OrganicsSustainable DevelopmentThe goal of IGCI's sustainable community development programme is to work in partnership with communities to understand issues impinging on their development and to foster their ownership and control of the development process. The sustainable development programme is underpinned by research and training that is undertaken with local partners, for example in:
The IGCI approach to community development is informed by social and natural sciences and provides good examples of how communities, scientists, and development agents can work openly, collaboratively, and transparently to achieve socially, economically and environmentally sustainable outcomes. Model for Sustaining CommunitiesIGCI is committed to assisting communities to sustain themselves. To achieve this, five principles guide IGCI's engagement with communities. First, development is a continuous and contentious process. Long-term engagement with communities and stakeholders is paramount for any development project to succeed. Second, robust, equitable partnerships enhance the development process since all stakeholders help to identify, design, and implement community projects. This increases the likelihood of a project's success. Third, transparency in communication and accounting practices helps to build trust in a community development relationship. Open communication is strived for and maintained. Fourth, networks are critical to community development as they harness the expert knowledge of research scientists and NGO employees to communities striving for change, especially in relatively remote, rural and environmentally degraded areas. This technical back-stopping is fundamental to the assessment of development plans and their successful implementation. Fifth, research on the myriad of interactions that can take place between communities and their environment helps to identify development-related outcomes. These can then be rapidly integrated with the development process to enhance the efficacy of an approach to development, its implementation, and the monitoring of its impact. Selected examples of where the IGCI sustainable community development approach has been applied using the five principles are given below. Resource KitIn collaboration with our NGO partner the Soil and Water Conservation Foundation (SWCF) of Cebu City the Philippines and local communities in Bohol, IGCI has assisted with the development of a resource kit for resource management decisions-makers. Funded by USAID through Cornell University, the resource management kits are the first of their type in the Philippines. They address a broad range of resource management issues associated with the management of the country's extensive limestone/karst environments. Twenty three topics are covered including, for example: farming systems; pollution; vegetation and deforestation; and land-use planning. See the SWCF website for details http://www.swcfi.org/download.htm. Research consortiumCoordinating research for poverty reduction and environmental sustainability are the hallmarks of an innovative programme operating in the Province of Bohol, Philippines. With the endorsement of the Provincial Government, key research-based organisations (provincial and international) were brought together to develop research proposals for addressing key challenges facing Bohol. A coordinated effort was quickly recognised through needs analysis workshops with key stakeholders, and the Asia Development Assistance Facility of NZAID facilitated further work of the consortium. Management of research outputs so that they reach decision-makers and rural communities is a critical element of the project. The research consortium is self-sustaining and continues to grow in scope and influence. IGCI continues as a full member of the research consortium. Organic farmingClick here to find out about Organic Farming IGCI together with its New Zealand partner Bioglobal - developed a network of local stakeholders in Thai Nguyen Province, northern Viet Nam, who were interested in developing a proposal aimed at producing, processing and marketing organic tea. The proposal was funded by the Asia Development Assistance Facility of NZAID, which enabled the IGCI/Bioglobal partners to assist the Viet Nam Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development (MARD) to prepare national organic guidelines and standards due for publication in late 2004. It also enabled the partners to work with researchers in the Mountainous Research Environment Centre (MREC) at Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF) and a local tea company (ECOLINK) aimed at building farmer capacity for producing, processing and marketing quality organic tea. DARD, the implementing agency for the ADB-funded Tea and Fruit Development Project that covers many northern provinces, has sought the assistance of Bioglobal in applying organic farming techniques.
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