Mobilisation of the Poor – a means to Poverty Reduction? - Sida

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promote efficiency, productivity and competitiveness among small-scale producers and small entrepreneurs. In view of the ongoing war in Sri Lanka, it would be useful to explore the potential for using a modified mobilisation approach in rehabilitation and community-building efforts in the war-affected areas. This could also be an area where further donor support may be needed. 4 MOBILISATION OF THE POOR – A MEANS TO POVERTY REDUCTION – Sida EVALUATION 02/08
1 Introduction This chapter deals with the background to the final evaluation of the Change Agent Programme (CAP), the rationale, scope and objectives of the evaluation, and the methodology used. CAP as a pioneer in participatory development in Sri Lanka During the last several decades models of participatory development have received greater attention than ever before from advocates and critics alike. Various models and strategies for “more active engagement of the poor in development” have come under review in development theory and practice (Cornwall 2001, UNDP 1999). Within Sri Lanka the paradigm shift from conventional top-down approaches to development towards more participatory approaches advocating empowerment and mobilisation of the poor was marked by both the emergence of a process of “awakening” under the Sarvodaya Movement (a leading non-government organisation since 1958) and the development of the Change Agent Programme (CAP), a government-initiated programme for catalysing the rural poor begun in 1978. The Change Agent Programme has been a small but distinctive component of rural development and poverty alleviation programmes of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) since 1978. Both the programme’s objectives and the strategies pursued have undergone considerable change in response to internal and external pressures (see Chapter Two). From its inception the key aim of the programme was to promote awareness and motivation among the rural poor through a process of catalytic intervention designed to marshall their collective energies towards economic and social advancement. “Social mobilisation” was the keyword. Initially CAP aimed to catalyse the poor through a cadre of well-trained and highly motivated change agents who would help the poor to break free of oppressive and exploitative intermediaries in production and marketing. In more recent times this preoccupation with social mobilisation has been overshadowed by efforts to develop community-based savings and credit operations designed to promote income-generating activities and businesses among the poor. The Rural Development Training and Research Institute (RDTRI), a government agency established in 1974, has been instrumental in developing and administering CAP from its inception. In the initial years the programme suffered several setbacks because of a lack of funds, administrative shifts, staff turnover and changes in policy environment. During different stages of CAP’s development it received support from a range of international donors including UNDP, Konrad Adenhauer Foundation, CARE International and Sida. While CAP represented worldwide interest in the conscientisation of the poor inspired by the work of Paulo Freire (1970) and the framework of action research that became popular in several countries during the 1980s (Cornwall 2001), the specific approach used has been rightly characterised as an “indigenous development” (Ratnaweera 1987). Sida, identified in one evaluation as “the keenest supporter of concepts behind social mobilisation in Sri Lanka in the 1980s” (Lindahl 1998), began supporting CAP in 1987. Between 1993 and 1998 the implementing organisation, RDTRI, covered 85 per cent of the CAP budget with contributions from Sida. The phasing-out of Swedish support to RDTRI was complemented by the formation of an independent NGO owned by the workers and beneficiaries of CAP. RDTRI has continued to assist the new organisation with training and advice, and provides training for Samurdhi, the large GoSL poverty alleviation programme. MOBILISATION OF THE POOR – A MEANS TO POVERTY REDUCTION – Sida EVALUATION 02/08 5
Page 1: Sida Evaluation 02/08 Mobilisation
Page 4 and 5: This report is part of Sida Evaluat
Page 7 and 8: Acknowledgements This evaluation wa
Page 9: Executive Summary This evaluation a
Page 13 and 14: Softestad, Wanasinghe and Ernfors r
Page 15 and 16: CAP’s achievements are assessed b
Page 17 and 18: emaining five households were chose
Page 19 and 20: Social mobilisation approach as it
Page 21 and 22: 1990). While this too may be seen a
Page 23 and 24: Long-term trends in CAP Despite “
Page 25 and 26: The national federation, which is s
Page 27 and 28: of saving as a routine practice amo
Page 29 and 30: Case 1: Nagoda Sahabagitwa Sanvarda
Page 31 and 32: Case 4: Example of a Successful Sam
Page 33 and 34: Case 6: Disintegration of the CAP G
Page 35 and 36: 4 Impact of the Change Agent Progra
Page 37 and 38: why they considered themselves poor
Page 39 and 40: attention. In most areas where the
Page 41 and 42: Perceptions of impact of CAP on wom
Page 43 and 44: In conclusion, CAP remains an impor
Page 45 and 46: cent) reported borrowing from Praja
Page 47 and 48: 5 Conclusion - Is there a Future fo
Page 49 and 50: 1. As of 2001 the programme had lar
Page 51 and 52: must be noted that the CAP methodol
Page 53 and 54: Sustainability In a country where d
Page 55 and 56: well decide to take up other jobs.
Page 57 and 58: Towards enhancing future prospects
Page 59 and 60: 3. Better integration with existing
Page 61 and 62:
Dianis, A.P. (1998) ‘Rural Povert
Page 63 and 64:
Ratnaweera, D. de. S. (1991) Evalua
Page 65 and 66:
Annex 1 Statistical Tables Table 1.
Page 67 and 68:
Table 6. Progress of the Change Age
Page 69 and 70:
Table 10. Cross tabulation of house
Page 71 and 72:
Table 16. Percentage distribution o
Page 73 and 74:
1.11 Religion Buddhist Hindu Islam
Page 75 and 76:
3.4. The way drinking water is obta
Page 77 and 78:
4.3 Any relations to the organized
Page 79 and 80:
5.21 What does s/he understand by t
Page 81 and 82:
7. Responses of those who never joi
Page 83 and 84:
mobilisation”. Nevertheless, the
Page 85 and 86:
Effectiveness In empowering the poo
Page 87 and 88:
quantitative methods will be used i
Page 89 and 90:
published and distributed as a publ
Page 92:
SWEDISH INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT C
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Mobilisation of the Poor – a means to Poverty Reduction? - Sida

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