Growing the Wealth of the Poor - World Resources Institute

conflicts. It has been successful at bringing together municipalgovernments and local organizations to establish joint watershedplanning at the local level and strategic management at alandscape scale. By encouraging ongoing exchanges, the consortiumhas also created opportunities to raise issues such as women’srights and environmental sustainability across scales. Most important,it provides a neutral space for local stakeholders to interactwith the state and influence government processes (Carter andCurrie-Alder 2006:132–133).In practical terms, it is usually impossible to separate thehorizontal and vertical networking functions that ISOs perform.They are usually integrated into a unified effort to help localorganizations connect to sources of help and support at all levels.The Botswana Community-Based Organization Network(BOCOBONET), for instance, serves as an umbrella organizationsupporting communities that have been given authority tomanage local wildlife. It offers training and communicationsservices, but its most important function is its networking role.BOCOBONET facilitates horizontal linkages by providing aforum for local organizations to exchange experiences and disseminatelessons learned. But it has also strived to use its position toimprove dialogue and coordination between community groups,NGOs, the private sector, and the government (IUCN Botswana2006). Among the policy impacts of its work have been greatersupport for joint venture activities and a national review ofCBNRM in 2003 (IUCN Botswana 2006). Like many activenetworks, BOCOBONET realizes that building effective capacityon the ground benefits greatly from political connection.B U I L D I N G O W N E R S H I P, C A P A C I T Y , A N D C O N N E C T I O NCAPACITYISOs: Improving Access to MarketsWhile scaling out nature-based enterprises is an important goal,an equally important objective from a poverty-reduction standpointis to scale up the income-generating opportunities withinthese schemes. CBNRM projects in particular are very oftenhindered by an inadequate focus on the business side of sustainableresource management. One challenge for every nature-basedenterprise effort is its dependence upon the viability of local andwider markets and the ability of local people to reach andnavigate them. Both of these issues can present dauntingchallenges to small farmers, foresters, and other naturalresource–based entrepreneurs.Intermediary organizations, by virtue of their connectionsto the wider world, are potentially well positioned to improvelocal producers’ relationships with local, regional, and—in somecases—international markets. For example, AKRSP’s work innorthern Pakistan focused primarily on building and supportingcommunity organizations, but it also included an enterprisedevelopment arm that was able to use the ISO’s size and connectionsto its advantage (See Box 2.5). Carpet makers and dryfruit merchants are among the industries that gained good accessto national and international markets through AKRSP’sinvolvement (Zehra 2005:31).One source of ISOs’ effectiveness in connecting communityenterprises to markets is their ability to catalyze “upstream”market research, product development, and process improvements.In the early 1980s, ANAI Association began a series ofresearch and marketing studies to develop higher-value crops andmore-efficient cropping systems for local farmers. To bring theseto their local clientele, they partnered with a local farmers’cooperative in a three-year crop diversification program. In thisinstance, ANAI acted like a government research and extensionservice, but with greater flexibility and accountability to localpeople (Carroll 1992:214).‘ISOs: Facilitating FinanceAs trusted intermediaries, ISOs are logical candidates to helpcommunity groups and local entrepreneurs connect to sources offinance. In many instances, ISOs act as nodes for the distributionof project funds from governments or international donors. InIndia, SEWA and WOTR have acted as receptacles for projectfunds from the government’s “watershed development” program,which they then disbursed to village watershed committees for use89