Growing the Wealth of the Poor - World Resources Institute

experts from government agencies or outside consulting firms,often miss the mark in terms of their relevance to local needs.They may consist of “one-off ” efforts that rely on one or twoquick training courses, rather than the kind of interactive trainingthat people need to truly absorb useful skills. Perhaps thebiggest challenge is to provide capacity-building services that gobeyond one-dimensional “how to” training and allow localpeople to express their creativity and entrepreneurial ability,while providing access to the tools that can help them adapt tochanging circumstances.ISOs help meet these challenges in several ways. First, theytypically adopt a long-term and collaborative approach to capacity-building.In many instances they provide training themselves,but just as often they facilitate specialized local NGOs to deliverthe training in a way that is locally appropriate. ISOs oftencoordinate the efforts of these local capacity-builders, providing“training for the trainers” and using their networking ability toprovide access to resources that local NGOs typically lack. Thisability to nurture and support local service providers hasprompted the Watershed Organisation Trust in India to see itselfas a “Mother NGO” (Lobo 2008).The ability to look broadly at capacity-building gives ISOsthe power to identify and meet needs on a wider scale, such asacross a district or region. For example, the Kalinga Mission forIndigenous Communities and Youth Development, an ISO in thePhilippines, recognized a widespread need among Philippinecommunity organizations for better managerial and financialcapacity. It worked with some 50 local organizations alreadyengaged in sustainable development projects—including sustainablefarming and watershed management—to build theirfinancial accounting, management, and reporting skills. Theseskill sets increased the financial sustainability of the participatingCBOs and increased their confidence when approaching potentialdonors (Bumacas et al. 2006:299).When they do participate directly in capacity-building, themost successful ISOs blend an assortment of learning approachesin order to maximize the relevance and effectiveness of their training.For instance, many ISOs emphasize field visits (one village toanother), regional workshops and forums for exchange, and ablend of participatory and more traditional methods to buildtechnical skills. The abilities to think holistically about the capacitydevelopment process and to draw on their wide reach andsystem of contacts to facilitate learning are signal characteristics ofeffective ISOs (Bruneau 2005:43–47; Carter and Currie-Alder2006:136–138; Berkes et al. 2004:12).Building Social CapacityMore than technical capacity is required to enable a communitybasedenterprise to thrive. Many of the capabilities that enablecommunity efforts to succeed over the long term—group organizingand institution building, negotiating and political skills, and theability to distribute benefits and costs fairly—require significantsocial capacity within communities.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 NISO PROFILE: ASIAN NETWORK FOR SUSTAINABLEAGRICULTURE AND BIORESOURCES, KATMANDU, NEPALThe Asian Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources, or ANSAB,is an NGO established in 1992 in Katmandu to raise the living standardsof smallholder farmers in South Asia. The organization was founded as atechnology-focused initiative, meant to generate knowledge and capacityin agriculture and forestry technology across South Asia. ANSAB evolvedthrough the mid-1990s to emphasize natural resource management andenterprise development, realizing that these two components would becentral to its mission of raising living standards (Subedi 2007). Theorganization’s 50 employees are drawn from a variety of fields, includingsociology, biology, and economics. Their work is concentrated in fiveprograms: enterprise development, community forestry, policy andnetworking, marketing information services, and business developmentservices. Within these program areas, ANSAB consults on individualcommunity development projects and also serves as a network coordinatorfor large-scale initiatives (ANSAB 2007:14–15).Most of ANSAB’s work since this transition has centered on empoweringand training Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) across Nepal, whichgovern much of the country’s forests under the 1993 Forest Law. In additionto assisting with the formation of these CFUGs, in 1995 ANSAB became thecoordinator of the Nepal Non-Timber Forest Products Network (NNN). Thisnetwork brings together communities, businesses, donors, and environmentaland government representatives to promote sustainable use ofNTFPs in Nepal. NNN coordinators meet biannually to advance their goalsof reducing poverty and promoting biodiversity through careful commercializationof NTFPs. Between meetings, ANSAB, among other things, leadstrainings for the directors of Community Forest User Groups, publishes anddistributes data about NTFP markets, and holds talks with governmentofficials to improve laws for NTFP producers (ANSAB 2005b: 4,7).Over the last 15 years, ANSAB has facilitated and implemented a widerange of nature-based enterprise initiatives—with visible results. In 2006alone, their enterprise development work with CFUGs helped 65,351 peopleto realize US$5.54 million in income (ANSAB 2007:3). In 2005, some 70percent of the NTFP producers who received ANSAB’s market informationreported increased bargaining power and therefore higher incomes as aresult of the information. In addition, ANSAB’s direct work with CFUGs hasled to the sustainable management of more than 86,584 ha of forestacross Nepal (ANSAB 2007:8).ANSAB’s cross-cutting strategic partnerships are also critical to itssuccess. In 2002, they formed a public-private alliance that brought theRainforest Alliance together with Nepalese companies, NGOs, and Nepal’sfederation of CFUGs (known as FECOFUN), to create a program to certifyNTFPs produced by the Community Forest User Groups. To date, 24products, such as handmade paper and cosmetic ingredients, havereceived Forest Stewardship Council certification under this program.Twenty-one CFUGs are involved in the production of these products(ANSAB 2005b:6). In addition, ANSAB has facilitated the organic certificationof dozens of herbs and essential oils within CFUG communities(ANSAB 2005b:12).CAPACITY81