PARTICIPATION

PARTICIPATION

INTRODUCTION
FAO define participation in development as a process of equitable and active involvement of all stakeholders in the formulation of development policies and strategies and in the analysis, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of development activities. To allow for a more equitable development process, disadvantaged stakeholders need to be empowered to increase their level of knowledge, influence and control over their own livelihoods, including development initiatives affecting them.
Participation in development is also seen as an organized effort within institutions and organizations to increase stakeholder access and control over resources and related decision making that contributes to sustainable livelihoods. Participation is furthermore viewed as an iterative process involving the continuous re-adjustment of relationships between different stakeholders in a society in order to increase stakeholder control and influence over development initiatives that affect their lives.
The World Bank defines Participation as “a process through which stakeholders influence and share control over development initiatives, decisions and resources which affect them. Participation can take different forms, ranging from information sharing and consultation methods, to mechanisms for collaboration and empowerment that give stakeholders more influence and control.
Participation’ as a concept is however a contested subject. The World Bank Participation Sourcebook (1998) defines participation as a rich concept that means different things to different people in different settings. The definition depends on the approaches of the development organization and their capacity to implement participatory approaches.
Since the late 1970s there has been a range of interpretations of the meaning of participation in development. The following are a number of examples: 'With regard to rural development participation includes people's involvement in decision-making processes, in implementing programmes, their sharing in the benefits of development programmes and their involvement in efforts to evaluate such programmes.' (Cohen and Uphoff, 1977). Participation is concerned with the organized efforts to increase control over resources and regulative institutions in given social situations on the part of groups and movements of those hitherto excluded from such control.' (Pearse and Stifel, 1979) 'Community participation [is] an active process by which beneficiary or client groups influence the direction and execution of a 'Participation can be seen as a process of empowerment of the deprived and the excluded. This view is based on the recognition of differences in political and economic power among different social groups and classes. Participation in this sense necessitates the creation of organizations of the poor which are democratic, independent and self- reliant!' (Ghai, 1990)
HISTORY OF PARTICIPATION
People's participation is by no means a new concept. It was formulated in the mid-1970s, amid growing awareness that development efforts were having little impact on poverty. The development paradigms of the 1960s and 1970s derived from the legacy of colonial rule, especially the planning systems of the late 1930s and post-Second World War (post-WW2) period. The conception was top down (development was something governments did for or to people), and the language military-bureaucratic - by WW2 out of US management literature: "objectives", "targets", "strategies", "capability". The formal social science methods of the late 1950s, combined with digital processing, produced much spurious (and some credible) quantification, usually at great cost. There was little stakeholder involvement of those undergoing "development", a fact which must rank high among the causes of the failures of development to improve the lives of the majority poor of the "developing" world. Participatory development arose as a reaction to this realization of failure, popularized particularly by Gordon Conway and Robert Chambers (1992), and more recently by David Korten (1996).
WHY IS PARTICIPATION IMPORTANT?
Stakeholder participation can be key for ensuring their long-term sustainability. Promoting participation helps build ownership and enhances transparency and accountability, and in doing so enhances effectiveness of development projects and policies.

DEGREE OF PARTICIPATION

Participation by Information-Receiving

Underpins all other levels of participation, and may be appropriate on its own in some circumstances. People participate by being told what is going to happen or has already happened. It is unilateral announcement by an administration or programme management without listening to people's responses. The information being shared belongs only to external professionals.
Participation in Information Giving
People participate by answering questions posed by extractive researchers and programme managers using questionnaire surveys or similar approaches. People do not have the opportunity to influence proceedings, as the findings of the research or programme design are neither shared nor checked for accuracy.
Consultation
People participate by being consulted, and external agents listen to views. These external agents define both problems and solutions, and may modify these in the light of peoples responses. Such a consultative process does not concede any share in decision making and professionals are under no obligation to take on board peoples’ views.


Joint Planning
People participate in joint analysis, which leads to action plans and the formulation of new local groups or strengthening of existing ones. It tends to involve interdisciplinary methodologies that seek multiple perspectives and make use of systematic and structured learning processes. These groups take control over local decisions, so people have a stake in maintaining structures and practices.
Decision Making
When consensus is acted upon through collective decisions, this marks the initiation of shared responsibilities for outcomes that may result. Negotiations at this stage reflect different degrees of leverage exercised by individuals and groups.
Empowerment
People participate in joint analysis, which leads to action plans and the formulation of new local groups or strengthening of existing ones. These groups take control over local decisions, so people have a stake in maintaining structures and practices. People participate by taking initiatives independent of external institutions to change systems. Such self-initiated mobilisation and collective action may or may not challenge inequitable distributions of wealth or power.

METHODS OF PARTICIPATION
Rapid Rural Appraisal - RRA
Rapid Rural Appraisal consists of a series of techniques for "quick and dirty" research that are claimed to generate results of less apparent precision, but greater evidential value, than classic quantitative survey techniques. The method is economical of the researcher's time and is essentially extractive as a process: the agenda is still that of the outside researcher.
Participatory Rural Appraisal - PRA
Participatory rural appraisal evolved from rapid rural appraisal-a set of informal techniques used by development practitioners in rural areas to collect and analyze data. Rapid rural appraisal developed in the 1970s and 1980s in response to the perceived problems of outsiders missing or miscommunication with local people in the context of development work. In PRA, data collection and analysis are undertaken by local people, with outsiders facilitating rather than controlling.
Participatory Action Research - PAR
Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a more activist approach, working to empower the local community, or its representatives, to manipulate the higher level power structures. Claimed for a variety of interventions - World Bank-supported credit unions for the relatively privileged, Grameen-type banks for the very poor, community based paralegal training and litigation, voter education drives among the marginalized - PAR can empower a community, entrench local elite, right a wrong or totally mess things up. It depends on the extent of awareness and political savoir faire of the supporting outside organization.
DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO PARTICIPATION
Different approaches to participation often reflect different motives for engaging in participatory research or development. The motives for participation stem from three broad roots:
(i) Functional motives are those concerned with the efficiency and effectiveness of research and development, and are the main driving force behind the efforts of many governments to improve participation;
(ii) Empowering motives are concerned with participation as an end in itself and are closely linked to democratic processes, they are associated much more with the approaches of community-based organizations and the NGO movement; and,
(iii) Philosophical motives which have explored the understanding of knowledge and knowledge systems between formal science and indigenous culture, and tried to encourage a greater interaction between them.
Functional motives
It has long been recognized that greater participation by those who are to be affected by research or development can improve the efficiency, effectiveness and sustainability of those processes and their outputs. Where such benefits are the reasons for encouraging participation the motive can be broadly described as functional. Chambers (1995) notes several functional reasons for the growing interest in greater participation:
The imposition of standard "top-down" interventions on diverse local realities have failed to address local needs,
The greater involvement of local people may have positive cost implications, and
The more local people are involved in development initiatives, the more likely they are to shoulder the ongoing cost of maintaining such initiatives.
Participation for functional reasons is generally passive and seen as a manageable input to an externally defined process of research or development (Oakley and Marsden, '1984). However, whilst functional participation may have started in this way it has progressively informed and influenced a more fundamental shift towards people-led development, and this includes a parallel shift in research. Chambers says that "Arguably, the big shift of the past two decades has been from a professional paradigm centred on things to one centred on people"(1995:32).
Empowering motives
There are reasons for supporting greater participation in research and development which deal with people's right to be involved in activities concerning their lives. Central to empowerment level reasoning on participation is a reaction against centralization, bureaucratization, rigidity and remoteness of the state (Midgley, 1986). In extreme cases it is a reaction to the oppression .of one group of people by another and the exclusion of their perceptions of reality from the research and development process (Freire, 1972). Participation from an empowerment perspective is seen as a process which is both a means and an end in itself. Participation, in both research and development is then seen as the driving force of the development process and not just a factor for improving the efficiency and effectiveness of "top down" activities.
Philosophical motives
There are also reasons for supporting greater participation in research and development which relate to the philosophy underpinning the way we describe, understand and explain the world we live in. The evolution of participatory processes has led some researchers to the belief that there are multiple realities and that “professional realities are constructed differently from those of local people.” (Chambers, 1998:107).
PARTICIPATORY ATTITUDES
1. Every idea counts / everybody’s view counts
A simple fact, neglected by many persons, is to recognize that different individuals and groups have – according to their respective background - different perceptions and thus assess situations differently, which then leads them to different actions. This applies to each and every single person – including facilitators and promoters of participatory processes. Everyone’s view is heavy with interpretation, bias and prejudice which implies that there are multiple descriptions and interpretations of real world phenomena, events and actions.
2. The learning attitude
Facilitators and promoters as well as any other person involved in participatory processes should adopt a learning attitude, through which they learn from the persons/groups they are working with – rather than a teaching or preaching attitude. This “learning attitude” can be enhanced by acknowledging persons/groups’ experiences in and knowledge of their own context and living conditions, by considering them as experts in dealing with their own situation and problems. Thus the role of a facilitator is to enhance the involvement of all concerned persons/groups by supporting processes (such as investigation, analysis and evaluation of problems, constraints and opportunities, and taking informed and timely decisions).
3. Transparency
Participatory decision-making requires readiness to reach a "win-win" compromise from all sides. An atmosphere of mutual trust is the basis for compromise and constructive co-operation and transparency by all stakeholders is a basic requirement. Transparency will help to avoid hidden agendas and suspicion amongst different parties and thus to prevent situations in which all parties try to protect their own interests rather than finding the most suitable compromise for all parties involved.

4. Flexibility
Being open to other persons’ ideas and opinions is often the most difficult aspect of participatory processes. Often, their views may be difficult to understand and contradictory or incompatible with one’s own ideas and beliefs. Accepting this reality requires a high degree of flexibility, as well as courage to set aside for a moment one’s own perception and neutrally follow the process, being ready to rethink and replan at any stage, if necessary.
KEY PRINCIPLES OF APPLYING PARTICIPATORY METHODS AND TOOLS
1. Leading to action and debate about change
Participatory processes lead to debates about desired changes in existing conditions and hence changes in the perceptions of the actors and their readiness to contemplate action. The process of joint analysis and dialogue helps to define desired changes and seeks to motivate people to implement them. This action includes local institution-building and strengthening, thus increasing the capacity of people to initiate collective self-help action aimed at improving their own futures.
2. Iterative Action and Stepwise Analysis
Participation is an iterative process which should continue throughout the project cycle. Decisions/agreements should be revisited periodically and checked for validity, and adjusted to changes that may have occurred in the conditions/situations/needs in the meantime. This implies that analytical processes should follow a stepwise procedure. That means: to focus on general information gathering in the beginning, then on specific topics, and finally enter into a detailed (in-depth) analysis of local problems, needs and potentials. Additionally, the facilitation team should constantly review their findings in order to determine in which direction to proceed.
3. Multiple perspectives / triangulation
Once the different points of view have been taken into consideration, the output of the analysis/discussion will be provide a more complete and accurate picture of the situation under review. Therefore, when trying to facilitate a participatory process, one should seek to mix team composition, tools and techniques, as well as sources of information/interest groups:
4. Flexibility in applying instruments and choosing degree of precision
Methods and tools should not be used mechanically but should be context specific and appropriate to address the question or topic under discussion. The selection of a particular tool should also determined by the specific characteristics of the society/community/ group the participation team is working with.
5. Visual Sharing
Through visualization within a participatory process, participants have the opportunity to follow a discussion easier, especially illiterate people and people who join a session later than others. Maps, diagrams, rankings and other forms of visualization tools also promote consensual decision-making since everybody is able to directly express their opinion on a chart or on the ground.
6. Group Learning
Participatory workshops and other complex participatory processes are best facilitated by the use of interdisciplinary teams, since the complexity of most situations will only be revealed through group analysis and interaction, thus allowing for different experts to contribute.
7. Self-critical Awareness
Promoters/facilitators of participatory processes have to be extremely careful to constantly analyze their own biases. This means to constantly reflect upon the phenomena they feel they have perceived, actually heard and observed and which they have already judged or interpreted.

PARTICIPATION IN TANZANIA
Participation in Tanzania is being practiced in various development sectors and at different levels. For examples in education sector to boost secondary school education, people have been participating in constructing school buildings.
Tanzania Social Action Fund – TASAF has been creating an environment for people to participate in many development activities; whereby people contribute manpower in various activities such as building dispensaries and health centres while TASAF contributes building materials and providing financial support.
CONCLUTION
In order to institutionalize participation and ensure that collective action does continue it is essential that the capacities of the stakeholders, in particular local institutional arrangements, are strengthened. In this respect an appropriate capacity building strategy is required to integrate relevant horizontal and vertical linkages.
Participation is the key to sustainable development initiatives, since it will lead to building on existing potentials and capacities, a greater sense of ownership on the part of the stakeholders, increased commitment to the objectives and outcomes. Participation also enables longer term social sustainability, increased self-help capacities and stronger and more democratic institutions and partnerships.

REFERENCES
1. FAO Rural Institutions and Participation Service (SDAR),Rural Development Division (SDA).
2. World Bank Participation Sourcebook (1998)
3. World Bank, 1994, “The World Bank and Participation,” Operations Policy Department, Washington, D.C.