CIRAD and territorial approaches to development

Capacity4dev caught up with Elodie Valette, Geographer at the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), to talk about how the work they do applies geographic principles to localised development projects.

Most of the territorial development projects CIRAD has been brought in to implement have been on the request of local authorities, explained Valette. CIRAD’s approach aims to be fundamentally participative and to ensure the inclusion of stakeholders in all stages, from determining issues up through to implementation.

An active engagement from stakeholders, Valette said, requires more than just announcing you are using a participative approach. In many cases, local actors are not used to being consulted – creating a participatory atmosphere and approaching stakeholders for their engagement is the only way of ensuring their voices are included in decision making process.

She explained that in the work of CIRAD on territorial development, they make a point of never using ready-made solutions. Collaboration with stakeholders allows for the identification of key issues; these can then be acted on with a range of methodologies, developed to respond to the specificities of each case. A territorial approach requires spatial tools – GIS systems, the development of maps with local actors, and thinking through the impact of decisions on territories and actors alike.

Valette said that project cycles are the necessary way to obtaining funding and in organising research around concrete outcomes. However, ensuring a healthy degree of flexibility in project planning is necessary in ensuring that collaborative solutions can be found, she continued. Involving local actors also provides a way of making sure that the long-term impact of projects, with capacity building and training of stakeholders forming a basis for sustainable solutions.

Watch Valette discuss the principles behind ‘action research’ and how CIRAD employs a participatory approach in its projects: