The central element in PPP is the formation of self-help groups of the rural poor as the first step in a long-term institution building process
Group membership offers the poor several advantages. First, groups are starting bases for development activities which, if undertaken by individuals, would involve greater risk and effort.
Groups are efficient receiving mechanisms for government and NGO development agencies. They are also learning laboratories, promoting such skills as group enterprise management and problem solving.
Finally, groups help empower the rural poor by providing them with an instrument for participation in local decision-making.
A PPP group meeting in Zambia
PPP projects follow four guidelines in group formation:
▪ Groups should be small.
Groups of eight to 15 people facilitate dialogue between members, have greater economic flexibility and are less likely to be dominated by élites.
▪ Groups should be homogeneous. Conflicts are reduced when members live under similar socio-economic conditions.
▪ Groups should be formed around viable starter income-raising activities. Income-raising activities are crucial to group development because they generate assets that build financial self-reliance.
▪ Groups should be voluntary and self-governing. Participants decide who should join the groups, who should lead them and what rules they should follow.
The project then organizes informal meetings with prospective group members to discuss the purpose, methods of operation and benefits of groups, as well as possible enterprises.
Group promoters make a list of potential group members and leaders, possible group activities and required inputs.
Once the participants have identified viable income-raising activities, they decide on criteria for group membership: for example, whether members should belong to a specific category such as smallholders, tenants or landless. They assess their productive resources, including capital, skills and experience.
Group members then elect a chairperson, secretary and treasurer. Project staff encourage rotation of leadership positions among group members in order to give all members leadership experience.
The formation of viable and stable groups requires patience and, in most cases, a period of two to six months. Both overly rapid formation and overly long delays, which may dampen the interest of potential group members, are avoided.
The process of group formation may face formidable obstacles. In most cases, the rural poor are economically dependent on landowners, traders and middlemen and may fear intimidation if they become involved in independent peasant organizations.
Other constraints are posed by local power-holders who may see the groups as a threat to patronclient relationships.
At local level, project staff can help overcome this antagonism by calling meetings to sensitize leaders to the objectives of the project and, above all, to illustrate the benefits of its activities to the area as a whole.
Inter-group federations
Once groups have established a sound economic base, PPP promotes their consolidation into local-level inter-group federations. These federations promote solidarity and economies of scale both in group activities and delivery of development services.
Development of local — and, eventually, regional and national — structures also stimulates the formation of more groups.
An inter-group federation must be accountable to all group members. It has a facilitating, coordinating and educational role is a source of technical assistance, economies of scale and guidance. For instance, a federation can offer training to new groups, help finance their activities from savings and perform some of the functions of group promoters.
