Village participation in rural development

This tool kit from the African network on Participatory Approaches provides a training manual and tool box for participatory village planning based on experiences with Village Level Participatory Approaches (VLPA) in five West-African countries (Mali, Guinea, C¶te d'Ivoire, Benin, and Burkina Faso) and Madagascar. The process of participatory village planning is explained step by step and illustrated by examples from several case studies in these countries. A set of cards (tools) spells out the successive steps in the planning process. Constraints and enabling conditions for a country-wide implementation of the approach in the new political and social setting of African countries are also dealt with. The manual is directed towards field practitioners, but also to policy makers who are responsible for formulating strategies of rural development and agricultural extension services. It comprises three parts. Part one presents the objectives and general principles of the participatory approach. It also discusses participatory methods and provides details on the steps and tools appropriate to each stage of the process. To facilitate their use, the tools are also presented in individual worksheets, which form part of this manual (the tool box). Part two describes the underlying conditions necessary for successful implementation of the participatory approach. It also discusses the roles of the various actors involved. Part three describes the conditions necessary for successful implementation of the participatory approach. It also describes what adoption of the approach means for organization of service delivery at the local, regional and national levels.