Not all Sunshine and Daisies
I've written this open letter to future researchers in Nnindye, or really anyone getting involved with a participatory program. I think you're getting involved in something really cool, but I just wanted to share some wisdom nuggets about challenges you might experience.
Dear Future Nnindye Researchers,
Congratulations on choosing to spend your summer helping the UPFORD program in Nnindye. During my time in Nnindye I learned things I never could have in the classroom. There is no replicating the feeling of being invited into somebody’s home on the other side of the world to share a meal or a conversation. The villagers in Nnindye live truly rich lives. They do not need to be “developed” by westerners. They are decision-makers, and the UPFORD program supports them through participatory programs entrusting villagers with enacting solutions to their challenges. That said, the UPFORD program has faced difficulties. When I went to Uganda the program had been operating for just over three years and had still not moved beyond addressing agricultural issues, only one of the five sectors identified by the local community. Although the program’s participatory principles inspired me, I wish I had better understood the challenges inherent to participatory development before my immersion. While there, I saw that local power structures have the potential to derail the participatory foundations of UPFORD, efforts to focus on women’s issues can risk over-simplifying the various identities and aspirations women hold, and that Uganda’s political corruption and unequal economy constrain the program’s ability to enact revolutionary change. I want to give you a better understanding of the challenges UPFORD faces so that you can contribute to finding solutions.
Dear Future Nnindye Researchers,
Congratulations on choosing to spend your summer helping the UPFORD program in Nnindye. During my time in Nnindye I learned things I never could have in the classroom. There is no replicating the feeling of being invited into somebody’s home on the other side of the world to share a meal or a conversation. The villagers in Nnindye live truly rich lives. They do not need to be “developed” by westerners. They are decision-makers, and the UPFORD program supports them through participatory programs entrusting villagers with enacting solutions to their challenges. That said, the UPFORD program has faced difficulties. When I went to Uganda the program had been operating for just over three years and had still not moved beyond addressing agricultural issues, only one of the five sectors identified by the local community. Although the program’s participatory principles inspired me, I wish I had better understood the challenges inherent to participatory development before my immersion. While there, I saw that local power structures have the potential to derail the participatory foundations of UPFORD, efforts to focus on women’s issues can risk over-simplifying the various identities and aspirations women hold, and that Uganda’s political corruption and unequal economy constrain the program’s ability to enact revolutionary change. I want to give you a better understanding of the challenges UPFORD faces so that you can contribute to finding solutions.
Local Power Structures
A pressing challenge for participatory development projects is dealing with local power structures. Cornwall notes that even the most well-planned participatory programs can “exacerbate existing forms of exclusion, silencing dissidence and masking the dissent of marginal voices” (6). Unfortunately, I felt during my immersion into the UPFORD program that wealthier villagers can dictate the program’s goals. One example of this comes to me through my research partner Jeffrey. An aspiring politician, his primary cause is getting youth more involved in local agriculture. At one village meeting Jeffrey expressed frustrations that a program to pay small additional wages to youths participating in agriculture had been abandoned because a wealthy local man had invested in a truck of boda-bodas and needed young boys to drive them. Jeffrey claimed that this initiative was closed because the investor serves on an UPFORD committee. Although I believe that the UPFORD program is well-intentioned, it is not immune to the corrupting influence of local power structures.
Women's Issues
I also saw the UPFORD program struggling to combine a specific emphasis on women’s issues with its general commitment to participatory principles. Although I believe that women’s empowerment should be a goal of any participatory project, the UPFORD program sometimes treats women as a separate homogenous unit instead of streamlining their concerns into the various projects. Mohan and Stokke write that “to assume female solidarity masks women’s agency in the pursuit of their own projects that may be based on other lines of connectedness and difference” (17). I have an example from my research where I treated women as a homogenous group and not as unique individuals. After I interviewed SILC groups operating out of the community gardens, I realized that several of the questions I asked women assumed that women all think alike. For instance, I asked “what do women typically need loans for,” which may have elicited a different response than if I had asked a woman what she, as an individual, needs a loan for. Thus, in my own experience, participatory programs can reinforce simplistic ontologies such as “women vs. men” which reflect the passive assumptions of researchers (6). After this incident I tried to not let my hypotheses about villagers’ desires or identities govern the phrasing of my questions. I am sure you too will struggle with understanding your role as a researcher, and I advise you to try to leave academic biases outside of your questions, as effective participatory programs allow people to communicate their individual needs and motivations.
Slow Progress
Finally, while in Nnindye I came to understand that participatory programs are limited to pursuing only small, incremental goals. Research on social capital has emphasized the importance of synergistic relationships between the national government and local organizations in empowering communities to make significant improvements in livelihoods. (26). However, in the absence of an effective policy climate, grassroots associations like those fostered by participatory development programs can find their efforts stunted or counteracted. Thus, Mohan and Stokke contend that ideally, “NGOs should seek to build up the capacity of the state as an integral part of localized, grassroots work, rather than creating parallel or alternative welfare delivery systems outside the state” (17). However, UPFORD lacks the financial resources to alter the behavior of the government and is limited to facilitating incremental improvements in livelihoods. But, to the villagers I met who have difficulty feeding their families, this is still extremely important.
Your Turn
Father Bob, head of the Ford Program, often talks about how Notre Dame’s work in Nnindye is an experiment in participatory development. As I have seen, this ambitious experiment faces several obstacles: risks that local power structures may overturn participatory principles, a difficulty streamlining women’s concerns into the broader goals of the program, and limitations posed by Uganda’s macro-economic and political environment. As you are preparing to embark on this journey of a lifetime, let this letter serve as a reminder to always be a learner. Every day conducting research in Uganda, I felt like a novice. An undergraduate researcher is hard-pressed to understand local politics, culturally-specific gender relations, or how participatory programs can contribute to large-scale improvements in Ugandan livelihoods in eight short weeks! Take heart in knowing that you are part of an ambitious project contributing to the common good. Learn from the people you talk to. Use your ingenuity to propose a solution to one of the challenges facing the UPFORD program. Notre Dame is committed to this project for the long haul, and contributions like yours can make this program a model for solving the challenges facing participatory development projects.
Sincerely,
Luke Horvath
Women's Issues
I also saw the UPFORD program struggling to combine a specific emphasis on women’s issues with its general commitment to participatory principles. Although I believe that women’s empowerment should be a goal of any participatory project, the UPFORD program sometimes treats women as a separate homogenous unit instead of streamlining their concerns into the various projects. Mohan and Stokke write that “to assume female solidarity masks women’s agency in the pursuit of their own projects that may be based on other lines of connectedness and difference” (17). I have an example from my research where I treated women as a homogenous group and not as unique individuals. After I interviewed SILC groups operating out of the community gardens, I realized that several of the questions I asked women assumed that women all think alike. For instance, I asked “what do women typically need loans for,” which may have elicited a different response than if I had asked a woman what she, as an individual, needs a loan for. Thus, in my own experience, participatory programs can reinforce simplistic ontologies such as “women vs. men” which reflect the passive assumptions of researchers (6). After this incident I tried to not let my hypotheses about villagers’ desires or identities govern the phrasing of my questions. I am sure you too will struggle with understanding your role as a researcher, and I advise you to try to leave academic biases outside of your questions, as effective participatory programs allow people to communicate their individual needs and motivations.
Slow Progress
Finally, while in Nnindye I came to understand that participatory programs are limited to pursuing only small, incremental goals. Research on social capital has emphasized the importance of synergistic relationships between the national government and local organizations in empowering communities to make significant improvements in livelihoods. (26). However, in the absence of an effective policy climate, grassroots associations like those fostered by participatory development programs can find their efforts stunted or counteracted. Thus, Mohan and Stokke contend that ideally, “NGOs should seek to build up the capacity of the state as an integral part of localized, grassroots work, rather than creating parallel or alternative welfare delivery systems outside the state” (17). However, UPFORD lacks the financial resources to alter the behavior of the government and is limited to facilitating incremental improvements in livelihoods. But, to the villagers I met who have difficulty feeding their families, this is still extremely important.
Your Turn
Father Bob, head of the Ford Program, often talks about how Notre Dame’s work in Nnindye is an experiment in participatory development. As I have seen, this ambitious experiment faces several obstacles: risks that local power structures may overturn participatory principles, a difficulty streamlining women’s concerns into the broader goals of the program, and limitations posed by Uganda’s macro-economic and political environment. As you are preparing to embark on this journey of a lifetime, let this letter serve as a reminder to always be a learner. Every day conducting research in Uganda, I felt like a novice. An undergraduate researcher is hard-pressed to understand local politics, culturally-specific gender relations, or how participatory programs can contribute to large-scale improvements in Ugandan livelihoods in eight short weeks! Take heart in knowing that you are part of an ambitious project contributing to the common good. Learn from the people you talk to. Use your ingenuity to propose a solution to one of the challenges facing the UPFORD program. Notre Dame is committed to this project for the long haul, and contributions like yours can make this program a model for solving the challenges facing participatory development projects.
Sincerely,
Luke Horvath
Quick Ideas
- Participatory programs are exciting, but come with challenges
- Local power structures, difficulty incorporating women's issues with the general programs, and slow progress are the main challenges I saw to participatory programs