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Local Organizations in Development
March 1984
>> This Is USAID >> USAID Policy Papers >> Local Organizations in Development
Executive Summary II. Types of Local Organizations
III. The Role of Local Organizations in USAID's Program
IV. Overcoming Limitations of Local Organizations
Wednesday, 11-Jul-2001 16:50:21 EDT
V. Policy Implications
Despite the limitations reviewed in Part IV, local organizations will continue to play essential roles in the process of development. Failure to understand the place of local organizations in development can undermine the most soundly-conceived initiatives. Where necessary they must be strengthened, and they can never be overlooked. Hence, local organizations constitute an appropriate focus for USAID policy with regard to both program analysis and program development.
A. Program Analysis
Missions should address local organizations in conjunction with broader analyses of institutional development issues. It is important to (a) identify key local organizations in most or all of the five categories discussed here; (b) analyze the purposes, tasks, and clients to be served by these key local organi-zations; (c) discuss the problems encountered by local organizations in performing their development functions; and, where necessary, (d) present a strategy to address the issues identified.
During preparation of projects, missions should give careful consideration to the local organizations that will, implicitly or explicitly, and directly or indirectly, be involved in the development intervention planned. It is important to discuss the current and planned roles for concerned local organizations, to analyze current capacity to undertake these roles, and to demonstrate that the planned program will not (a) undermine the performance of existing, well-functioning local organizations; (b) require performances that are well beyond existing capacities; or (c) result in greater unnecessary central public influence over existing local organizations.
B. Program Development
USAID's overriding concern is to assist host country governments in generating broadly-based, self-sustaining economic and social development, through continued progress in policy reform, technology transfer, private sector development, and institutional development. Because local organizations play crucial roles in all these essential areas of activity, there are four important sets of policy implications for program development.
- Policy Reform
Discussions of administrative policy will be an element of policy dialogue with host country counterparts. Where poor administrative policy inhibits good performance from local organizations, or where weak local organizations hinder the implementation of sound policies, missions will incorporate special interventions in their programs aimed at assisting host countries in undertaking the necessary corrective measures. Because strong independent local organizations can help in ensuring that national policies remain reponsive to local interest, missions will support local organizations wherever appropriate, and above all will ensure they do nothing to undermine the vitality of existing local organizations. Finally, intervention that rely on local organizations for important implementation actions, but which take place in uncongenial policy environments, will be undertaken only when provision is made for necessary adjustments in the overall national economic and administrative policy framework.
- Technology Transfer
Without effective participation by user groups and representative local organizations in the technology generation/dissemination process, there is a danger that new or improved technologies win be inappropriate, or, if appropriate, may never be effectively disseminated. Hence programs or projects aimed at the creation, transfer, adaptation, dissemination, and use o( new, and improved technologies among LDC populations will analyze, build upon, and, where necessary, support the roles of appropriate intermediary local organizations.
- Private Sector Development
Local organizations encompass a broad range of private sector activities; thus support to local organizations will often contribute directly to an expansion of the role of private enterprise in development. Also, assessments of the performance of relevant local organizations (especially voluntary associations, local administration, local government, and local private enterprise) are key to sound investments in agriculture, agribusiness, and industrial development, because such initiatives are often, if not always, dependent upon actions by variety of complementary and supportive local organizations. Thus, private sector initiatives in the realms of agricultural development, agribusiness development, and development of small- and mediumscale industries will analyze, build upon, and, where necessary, support the roles of relevant local organizations. The capacities of intended beneficiaries must be taken into account throughout, since the type of private organization selected will determine who benefits as a result of such programs. Banks, for instance, reach a very different clientele than voluntary associations.
- Institutional Development
Providing support to local organizations to improve their ability to undertake development will often entail disbursement of funds to support "capacity-building" activities in addition to delivery of specific goods and services. This approach, aimed at important institutional development objectives, requires careful attention to USAID's procedures regarding cash management, interest accural, procurement, and project -monitoring-in fact, existing procedures may well restrain missions from adopting some particularly effective approaches to institutional development through the support of local organizations. Issues such as these will continue to be resolved on a case-by-case basis by, missions and USAID/Washington, to ensure that both program goals and legal obligations are fully satisfied. As more experience is gathered, it may be possible at some future point to issue comprehensive Agency-wide guidance on these crucial matters.
Institutional development is critical to sustained economic progress. This policy paper is meant to increase A.M.'s capacity to undertake institutional development, by focusing attention on the often overlooked category of local organizations. In the last analysis, only local organizations and the people who support them can sustain and build upon the efforts of donors and central government; indeed, without the participation of strong, independent local organizations it is unlikely that the broadly-based support which is also essential to meaningful development will ever emerge. Understanding of, and, where necessary, support for local organizations will be an element of institutional development in all country programs. USAID will not always need to work specifically with local organizations; on the other hand, USAID will never be independent of them and cannot afford to take their essential contribution for granted.
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Last Updated on: July 11, 2001 |
