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

Key strengths of CAP
The sustainability of CAP until now can be attributed to the following factors:
1. Unlike many other state-initiated development or poverty alleviation programmes, CAP has
not been guided by, or identified with, party politics, with the result that the programme
remained more or less unaffected by increasingly turbulent political shifts at national elections.
Thus, while many of the high-profile national poverty alleviation programmes came to an end
when governments changed, CAP was not disrupted by new governments wanting to start with
clean slates.
2. The programme has demonstrated considerable adaptability, having survived the shift in policy
environment from central planning to economic liberalisation. This policy shift resulted in an
important but largely unrecognised reorientation of the mobilisation strategy, from a
production relations/conflict approach where the organised poor were expected to collectively
bargain with the exploitative middlemen, to one where the poor themselves aim to become
micro-entrepreneurs using credit and other locally available services. With this shift CAP has
been able to enter the era of liberalisation and overcome any possible contradiction that the
original conscientisation approach had with the increasingly dominant neo-liberal framework.
3. CAP small groups, which constitute the base or foundation of CAP, have shown a remarkable
resilience, contracting their operations when conditions are unfavourable and bouncing back
into activity once the situation improves.
4. The gradual evolution of the programme to one with mainly women at the base has also
contributed to its resilience and adaptability. In addition to the purely economic functions and
contributions to livelihoods in vulnerable households, the small groups have provided much
sought after social spaces within which women can interact with each other and pursue
women-specific interests, including savings. While CAP has not led to a radical re-demarcation
of gender roles, it has enhanced opportunities for women to expand their range of activities and
social capital.
5. CAP-related activities, including credit facilities, mutual help, and improved access to services,
have added to the survival strategies of the rural poor. While such survival strategies do not
necessarily help the poor to escape poverty as pointed out by Lakshman (1994), they can be
seen as one of the safety nets that help the poor to keep going at times of crisis and to overcome
the vulnerabilities they face due to environmental, socio-economic, and political constraints.
The increased participation of women in the programme is particularly relevant, in that women
are often more vulnerable to illness, abuses, and oppressions of various kinds.
These factors are the positive lessons to be learnt from CAP. Even though a relatively small-scale
government programme, with regard to social mobilisation CAP has been a pioneer for various
government and non-government programmes. As a result, social mobilisation, has come to be
recognised as a necessary component in most programmes that target the rural poor.
Key limitations of CAP
This evaluation also discovered certain key weaknesses that pose serious problems for the future of
CAP.
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MOBILISATION OF THE POOR – A MEANS TO POVERTY REDUCTION – Sida EVALUATION 02/08