Community-driven development decision tools for rural - IFAD

Elite capture by local, professional, political intermediaries occurs when they seek to exploit theproject resources to enhance their own influence in the local government administration and theircareer opportunities within the national political organization. To do this, they may seek to ensurethat project benefits reach their constituency communities even when they do not fully meet theproject partnership conditions. In extreme cases, this type of capture may even divert funds toprovide benefits to people who have little to do with the rural communities.CDD and proactive inclusivenessOne of IFAD’s key concerns is to ensure that poor and marginalized people have the chance to maketheir voices heard in community affairs that affect their livelihood. To this end, all IFAD projectsenvisage special opportunities for women, poor households and other marginalized people to have arole in managing community affairs and to participate in making informed decisions about activitiesof common interest. CDD projects usually include a quota for women in the VDCs and in the MC ofany CIG established by the community.The Enquête sur les partenaires locaux des projets CDD-FIDA did not report any women memberson the MC in Mauritania. In Mali, no women have been elected to the VDCs in the two areasinvestigated by the same survey. In one of these areas, Segou, the project management teamworked exclusively with male representatives of the traditional village chief organizations towhom the people delegated the power to make decisions. In Kolokani, the people had muchmore control over the activities of the VDC. Forty per cent of the interviewees in Cape Verde and51 per cent in Guinea declared that women participate in the management structure of theircommunity planning organization.With respect to the role of women in the CBOs, over 75 per cent of the interviewees in the foursurvey areas reported that women attend association meetings and that more than 85 per cent of thewomen participants are ready to speak. Women comprise 60 per cent of the participants in CBOgeneral assembly meetings in Guinea, 64 per cent in Kolokany and 22 per cent in Segou. In Guinea,51 per cent of CSO members are women and 92 per cent of women members attend generalassembly meetings.Generally speaking, a majority of interviewees stated that access to project benefits has beenequitable. There were some curious differences, which cannot be fully explained, in the responsesbetween different implementation regions of the same project:• In Mauritania, 57 per cent of the respondents in the Assaba region said that access to benefitswas equitable compared with 80 per cent in the Adrar.• In Mali, the positive responses ranged from 78 per cent in Segou to 98 per cent in Kolokany.• In Guinea, 100 per cent of the people claimed that everybody benefited, the likely reflection ofthe fact that the public goods funded were available to everybody.• In Cape Verde, 81 per cent of respondents in Santiago and 85 per cent in São Nicholau Islanddeclared that access to benefits for rural poor and women was equitable.30