Democratic rural organizations can play an important role in helping their members, who are frequently poor farmers living in the margins of the economy, to escape their disadvantaged starting point and to gain access to financial services, political influence and profitable markets for their product. Democratic Rural Organizations: Thresholds for Evolution in Africa and Asia traces the evolution of democratic rural organizations from small groups to larger, NGO financed, multi-tier democratic rural organizations in recent years. Rural citizens have historically formed democratic organizations by their own initiative, to enhance economic and social wellbeing, but in recent years rural mobilization processes are frequently initiated and supported by national Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), who are financed and guided by international NGOs, a process which has had mixed results. Using rich empirical material from Uganda, India, Bangladesh and Cambodia, Democratic Rural Organizations: Thresholds for Evolution in Africa and Asia identifies eight thresholds which represent practical stages in the development pathway of democratic rural organizations and influence success or failure. Both development practitioners and researchers of development and rural policy will find this book a useful guide to the deployment of democratic organization as a strategy for economic and political empowerment.

Democratic rural organizations can play an important role in helping their members, who are frequently poor farmers living in the margins of the economy, to escape their disadvantaged starting point and to gain access to financial services, political influence and profitable markets for their product. Democratic Rural Organizations: Thresholds for Evolution in Africa and Asia traces the evolution of democratic rural organizations from small groups to larger, NGO financed, multi-tier democratic rural organizations in recent years. Rural citizens have historically formed democratic organizations by their own initiative, to enhance economic and social wellbeing, but in recent years rural mobilization processes are frequently initiated and supported by national Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), who are financed and guided by international NGOs, a process which has had mixed results. Using rich empirical material from Uganda, India, Bangladesh and Cambodia, Democratic Rural Organizations: Thresholds for Evolution in Africa and Asia identifies eight thresholds which represent practical stages in the development pathway of democratic rural organizations and influence success or failure. Both development practitioners and researchers of development and rural policy will find this book a useful guide to the deployment of democratic organization as a strategy for economic and political empowerment.

Two perspectives have dominated the social science discourse on climate change adaptation. Firstly, an international narrative among UN and donor agencies of technical and financial support for planned climate change adaptation. Secondly, a significant volume of studies discuss how local communities can undertake their own autonomous adaptation. Effective and sustainable climate adaptation requires a third focus: understanding of the political processes within sub-national institutions that mediate between national and local practices. This book address the knowledge gap that currently exists about the role of district-level institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa in providing an enabling institutional environment for rural climate change adaptation. Key Features: * Analyses the disconnect between national and local policy and practice, and how to overcome it * Analysis of the political ecology of climate change adaptation in 10 diverse rural districts across Sub-Saharan Africa based on evidence from thorough field work * Explains how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of climate change adaptation programmes by engaging with decentralized local governments and principles of subsidiarity with regards to decision-making and control over financial resources