Participatory cooperative research: for the people,by the people,with the people

Participatory research with cooperatives, which are people-owned businesses, would seem a natural option. However, there is little discussion evident in this area, with risks of research instead bypassing the perspective of members. This article discusses two dairy farmer cooperatives in rural Kenya. It looks at how, even where research is directed and controlled by others (e.g. funders), it can still be undertaken with cooperatives in a participatory way. This is essential to preserving values and principles linked to member participation and decision-making, as well as of self-help and self-responsibility. Participatory approaches also provide interesting insights into the way cooperatives operate.     

Productive power in the Papua New Guinea church partnership programme

This article analyses the strategy of partnership governing the Papua New Guinea Church Partnership Program (CPP). Using a governmentality lens that sees power as having a productive aspect, it focuses on how the technologies of financial management and planning, monitoring, and evaluation (PME) are taken up by the churches. Fieldwork research reveals how, in conforming to the discipline of these technologies to fulfil the partnership requirements, skilful and pragmatic individuals utilise the same technologies to empower their churches to enact their theology on development. For partnerships to work, the space must be created for such productive power to flourish.     

Strategic planning through a participatory learning and action framework: a Kenyan study

This paper reflects on the use of a participatory learning and action (PLA) framework in a strategic planning process (SPP) at a primary school in rural Kenya. Successes and challenges are discussed, focusing on the barriers to fully implementing the PLA framework. Additionally, lessons learnt and ways forward for participatory SPPs are outlined. The PLA framework allowed the project stakeholders to engage in a planning process that gave participants a voice in the process. Although PLA methodology faces shortcomings, the application of this model is a step towards making community development more sustainable.     

Community rehabilitation workers as catalysts for disability: inclusive youth development through service learning

This paper explores access to health and education for disabled youth in sites with and without community rehabilitation workers (CRWs). A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was undertaken in nine sites in South Africa, and a snowball sample of 523 disabled youths of both sexes, aged between 18 and 35 years, was selected. The survey found that a significantly larger proportion of disabled youth living in sites with CRWs were seen by health care workers at home, and that there was a large difference in educational access between sites with and without CRWs. CRWs are well positioned to promote equal citizenship for disabled youth through service learning with occupational therapy final year students to improve access to health and education, so that barriers to their participation in economic development are removed.     

Social and economic inclusion of people with disabilities: practical lessons from Bangladesh

People with disabilities remain one of the most excluded minorities, often deprived of the benefits of mainstream development programmes. This practical note reports on lessons learnt in delivering a programme combining a community based rehabilitation (CBR) and self-help group approach with disabled persons in rural Bangladesh. Our findings demonstrate how targeted programmes can bring about the social and economic inclusion of disabled persons. We also highlight the greater effectiveness of CBR programmes when targeting a more diverse client base, when not based on debt recovery, and how targeted programmes can even benefit the wider community.     

Benefits and challenges of micro-enterprise participation: women's cottage industry in Kaimosi,Kenya

This article investigates the perspectives of Kenyan women in the Kaimosi cottage industry regarding the benefits and challenges of producing craft commodities for the global marketplace. Utilising qualitative methods, the research provides an understanding of issues the women faced in producing and marketing goods and offers insights for NGOs into some pitfalls for the sustainability of micro-enterprises. The women asserted that participation in the micro-enterprise had improved their family's economic well-being, helped finance their children's education, and improved their community status. This supports the literature that has found that women's involvement in micro-enterprises reduces poverty and improves well-being.     

ABCD to CBT: asset-based community development's potential for community-based tourism

This article conceptualises the potential for a relationship between asset-based community development (ABCD) and community-based tourism (CBT), with a view to improving CBT's patchy record in delivering community development. ABCD has previously been used in international development and community work, but is new to tourism for development. Hence, the article seeks to relate ABCD's characteristics with CBT on a theoretical level, based on a shift away from ‘needs-driven’ development towards a conscious appreciation of community assets. The authors suggest that ABCD can, and should, be applied to CBT, given the positive emphasis it puts on people and their potential.     

Farmers,peanuts, and aflatoxins in Uganda: A gendered approach

This article describes a collaborative research for development project that used participatory methods to engage smallholder farmers in Uganda in post-harvest aflatoxin management. It is based primarily on qualitative research with peanut growers tracing ‘the path of the peanut’ through their hand-drawn maps and journal writing. By focusing on everyday life and including recipes and drawings, this research encouraged women's participation and emphasised women's roles. A unique partnership among universities, women's organisations, and farmers created an environment of mutual learning and produced a book documenting food preparation and other post-harvest practices as part of a study and capacity-building effort on peanuts and aflatoxins.     

Management not models: adaptability,responsiveness, and a few lessons from football

Despite a swathe of critiques of logframes and other blueprint approaches to development over the last 30 years, most aid infrastructure continues to concentrate on the design and subsequent implementation of closed models. This article does not propose an alternative to blueprints, but challenges the inflexibility of their implementation, which is inadequate given the complex nature of social change. It proposes a supplementary management and learning approach which enables implementers to be dynamic, adaptive, and responsive to problems and opportunities. Emphasising the role of donors, the paper presents a case study of one donor-led programme in Bangladesh doing just this.     

论民事责任能力

文章认为 ,在经由义务的社会 ,权利的社会后当代社会在法律学的眼中应当是一个责任的社会。在一个责任的社会中 ,任何民事主体都是具有抽象责任能力的 ,法律的后果必须有相应的承担 ,在具体的责任能力上则因主体的不同而呈现出完全或有无的特征 ;文章通过分析民事主体的人格三要素权利能力、行为能力和责任能力的独立性和非对称性 ,指出民事责任能力独立的可能性和必要性 ,提出建立符合实际的新的人格制度 :在具体的责任能力的判断标准上 ,通过民事责任本质和民事责任方式的实证分析 ,文章建议采取“客观说”,既是以责任主体的意思状况、行为能力和法律规定综合进行判断。