Policy Brief

August 2011

Creating Strong Stakeholder Engagement in Feed the Future: Suggested Strategy and Guidelines
For more information, please contact: Samuel A. Worthington President & CEO InterAction sworthington@interaction.org

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This brief is in response to a State Department request for civil society input on methods and mechanisms for stronger stakeholder engagement in the Feed the Future Initiative. It is part of an ongoing exchange on Feed the Future (FtF) topics between the InterAction community and officials at the State Department and USAID. Members of InterActions Food Security and Agriculture Working Group would like to emphasize their appreciation for this dialogue. The Working Group also strongly believes the basis for exchange between civil society and USAID on FtF and other areas of development should shift from short-term consultations on limited aspects of development planning to sustained engagement and broader partnerships. Stronger civil society engagement in FtF can significantly increase its effectiveness by better mobilizing and coordinating private resources flowing into food security and rural development. Closer collaboration among development stakeholders can energize and accelerate efforts to meet FtF objectives and the Millennium Development Goals. However, currently prevailing FtF partnership approaches limit civil society engagement. This brief documents program experiences and participatory principles that can guide FtF in more effectively mobilizing development stakeholders both domestically and internationally. While not a detailed how-to guide, this brief highlights established approaches and pathways for collaborative partnerships that can contribute greatly to the success of FtF.

www.InterAction.org 1400 16th Street, NW Suite 210 Washington, DC 20036 202.667.8227

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FILLING A CLEAR GAP IN CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION

Given their close ties to local communities, NGOs are often effective at ensuring that people who are very poor and vulnerable are consulted about and benefit from agriculture and nutrition programs. They are also critical to efforts at promoting robust consultation and sustainable implementation. Feed the Future Guide, p. 6 A range of descriptive and strategy documents from FtF and its key counterpart program, the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP), note the critical importance of stakeholder consultation and 1 mobilization for development. Yet experience to date with these programs indicates that the purpose, potential, principles and process for more comprehensive multi-stakeholder engagement are generally not yet well unders2 tood or applied. Often, the distinction between initial consultations of limited scope and long-term collaboration, based on sustained roles for a range of stakeholders and development service providers, is not well understood. This gap highlights the potential for improved relationships between governments and non-state actors. Not surprisingly, having in place processes and mechanisms for effective stakeholder engagement is a prerequisite for broad ownership of development. Their weakness or absence results in reduced mobilization of available resources, diminished development impacts and frustration for citizens and stakeholders about the potential for meaningful engagement. Ambitious objectives in poverty reduction, improved food security and participatory development sought by all stakeholders are much less likely to be realized if standards for civil society engagement are not clarified and substantially bolstered. Prevailing approaches to stakeholder engagement are characterized by a number of weaknesses. Most fundamentally, the relationship between governments and non-state actors has been shaped by mechanisms for citizen participation based on limited consultations and feedback rather than lasting engagement. More robust and effective alternatives offer great promise. Aid Effectiveness principles codified in the Paris and Accra declarations particularly the principle of country ownership have notionally established a basis for broad and inclusive participation by citizens and civil society in development processes. Yet incomplete and sometimes misleading formulations of country ownership have facilitated a tendency within governments and the donor community to side-step the issue of adequate standards for citizen and stakeholder engagement. Too often, the principle of country ownership has been taken to mean government ownership and to endorse more concentrated decision-making and resource control for state institutions. As a result, consultations with limited inclusiveness, scope and accountability have tended to substitute for a 3 process leading to strong development partnerships. Consultations have often resembled one-off opportunities for governments to announce plans, conduct public briefings, secure stakeholder endorsements of government 4 strategies or satisfy donor requests. Tracking and follow-through to assess the impact of stakeholder recom-

1 See e.g., CAADP 2010, CAADP & NEPAD 2010 and USAID 2010. This brief focuses on food security and agriculture programs, with an emphasis on FtF and CAADP engagement mechanisms. However, it is important to underscore that similar constraints and potential benefits to stronger engagement with civil society apply in most other development sectors. 2 Randall, 2010; CAADP Joint Working Group on Non-State Actor Participation, 2010, p. 1. CAADP Joint WG 2010b examines the causes of limited or weak non-state actor participation in CAADP. 3 See CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, 2011, for a discussion of the relationship between weak stakeholder consultation and feedback mechanisms, and the frequent result of limited accountability and reduced development effectiveness. 4 E.g., CAADP 2010b.

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mendations have been limited. By contrast, strong consultations are first steps on a path to participation, mobili5 zation, implementation roles and citizen ownership for non-state actors. One of the most important prerequisites for moving from pro forma consultation to meaningful civil society engagement is an accurate assessment of the landscape of non-state actors, including local actors. Governments have lacked basic information on the range of non-governmental players that should be represented in initial consultations, but have rarely redressed this deficit with appropriate surveys of civil society organizations. As a consequence, efforts by governments at outreach and inclusion of civil society have been inconsistent and sometimes selective. Generalized weaknesses in local governance, particularly in rural areas, have also limited opportunities for civil society groups to engage government entities. Governments and donors have generally enjoyed more prerogativesas well as responsibilityin establishing mechanisms for stakeholder engagement. Yet a lack of managerial buy-in within governments and donors has too often diminished the expectations, resources and opportunities for collaborative development partnerships. A strong leadership commitment to meaningful stakeholder engagement and clear steps to open space for that process within development institutions is essential. A precondition of effective partnerships and sustainable de6 velopment is an enabling policy, legal and regulatory environment for civil society organizations. Yet in many countries simply securing operating space and freedom from official interference is a persistent challenge. Responsibility for the success of multi-stakeholder engagement rests not just with governments and donors. Expanded awareness and capability needs to be created among all development actorsincluding civil societyto underpin accountability for appropriate stakeholder roles. Civil society organizations are still working to fully master the implications of the official aid effectiveness discourse and the roles for various development actors. Understanding by all parties about the implications of the NGO counterpart to the Paris and Accra principles en7 coded in Istanbul CSO Development Effectiveness Principles is also a work in progress. While enthusiasm for agricultural development and poverty-reduction objectives is pervasive in civil society, capacity deficits have sometimes created the appearance that non-governmental stakeholders are challenged in formulating clear, consistent and constructive positions on development priorities. Not surprisingly, civil society networks with limited capabilities do sometimes struggle to organize and build consensus within their diverse constituencies. These organizations frequently face deficits in human capital. Without up-front capacity building, the opportunity to participate on short notice in dialogue with governments on development strategy and program issues can be daunting. To offset these challenges, local and international NGOs have been engaged in strengthening their capabilities and those of their partners. Wider donor community understanding of the development payoff to investments in capacity building through these existing partnerships is urgently needed. Appropriate program mechanisms and resources are needed to facilitate non-state actors in gaining skills in policy analysis, participatory economic governance and community mobilization to complement their other technical capabilities.

5 Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, 2010, pp. 3-19. See also CRS, 2006 on experiences in promoting the engagement of citizens and civil society in democratic, participatory and accountable governance in a range of countries. Gaventa and Barrett 2010 provide empirical findings from a range of citizen engagement contexts that document the positive impacts of meaningful citizen engagement for social change and development. 6 Tax incentives encouraging philanthropic giving to NGOs would also be an important enabling factor. 7 The Istanbul Principles, agreed to at the Open Forums Global Assembly in Istanbul in September 2010, are the foundation of the Open Forums Draft International Framework on CSO Development Effectiveness. These principles are further elaborated in Version 2 of the Framework, which can be found on the Open Forums web site, www.cso-effectiveness.org.

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PATHS TO STRENGTHENED CIVIL SOCIETY ENGAGEMENT

Sustained dialogue and coordination between governments, donors and a wide range of stakeholders, including NGOs, community organizations, public interest groups and the private sector is essential to relieving poverty 8 and hunger. As the Presidential Policy Directive on Development recognizes, working with a wide range of actors is essential to reorienting our approach to partnerships from policy conception through to implementation. FTF documents persuasively establish that civil society organizations can play a powerful role in mobilizing communities and expanding participation in development. The tight budget environment affecting developed and developing countries alike also argues for more ambitious resource mobilization, partnerships and coordination among development actors. The billions of dollars of private development resources mobilized annually by the NGO community can catalyze and consolidate public development investments if these resource streams are better integrated and aligned. Wide stakeholder participation in the design and implementation of development activities is needed to strengthen their sustainability, cost cost9 effectiveness and accountability. Consultations are a critical initial step in building trust, clarifying plans and framing development strategies to facilitate this outcome. Consultations should be seen as collaborative, multilateral conversations about goals, strategies, programs and future roles for all participants. They should provide information to and collect information from stakeholders regarding possible pathways or steps ahead. But to achieve this end, a clear, shared un10 derstanding of the purpose of consultation and subsequent stakeholder engagement is essential. Consultations should not be one-off opportunities for governments to announce already-decided approaches or to brief audiences about government decisions. Instead, they should serve the core purpose of establishing sustainable convening mechanisms for effective civic and public engagement over the long term. Yet as the survey of InterAction members field experience with consultations and sustained engagement in FtF demonstrated, the initiative has to date been characterized in many cases by limited opportunities for participa11 tion and wide variability in the quality and scope of stakeholder participation. One of the essential preconditions for reshaping this pattern and for engaging civil society more strongly is to survey civil society organizations and activities in specific countries. Governments cannot reach out to civil society effectively if they lack information and knowledge about what organizations exist, where they operate or what they are trying to accomplish. Survey

8 See Save the Children 2010a, p.2. See also Bernard, et al. 1998 and Blair 1998 for discussion of the importance of civil society to a range of important development outcomes. Examples of appropriate civil society participants would include community-based organizations, local service organizations, NGOs, business associations, cooperatives and farmer associations, educators and researchers, trade unions, religious organizations, womens organizations, and small enterprises. 9 See Curran 2005, on how the PRSP process provides many examples of the structure and outcomes of more robust participatory process, including measures to track stakeholder input through revisions of PRSPs. See also Oxfam 2004, pp. 5-10, and Save the Children 2010b. The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and Millennium Challenge Corporation approaches are examples of processes with relatively broad stakeholder engagement mechanisms (see MCC 2009). The MCC approach is geared toward stakeholder mechanisms that can be reconvened to facilitate more sustained participation, including participation in the formal MCA governance structure. The World Bank 2005, very nicely summarizes the rationale, benefits and potential mechanisms for much more thoroughgoing engagement between the WB and civil society groupsthough with relatively limited examples of implementation to date. 10 A checklist of illustrative steps that meet these basic criteria for a consultative event is offered in InterActions 2010b memo to the State Department. The purpose of that checklist was to aid certification that an appropriate consultative process had taken place as a prerequisite for countries to move from phase 1 to phase 2 status. It is important to emphasize that such one-off consultations with narrowly defined purposes should not be confused with a sustained stakeholder engagement process. 11 InterAction Food Security and Agriculture Working Group, 2010 a.

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assessments of the non-state actor landscape represent a relatively low-cost initial step that can address many 12 of the information deficits that have limited participation to date. Perhaps most important, consultations should establish processes to follow-up on and assess the extent to 13 which stakeholder input has been factored in to national development strategies and programs. The success of these efforts will often depend on the willingness of governments to recruit facilitators and empower program managers with demonstrated experience in and commitment to participatory stakeholder engagement. Government officers from ministries and technical agencieswhose experience and interests typically lie elsewhere should participate in consultations but will likely not be appropriate leaders of the process. Furthermore, to be successful, consultations must result in visible and significant changes in development policies, strategies and 14 programs consistent with stakeholder recommendations. The credibility of government outreach will quickly evaporate if consultations fail to deliver such changes.

KEY PRINCIPLES AND RECOMMENDED PROCESS FOR STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT

A literature review on multi-stakeholder engagement undertaken by InterActions Food Security and Agriculture Working Group confirmed a set of core principles and best practices. These principles feature consistently in the literature contained in the reference section at the end of this brief. The summary of principles for stakeholder engagement offered below is an indication of the common denominators and touchstones for effective participation. A broader and more consistent commitment by governments and donors to implementing these principles is essential to meaningful citizen and civil society mobilization for development. A more complete mining of this literature can provide fuller methodologies and options for creating stakeholder engagement at the local, regional or country levels. The principles below are not presented in order of importance or sequence, and should be viewed as an integrated package rather than as a menu of options. Base country ownership strategies on whole of society participatory and democratic mobilization rather than, as is too often the case, primarily on government ownership. Define country ownership as a lasting partnership with the full range of development stakeholders. Develop criteria for inclusive country ownership that gauge the participation of host country civil society organizations and other development actors in creating country-led plans. Define the catalytic rather than simply controlling role that governments should play in multi-stakeholder coalitions, and assist host governments in creating frameworks and processes for broad-

12 Social scientists with appropriate qualitative and quantitative survey skills should be tasked with mapping the NGO sector in most countries. The work-around solution of USAID and the Department of State requesting InterAction and its members on very short deadlines to inventory their in-country partners or to survey their partners experiences in engaging FtF and CAADP programs is a partial step; but it is not a viable basis for inventorying development stakeholders because it is not possible to gather credible, complete information from outside the country on short notice and at no cost. More important, this approach tends to omit the many organizations that lack current partnerships with international NGOs or that may not be known to them. (See InterAction 2010b). See Nash et al. 2006 for a summary of themes and approaches in survey work for the civil society sector. 13 MCC 2005 and 2010. The most efficient way to manage the logistics of large numbers of organizations and associations wishing to participate in consultations may be to create a series of subsidiary consultations. These can identify priorities and representatives for future engagement. 14 Separate monitoring and indicators are needed to track the quality of consultations and the follow-through processes that creates sustained participation

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based participation. Assign clear, reliable government contact points for non-state actors seeking to participate in national development strategies. Authorize and build the capacity of these contacts to provide information, facilitate scheduling and communication, and to serve as communications nodes within governments. Structure initial consultations so that stakeholders can contribute to planning the meetings, can prepare and participate fully, and can influence the outcomes. Survey the stakeholder landscape to ensure an inclusive process. Share planning documents and meeting agendas sufficiently in advance so that participants can prepare positions and responses. Use local languages or provide translation to enable attendees to participate fully. Circulate post-meeting notes that identify action points for various participants. Follow up to assess how effectively stakeholder input shapes program strategies, designs, implementation and monitoring of development results. Use consultations to identify the comparative advantages and implementation roles that a wide range of non-state development actors should play. Clarify the past contributions and potential comparative advantages of a wide range of civil society actors in national development strategies. Along with local, regional and national government, engage NGOs, trade unions, community-based organizations, womens organizations, indigenous peoples groups, faith-based and secular organizations, and advocates for various stakeholders interested in collaborative implementation. Document sectoral needs and match these with organizational strengths to chart an optimal division of labor. Identify potential synergies and partnerships as well as the service, policy and resource gaps that will affect development outcomes. Establish long-term, collaborative partnerships with civil society stakeholders. Establish expectations and standards for improved collaboration and partnerships between governments, donors, civil society and the private sector. Set criteria for engagement based on substantive, sustained stakeholder roles spanning the assessment, planning, design, implementation and monitoring of development programs. Establish clear, formal mechanisms to ensure each of these stages maintains and deepens the participation established in initial consultations. Include womens organizations and representatives of other marginalized groups (especially the poor) to achieve effective mobilization and lasting development impacts. Ensure that recruitment for national development dialogues includes groups representing disadvantaged populations that have lacked social, political and economic influence. Reach out to organizations such as womens groups, ethnic and social minorities, representatives of childrens interests and the disabled to make their participation certain. Appropriately support them with resources and technical support to ensure they participate fairly and effectively. Balance the representation and participation of groups during consultations to ensure organizations with an historical lack of influence in setting development agendas and in undertaking activities are not dominated by those with greater clout. Apply participatory principles and standards flexibly but consistently. Keep basic values of respect, shared interests, coordination, community benefits and mutual accountability at the center of participatory processes. Use U.S. diplomatic channels to communicate FtF expectations about whole-of-society stakeholder participation and documentation of development results as positive conditionality to host country governments. Use regional oversight processes such as CAADP and State Department diplomatic contacts to monitor accountability for consistent minimum standards for stakeholder participation.

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Build the capacity of all participants to engage in meaningful consultations and longer-term development roles. Invest in the significant training and skills building most governments and civil society sectors will need to participate in meaningful consultations and to assume effective development roles. Anticipate the need for capacity strengthening as part of preparations for consultations, and continue to assess and respond to capacity needs throughout the development process. View the incremental costs of staffing and training as an effective way to reduce the inefficiency, limited impacts and delays that often beset development efforts. Ensure that capacity building and CSO partnership skills are included in pre-deployment training for all USAID staff. Place civil society engagement officers in USAID missions. Allocate appropriate resources for the implementation roles of non-state actor partners. o Invest in strengthening civil society networks to achieve efficiencies, foster partnerships and 15 facilitate organizational capacity building. Support the role of national and regional platforms, alliances or federations of NGOs and other non-state actors to help harmonize, align and coordinate the efforts of their members. Facilitate information sharing and capacity building through network platforms to reduce these costs and enhance collaboration among non-state actors.

Take appropriate policy, regulatory and legal steps to create a more enabling environment for civil society and other key development actors to operate. Create the conditions for success in whole-of-society engagement by opening more supportive and enabling policy, legal and regulatory spaces for these organizations to work. Ensure the operating environment for civil society reflects the range of roles that non-state actors must play in order to achieve more effective development. Reduce the constraints that limit the ability of local and international NGOs to accomplish development missions in support of and in partnership with national development strategies.

SUMMARY
The endorsement by governments of aid effectiveness and country ownership principles in the Paris and Accra declarations has strengthened the mandate for enhanced civil society engagement in development. Strategic planning and implementation documents from both FtF and CAADP signal an appreciation of the important roles non-state actors will need to play in order to meet FtF objectives and the Millennium Development Goals. Yet the quality of stakeholder engagement and of steps by governments to establish sustained partnerships with civil society have often fallen well short of the standards these documents set. This brief provides a compelling rationale for addressing the engagement gap grounded in greater resource mobilization and the enhanced efficiency and effectiveness of development outcomes. It identifies key principles for stakeholder participation that can help guide policy makers and program managers in addressing one of the most significant constraints to the potential for FtF and CAADP to achieve poverty reduction and food security outcomes. The brief documents successful program examples of stronger stakeholder engagement that are directly relevant and applicable in these efforts. References and footnotes point to a burgeoning literature that details the principles, processes and mechanisms for multi-stakeholder mobilization and participation in development. This literature represents a resource that can powerfully amplify and sustain the impacts of FtF and CAADP investments.
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See Mitlin et al. 1998 for a discussion of the role of civil society in strengthening local NGOs to achieve better economic governance and development.

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For more information, please contact any of the following InterAction staff: Brian Greenberg, bgreenberg@interaction.org Danielle Heiberg, dheiberg@interaction.org Stephanie Cappa, scappa@interaction.org

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REFERENCES
Advisory Group on Civil Society and Aid Effectiveness, Civil society and aid effectiveness, 2008. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/ACCRAEXT/Resources/4700790-1208545462880/AG-CS-Synthisisof-Consultations.pdf Bernard, A., H. Helmich and P.B. Lehning (eds), Civil society and international development, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 1998. Blair, H., Civil society and building democracy: Lessons from international donor experience, in Bernard, A. et al., Civil Society and International Development, supra., pp. 65-80. Bread for the World, A better way of partnering: Supporting Country-led Efforts Against Hunger and Malnutrition, in 2011 Hunger Report: Our Common Interest: Ending Hunger and Malnutrition, 2011. http://www.hungerreport.org/2011/report/chapters/two CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, Views from the receiving end of international assistance, 2005. http://www.cdainc.com/cdawww/project_profile.php?pid=LISTEN&pname=Listening%20Project CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, Feedback Mechanisms in International Assistance Organizations, 2011. http://www.cdainc.com/cdawww/pdf/other/lp_feedback_research_report_Pdf_1.pdf Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) Joint Working Group on Non-State Actor Participation, Plan for developing proposals to improve participation of non-state actors in the CAADP agenda, 2010. CAADP Joint Working Group on Non-State Actor Participation, Notes from Research into Non-State Actor Participation in CAADP, 2010. CAADP, Action Planning Workshop Summary: How to Boost Non-State Actor Participation in CAADP,2010. http://gallery.mailchimp.com/e59d232485862bc0957255172/files/NSA_Action_planning_worksh op_summary.pdf CAADP, Post Compact Reviews: Guidelines, 2010. http://www.caadp.net/pdf/POST%20COMPACT%20GUIDELINE%20-

%20English.pdf

CAADP/NEPAD, Accelerating CAADP Country ImplementationA Guide for Implementers, 2010. www.caadp.net/pdf/CAADP_imp_guide_WEB.pdf Curran, Zaza, Civil society participation in the PRSP: the role of evidence and the impact on policy choices, Overseas Development Institute, 2005. http://www.odi.org.uk/work/projects/cspp/activities/ppa0106/odi_prspsandcivilsociety.pdf Feed the Future Guide, 2010. http://www.feedthefuture.gov/guide.html Food and Agriculture Organization, What do we mean by participation in development? http://www.fao.org/participation/ourvision.html Gaventa, John and Gregory Barrett, So What Difference Does it Make? Mapping the Outcomes of Citizen Engagement, 2010. 139.184.195.66/publications/WP347.pdf

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Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, Guidelines for Donor Support to CAADP Process at a CountryLevel, 2009. http://www.nepad-caadp.net/library-meeting-documents.php Global Donor Platform for Rural Development, CSOs and Aid Effectiveness in Agriculture and Rural Development, 2010. http://www.donorplatform.org/load/2472 The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Guidelines and Requirements for Country Coordinating Mechanisms. http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/ccm/guidelines/ Hedger, M. and S. Virinder, Moving forward on climate change planning - Lessons from Orissa. Climate and Development Knowledge Network Policy Brief, 2010. http://ccsl.iccip.net/moving_forward_on_climate_change_planning.pdf InterAction Food Security and Agriculture Working Group, Feed the Future/CAADP Consultation Questionnaire, 2010. InterAction Food Security and Agriculture Working Group, Suggestions on Consultation Benchmarks, 2010. Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), Guidelines for the Consultative Process, 2009. http://www.mcc.gov/pages/countrytools/tools/compact-development MCC, Guidelines for the Use of Country Systems in the Implementation of Millennium Challenge Compacts, 2010. http://www.mcc.gov/pages/countrytools/tools/compact-implementation Mitlin, D., The NGO sector and its role in strengthening civil society and securing good governance in Bernard, A. et al.,Civil Society and International Development,supra., pp. 81-95. Nash, R., A. Hudson, and C. Luttrell, Mapping Political Context: A Toolkit for Civil Society Organizations, Overseas Development Institute, 2006. http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/152.pdf Oxfam, From Donorship to Ownership?: Moving Towards PRSP Round Two, Oxfam Briefing Paper 51, 2004. http://www.un-ngls.org/orf/cso/OxfamV1.pdf InterAction Food Security and Agriculture Working Group 2010. Memo submitted to State Department and USA ID entitled, Suggestions on Consultation Benchmarks. Available on request from InterAction. Randall, I., How to boost non-state actor participation in CAADP, CAADP Working Group on Non-State Actor Participation, 2010. http://www.africaforum.info/0 NSA in CAADP-Palm.ppt Save the Children, Consultation & Participation for Local Ownership: What? Why? How?, 2010. http://www.savethechildren.org/atf/cf/%7B9DEF2EBE-10AE-432C-9BD0DF91D2EBA74A%7D/consultation-local-ownership.pdf Save the Children, Supporting Local Ownership & Building National Capacity: Applying a flexible and countrybased approach to aid instruments, 2010. http://www.savethechildren.org/site/c.8rKLIXMGIpI4E/b.6151901/k.A29A/Aid_Effectiveness.htm SNV Netherlands Development Organization and United Nations Development Programme, Going Local to Achieve the Millennium Development Goals, 2009. http://content.undp.org/go/cmsservice/stream/asset/?asset_id=2308392 World Bank, Issues and options for improving engagement between the World Bank and Civil Society Organizations, 2005. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/CSO/Resources/Issues_and_Options_PUBLISHED_VERSION .pdf