Increasing Project Gains Through Beneficiary Participation

Despite several decades of transfer of financial aid from industrialised countries to Africa,many peasant poor still stand on the threshold of being excluded from making any dignified living in this century. The concern, however, is not to have them catch up as an index of development; rather, it is how the poor can be assisted to improve upon their lot through creative engagement with duty bearers. It is about empowering the people to rely on their own potentials and resources. Beneficiaries of development interventions are seldom involved in decision-making but made to be merely passive recipients of charitable handouts. In order for development projects to achieve the needed results, they must be people centred.People should have the opportunity to participate individually and or collectively in the planning and implementation of projects for their benefit. Beneficiary participation offers the potential for the design and implementation of interventions that reflect the preferences of the population they are designed to assist.This book underscores the relevance of beneficiary participation in increasing project gains for the poor.