Participatory approaches for influencing policies, processes and practices: lessons from North and South
2003
J. Thompson
This paper provides a brief review of participatory approaches and their strengths and weaknesses. It discusses how policies can work for poor people and participatory processes for policy change. The paper offers a case study of farmer participation in integrated pest management (IPM) and shows that farmer empowerment is the main route to IPM.The paper demonstrates that experience from participatory policy change from various sectors points towards a number of key factors for success:a forum and participation process, to understand multiple perspectives and cut ‘deals’national definition of, and goals for, sustainable forest management and/or sustainable agricultureagreement on ways to set priorities: in terms of equity, efficiency and sustainabilityengagement with extra-sectoral influencescreate the right environment for fair trade between smallholders and business, and democratic control over markets: effective organisation; risk management; government/legal oversightAn enabling institutional environment for community participation requires:a more flexible and open-ended approacha more enabling institutional environment for participationthe challenge ahead lies in recognising that poverty and exclusion cannot be tackled simply by enlisting participants in projects, programmes or processesenhancing accountabilityThe paper concludes that to achieve the aims of active citizen participation and good governance, greater attention will need to be paid both to enabling people to make and shape their own spaces for engagement and to processes to enhance the accountability of local and global institutions that affect their lives.
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