How can high level strategic thinking and local participation be brought together for optimum outcomes? How can the different dynamics of national Poverty Reduction Strategies and decentralisation work together effectively? This report, commissioned by the Infrastructure and Urban Development Department of the UK Department for International Development, identifies ways in which planning systems can integrate national strategic goals with the outcomes of local participatory processes.
Development functions in many developing countries are being decentralised, with both risks and benefits. Participatory processes can be a way to articulate local needs and aspirations and identify development interventions at local level. However, capacity constraints can mean that interventions identified through participatory processes are not always strategic in nature, or consistent with national government policy. Three case studies show how the use of planning systems could result in the integration of strategic objectives with the outcomes of participatory processes:
- In South Africa, Integrated Development Plans helped local governments to accept their developmental responsibilities in the post apartheid era. However, participation has not necessarily led to pro-poor outcomes; local stakeholders, especially the poor, are easily excluded.
- Zimbabwe’s Integrated Rural Accessibility Planning approach supports the democratisation of communities. It is user friendly and easily implemented, even when local capacity levels are low. Originally to help with planning transport services in rural areas, it generates data for other development sectors.
- In Ethiopia Decentralised Woreda Level Planning is used in the four biggest ethnic regions. The initial phases of the planning process were participatory but local voices got lost in successive policy drafts. The process is shaped by local top-down approaches that see participation as a means of obtaining information.
Development planning systems have the potential to make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation and development activities. Development planning will become increasingly important as a way to bring together priorities articulated in Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers and the needs of local communities. To achieve these goals the following is necessary:
- Appropriate planning systems need to be included at the project design stage.
- Adequate capacity to carry out planning must be developed at all levels of government, within civil society and in local communities.
- The development planning process must be seen to be delivering tangible results, to maintain political interest and build credibility with participating communities.
- Development planning needs extensive investment from the state and a clear commitment to implementing outcomes.
- If the development planning process is to be sustainable, local government and associated stakeholders must be committed to the process. Funding from the local revenue base ensures that local government has a significant stake in the process.
- Further research is needed, particularly to establish which factors contribute to successful decentralisation and how these can be built into the design of development planning systems.
