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Opening Participatory Spaces for the Most Marginal: Learning from Collective Action in the Honduran Hillsides

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  • Classen, Lauren
  • Humphries, Sally
  • FitzSimons, John
  • Kaaria, Susan
  • Jiménez, José
  • Sierra, Fredy
  • Gallardo, Omar

Abstract

Summary Community-driven development faces considerable criticism for excluding the poor. A series of participatory, qualitative, and quantitative assessments of a participatory agricultural initiative in rural Honduras shows that the project, once susceptible to elite capture, over time shifted to include the "most marginal." Participating farmers--both men and women--demonstrated significant improvements in well-being and new-found capabilities relative to non-participants. Opening a space for the most marginal was achieved through long-term commitment by a local NGO to the principle of inclusiveness, and to research and capability development beyond the guiding methodology for establishing local agricultural research committees (CIALs).

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  • Classen, Lauren & Humphries, Sally & FitzSimons, John & Kaaria, Susan & Jiménez, José & Sierra, Fredy & Gallardo, Omar, 2008. "Opening Participatory Spaces for the Most Marginal: Learning from Collective Action in the Honduran Hillsides," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2402-2420, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:36:y:2008:i:11:p:2402-2420
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    3. Laxmi Prasad Pant, 2019. "Responsible innovation through conscious contestation at the interface of agricultural science, policy, and civil society," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(2), pages 183-197, June.
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    5. Grillos, Tara, 2017. "Participatory Budgeting and the Poor: Tracing Bias in a Multi-Staged Process in Solo, Indonesia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 343-358.
    6. Humphries, Sally & Classen, Lauren & Jiménez, José & Sierra, Fredy & Gallardo, Omar & Gómez, Marvin, 2012. "Opening Cracks for the Transgression of Social Boundaries: An Evaluation of the Gender Impacts of Farmer Research Teams in Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 40(10), pages 2078-2095.
    7. Buntaine, Mark T. & Daniels, Brigham & Devlin, Colleen, 2018. "Can information outreach increase participation in community-driven development? A field experiment near Bwindi National Park, Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 407-421.
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    9. Warren Dodd & Marvin Gómez Cerna & Paola Orellena & Sally Humphries & Margaux L. Sadoine & David Zombré & Kate Zinszer & Amy Kipp & Donald C. Cole, 2020. "Factors Associated with Seasonal Food Insecurity among Small-Scale Subsistence Farming Households in Rural Honduras," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-16, January.
    10. Peter Shapland & Conny J. M. Almekinders & Annemarie Paassen & Cees Leeuwis, 2023. "An Ethnography of Endogenous Institutional Change in Community-Driven Development," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 35(6), pages 1465-1483, December.
    11. Arcand, Jean-Louis & Wagner, Natascha, 2016. "Does Community-Driven Development Improve Inclusiveness in Peasant Organizations? – Evidence from Senegal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 105-124.
    12. Anastasia A. Seferiadis & Sarah Cummings & Marjolein B.M. Zweekhorst & Joske F.G. Bunders, 2015. "Producing social capital as a development strategy: Implications at the micro-level," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 15(2), pages 170-185, April.
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    14. vom Brocke, Kirsten & Kondombo, Clarisse Pulcherie & Guillet, Marion & Kaboré, Roger & Sidibé, Adama & Temple, Ludovic & Trouche, Gilles, 2020. "Impact of participatory sorghum breeding in Burkina Faso," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 180(C).
    15. Arora, Saurabh & Romijn, Henny, 2009. "Innovation for the base of the pyramid: Critical perspectives from development studies on heterogeneity and participation," MERIT Working Papers 2009-036, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).

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