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

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Abbreviations used AGA Assistant Government Agent CAP Change Agent Programme CAP I Phase One of Final Evaluation of CAP CAP II Phase Two of Final Evaluation of CAP GND Grama Niladhari Division (lowest unit of rural administration) GoSL Government of Sri Lanka GS Gami Sanvidanaya (village-level CAP organisation) JVP Janatha Vimukti Peramuna IDP Internally Displaced People IRDP Integrated Rural Development Programme LFA Logical Framework Analysis NDTF National Development Trust Fund NGO Non-governmental Organisation PIDA Participatory Institute for Development Alternatives PO Prajashakti Organisation PRA Participatory Rural Appraisal PSMS Prajashakti Maha Sangamaya (national federation of POs) REAP Regional Economic Advancement Programme RDTRI Rural Development Research and Training Institute Sida Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency SLCDF Sri Lanka Canada Development Fund SLIDA Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration UNDP United Nations Development Programme 2 MOBILISATION OF THE POOR – A MEANS TO POVERTY REDUCTION – Sida EVALUATION 02/08
Executive Summary This evaluation assesses the effectiveness, impact, sustainability and relevance of the Change Agent Programme (CAP) with a focus on the Sida-supported phase of the programme (1987–98). The evaluation was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team consisting of a rural sociologist, microfinance specialist, and gender specialist. The evaluation process consisted of two phases. In the first phase a desk study was carried out to review all available reports on CAP and preliminary field visits were made to selected sites with a view to making preliminary findings that would determine the methodologies used for the investigations in phase two. In phase two specific questions were answered through detailed field investigations conducted in locations covered by 11 of the 53 Prajashakti Organisations operating in May 2001. The CAP programme has successfully overcome many challenges during its 23-year lifetime. The key strengths of the CAP approach evolved over many years and include the building of a group process among the poor using a catalyst in the form of a trained agent to foster collective action to reduce poverty and overcome entrenched disadvantages; an emphasis on self-reliance among the poor; the absence of any handouts or income transfers, applicability in a wide range of situations; and attraction for the poor in general and women in particular. The effectiveness of the mobilisation approach as a development tool is generally recognised not only within CAP but also in a range of other development programmes which have been directly or indirectly influenced by CAP. The programme has achieved a degree of success in building up group funds and meeting the emergency credit needs of member households. There were instances where small producers improved their bargaining power with regard to middlemen through CAP interventions, but the project achievements with regard to the development of self-employment and the overcoming of the constraints of small producers is sometimes overstated. The programme had greater success in building a group process within which women from poor rural households found a convenient social space for pursuing collective interests, typically in a manner that did not challenge the status quo. The approach used by the programme remains relevant to the social and economic goals of the GoSL, Sida, and various other stakeholders, including the poor themselves. With the transfer of the primary responsibility for sustaining the processes initiated by CAP from RDTRI to newly formed NGOs led by the trained mobilisers who remained within the programme, the new organisations are facing problems that challenge the very survival of the CAPinitiated group processes. These include funding shortages, rapid turnover of staff (including mobilisers), decline in membership in CAP small groups, low repayment of loans, and low sustainability of micro-finance and other operations undertaken by the newly formed Prajashakti Organisations. Of the 53 POs that are currently in operation, only nine are assessed to be financially viable. Possible remedies for this situation include enhancing and diversifying funding sources, integrating CAP-initiated micro-finance programmes into other programmes with a longer track record in micro-finance activities, sharing experiences between more and less successful POs, improving the monitoring of operations, and developing financial information systems. Whether or not the existing CAP-initiated processes survive the problems they now face, their approach to social mobilisation will be relevant to poverty alleviation and related programmes in Sri Lanka and perhaps elsewhere. To improve its prospects for wider application, the social probing involved in the mobilisation process may need to extend beyond a fixation with the exploitative role of middlemen in rural economies. It could also encourage reflection on issues such as unequal gender relations, particularly at the household level, better use of household resources and ways to overcome wasteful and potentially harmful expenditure patterns at the household level, and MOBILISATION OF THE POOR – A MEANS TO POVERTY REDUCTION – Sida EVALUATION 02/08 3
Page 1: Sida Evaluation 02/08 Mobilisation
Page 4 and 5: This report is part of Sida Evaluat
Page 7: Acknowledgements This evaluation wa
Page 11 and 12: 1 Introduction This chapter deals w
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
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Annex 1 Statistical Tables Table 1.
Page 67 and 68:
Table 6. Progress of the Change Age
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Table 10. Cross tabulation of house
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Table 16. Percentage distribution o
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1.11 Religion Buddhist Hindu Islam
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3.4. The way drinking water is obta
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4.3 Any relations to the organized
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5.21 What does s/he understand by t
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7. Responses of those who never joi
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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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