Growing the Wealth of the Poor - World Resources Institute

BOX 2.1 LESSONS FROM THE EQUATOR INITIATIVEing technology to ensure high-quality honey. Their solid leadershiphas created a successful and sustainable enterprisemodel. Today, Honey Care Africa is the region’s largest producerof quality honey and continues to expand its operations, sellingits Fair Trade and ecologically certified honey locally andabroad (Timmer 2004:15–18).ScalabilityThe vertical and horizontal linkages and leadership conditionsfor success also apply to scalability. Hooper et al. examined theexperiences of Equator Prize finalists and winners and foundthat their success was defined in large part by their ability toscale up their efforts (Hooper et al. 2005:141–142). Scalingup can be defined as “bringing more quality benefits to morepeople over a wider geographical area more quickly, moreequitably, and more lastingly” (IIRR 2000). Scaling up cantake place functionally, in terms of broadening the types ofactivities undertaken; quantitatively, in terms of increasingparticipation and scope; organizationally, in terms of increasedeffectiveness and efficiency of operations; or politically, interms of a better ability to engage in political processes in orderto benefit initiative stakeholders (Hooper et al. 2005: 131-132). The Shompole Community Trust, for example, has shownfunctional and organizational scalability, while Honey CareAfrica has shown strong quantitative scalability.The experiences of Costa Rica’s Talamanca Initiative, an EquatorPrize 2002 winner, demonstrate the potential for political scalability.The Initiative is an alliance of more than 20 community-basedorganizations committed to bringing environmental and socioeconomicbenefits to the Talamanca region. It has also providedleadership at many levels beyond the region by establishing andconsolidating advocacy groups. The Costa Rican Sea Turtle ConservationNetwork and the Central American Sea Turtle ConservationNetwork, for instance, have influenced the development of localand national policies to protect the area’s sea turtle population. TheInitiative’s advocacy efforts have contributed as well to theadoption of rural tourism as the fourth pillar of Costa Rica’s tourismmarketing plan and the passage of a law to promote organicproduction methods. Most recently, the Talamanca Initiative hascreated the National Cacao Chamber (CANACACAO), a multistakeholdergroup that aims to influence the Costa Rican government touse traditional cacao production techniques nationwide(Asociación ANAI 2006).ConclusionOver the past five years, the Equator Initiative has received morethan 1,000 nominations for the Equator Prize. Of these, 75community initiatives stand out as exemplary cases of community-levelefforts to conserve biological diversity, alleviatepoverty, and ultimately contribute to achieving the MillenniumDevelopment Goals. In partnership with academic institutionsand research organizations, the Initiative has learned from theexperiences of these successful community groups and localEBEs. Analysis shows that local initiatives are most successfulwhen there is a collective understanding of the value of ecosystem-derivedresources, secure property rights to these resources,low barriers to market participation, multiple beneficial partnerships,and strong effective leadership. EBEs, when developedwith sustainability in mind and operated for the benefit ofcommunities, are a powerful tool in international efforts toprotect the environment and promote human development. This box was written by Elspeth Halverson and Gabriela Tobler, Programme Officers atthe UNDP Equator Initiative. More information on the Equator Initiative is available atwww.undp.org/equatorinitiative.Alimentos Nutri-Naturales (ANN) in Guatemala, 2006 Equator Prize Winner60