NGOs, the poor, and local government

An examination is presented of an NGO project in Zambia, focusing on its approach, its specific consequences for local participation, potential for sustainability and its ability to hold the government accountable for how its uses public resources. Sections focus on: channeling food aid; and food for work programmes. It is concluded that unless aid projects make it a priority to establish or reinforce mechanisms by which existing, locally available resources are mobilized and used effectively in resolving the problems of the poor, they cannot contribute to laying a basis for further development. This article also appears in the Development in Practice Reader [13]Development, NGOs, and Civil Society. Abstract supplied by kind permission of CABI. This article is freely available as a chapter in Development NGOs and Civil Society.