, during and after distribution. This working paper reports on field-based research into these questions. The conclusions are presented in a general summary report, which is supported by three detailed case studies.

This report analyses the findings of an extensive research project conducted by Oxfam in Ethiopia. In the context of Ethiopia''s rising external debt and the new decentralised system of regional governance, members of four communities, both rural and urban, were interviewed about their problems in gaining access to basic health care, reproductive-health services and primary education; front-line service providers were also interviewed. Representatives of central and regional government and international donors were consulted and policy documents reviewed. The report ends with recommendations addressed to the government of Ethiopia, NGOs and major donors and creditors, arguing human-development targets by 2015.

The Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 generated much rhetoric about the need for collaboration between local communities and multilateral funders of major development projects, in order to preserve natural resources. Since then there has been intense debate about the importance of local participation, accountability to local communities, transparent procedures and gender-sensitive planning. In this work, the author examines the case of the Rondonia Natural Resource Management Project (PLANAFLORO) in the Amazon, funded by the World Bank, and considers the frustrations created when local NGOs and communities were effectively excluded from decisions about a project that claimed to be participatory. In contrast, she considers examples of relatively good practice, most notably the Joint Forest Management project, funded by the British Overseas Development Administration, in Karnataka, India. The author also examines recent atttempts by the World Bank to involve local governments in decision making. From a focus on individual projects, the book moves to a consideration of local participation in entire projects - the World Bank''s Country Assistance Strategies - and community involvement in projects funded by the private sector. It ends with a summary of the lessons to be learned by local and international NGOs and by major donors.

This is a book for development workers who have no formal training in adult education who have to respond - as planners, trainers or teachers - to requests for literacy skills. It sets out to deepen their understanding of literacy and its importance in the process of development and change. Using examples from many countries, the authors give practical guidance, in clear language, for all stages of literacy action from planning to assessment. Besides reading, they cover the skills involved in writing, calculating and interpreting visual images. They suggest ways of using materials that are already available and how to develop new ones designed for specific situations. Authors give practical guidance in clear language for all stages of literacy action from planning to assessment.

This book is written for policy makers, managers and programme staff in development and humanitarian agencies, to promote debate about the challenges that confront them in a world which has been changed for ever by the pandemic of AIDS. The book considers the possible responses to the problem and is based on case studies drawn from the experiences of ActionAid, Oxfam International and Save the Children UK.

Much has been written about capacity building but little on how to use financial management to build capacity. Donors are increasingly requiring their non-profit beneficiaries to have sound financial systems before they will provide funds. This guide provides an overview of financial management and the practical tools that can help build the financial capacity of non-profit organisations. Using case studies to demonstrate good practice, this guide will offer practical advice in how to work with a partner organisation to build its financial capacity. It will also detail tools and techniques for using financial skills to improve organisational and programme management. The guide is intended for managers and trustees of non-profit organisations, providing tools and techniques for them to build their own financial system and for those assessing another organisation's financial capacity.

This paper was prepared as a background document for a workshop on Development in Conflict, held in Birmingham, UK, convened by ACORD, Birmingham University’s School of Public Policy, and Responding to Conflict. The growing incidence of armed conflicts in Africa and Eastern Europe, and their devastating impact, has placed this issue at the forefront of policy debates on aid and development. The Birmingham workshop brought together development practitioners and policy analysts to share experience and consider the adaptations that organisations and institutions need to make when working in situations of armed conflict. Illustrated with extracts from case studies on the work of ACORD in Africa, the paper draws together current thinking on the causes and impacts of conflict, and suggests a series of questions which aid organizations working in situations of armed conflict need to address.

There are many different ways to manage adult literacy programmes. This book will help those who plan and develop literacy initiatives make their decisions based on an understanding of ideas, values and principles. It explains how to take into account the local context and the purposes of learners, the local community and other key stakeholders. The book addresses both theory and practice, explaining the concepts and demonstrating these using real-life examples. The first part sets out the four key concepts of literacy (as skills, tasks, social practices and critical reflection) and describes associated approaches used throughout the world. The second half covers preparation and planning, offering practical guides for each key element of literacy-programme development. Using case studies from literacy programmes in many countries including Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mali, Nigeria, the Philippines and Uganda, the authors demonstrate the importance of literacy and its power to improve lives. They also show that the role literacy plays in social and economic development is not a simple one and literacy is never a quick-fix solution.

Based on direct field experience and using short case studies, this book discusses the issues and stages in the development of water supplies, from the initiation of a programme through to the community management of a supply system. The importance of involving all the members of a community in decisions about water provision is emphasised, as is the need to incorporate hygiene education from the outset.

Most major development NGOs dedicate significant resources to advocacy. Many also work to inform and shape public opinion, whether through advertising or fundraising or through education programmes. They argue that fundamental change is not achieved until the policy environment is right and cannot be sustained without a groundswell of support for reform. In recent years, however, advocacy work has come under increasing criticism. NGOs are challenged on the grounds of: Legitimacy - Whom do they represent, and to whom are they accountable? Effectiveness - What practical impact does high-level advocacies have on the lives of people living in poverty and who is to judge this? Role - Should NGOs try to combine funding and advocacy or do these demand different kinds of South-North relationship? Strategy - Are NGOs seduced by agencies like the World Bank or by the corporate sector to readily? When does constructive engagement with these powerful bodies turn into co-option by them? As international grassroots advocacy is becoming more vocal thanks to new communication technologies; what is the appropriate role for Northern NGOs?

Agriculturalists have been benefiting from the range of products and services that trees can supply for thousands of years. Through the integration of trees into agricultural landscapes, farmers and land users at all levels can enjoy diversified production and a range of social, economic and environmental benefits. Agroforestry is the scientific application of this widespread body of knowledge. This stimulating collection explores the experiences of researchers and small-scale farmers undertaking agroforestry development projects around the globe and addresses the question of how local small-scale development successes can be ''scaled up'' to create wider, long-term benefits. Each of the contributions offers insights into important wider debates. The relationship between theory and practice, the proper role of research in development, constraints on ''scaling up'' local successes, the nature of human motivation for risk-taking and learning, the ways in which individuals and communities respond to technical innovation are all critically explored here. Contributors stress the importance of experimenting with a range of possible agroforestry techniques and approaches, in conjunction with the farming communities that will adopt or reject these methods over time.

Approaches to sustainable development in cities of the South have focused too exclusively on narrow technical aspects of environmental protection, with no benefit to most residents in cities and peri-urban areas. However, in many countries of the South the disengagement of government along with budgetary constraints, a reliance on cost-recovery mechanisms within structural adjustment packages and increasing disparity between poor and rich, further reduces access by the poor to even the most rudimentary services. Development and Cities focuses on the political, social and economic viability of new or alternative approaches to urban management in the South that aim to increase access to adequate levels of basic services and healthy living and working conditions for all. Case-studies include cities in Argentina, Cuba, India, Pakistan, Peru, the Philippines, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

Most development policies and interventions are based on an assumption that ''modernisation'' in the Western sense is the ultimate goal of human societies. Culture is therefore regarded either as an impediment to progress or as something outside the economic and political spheres and consigned to areas of religion and ritual. This collection of papers, published in association with World Faiths Development Dialogue and written by a range of aid practitioners and scholars, shows the need not merely to view culture as an important dimension of development but to see development itself as a cultural expression and culture as the basis upon which societies can develop through self-renewal and growth.

Some argue that the concept of development is far from a liberating process for all. It is contended that much of what has been done in the name of development has served to reinforce the intellectual, material and financial dependence of those on the receiving end. Some argue that the very concept of development is essentially a vehicle in which cultural values and social norms as well as resources are exported from one part of the world to another, along a one-way route from rich to poor. Aid thus becomes a means by which unequal relationships of power are maintained and patronage is fostered. This reader examines these issues, which are currently being debated in development circles, through a selection of articles by contributors from North and South.

The fiftieth anniversary of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights prompts a re-examination of the links between ''development'' and the range of economic, social, political and cultural rights enshrined within it. Chronic poverty is a flagrant denial of what the international community once hailed as the basic rights and fundamental freedoms on which our humanity and security must rest. The papers in this collection consider, among other entitlements, the rights to food, adequate housing, safe employment, protection from sexual assault and popular involvement in political processes which shape the lives of the poorest communities.

Throughout the world, civil society organisations (including NGOs) are playing an increasingly prominent role in promoting pro-poor policy change both in their own countries and internationally, whether through advocacy or through direct action and popular mobilisation. In the global re-alignment following the end of the Cold War, the challenge is that of moving from mere protest and opposition to constructive forms of engagement both with the state and with the private sector. Contributors to this book draw on experiences of social action from as far afield as Belgium and Brazil, in areas such as new social movements, governance and the state of law, North-South NGO relations and development theatre for social and political change.

Social diversity hinges on three universal human realities. First, that each individual is unique. Second, that individuals and their societies are inter-related and inter-dependent. And third, that societies and cultures are dynamic: change, whether rapid or gradual, affects different members of society in ways that reflect differences in power and status. In this collection Naila Kabeer examines the meaning of gender relations in the contexts of development practice and of development institutions: a theme taken up by Lewis B. Dzimbiri in relation to refugee programmes and by Yezichalem Kassa and Feleke Tadele in diagnosing the needs of rural communities. Mark Gorman focuses on the needs of elderly people, while Tom and Francesca Scanlon and Maria Luiza Nobre Lamarao describe the challenges of working with street children and adolescents. Shubi L. Ishemo argues against approaches to development and relief that are not culturally familiar to the people affected.

This report arose out of a workshop held in Thailand in February 1993, which included participants from Oxfam UK and Ireland, from the Gender and Development Unit, staff in Asia and the Middle East and from sister organizations. The report aims to present the discussions at the workshop in a form which should be of interest and practical use to development workers, both in the field and in planning and policy, who are seeking practical and theoretical insights into the problems of integrating a gender perspective into conflict-related work. The impact of conflict on women and gender relations are analysed, and appropriate research and planning tools, gender-sensitive programme implementation and training needs for staff and partners are assessed. There are several case studies from different countries where conflict is affecting the lives of men and women, and the work of NGOs.

In this collection Alex de Waal focuses on famine as a tool for violating human rights, while Francisco Alvarez Solis and Pauline Martin, writing about El Salvador, show how civilian organisations mobilised for peace in the midst of war. Lucy Bonnerjea addresses the needs of children who become separated from their families, and Hans Buwalda describes work in the Philippines that helps children come to terms with their suffering. Derek Summerfield offers guidance on policy and practise to NGO''s involved in conflict-related emergencies.

Many aid agencies advocate approaches to development which are people-centred, participatory, empowering and gender-fair. This volume of essays explores some of the middle ground between such values-based approaches and the methods and techniques that the agencies adopt. The selection offers critical assessments of fashionable tools such as Participatory Rural Appraisal and Logical Framework. It demonstrates how these are linked (conceptually and in practice) to the wider ideological environment in which they are used, and shows how they depend upon the skills of the fieldworker and/or organization applying them. Contributors argue that tools and methods will contribute to a values-based approach only if those using them have a serious commitment to a social agenda which is genuinely transformative.

Experienced practitioners and academics provide an insightful look into the limitations of NGOs in claiming to represent and assist ''civil society''. Changes in approaches to development are situated within changes in global political economy. Relations between donors, states and NGOs are also considered in specific contexts. The volume outlines many of the tensions NGOs face in claiming to speak for the poor while also remaining accountable to national and international actors. Together the authors provide an excellent overview of these important issues.

Development practitioners and development thinkers and academics have tried to make women matter in development. However, women-focused approaches have often addressed women''s needs outside the wider social contexts in which they live and have been as damaging to women''s interests as earlier gender-blind efforts that ignored women''s specific concerns altogether. These papers taken from the journal Development in Practice cover topics as diverse as mainstreaming versus specialization, methodologies for introducing gender analysis into planning and evaluation, limitations of gender training and how institutional policies to promote gender enquiry can be tacitly undermined by patriarchal interests. This book is one of a series which sets out to promote debate on themes of current concern in development.

The shared experiences of women and their potential to contribute both to war and particularly to peace are highlighted in this discussion of the long-running conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. Policy makers, practitioners and academics consider why women’s concerns have yet to be placed at the forefront of both analysis and practical outcomes. This selection of essays presents an overview of different feminist approaches to peace building and conflict resolution and puts forward concrete policy measures to achieve these ends. Contributors argue for the need to move beyond the myriad projects that involve women to consider the factors that contribute to the relatively poor overall impact of such projects - an outcome that often results from a failure to understand the underlying gendered power relations and the dynamics of social change

This book''s basic premise is that disabled people themselves know best what their needs are and that they should be involved in the planning and delivery of relief and development initiatives. The most effective support that agencies can offer is to empower them to claim their basic human rights and their civil and legal rights. The text is based on the experience of Oxfam staff working before, during and after the crisis in Kosovo; but its principles and practical training materials can be applied far more widely. Case studies from Africa and Asia arising from the work of Action and Disability and Development (ADD) show how the values of equality, empowerment and autonomy that are promoted by the social model of disability are universal in their relevance. It suggests practical materials particularly useful to trainers working in geographically isolated areas without access to sophisticated equipment. Most activities and exercises can be adapted for use in groups of people with a wide range of impairments and educational levels.