Education for the Rural D Welopment Catalyst

Home , Aga Khan Foundation, BRAC (organisation), Shoaib Sultan Khan

EDUCATION FOR THE RURAL D WELOPMENT CATALYST:

LEARNlNG FROM THE AGA KHAN RURAL SUPPORT PROGRAMME AND THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH

A Thesis

Presented to

The Faculty of Craduate Studies

The University of Guelph

TANK ALI KHAN

In partial fulfilment of requirements

for the degree of

Master of Science

DeCernber, 1998

Q Tarik Ali Khan, 1998 Nationai Library Bibliothèque.nationale 1+1 ,cana& du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON KIA ON4 OttawaON K1A ON4 Canada Canada

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The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fkom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or othefwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. EDUCATION FOR DMLOPMENT CATALYSTS:

Learning from the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme and the University of Guelph

Tarik Ali Khan Advisor: University of Guelph, 1998 Dr. Farokh Afshar

Catalysts are key figures in the rural dwelopment proces throughout the world. While some advocate for political change through a process of community ernpowerment and conscientisation, others serve the more conventional agenda of the developrnent agency. This case sû~dyof the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (Pakistan) and its 'social organisersr, shows how diis latter role has a less political, yet equally substantial, impact in certain contexts. The impact of a capacity development program involving AKRSP catalysts at the University of Guelph as a second case midy is assessed. The chief impact was increased self-confidence, while there was some additional improvement in critical abilities and secioral skills. This study condudes that such programs require rigorous candidate seledon, ongoing collaboration between the agency and die university, and above all, a broader learning process approach. Findings and recommendations specific to the AKRSP-University of Guelph collaboration are included. For my parents,

Aliya and Tàsaddq Ali Khan, who have given me everything. This study would not have been possible without the support of a number of individuals in Pakistan and Canada. I am grateful to die Ceneral Manager and the three Regional Programme Managers of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme who extendeci their facilities and logistical support to me. Pnor to the research, Khaleel Teday, was kind enough to offer me a four-month intemship at AKRSP Baitistan in die fail of 1997. In addition, a number of people in the dire AKRSP regions offered me their friendship, support, and a roof over my head. Specifically 1 owe thanks to Nazir Ahmad and Ghulam fi ussain in Baltistan, Caroline Miller-Forbes, Catherine Archer and Muhammad Aslam in Gilgit and Sardar Nawaz Khan and Mujeeb ur Rehman in Chitral. In Guelph, Faith Oro was kind enough to wist me with resources and illustrations for this thesis.

Financial support from die Canadian international ûevelopment Agency (CIDA), the School of Rural Planning and Development (SRP&D) and the Centre for International Programs (CIP) at the University of Guelph made this research possible. I am grateful to Crazyna Beaudoin at the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) for her cooperation in administering îhe ClDA funding.

Special thanks go to my advisory cornmittee members, Dr. Sally Humphries and Dr. Farokh Afshar. As my research advisor and Coordinator of the Diplorna Program in IRDP, Farokh, in particular, provided me with ongoing feedback and support throughout my MSc. program.

I owe thanks to my wife, Sangye Dolma Khan, who has offered me her support in wery way imaginable. And to our son, Kanm Ali Khan (the best of rural dwelopments), who began his joumey in the Northem Areas of Pakistan.

Lady 1 would like to thank the rural development professionals who participateci in diis study. They continue to stnve to improve living standards for the residents of this unique part of the world. TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Abbreviatiom v List of Figures vi Clossay of Urdu/Hindi Temis viii

PART I : 1NTRODUCnON

2. CATALYST THEORIES AND CASES

3. METHODOLOCY 3.1 Background to Research 3.2 Research Coais 3.3 Two Case Studies 3.4 Respondent Bias 3.5 Researcher Bias 3.6 mer Biases and Limitations

PART 1t :AKRSP CATALYSTS :CASE STUDY #1

4. CONTEXT 4.1 Northem Pakistan 4.2 Brief History 4.3 The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme

5, AKRSP'S SOCIAL ORGANISERS SO internship Entv Techniques Qualities of the ideal Catalyst Catal yst S kills Obstacles to the Catalyst's Work Women Catalym Current Directions in Women's Organisation Challenging or Confoning to Traditional Structures? 6. CATALYST BACKGROUND 6.1 Rural Origins 6.2 Covemment Schooling 6.3 University Education 6.4 Cornmon Cround 6.5 Staff Development at AKRSP 6.6 Professionai Developrnent for Catalysb

7. THEDlMlNtSHlNGCATALYST 7.1 TheLeamingProcessatAKRSP 7.2 New Diredons in Social Organisation

PART III : THE MID-CAREER PROGRAM : CASE STUDY #2

CAPAClTY DEELOPMENT FOR CATALYSTS 8.1 The id-Career Program in International Rural Development Planning 8.2 Program Objedives

ASSESSING THE 1MPACl OF TRAlNlNG 9.1 Key Quesb'ons

THE SRP&D EXPERIENCE 10.1 Seledon of Candidates 10.2 Pre- Depamire Preparation

MID-CAREER PROGRAM ACTIWTIES 11.1 Courses 1 1.2 Field Visits 11.3 Grades

RESULTS :TRANSFORMED PERSPECTIVES 12.1 Re-Entry into the AKRSP Work Environment 12.2 Promotion and Advancement 1 2.3 Confidence 12.4 Knowledge and Specific Sectord Skills 12.5 OtherSkik 12.5.1 Cornputers 12.5.2 Presentation 12.5.3 Report Wnting

iii 12.6 lmproved Linkage Capacity 12.7 Tangible Behaviour Change

13. RMSlTlNG KEY QUESTIONS

14. FURTHER COLLABORATION WlTH SRP&D

PART IV : CONCLUSIONS

APPENDICES Appendix A: AKRSP Mid-Career Program Aiumni Appendix B: Summary of Finding and Remmmendations Appendix C: Social Organiser Job Description (1 995-1 997) Appendix D: Interview Schedule for Development Catalysts List of Abbreviations

AKDN Aga Khan Dwelopment Network AKES Aga Khan Education Services AKFC Aga Khan Foundation Canada AKRSP Aga Khan Rural Support Programme BRAC Bangladesh Rural Advancement Cornmittee ClDA Canadian lntemational Development Agency FMU Field Management Unit GM Cenerai Manager HRD Human Resources Development HRMC H uman Resources Management Commitîee I DRC International Development Research Centre IIRR-AR0 I ntemationaf lnstîtute of Rural Reconstruction - Afnca Regionai Office IRDP International Rural Development Planning JMM Joint Monitoring Mission LDO Local Development Organisation LSU Leaming Support Unit MER Monitoring, Evaluation and Research NRSP National Rural Support Programme PARD Pakistan Academy for Rural Development PLC Participatory Learning Centre RPM Regional Programme Manager SO Social Organiser SRP&D School of Rural Planning and Development TLP Training and Leaming Program (in Social Organisation) TSU Training Support Unit VO Village Organisation VSO Volunteer Service Overseas WID Women in Development WO Women's Organisation List of Figures

Approaches to Rural Change The Rural Deveiopment Catalyst: A Taxonomy Map of Pakistan (Political) India-Pakistan Border: hhrnir Area Profile of the Northern Areas and Chitral The 4gh imam of the lsmaili Muslims, Prince Karim Aga Khan AKRSP Operations Area: The Five Disbids of the Northern Areas and Chitral. AKRS P-assisteci Productive Physical Infrastructure (PPI) projects: an imgation channel. Newly developed land through imgation is then subdivided. Link roads are another commonly chosen PPI. AKRSP-intduced new varieties of wheat AKRSP Organisational Chart The Role of AKRSP Catalysts An AKRSP catilyst ('social organiser') addresses a village organisation 010) meeting in the Shigar Valley, Baltistan. Wazir Chulam Haider, a longstanding social organiser, addresses a VO meetihg with technical staff. Troubleshooting Summary Women Catalysts AKRSP women's social organiser, Zakia Karim, conducts a WO meeting Kuisoom Farman, a fernale catalyst speaks on the importance of poultry as an income-generating enterprise for women. Male Catalysts AKRSP FMU-Wise Map of the Northern Areas and Chitral AKRSP Organogram (1996) Changing Catalyst Roles at AKRSP AKRSP and The Leaming Process Appropriate Training for Catalysts Graduates from die University of Guelph's Mid-Career Program in IRDP at the AKRSP Core Office in Ciigit Number of Mid-Career Students Enroled per year. Proportion of Mid-Career Aiumni from Parb'cipatingOrganisations Assessing the impact of Training Mid-Career program Logic Mode1 Dipiorna Coordinator, an AKRSP studenf and AKFC representative at major p rofessional pa per presentations. 11-2 AKRSP social organisen Nazir Ahmad and Mohammad lqbal on a 134 field trip. 1 1.3 AKRSP Women's Coordinator, Kulsoom Farman, presents her major 136 professional paper to faculty and peers. 12.1 Mohammad Daqat, a former RPM, daims SRP&D direcdy contributed 143 to his capacity as a rural development consultant 12.2 Pmng his major professional paper into practice, Ali Mohammad 148 retumed to fom linkages. 12.3 Change in Position after Complethg the Mid-Career Program 149 12.4 Examples of Behaviour Change in Mid-Career Program Graduates 152 13.1 Key Questions and Results Matrix 153 Clossary of UrduIflindi Terms

kPr Forced labour

@air mard Men from outside a woman's kin group or village.

gram sevak Village-level Worker (1 ndia)

gram udpg Village cottag industries

langar khana Place for free offenng of food

madrassah lslamic school

Mehtar Hereditary feudal der of Chitral

Mir Hereditary feudal der of Hunza (incl. Cojal)

Raja Hereditary feudal rulers of the Balti valleys (Rongdu, Skardu, Shigr, Khapalu and Kharmang) as well as Yasin, and Punial in Chizar distria

salwar kameez The unofficial national dress of Pakistan: baggy pants with a long matching shirt (usually made of comn).

samaj seva Social work

sifaris h 'Recommendation' for employment (based on one's 'connections') swadeshi Nationalism sooth

viii PART I : INTRODUCTION

Khuda ne aaj tak us qaum ki halat nahin badli Na ho jis ko khayaal, khud apne badalne ka.

(Cod has not changed the situation of any society that has not kenwilling to change itself.)

-Ailama iqbal (quoted by Nazir ~hmad,AKRS P catalyst)

1. INTRODUCTION

On a summer aftemoon in 1997, I was one of many men eating lunch in a srnall restaurant in the crowded bazaar of Skardu (pop. 70,000),hi@ up in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan. At the front of the spartan eatery was a TV showing the latest episode of The Bold and the Beautiful, an Amencan soap opera broadcasted by satellite from Hong Kong. Although the program was in a foreign language, the bearded audience was transfixed. When a blonde actor suddenly grabbed his equally blonde female counterpart for a drarnatic kiss, the restaurant fell silent f rom the back of the renaurant came a vulgr curse and the restaurant owner hurriedly changed the channel to something Iess provocative.

In the era of satellite TV, global communications, and global trade, why such shock over a hamless kiss? The anwer lies in the pace of change. The patrons of diis restaurant had corne from oudying communities to the local metropolis of Skardu, probably to bring back imported gdsto their families. Seeing satellite TV for the first time, they would

Iikely never forget the day they saw two white people pressing dieir mouths against each other.

Increasingiy, rural cornmunities in the so-called Third World are king forced to accommodate more economic, social, and technological changes han pehaps ever before. However, unlike their urban counterparts who Iive doser to the loci of change, managing these changes may be more difficult With greater isolation, fewer resources, and marginalisation from the nation state, rural communities can benefit from interaction with a change agent or catalyst. Whether this figure is a local innovator or employed by an agency, her funciion is to jumpstart the dwelopment process, to motivate and sb'mulate planned change that is ideally guided by local residents.

This diesis explores a case study of such planned change in cornmunities in the mountainous regions of Northem Pakistan, where once isolateci and self-suffident rural communities now find themselves facing poverty and marginalisation (Khan 1998). It specifically examines the agency catalysts employed by the Aga Khan Rural Support

Programme, who have succeeded in mobilising communities to cornplete cooperative infrastructure projects and adopt other interventions geared to restoring a sustainable rural economy. As field pracütioners, these men and women, known as social organisers, occupy the

nexus of the development process, negotiating between comrnunity needs and the

agenda of foreign donors. Beginning in 1982, AKRSP catalysts played a key role in the

spread of ib program and projects to rural communities. Their job was to motivate

comrnunities and spread the AKRSP message of rural uplik This study first examines

their de, in terms of tasks, s kills required, obstacles they face, and the qualities

which make an ideal catalyst in this contsd

Today the AKRSP catalyst's role is changing. Communities have come to accept or rejed

AKRSP interventions and die primary task of motivation is complete. Many catalystr now

find themselves in field management roles as AKRSP's ernphasis shifted from social

organisation to service provision in 1995. In many ways, the AKRSP field manager

remaim a potentially important catalyst, trusteci by communities, and highly skilled as a mobiliser. 1 thus refer to them in this thesis as cataly~ts-turned-managers.

Discussion of catalyst leaming needs in the context of this thesis therefore includes those of catalyst-turned-managers. AKRSP has recognised that the management role

demands enhanced planning and managerial skills as well as a deeper understandingof

rural Mual dynamia and the larger processes of development

How can the professional capacities of agency catalysts and catalyst-hirned- managers be further devdoped? 1 n this thesis, 1 argue that both catalysts and catalysts- tumed-managers need to be part of a broader learning process within the organisation, radier than serving as simply program impiementers.

Formai leaming programs at universities may be able to respond to these leaming needs.

The second case study in this research project is die ten-month Mid-Career Program in

International Rural Deveioprnent Planning (IRDP) at the University of Guelph, Canada.

This Mid-Career Program began on an aperimental bais in 1992 for AKRSP staff. It has expanded to indude staff from other non-govemrnent organisations (NGOs), such as the

Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) and the Aga Khan Housing Boards

(AKHB) of india and Pakistan. To date, howwer, most program graduates have been

AKRSP catalysts, and more recendy catalyst-himed-managers.

The second part of this study thus se& to determine whether the Mid-Career

Program has been successhil in meeting catalyst learning needs, and what have ken some of the overall effects of the program on parücipating AKRSP staff. I believe these two case studies can offer instructive lessons to other NCOs and universities

(and NCOuniversity partnerships), as dlas development practitioners engaged in social mobilisation and staff development.

This study begins with an oveMew of catalysts from a variety of contexts and idedogies, as 1 examine how people are motivated to impmve their circumstances. 1 argw that the AKRSP agency catalyst offen a non-poliücal avenue of improvement which has been appropriate for the rural poor of this sensitive (and disputed) part of Pakistan. 1 establish that the catalyst plays a key role inthe initial process of rutal development.

1 then analyse what should be done after communitïes have been mobiliseci and programs explaid. This study fills a gap in the anilable knowledge about mal devdopment catalysts, by analysing the evoluthn of AKRSP, and the consequent changing des for catalysts. The Mid-Career Progam offers catalysts the chance to devdop their capacities to plan and engage in retlecüve rural dewlopment pracüce both as catalysts as dl as catalyst-tumed-managers.

What appears to be lacking at AKRSP is a broader learning proces appmach to capacity development and program developrnent. I pmvide an instructive case on how catalyst capacities can be further developed using such an approach thmugh a combination of in situ training and a university program such as the recently upgraded Craduate Dipiorna Program in IRDP at the University of Guelph. I then examine what pedagugical challenges this pmes for educaton.

Ultïmately, the question is whether there is an appropriate 'fit8 between catalyst learner needs and the education provideci at a Western university. 1 conclude that this fit does indeed exkt between the two cases, but that there are a number of key areas for program improvernent. ~ffdvecollaboration will depend on cornmitment to a leaming procpcs approach at A#RSP as dlas at the University of Guelph. 2. CATALYST THEORIES AND CASES

Conscientkacion: A Spanish term for the learning process by which persons corne to understand their (ofienseverely disadvantaged) social and economic situation in relation to the broader society, and to se& new avenues for personal and community improvement.

- from "Local Heroes, Global Change" (Soudi Cardina ElV Network and Wodd Dewlopment Productions)

"Development", as both a concept and an academic discipline, emerged after World

War II, as a way of fonulating the 'reconstructed' nation state (Hamdi 1 996). Some aspects of development thus included centralised (often five-year) planning, technobgy transfer, and interventions which were wholly dependent on foreign aid. Although this approach has not changed entirely, it has recendy been challenged by non- hierarchicaVpartiupat0ry approahes to development (Chambers 1983, Burkey 1993) that seek to direcdy involve the rural and urban poor in finding solutions to their problems.

A key figure in the participatory mode1 is the village level development worker, al= known as the change agent (Burkey 1993) orcatalyst (Uphoff et al. 1998, Khan and Khan

1992). Other ternis such as "animator", "facilitator" (Burkey1993:76), "cadre" (Uphoff et al. 1998:45), similarly underscore the role of these figures as intermediaries between the agency (e.g., development organization) and the rural comrnunity. Proponents of this participatory process stress that the most important role of the catalyst is to stimulate critical awareness or conscientizacion (Freire 1970: 17, South Carolina ETV

Network and World Development Productions. 1990:9, Burkey 79:1993) among the rural poor. The transfomational or liberative objectives of this kind of dwelopment have also been referred to as the 'quest for community self-expression.' (Alliband

1983:ix), with cuundess examples of communities and marginaliseci groups seeking greater political rights and access to resoutces due to the mobilising work of catalysts

(National Film Board 1988). A catalyst challenges the rural poor to * . . . question their wumptions so that they can understand their situation and gain the self-confidence to imagine a better life for themselves" (South Carolina €TV Network and World

Development Productions. 1990:9).

The role and expectations of the catalyst dius differ depending on the context and ideology of the implementing dwelopment agency. It has been pointed out bat the catalyst can be " . . . frorn the communities themselves or from cities or other regions; they can be part of a govemment buteaumcy that is adopting a new approach and new tasks, or the staff of a nongovemmental organization (NGO), cooperative, bank, university, or researdi instituten (Uphoff et al. 1998:46). There appear to be dear differences between these agency catalysts and the catalyst who strhes for political change by conxi.entising the rural poor to eventually challenge the status quo (see Figure

2.2). No discussion of social change in developing countn'es is complete without some

mention of Paulo Freire's approadi to adult Iiteracy (Freire 1970). In Pedagogy of the

Oppresseci (1 970) Freire raidthe idea of conm'entazacion, a means of liberating the

poor oppressed masses of the South through critical self-awareness. Steeped in the neo-

Marxist ideology which ilourished in Latin Amerka, both Freire's work and that of

Gandhian and Christian catalysts can be seen as overdy poliücal. Their aim was to

challenge the injustices of the status quo through a "broad dispersal of power and wealth-generating resources, community wide improvement, and gradua1 bansformation

of past social and economic patîerns" (Alliband 1983:9).

Distinctions have been made between 'development' shaped largely by the capitalist

donor aid-driven mode1 and 'liberation'. Freirefs critique of 'development' as a tool for

neo-colonial oppression can be viewed alongside the Iiberation dieology movements of

Latin Amena (Goulet 1971 ). A key example here is the Christian 'base communities' of

Brazil which relied on highly motivated priest cdtalysts in the 1960s. Alliband refers to the development M. liberation dichotomy as mral development vs. community development

(1983). 1 prefer to cal1 thern conventional and libemtive approaches to rural change

(see Figure 2.1). The examples of Freire and the liberation theology movement in Latin

Amenca thus provide us with strong critiques of die dominant mode of development

practice. These stniggles were thus based on Marxist and Biblical visions of equality which the rural poor could understand (Berryrnan 1987:73). In South Asia, the catalyst first appean in the 'mmmunity development' movement which had iîs romin Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi's nationalist visions of village-based development Christian missionaries also becarne active in trying to stimulate rural development during the pre-1947 colonial era. 60th Candhian gram semkr (village-lwel workers) as well as the missionaries *ove for social change through the u plift of 'untoucha ble' low castes and overall economic improvement through village- based cottage industries (Alliband 1983:lO).

Like the piest catalysts of the liberation ttieology movement in Latin Amerka, the gram sevak was motivated by spiritual conviaieon. Gandhi's interpretation of nationalisrn

(swadeshi) urged social service (samaj seva), and rural development through village cottage industries (gram udyog). Candhian work towards the uplifûrtent of untouchable low castes is mikingly sirnilar to the Freirian and liberation thedogy's challenge to traditional structures of oppression. Similarly, the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement relied on monk catalysts to inculcate a spirit of Buddhist social justice and social service in the rural areas of Sri Lanka ( Korten 1980:486-488).

While Candhian development flourished in india for a short pendafter independence, neighbouring Pakistan adopted a more conventional dwelopment approach diat was dependent on donor aid. The approach was distindy non-political, fmsed largely on farming extension. india and Latin America had a histoty of grassroots activism and leftia movements. 1n Pakistan, where the feudal elite and military bureaucracy have niled since

1947, such diings were immediately sus- In general, communism has kenrejected for kinganti-lslamic, and there are few recent exampies of popuiist grassrook lslamic movements (other than the lranian Revolution of 1979). It should come as no surprise that leftist movements have been cnished, and rural land refom opposed by feudal elites since Pakistan began.

Figure 2.1 Approaches to Rural Change

Liberative Conventional Development Development Approach Approach

L 1 Emp hasis Holistic change, Economic growth conscientiracion, Capitalist

( Basir of Change Community- based Agency- based

1 Institutional Base 1 Local htitutions 1 lrnported institutions

1 Clientele 1 ~oorerClients 1 ett ter-off clients

(Ideological Modemization through Change) &al change

(Adapted frorn AlJiband 1983:Z) Another type of community development movement was spearheaded by the US in die

1950s and 1960s (Korten 1980). Community developrnent officers referred to as change agents, or animateurs (in Francophone countries) and pmmotores (in Spanish-speaking countnes) were the precursors to rural development catalym who emerged in the 1970s

(Uphoff 1998:53).

As part of the American community dwelopment thrust, the Pakistan Academy for Rural

Development's projecîs at Cornilla became important examples of how basic infrastructure, cooperatives and training centres for farmers (Khan 1 985, Khan 1996, and

Stevens 1976) muld improve rural livelihoods. However, catalysts were 'model' famiers sekded for training by PARD.

PARD's Daudzai projects in West Pakistan in the 1970s developed social organisers as catalysts. Their task was to mobilise the communities and explain the rutal development program (Khan 1980) like true extension agents. This model was fuher adapted in the

Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi (Khan 1996) and the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in the Northem Areas of Pakistan (Khan 1992), which have now been recognised as instructive examples of rural developrnent success (Uphoff 1998). All three programs note how the model farrner or village activist is a key innovator. He or she is whI cal1 a natural catalyst (Khan 1997), who emerges from the cornmunity to take on a leadership role. But the latter two programs also relieci on trained agenq catalysts (social organisen) who could offer social guidance and work closely witti staff providing tedinical guidance.

It has been suggested that successful rural dwelopment projects throughout the world are based on a leaming procas approach that strives for community self-relianœ radier than a formula or blueprint approach (Korten 1980, Uphoff 1998:19-44). The former is charactensed by botiorn-up organisational development Korten noter that successful programs were not pre-designed but '. . . emerged out of a leaming process in which villagers and program personnel shared their knowledge and resources to mate a program which achieved a fit between needs and capaciües of the beneficiaries and those of the outsiders who were providing die assistance" (1980:497).

Another aspect of the learning process approach is careful study prior to and during program design (Koiten 1980:497). In the case of OPP, its founder first spent a preliminary year leaming imrnersed in die community (Khan 1998:20, Uphoff 1998:25).

After initial study, AKRSP directed its efforts tayards the creation of eglitarian village organisations (VOS)that could chart die course of developrnent for the community.

AKRSP's founder insists that a VO-based mode1 is grounded in past rural developrnent successes from nineteenth œntury Europe to post-war japan to Comilla in the former

East Pakistan. He strongly beliwes thatthis mode1 should not be deviated from (S.S. Khan

1998, pers.comm). Yet I argue that agency catalysts such as those found in AKRSP must adopt a genuine leaming process approach rather than king mere implementers of a

blueprint model.

In contrast with the liberative movements, the AKRSP approadi aims to include elites.

The risk with such a venture is that elites will dominate the development process, subverting the rural masses to their will according to traditional patterns of oppression.

As we shall see in sedons 5.2 and 5.3, the initial work of AKRSP catalysts depended on local dites and religious figures. Their acceptance was actively soliated. However, as

I indicate in section 5.9, 'elites' has a different meaning in the Northem Areas of Pakistan where AKRSP operates. With no strong feudai power or grossly unjust land distribution, elites tend to be respeded community leaders and religious figures rather than oppressive landowners. Thus it may be possible to bring about rural development through established social structures rather than political upheaval (Korten 1980:495).

Social circumstances and regional geopolitics have required Pakistan to adopt non- confrontational approaches to development su& as AKRSP. Its model is now king

replicated throughout Pakistan and other partsof South hia(Khan, pers. comm.) possibly because it produces results without direatening the status quo. Nwertheiess, this thesis argues that for the AKRSP program to geciuinely addrers the needs of the rural poor, it must have a deeper analysis of the social situation and respond to specific community conte& rather than simply implementing a formula approach. Recendy two in-depth analyses in the AKRSP program area have concluded that the organisation's social analysis has been insufficient, failing to recognise the existence and value of traditional institutions (Wood 1996, MacDonald 1994) and creating unsustainable interventions that can put communities at risk (MacDonald 1994:260).

They suggest that is because AKRSP has relied on a formula appmach, rather than an iterative ieaming approach. My own work widi AKRSP catalysts at the University of

Guelph compels me to agree with this observation. Wood and MacDonald note that catalysts, untrained in social analysis are at the heart of this lad< of sustainability.

Inerestingly, the corporate sxtor in the West has also used the terni 'change agent'.

Pundits of management science and organisational development have stressed the need for a change agent who can administer change to an organisation (Crossman 1974,

Humn 1994), maintaining its dwelopment with parallel changes happening in the outside world (Grossman 1974:lO). These change agents can also be mced to Freud's vision of the therapist-helper and the 'qualified' professionals of behavioural science who pointed out ways of deriving increased performance from workers (Crossman 1974: 1 1 ).

What is worth noting in the example of corporate catalysts is how similar they are to agency catalysts at organisations IikeAKRSP. Regardless of the bottom-up hetoric, diese catalysts serve the agenda of their organisations. When is the catalyjcs role fulfilled?As 1 shall demonstrate in Part II, once the initial work of introduction and catalysing is complete it is easy for the agency (Le., AKRSP) to become a se~keprovider, thus renderingthe catalyst red undant Up hoff questions this kind of resignation to a senn'ce provision role, daiming that the catalyst's ultimate role is to assist community self-reliance (1998:34-35). He also provides us with a useful definition of the catalyst function:

If staff are to administer and manage, and paraprofessionals are to transfer appropriate knowIedge and technology to users, ca talysts are to mobilize and motivate rural people. Catalysts induce people to organize, or, if there are already organizations, they help make these stronger and more effective. The concem is not so moch with eficiency or expertise as with empowennent. But the aim is not just to bolster people's ability to make clairns on government or other outside sounes for fonds, as it is sometimes proposed. Rather, it is to create self-management capacities that can support self-reliant development. (Uphoff 1998:53)

It is important to note that while much of the rhetoric of some organisations may be awareness raising or conscientisation, as one =ample involving the mobilisation of landless squatter women in the Philippines showed (National Film Board 1988), the end result may amount to demands from govemment or NCOs for resources or funds.

Korten has oudined three leaming process stages in the evolution of a development program. What dim'nguishes each stage is the emphasis on learning to be efféctive, learning to be efficient,and leaming to -and (1980:499-500). Some organisations move progressively through each stage. If they shift prematurely into the next stage, howewr, the result anbe proprn failure. We shall rwisit the three stages and where

AKRSP fits into them in the Conclusion &on.

In addition organisations committed to the leaming process approach possess an adaptive quality that allow them to continually 'fit' their activities with the needs of their beneficiary grou ps. This is done by kingdiree actions: embracing error, planning wifh people, and linking knowledge with action (Korten 1980:498). To what degree do

AKRSP and its catalystr fulfill these fundamental criteria of a learning organisation? Figure 2.2 The Rural Development Catalyst: A Taxonomy

Catalyst Example Role ffiowledge and Appropriate Skills Needed Training Program

- LNatural Model Leader Basic Requires litde Catal ys t famer l nnovator management, training . VO manager Conflict conflid resol ution, Basic (AKRSP) resolver sacial network and management capacity to forrn and leadership Iinkages. training help. Freirian - teacher -Pol itical Understanding of Adult eduation Catal yst -facilitator -Conscientiser conscientizacion program. - community Critical awareness cfw, worker Facilitation skills Liberative - Gram sewk -Conscientiser -Communication Gand hian Catalyst - Christian -Spiritual/ -Understanding of comm. dev't pnest Social justice conscientliacion training (e.g. -Buddhist guide -Gand hian/ ashram, gram monk Liberatiod udyog) Budd hist theology -'Christian base' principles training -Facikation skik -S hramadana -Critical awareness camp training

A~-Y AKRS P social Motivator Communication SO întemship Catalyst orgnisen lmplementer Confiict Redution Training and (SOS) Conflkt Social Leaming resolver organisation/ Program CTLP) analysis SRP&D Mid- Career Program '%="cl' AKRSP FMU Service Social analysis TLP Catalyst- Managers provider. Analytical skills SRP&D Mid- turned Planner and Planning skills Career Program Manager manager of Understanding of projects. larger development processes. What kind of learning is appropriate for catafjrsts?

One challenge to the catalyst's effectiveness is an inadequate knowledge of maadevel or global issues (Burkey 1993:82). How can this knowiedge gap be filted so that the catalyst has an understanding of the larger contexts of developrnent, rather than simply the micrulewl! Most rural dwelopment approaches recognise the role of modem tedinoiogy in improving the lot of the rural poor. An ongoing relationship between univenities and development programs can be seen in many successfui dwelopment projech (Uphoff 1998:31) such as the Comilla program's reiationship with Michigan State

University (Stevens et al. eds. 1976:123), and OPP with Dawood Engineering College in

Karachi (Khan 1996). In both cases, academia provided technical advice to the programs. It has been further argueci that social scientists an buiid capacities by transferring action-research misto the agency and on to the rural pmr. These toois can aid in the identification of probiems and appropriate solutions for nirai clients (Korten

1980:501).

In this thesis 1 argue that cataiyst training must involve not only the necessary motivational and communication skills. Both catalysts and catalyst-turned-managers require sound analytical and planning skills that can empower and encourage self- reliance among the rural poor. In their central de, both can contribute to long-term rural development if they are part of a broader leaming process appmach within their agency.

mer fifteen years of first relying moatly on catalysts, then on catalyst-turned- managea, a curmt analysis of the AKRSP case offers hvo examples of intensive training program involving catalysts. Isuggest that a combination of these two (one a six-week in situ social analysis course and the other a ten-month Mid-Career

Program in International Rural Development Planning) oHer catalysts and catalysts- tumed-managers important leaming expeciences in the areas of analysis and planning. Howwer, both program require the enhancement of effecüve hcilitation and an understanding of conscientazacion.

This research thus attempts to build on Our understanding of catalysts and their role in the rural development process. It is intended to fiIl a gap in the available body of knowledge about appropriate training for the catalyst, especially in ligM of a rapidly changing rural context and indeed, a rapidly changing world. 3. METHOOOLOGY

3.1 Background to Research

The idea for diis research emerged from my own work with development catalysts

studying at the University of Guelph. From Januaryto ~pnl1997 1 had the opportunity

to work for the university as an International Rural Dwelopment Program (IRDP)

Assistant The ten-month IRDP program for mid-career professionals has been offered by the university's Schd of Rural Planning and Developrnent (SRP&D) since 1992. My

responsibilities ranged from helping students understand their assignments for graduate courses, to helping them develop a research project, to orienting hem to Canadian

university life.

Over the course of my work, I began to develop lasting friendships and an empathy for their learning challenges. As individuals whose leaming foundation was laid in rural

Pakistan's poorly funded govemment schools and urban universities, the leap to North

Amencan-standard graduate studies was difficult These were exacerbated by the faû that many of them were retumingto the dassroorn afkr many years, in a foreign culture, and separated from their families and communities.

Two crucial questions developed out of my work with them:

0 What do development catalysts do ? ii) How, ifat al, can unkrsity pmgtams meet their education and training needs? 3.2 ResearchCoals

This research is exploratory and bas4 on a qualitative research rnethodology which examines catalysts from the Aga Khan Rural Support Program (Pakistan) as one case study, followed by the ten-month Mid-Career Program in IRDP at the University of

Guelph as a second case study.

Goals

1 . To examine a leaming environment for catalysts in a rural dwelopment program.

2. To find ways of improving the exisb'ng education program for catalysts.

Objectives

1. To compare the role of agenq catalysts in the Aga Khan Rural Support

Programme (Pakistan) with catalysts from other global contexts who work under

other ideological principles.

2. To identify die leaming needs of AKRSP catalysts.

3. To review a mid-career leaming program for AKRSP catalysts.

4. To detemine whether the program mets learner ne&.

5. To detemine areas for further education collaboration between AKRSP and die

School of Rural Planning and Development at the University of Cue!ph. Data collection was mmpleted from Januaryto ~pd1998 using the qualitative research tediniques highlighted below.

3.3 Two Case Studies

With fifieen years of field experience using local catalysts, AKRSP seemed to be a rich source of information and an ideal case for a study of catalysts. Similarly, the Mid-Career

Program in lRDP at the University of Guelph, while not designed specifically for catalysts, had signifiant experience since 1992 in working with catalysts (and more recendy, catalysts-tumed-managers). Most of AKRSP's paiû'cipants in the program have been catalysts. The SRP&D case study thus examines the program as it dates to catalrts and their learning needs.

Before commencing formal data collection, I completed a four-month internship with

AKRSP Baltistan. This allowed me to pin an insider's perspective on the AKRSP organisational culture and a chance to familiarise myself with the larger environment of the Northem Areas of Pakistan. My intemship was therefore my chief entry point It involved completing two research assignments for AKRSP's Learning Support Unit (LSU).

The assistantship at SRP&D and the intemship at AKRSP gave me some insider familiarity with both organisations. They also allowed me to acquaint myself with catalym. 1 learned much. My relationship with my subjects deepened and I began to meet more catalysts, some of whom had completed the ten-month SRP&D program and some who had not.

A case study rnethodology was used for this research to examine the context-spedic aspects of AKRSP and die leaming experienœ at SRP&Drs Mid-Career Program. Most data was collecteci at AKRSP's three regional programme offices (Baltistan, Cil@ and

Chitral) as well as the Core Office in Gilgit from January to April 1998. Additional data was collected in Guelph, Canada from June to September 1998.

The approach was qualitative and exploratory, with more attention paid to participant iteration than quantifiable indicators of program success. There was enough relevant qualitative data to develop a signifiant impact assessrnent of the Mid-Career Program.

In order of their use, specific techniques are listed below.

Informal Study

From August to Decernber 1997 1 worked as an intem at AKRSP Baltistan's Regional

Programme Office. This allowed me to gain an insideh perspective on AKRSP as a working and leaming environment for dwelopment practitioners. It also helped me get acquainted with the mountainous environment of the Northem Areas and its physical constraints. Various research assignments helped me guge the catalysts impact as wel l as the pace of change in the Nordiem Areas. Participant Obsenmtion

After a four-month intemship widi the Leaming Support Unit (LSU) atAKRSPfs Baitistan regional program office, 1 was well acquainted with the catalyst working environment and organisational of AKRSP. I now began to more consciously observe former and current catalysts at work. Additional observations were made of two other 'retumeesf from

Guelph and one who was preparing to depart for Guelph.

SernEStructured lntemWews

In-depth interviews in Urdu and English were conducted with

AKRSP Core Office Staff

1 Credit and Saving Manager

2 Human Resources Developrnent (HRD) Staff

1 Policy and Research Manager

AKRSP Regionai Programme Offices (Cil& Chitral and Baltistan)

2 Regional Programme Managers (RPMs)

1 Monitoring, Evaluation and Research Manager

3 Leaminflraining Support Unit Managen

3 Field Management Unit (FMU) Managen

3 Social Opnisers (SOS) 1 Loan Recovery Officer

2 Social Analyst/Managers

2 Women's Coord inators

2 former Regional Programme Managers ( now consultants with 0thNGOs)

TOTAL: 23

Of this total, 1 7 were men and six were women.

12 had cornpleted the SRP&D Mid-Career Program in IRDP.

16 (1 2 male, 4 fernale) were catalysts at some point in their careen.

An interview schedule was used to address key questions (see Appendix D). However, interviewees were enowraged to beyond these questions and made to feel cornfortable enough to recount experienœs they felt relevant to their work.

Key Informant lnteMews

Interviews were held with Shoaib Sultan Khan, the founder of AKRSP, and his mentor,

Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan. The former is currendy a senior advisor to a UNDP South Asia

Poverty Alleviation Programme that replicates the AKRSP model in other contexts. He was intervieweci at his Islamabad office. Akhtar Hameed Khan now heads the Orangi

Pilot Project in Karachi. Interviews were also held with Dr. Farokh Afshar, the Coordinatorof the SRP&D Mid-Career Program. Atthe suggestion of Shoaib Sultan Khan,

Dr. Afshar first initiated die Mid-Career Program in I RDP at the University of Guelph with the assistance of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC).

Questionnaire Suneys

AKRSP's General Manager (CM)and a diird RPM were intervieweci through open-ended mail-out q uesüonnaires.

3.4 Respondent Bias

A comparison of observations made of AKRSP staff currendy in the program and graduates rwealed a tendency among the latter to recall pnmarïly the positive aspecb of the program. They admitted that it was often dificult for hem to recall some of the difficulties they had faced. More recent gradua~sand diose currendy in the program tended to be more critical-

3.5 Researcher Bias

Admittedly, kingan employee of both case study institutions (SRP&D and AKRSP) raises important questions of bias on my part It can be argueci diat 1 may have kensimply too dose to my subjectr to be able to maintain some objectivity. 1 feel, howwer, that my degree of involvement in botb institutions and the daily life of some of my subjectr allowed me a unique degree of intimacy. This intimacy has been the foundation of a rich 'insider' experience.

Similarly, one might ask was there a conflict of interat in wrking for both AKRSP and

SRP&D? At no time did I feel that pressure from either organisation compromised rny ability to frankly state my findings. In fact, SRP&D faculty and the Mid-Career Program

Coordinator encouraged me to be critical in my assessments. To their aedit, AKRSP8s senior management were equally honest, and open to critiusrn and potentially provocative questions.

1 did notice, however, an important bias emerging at the beginning of the research period. Having worked closely with AKRSP staff in the Mid-Career Program, I had a strong sympatby for tbeir position as leamers and as middle management staff. Upon hearing their grimances about AKRSP, it was easy for me to take their side and assume that they were the 'victims' of organisational politics. 1 addressed this bias by intewiewing

AKRSP senior management and other staff who had not been in the Mid-Career Program.

These interviews allowed me to see other perspectives other than simply those of cataiysts who had benthrough the Guelph program and to obtain a more objective view of the organisation's intemal dynamio.

3.6 Other Biases and Limitations

In Pakistan, my mobility was shaped by the AKRSP work schedule. I travelled in AKRSP vehides, was introduced to local residents by AKRS P staff, and much of my mposure was to AKRSP proje in AKRSP-initiated village organisations. I was exposed to AKRSP's literature, its cadre of consultants and researchers. This kind of immersion in an institution that produces its own information and justifies its owm existence so effectively, can lead one to believe that AKRSP was and is the sole development actor in the region. For a more balanced view, 1 am grateful to AKRSP's regional programme managers (RPMs).

They pointed out that AKRSP is part of a larger process and that other key forces and actors are also at work in northern Pakistan.

Another bias I obsewed in myself and my subjects is one that emerges from studying devdopment at university. 1t is assumed batacademic leamingwith its req u ired written research assignments, cornputer and Engiish skills, will help anyone develop professionally. As a Program Assistant I had observed catalysts attempting to communicate and master a series of completely new skills. In cornpaisonwith Canadian graduates -dents, they had obvious handicaps, particularly fluency in Engiish. The rare opportunity to study in a Western university, with its facilities and apparent sophistication, suggested to them if they could overcome their handicaps, they would be able to take advantage of the best repository of knowledge on rural development In odier words, the asuirnption may exist for those who study at universities that univenity is the best place for study. This bias is relateci to one which I cal1 develocentrism, the belief that dwelopment organisations or non-govemment organisations (NGOs) are the chief forces that bring change to an ara-AKRSPs RPMs were qui& to point out that the Pakistan Amywas an wen larger devdopment actor and employer than AKRSP, and that religious parties were equally important and vocal agents of change. 1 had to remind myself to %tep out' of

AKRSP and recognise these other catalysts.

The communities of the Northern Areas are, to varying degrees, closed to outsiders.

Sedusion of women (purdah) is an important organising nom in the rural areas of

Pakistan. My ability to enter the private household sphere of women was severely

Iimited. AKRSPs regional programme offices in Baltistan, Chitral, and Cilgit, however, provided me with a rare opporhinity to arnrnunicate and work alongside the small (yet growing) section of educated local women. 1 would have prefemd more female perspectives in aiis research, and a more in-depth analysis of the female catalyst 1 can only hope that this inevitably gender-biased analysis will be complemented someday by specific research on female catalysts by a female researcher.

Finally 1 spent the bulk of my ten month internship and research sünt in Baltistan, which differs from the rest of AKRSP's program area. Most Baltis belong to the Shia (lthna ashari) sect and the Nubkshi Sufi tradition. My greater familiarity with the culture and environment of Baltistan than the other two regions may be rdecbed in my analysis. PART II :AKRSP CATALYSTS : CASE STUDY #1

The term catalyst cornes fmm chemistry. Social actors, when introduced into certain community settings, can be seen as analogous to certain substances that, when put into a chemical solution, precipitate or accelerate a reacîion that changes the nature of that solution. Social catalysts change the nature of the social situation like chemical catalysts alter a physical one.

4.1 Northern Pakistan

Nesded in the highest mountain ranges of the world, the mountain communities of what is now northern Pakistan were once important jundons along the trade routes of Central

Asia. Situated in the collision zone berneen the Himalaya, Karakoram, Hindu Kush and

Pamir mountain ranges, diese communities have been on the frontiers of Asia's larger empires for centuries.

The total area of the Northem Areas of Pakistan and Chiml is approximately 69,200 sq. km. The rural population, setded in 1,230 villages, numbers more than one million. Lying in a partial min shadow, the area receives very litde precipitation. Farming the and rnountain slopes is impossible without irrigation from glaaal mel~ater.Communities have subsisted for centuries on a combination of cropping and livestock. The choie of crops varies, depending on the altitude of the community. At lower altitudes, two cereal crops <;in be hawested in one season, while at higher altitudes only one crop is possible and livestock is a key livelihood source. For centuries, villages supplemented their subsistene farming economy through trade with neighbouring kingdoms in Central Asia. In the nineteenth enhin/, portering for colonial nilers became an additional source of income. Traditional mde routes have kenclosed sine1 948, when the area became part of Pakistan. Today the area occupies a sensitive border area with Afghanistan, India, China, Russia, and former Soviet republia like Tajikistan (se Figures 4.1 and 4.2). There are a number of outstanding border disputes in the region, notably between india and Pakistan. There is a trickle of mde with

China and Afghanistan, but most links are with the urban plains of Pakistan.

Figure 4.2

(United States Central Intelligence Agency, University of Texas Libraries web site)

34 41 BriefHistory

In the 1840s the Dogra raja of Jammu annexed bhmir, Baltistan by defeating local rulen and gained nominal control over Gilgit The Dogras are remembered for their oppressive rule. In khmir and Baltistan they exacted heavy taxes from rural residents and maintained a systern of forced labour known as begar. The British allowed the

Dogras to maintain their formal control over the princely state of Jammuand Kashmir and placed their own Political Agent in Gilgit, which became a listening post in the 'great gamet of intrigue with imperial Russia. The Dogras, in tum, CO-opted the local rulers

(mirs, mias and mehtars) who paid an annual îrïbute in exdiange for the right to mle at the local level.

Figure 4.3 Pmfile of the Northern Areas and Chitral

lndicator Gilgit ChitraI Baltistan

Number of Households

Size of Household 8.4 7.7 5.8 Landholdings per 1.78 ha household

ütency (Male)

(Khan and Khan 1992) When British 1 ndia was partitioned into India and Pakistan in 1947, the Dogra Maharaja refused to join either nation. He first toyed with the idea of independence, refusing to sign accession to either state. However kinga Hindu king, he ultimately acceded to

Hindu-majority India, without consulting his state's werwhelmingly Mushm majority.

Pakistan did not accept this accession and both nations went to war. At the same time, the British-wmrnissioned Giigit Scoutr and the Maharaja's own Mushm troops stationed near Gilgit revdted. Through 1948 diey fought to liberate Gilgit and Baltistan from

Dogra/Indian rule and join Pakistan.

In 1949, a UN-brokered ceasefire agreement was signed between india and Pakistan.

Two subsequent wars broke out (in 1965 and 1971) and a UN-monitored ceasefire line known as the 'Line of Control' still divides Jammu and Kashrnir between the two countries. Tension mer bhmircontinues to this day and both nations regularly flex their military might in this area refend to as "disputeci territoiy".

The district of Chitral, was a princely state like those in the Cilgit Agency (Hunza, Nagar,

Yasin and Punial) which resisted ruled Oogra rule and was eventually subjugated by the

British. At the time of Partition its der, the mehtar, pledged allegianœ to Pakistan, offering military support for the liberation of Baltistan in 1948. Pakistan in tum allowed

Chitral to s

However, the constnicîion of the Karakoram Highway in the late 1970s, linking

Islamabad to Western China, brought rapid transformation through greater contact with the urban plains of Pakistan. At the same time Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto abolished the feudal system. Howewr, die democfatization of die area remains incomplete. Today, due to the 'disputed territory' status, the residents of the NAs do not enjoy the basic righb of other Pakistanis. These indude the right to vote and the right to redress in a higher court of law. This is a source of growing frustration, particularly among educated youth. In 1997 demonstrations were stageci in principle NA towns such as Gilgit and Skardu to demand full constitutional rights (Khan 1 998, Sokefeld 1998). These were followed by anests. The Pakistan Amy continues to keep a watchful eye

As a result of an improved transportation and communication infrastructure, today there is increasing access to aie health and education facilities of the urban plains. The population has increased to the point where the small land holding of the average household, which range from -69 to 1.78 ha (Khan and Khan 1992:16), cm no longer sustain die population. Households nwcomplement their subsistence faming with eamings from tourism and rernittances from down-country labour.

The acüvity of non-govemment organisations (NGOs) in these re@ons,partïcularly those

working within the Aga aan Deveiopment Network (AKDN) is high. Established in 1982

at the request of the Aga Khan, the 4gh imam of the lsrnaiii Muslims, AKRSP operates

within this tight network. In addition to the lsmaili sect, there are Shia (Ithna ashari) and

Sunni Muslims in almostequal numbers. There have been instances of sectarian tension, sometimes leading to violence. Wth the appearanœ of the AKDN institutions in the early

1980s came suspicions of a plan to create an lsmaili nation called 'Nuristan', by linking

neighbouringlsmaili communities in Central Asia. While this may seern implausible, there were clearly suspicions that the underlying intent was to convert non-lsmailis to the

lsmaili sect Figure 4.4 The 4gh imam of the lsmaili Muslims, Prince Karim Aga Khan, has inspired a number of dwelopment programs which assist the rurd residents of the Northern Areas of Pakistan.

Leftïst movements have been viewed with similar suspicion in Pakistan, in part because of a perceiveci Maixist direat to Islam, the Soviet crushing of lslamic culture in Central

Asia, and perhaps most importandy, Pakistanrs history of patronage from the United

States during the Cold War. I therefore suggest that, with its neo-Marxist ideology, a full Freirian approach would not be accepted in fakistan. At the same tirne, the catalysts in this case, have much to learn hmthe approaches that rdy more on participation, a leaming pmcess, and awareness building or conscientisaüon. In view of the political sensitivïty of the region, for a development agency to be effectimve,it must be caieful to not become inadvertendy associated with political

movements that threaten the delicate sectarian balance in the region, or Pakistan's national security interesb. As we shail see, AKRSP has succeeded in this respect, largdy due to the skill of its catalysts.

4.3 The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme

AKRSP was established in 1982 in the Cilgit region of the Nordiem Areas of Pakistan by

Shoaib Sultan Khan, a renowned former Pakistani civil sewice officer who drew on a number of sources for his rural development work. The first of these was Akhtar Hameed

Khan whose Comilla proje- at the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development (PARD) in the 1950s and 60s had drawn widespread acdaim. A.H. Khan's integrated approach cornbined cooperative infrastructure proje- (irrigation channels, flood em ban kments, link roads) with local skill training centres. In particular, it stressed die ne4 for cooperative effort on the part of rural residents in addition to technology transfer.

Shoaibsultan Khan devdoped AKRçPscooperative (rather than capitalistor communist) model, drawing on his add itional experience at PARD's Oaudzai program in the 1970s and his four years with the Mahaveli ûevelopment Project in Sri Lanka. Beginning in Pakistan's Northem Areas, AKRSP's four objectives were to:

7. Raise the incomes and guality of life of about one million rnostly poor people in the high mountains and isolated regions of northern fafistan.

2. Deelop institutional and technical models for equitable development.

3. €volve sustainabIe, longqerm strategies for productive management of natural resounes in a fragiIe environment.

4. Demonstrate approaches and packages that can be replicated elsewhere.

(Khan and Khan 1992:35)

AKRSP daims to have met the first objective by contributing to a doubling of rural incomes in the past ten years. Some of its institutional and technical models are king recognised as failing to address increasing inequities in the rural social environment

(Wood 1997)' and in extreme cases contributingto inequity (MacDonald 1994). AKRSP attempts to meet its third objective through its Naturai Resource Management (NRM)

which began in 1995 by integrating Agriculture, LivWand Foreshy sections.

Regarding replication, one regionai programme manager explained tbat AKRSP needed to swiftly prove its potential for replication in order to influence policy makers in

Pakistan. The creation of the National Rural Support Programme Sarhad Rural Support

Programme, the (SRSP) in the North West Frontier Province (WFP), and in 1998 the

Punjab Rural Support Programme (PRSP) are exarnples of an 'RSP' movement that has been given recognition by federal and provincial govemments, particularly that of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Shoaib Sultan Khan is now a senior advisor to the UNDP's South

Asia Poverty Alieviation Programme which promotes the AKRSP model through demonsûation sites in Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives.

It is worth noting here an important aiticism of the last objective. Uphoff argues strongly that replication is overemphasised by development professionalsand policy makers and leads to sdf-deception. He insists a leaming process rather than the blueprint approach ensures long-term su- through reiiance on rural people (1998:24). Simiiarfy there is mnvina'ng evidenœ diat the more successful rural development programs such as the

National Dairy Developrnent Board (NDDB) in india and the Bangladesh Rural

Advancement Cornmittee (BRAC) began slowly, embedding leaming mechanisms in their organisations (Korten 1980).

The first sïep in the AKRSP approach is to explain the program to villages and encourage them to fonvillage organisations NOS).Through a series of three dialogues between a community and AKRSP, villagers fom dieir VO. It is intended to be a cooperative organisation, designed to indude al1 male community members. The VU identifies a productive physical infrastructure (PPI) project sudi as an irrigation channel or link road, and AKRSP provides technical guidance from its engineers. Formai ternis of parhiership between AKRSP and the VO are agreed upon during the dialogues. AKRSP provides an initial grant to pay for the material costs of die PPI as well as to compensate villagers for their construcb'on labour at market rates VO rnembers in tum contnbute money during their meetings towards collective savings in local banks. This is intended to create village capital for future projects.

In the beginning, another condition was that each VO would have to select an appropriate candidate for training by AKRSP in agriculture, liv- and forestry improvement AKRSP also developed a series of extension packages, to assist farmers in increasing the produdon and value of limited fan remmes. The VO specialist was pardy responsible for their dissemination. The AKRSP development mediodology is thus a combination of social guidance and technical guidance. It also offers certain pre- packaged solutions to address community nds, focusing on public works and income generation by capitalising on available natural resources. The process was underway.

Requiring villages to contribute savings and participate in training as conditions for pamership with the agenq has been noted as an effedjve means of ensuring the build up of community resources (Uphoff 1 998:36-37)and counters dependenq on the agency. Akhtar Hameed Khan wams of this langar khana or 'free lunch' tendency in

Pakistan (Khan 1998:20).

Women's Organisations &VOS)were mon encxiuraged by AKRSP aiong similar lines, except that their initial projects were generally not infrastructure-related, but more related to their household activities. Vegetable seed and poultry packages were examples of WO packages. Some of the more conservative cornmunities, particularly non-lsmaili communities (Sunni, Shia), were resistant to the idea of women's organisation.

After establishing itrelf in the Cilgit region in 1982, AKRSP spread its activities to Chitral in 1985, Baltistan in 1986 and Astore in 1993. It is thus now operating in the five federally administered districts of die Northem Areas (see Figure 4.5) and Chitral. The latter, although part of NWFP, is more historically and culturally tied to the NAs. For simplicity's sake, it shall hereafter be referred to under the rubric of the 'Northern Areas'. Figure 4.5 AKRSP Operations Area: The Five Districts of the Northern Areas and Chitral. (AKRSP 1997) AKRSPrs founder, Shoaib Sultan Khan, has oudined the following key assumptions and conditions on which its organisationai model was based:

The rural poor as individuals (or individual households) lack the capacity and resources to change their harsh ph ysical and social circumstances.

The poor know their needs and priorities, but lbe in a system of constrainü Ni which their choices are limited or even nonexistent. They can well define their needs and are prepared to mobilize their resources.

The poor must form a legitimate and credible ViHage Organization NO) in partnership with a support organization of outsiders, in this case the AKRSP- The organization of the poor must be based on equal participation by members of each VO. The terms of partnership are clearly stated: reciprocal obligations are identified and accepted, and a mechanism for enforcernent of agreed sanaions is established.

The pattnership of two organizations - VO and AKRSP - must be baseci on reciprocal obligations, of which the primary obligation is of the poor to establish equity capital through whatever initial savings each member can contribute to the VO's savingr hnd. The other part of their obligation is to elect and appoint two VOmembers as Pmident and Manager,,who are among the village activists, enjoy the confidence of the members, and are accountable to them.

The entry point for the outside support organization -in this case the AKRSP - as a catalyst must be determined by a clearly defined need of the VO. The purpose here is to invest in activities that will have a di- impact on the weltare of the target gmup on a continuing bais and amund which members can be giued to the VO. Individual inwiwment and participation in the collectie or common infrastructural and productive activities is a basic condition of success.

The institutional capacities in the village are built before introducing technical change by identifyng the village activists who are able and willing to work for the organization.

The support system should aim at pacùages of inputs and services for the VOthat it cm manage and that have a direct impact on pductivity and equity. The members should danelop specialized skills usable for the beneft of dl in the VO. The support systern should not mate dependence of the poor on outsiders, but initia te a self-sustaining pmcess of development without outside support. The aim is to produce capacity for self-dance.

The organization of the poor should act not only as a delivery system but also as a pressure group to demand fmm the institutions of the state those services and infrastructures that at cannot establish through its resources. It can also make moe effmive the delivery of services by public and private sector agencies.

A final ~quirernentneeded for the AKRSP mode1 to work well is that it depends on pamcipaîion and kibility, because a rigid, buureaucratic, and centralized management appmach with a fixed ex ante design or plan is a sure way to failue.

(Khan and Khan 1992:32-34)

Some staff fdt batthis AKRSP vision had been lost since the departure of its charismatic founder in 1995. It has kensuggested that one of the weaknesses of some programs is

reliance on a charismatic figure such as an Akhtar Hameed Khan or a ~ohammed

Younus, the founder of the Grarneen Bank in Bangladesh (Uphoff 1998).

These assumptions are in keeping with many of the principles of self-assisted dedopment. 1 suggest that one key point is missing: the learning pmcess. The need for staff to leam, rathet than merely implement according to the assumptions is crucial. For as these assumptions change according to the changing rural context?the catalyst must fully understand them as well as the rural context. Figure 4.6 AKRSP-assisted Productive Physical 1nfrastnicture (PPI) projeds such as irrigation channels turn the arid rno~n~nsinto arable land.

Figure 4.7 Newly developed land through irrigation is then divided equally among village households.

48 Figure 4.8 AKRSP provides technical guidance and a one-time gant for link roads, such as this one in ~altistan,another commonly chosen PPI.

Figure 4.9 AKRSP-introduced new varietis of wheat.

49 S. AKRSP'S SOCIAL ORGANISERS

To initiate a process of economic and social change in rural communities, AKRSP relied on local people from the Northern Areas to explain its program principles, motivate, and manage the implernentation of its development packages. AKRSP's founder, Shoaib

Sultan Khan, pointed to two essential catalysts: the village 'abivist' and the AKRSP- employed Social Organiser (50). This study deals with the latter, the key figure in

AKRSP's program of planned change.

The current description of the social organiser's job objective is "to organize communiaes at the village levd in order to manage resources coiiectivdy" (AKRSP

1996, see Appendix C).The SO was the main field actm in AKRSPs activities. Based in field offices called Social Organisation Units (Sous), each SO worked closely with an engineer and an accountant The SOU was amuntable to one of the three District

Programme Offices (now called Regional Programme Offices), who were amuntable to the management group, the Ceneral Manager, and ultimately, a Board of Diredors (see

Figure 5.1).

SOS were what Shoaib Sultan Khan called the 'eyes and ears of the organisation'.

Catalysts intewiewed describeci the extraordinary energy and cornmitment that were initially required of hem as they moved from village to village explaining the AKRSP philosophy and the terms of partnershipswith AKRSP. They broke the ground for AKRSP. Akhtar Hameed Khan, one of the inspirations behind AKRSP, referred to the SO role as that of transmitters (ia.,fmm the agency to the community), observers, mobilisers, and team members (Khan 1985:340-2).

Here the divergence from the Freinan and religiously motivated catalysts mentioned in

Section 2 becornes dear. While the SO's three dialogues with the village sought to identify issues of local concem. the solutions available were invariably along the lines of infrastructure assistance rather than political encouragement. Partnership was cemented by a PPI. In contrast, consider the following description of a conscientizaâon workshop:

&se communities use a methodology bas& on questions. In addition, the people ahacquire some simple categories of analysis. At a weekend course, after they have pooled their own perceptions of an issue such as land tenure, a discussion leader may provide them with some statistics that enable them to appreciate where their experience fa into the larger context of their country as a whole. Or there may be a whole session on class differences, with the people pmviding their descriptions of the various classes. Using their own perceptions, the discussion leader might then take a marker pen and draw theirsociety in the fonn of a pyramid. Critics might denounce this as instiling class antagonism; others might counter that it simply means helpingpeople systematize what they haw aldyobsed and experienced. (Berryman 1987:73)

Assuming that the community's solution would have to be organisational and technical,

AKRSP's SOS avoided diese issues and mobilised villages according to the three key prinuples of the AKRSP approach: 1. Organisation

The SO assisted in the formation village organisations (VOS)and women's organisations

(WOs). They faalitated V,WO eledon of their own President and Manager, resolved inherent conflicts within die community, and darified the conditions of partnership with

AKRSP. Their workwas recognised by AKRSP's founder and senior management as king acûemely important in tens of helping communities develop a vision of their future development

2. SaMng5

Convinàngvillagers to regulariy contribute their precious saving to a community account was difficdt The concept was entirely new to these communities whose members had nwer used banks. The SO had to allay fears that the money would be misappropriated.

In addition, the charging of interest or usury (smth)is forbidden in Islam. Conseivative communities were resistint in some cases to keeping their saving where this would be colleaed. When AKRSP developed its credit program later on, diere was resistance to taking bans on which interest would be charged.

3. Training

Recognising that the local econorny was still largely based on primary resources such as agriculture, livestock and forests, AKRSP trained members of each VO to be extension

'specialists' or master trainen Although the candidate for training was always seleded by VlWO members tbemselves, it was the SO who ensured that the access to training by technical staff was provided. Livestod< vaccination, knowledge of impioved seed varieties, tree nursery management, and basic accounting are but a few of the areas that

AKRSP offereâ training in.

In sum, the AKRSP approach builds on previous attempts in Pakistan to dwelop a successful rural development model. It does not have the overt political ideology of

India's community developrnent mwement or the Christian base communities of Latin

Amerka, but nevertheless embraces a cooperative spirit rather dian the stncdy capitalist growth approach of earlier RD programs.

Figure 5.2 The Role of AKRSP Catalysts

training savings organisation

5.1 SO Intemship

Upon kinghired, SOSparticipateci in a 3-6 rnonth internship pend, under the direction of a senior SO, before commenangtheir field work with full responsibilities. Senior SOS had received training through PARD and its Daudzai pilot projed in the late 1970s.

Intems would accornpany them in their three dialogues with each VO and simply observe. They also read literature on the AKRSP approach. Once the senior SO felt confident in the SO's abilities, the latter would be promoted to the position of 'Satellite SO' .

Male and female SOS pointed out that through this intemship pend diey leamed how to enter a comrnunity and establish mn through meetingwith village elden and religious leaders. They learned how to organise people. SOSdairned that they were careful not to associate diemselves with any politid party or movement

Figure 5.3 An AKRSP catalyst (4socialorganiser') addresses a Village Organisation (VO) meeting in the Shigat Valley, Baltistan.

56 Most SOS expressed gratitude to AKRSP founder, Shoaib Sultan Khan. As General

Manager, he aaompanied many of hem to VO dialogues. They learned from his way

of resolving confiicts, darifying the program and defdy communicating with vil lagers.

Working dosely with the GM was an important part of their intemship.

5.2 Entry

The communities of Baltistan and Gilgit region were exploited by despotic rule for centuries. An insenire existence due to scarce resources, a harsh physical environment, the threat of warfare in pre-modem times has contributed to a sense of isolation and

defensiveness in these communities. Cender segregation amrding to Islam's pudah

system also reflects how these communities are 'dosed' to the outsider. For obvious

reasons, outsiders are regarded with suspicion. To mobilise villages, AKRSP fint had to win their trust This was done through the local caûilyst, or social organiser, who entered a community, explained the AKRSP principles and attempted to motivate villagers, often by first convincing key leaders.

5.3 Techniques

60th male and fernale catalysts highlighted wmmon techniques for mobilising the rural poor. Upon entry into a community, they al1 daimed that the moa effective way to establish trust and convey the AKRSP message was to approach a local digious leader or village dder and gain their confidence. One social organiser recalled how rather than first speaking about the program, he went wery day to pray in the mosque of a particular

community. When the imam noticed him and asked him what brought him to thevillage,

he began to explain. After allaying the imam's suspiaons, he was encouraged to speak

in front of the congregation about the propm.

Thus key figures like imams were important stakeholders whorn local catalysts knew must

first be won over. This approach highlights the political nature of the catalyst's work and

the potential for misunderstanding. Al1 catalysts intervieweci noted the need for sensitivity, parb'cularly women staff. They felt that their abilin/ to establish trust with village leaders depended on an introduction by a male SO, the reputation of their family,

and their ability to conduct themselves modesdy and without violating existing purdah

noms.

5.4 Qualities of the ldeal Catalyst

Former social organisers highlighted a number of key personal qualities that they felt a

catalyst should have.

Honesty is a fundamental quality. A number of social organisers pointed outthatvillagers

are shrewd judges of charaber. If an SO violated the trust of villages in any way, her

entire work would be undermined. Similarly new SOSMon discovered thatcommitment to keeping one's word was important Fernale SOSrecalled that WO members would rernember each and every promise the SO made and if these were not kept, the SO's credibility was Io* SOSalso pointed out the importance of kingcommitted to AKRSP as an organisation, and to its principles of rural dwelopment They claimed that a person who did not understand these prindples would be an ineffective catalyst

Understanding the local envilonment is essential. Social orpisers originated from these communities. They could speak the local languages and inîeracî appropriately amrding to local aistoms. Those without diis understanding, it was noted, could not exped to be aMe to address the issues and challengps that are specific to the local context Communities were also leswilling to accept the advice of 'outsidersf who did not understand and respect the local con- For example, in conservative Sunni and

Shia communiües, an inability to comprehend the influence of the local religious leader

(imam or ulema) could easily lead to failure.

Having a strong social network in one's area of operation is a considerable advantage.

Entry into a comrnunity was often achieved by presenting oneself to the village leader and imam as die son or daughter of so-and-so. lndicating one's family, Iineage, and home village contnbuted to greater acceptance. For example, one SO from a hereditary wazir (govemment official) dan from die feudal era, found that his familyfs reputation in neighbouring villages helped him enter a comrnunity as a recognised figure. He also recalled having leamed much about conflict resdution from his father. Figure 5.4 Wau'r Ghulam Haider, a longstanding social organiser, addresses a VO meeting with AKRSP technical staff.

60 Patience was seen as an important quality. Working in remote communities where

üansportation and communication links are weak, the work of social organisation is slow.

Numerous conflicis exist at the village-level and these are brought to the fore when the community is forced to work cooperahvely. Resolving such conflicts and simply listening to variety of stakeholder views requires patience.

Imparüality was noted as an important quality and method for maintaining trust with rural comrnunities, particularly ones which were divided by disputes. The catalyst was careful not to appear to be in the camp of any particular group. A nurnber of catalysts gave the example of refusing offers to dine with partialar families. Although such a refusa1 is considered to be highly anti-social in the Northem Areas, the catalysts felt they would be perceived by other community members as king partial to the host families.

One SO explained that this refusal was based on his understanding and commitrnent not deviate from AKRSP prinuples.

With a legacy of kingexploitecl by colonial bureaucracy, catalysts were encouraged to adopt a people-first, non-bureaucratic approach. This example was set by AKRSP's founder Shoaib Sultan Khan who sat on the ground with villagers during meetings and spoke to AKRSP staff and the poorest of villages with equal respect 5.5 Catalyst Skills

ln addition to qualities which make an ideal catalysf social organisers pointed to a

number of skills which were essential to the catalyst's work.

Anabtical Skiils

The organiser is a facilitator for die community. A variety of stakeholders approach

him with varying demands. The catalyst must be able to assess situations, gauge the

positions of competing stakeholders and provide accurate information to AKRSP. This then allows for appropriate decision-making.

Communication Skills

With Iow literacy and only recent access to education, the language of the development

NGO was foreign to these communities. One Regional Programme Manager (RPM)

underxored what 1 cal1 develocentricisrn, in which donors often fail to realise just how

discrete these languages and worldviews are. The SO was meant to be the bridge

between the two.

As a catalyst, he had to =plain the principles and objectives of AKRSP over and over again. Here it was important that the catalyst know the local language. While Pakistanfs

national language, Urdu, was observed to be important in the workplace (Le. AKRSP),

particularly for communicatingwith non-local staff and down-country training institutes, the local vemacular was the catalyst's lingua franc-with communities. This was found ta be more so with women catalysts. It is only with the recent growdi of govemrnent xhods that rural women have learned how to speak Urdu. Older women tend to speak their own local languages (Shina, Burushaski, Wakhi, Balti and Khowar).

The ability to speak before a large audience was obviously an essential part of their communication skills. For some, the opporhinity to leam this came in their university programs. involvement with political parties on campus in Karachi and Lahore exposed them to public speaking. mers had received specific instruction in giving semons through formal lslamic studies. One catalyst noted how his father's role as a local leader had exposed him to elocution, as well as traditional group facilitation, from childhood.

A num ber of cacilysts pointed to the significance of listening. They noted bat they had been tau@ how to speak to communities in their training, but that they had to develop listening skills on their own. Other catalysts pointed to the value of body language. This was particularly important in conveying a neutral stance in ternis of political, religious, and group affiliation to the comrnunity.

O~anisational/MotivationalS kills

These skills were acquired iargely through the catalyst's intemship experience. They listened intendy as senior social organisen attempted to convince communities of their potential for developrnent The 50would ofkn dixuss dianges happening outside the region, the potential for the development of greater education, health and infrastructure faa'lities. She would point out the difialties of rural Iife and the possibility that these problems could one day be solved. In many ways the catalyst's fate in the community depended on their ability to motivate.

Conflict Remlution Skills

Rural society is a cornplex world of individuals and interestgroups with cornpethg needs.

ûfknthe catalyst would enter a cornmunity which had been divided, in some cases for years, by group rivalries adoutstanding disputes. Adopting a cooperative PPI was difficult and, in some cases, impossible without full consensus and an agreement to cooperate within the village. This required the SO to be an adept facilitator who couid resolve outstand ing conflich. These conflicts often involved local elites. Radier than ignoring or challenging hem, the AKRSP approach was one in which the catalyst tried to indude them in the process.

leaders hi^ Skills

Most catalysts were observeci to be leaders in some sense. Participant obsewation found thern to be respected cornmunity mernbers who were consulted for advice. This was not merely because they had received 'university education (communities often had a number of educated men), but more because they appeared to have proven their ability to bting positive results through dieir leadership.

Lin kage Formation Skills

One of the hallmarks of sustainability, according to Shoaib Sultan Khan, was the VOrs ability to chart its own course of dwelopment independent of AKRSP. The catllyst was seen as king able to initiate fundamental linkages with other govemment and non- government organisations. This would reduce dependence on AKRSP and encourage the

VO to be a dynamic organisation that could link with other service and resource providers. The SOwas a fundamental bridge between the VO and other institutions (see

Figure 5.2).

Linkage formation is also something the SO encouraged VO Managers to do. Some of the most successful VOS maintained strong linkages witb other Pakistani service organisations su& as the Social Assistance Program (SAP) which builds village schools, the Family Planning Asdation of Pakistan (FPAP), the Northern Areas Public Works

Department (NAPWD) and other AKDN organisations offering health, education, housing, and cultural preservation services.

Non-lsmaili cornmunities have formed linkages with other support organisations within their own seb. For example, the Made Foundation (Kuwait) offers similar services in predominandy Shia Baltistan. Linkages have al- been fondwith other international organisations such as the World Consenration Union (IUCN) and Volunteer Sewice

Overseas (VSO), an organisation that provides communities with teacher-trainers from the UK and Canada. One characteristicof a successful indigenous or natural catalyst like a VO Manager is his ability to form and maintain such linkages which are beneficial to the community (Khan 1997). AKRSP SOS claimed that it was they who first motivated diese nahiral catalysts to continue their work.

5.6 Obstacles to the Catalys~sWork

A number of obstades beset the catalyst as he or she attempts to enter a community for the first time. Bebare the obstacles that catalysts highlighted, followed in some cases by solutions which they felt would address or remove the obstacle.

Suspicion

This was the fint reaction on the part of villagers. Mernones are still fresh of the Dogra den of Jammu who colonized Baltistan. They imposed forced labour and heavy taxes on the local populace and as a result, officiais have corne to be regardeci with fear and mistnist

Due to the equal distribution of three lslamic sects (Sunni, Shia and Ismaili) in the

Northem Areas, each group is wary of attempts to convert îheir rnembers to the other m.The Aga Khan is the spiritual and temporal leader of the lsmaili se^ Thus when the Aga Khan Foundation began ta offer its development programs such as AKRSP to

non-ismaili communities, there was dear resistanœ based on the fear that the prograrns'

ultimate goal was to convert partiapants to the lsrnaili sed

Solution

Trust was gined by first adopting a nombureaumatic approach upon entry into the community. Catalysb wore the local Pakistani dress (salwar kameez), radier than pants, and conducted themseives according to local aistom, deferring to elders and religious leaders. AKRSP's General Manager, Shoaib Sultan Khan, took the lead by making a point of sim'ng on the ground in VO meeting instead of a chair. fie shook hands and spoke with the poorest of villagers and beated them with the utmost respe Catalysts noted how impressed they were by these simple acb. Many dairned they had acquired their methods through watdiing Shoaib Sultan loian.

To allay fears of conversion, it was important that the catalyst be a trusted local from the same rdigious sect. This would add to their uedibiiity. Most catalysts indicated that having a strong social network was essential in the establishing of ma For ewample, a Shia catalyst whose father was a respeded community member would be more readily received in a Shia communitythan an outsider. In non-lsmaili areas, the faci that catalysts themselves were not lsmaili and had no fear of being converted, provided living proof to rural people that there were no underlying motives behind AKRSP's entry. Opposition hmLocal Elites

While it has been noted that most villages in die ~orthernAreas possess a high degree of relative equality, elites related to former feudal rulers or the eme'ng modem political leaders. In some cases they opposed AKRSPrs work simply to prwent their fellow villagers from gining resources. They had grown accustomed to their own privilege and other villagers kingdependent on them.

Solution

The response of the catalyst was, in the first case, to serve as neutral arbitrators who could resolve confiicts. in the second, catalysts would encourage elites and other potential troublernakers to participate, explaining to them hmthey could benefit from

AKRS P projects. The solution, therefore, was to co-opt or indude the elite in the process.

Ceographic Consfranb

The basic challenges of traveling and communicab'ng auoss the highest mountains in the world, when the infrastructure has been developed only on a small =le, present a major constraint The mountains are geologically unstable (Le., earthquakes and landslides are common) leadingto blodcages on major arteries such as the Karakoram Highway. Many communities are inaccessible by road and of those that are, their access is blocked during the winter. The entire region of Chitral, for example, has no road acres due to high snowbound passes for six months of the year. Flights in and out of al1 three regions are often cancefed due to bad weadier.

Many communities living away from the major roads do not have elecbicity or phones.

Conveyhg a message can take days. One can imagine how much longer it takes to convey the message of rural development which requires time, patience and reiteration.

SoIution

It was felt that the effective catalyst was one who would be willing to reach the village by any rneans. Some rode motorcycles while others walked for days, sleeping in village houses and moques.

Failure to lmplement Development Packages

Some obstacles aise after the VO-AKRSP partnership has kenformed. These have to do with the VO's inability to keep to its part of the agreement 1 n some cases, villagers lost interest in their PPI and it was abandoned or not cornpleted on time. Once AKRSP began b offer ditfacilities for VOS and individuals, default became a problem.

Similady, althougb regular VO saving was a requirement for working with AKRSP, some villagen were not interested and would not contribute. In other cases village specialists trained by AKRS P in agriculture, livestock and foresûy were found to be not working. Soldon

These implementation issues would require the catalyst to be more shrewd. One former

catalyst suggested rnethods such as deducting payment for VO loan default from VO

sa vin^, and drawing on community profits from other advities sudi as tree nursery sales.

ioan default continues io be a major concem for field staff.

Inabiliv of VWto UncEer~th~dProgram Prinà'pIes

The introduction of an extemal organisation like AKRSP having contraduai agreements with communities was somediing new for rural residents. The program's purpose and

logic had to be explaineci rnany times in some cases. Women social organisen, in

particular, noted that they had to repeat over and over again hmthr program worked.

They atbibuted bis to the high rate of illitetacy arnong women and the fact that they had

led largely house-bound Iives, with no contact with su& organisations.

Solution

Cleady repeat the program's principles as many times as necessaty.

ln& and lntrwilage Contlicts

Another obstade was inner conflia within the community. As in any community, land disputes and other outstandingconflicts were sources of strong division. For a community to adopta cooperative projeci like a PPI, it was important that many of these disputes be resolved, parb'cularly where the sharing of rmurces such as irrigation Channel water was

concemed. Various groupings dong political, kin and elite lines could be frusûating for

the catalyst ûying to achieve consensus or cooperation. One SO noted diat 'if you meet

with a partïcular leader in a village, his opponents are automatically against you."

In some cases, conflids would anse because of AKRSPs intervention. Disagreement wer

the division of new land from irrigation, failure of some community mernbers to rneet

their obligations to repair and maintain irrigation channels are examples of post-PPI conflib. There were also rare cases in which the VO Manager or President would

misappropriate funds. These cases required arbitration from the SO.

SoIuüon

The social organiser is a resolver of conflicis. Figure 5.5 Troubleshoothg Summary

Obstacle Solution Im plications for Catalpt Training Suspicion Adopt a non-bureaucratic Hands-on training in approach. social organisation, 'Local' catalyst: speaks same entry, appropriate language, same religious se& conduct Rely on one's own social network. Opposition from Local Conflict Resolution Elites training needed. ------More effort travei on foot if Motivational training necessary. needed.

VO Faiiure to Pressure community with Communication/ lmplement Packages withdrawal of assistance. Analyticd S kills training -. - -- -- lnability of V/WO to Patience needed. Repeat Communication/ Understand AKRSP prinaples over and over and Analytical S kills training Principles stick to one's word. inter and 1ntra-Village Act as a conflid resolver, Conflict Resol ution Conflicts peacebuilder. training needed.

One Regional Program Manager pointed out that the village is not a singe entity but a group of people with often conflicting interests. He felt that NGO staff often suffered from dewlocentncism (my terrn), the belief that development ideology is at the entre of thing. He believed diat, on the conirary, rural communities regard NGO development activities as projects, which are of possible benefit to them. As one might expect, village& own aspirations and self-intetests prevail at the centre of their worldview. 5.7 women Catalysts

While the same skill and quality issues apply to women catalysts, there are some factors which make their situation and role clearly distinct from that of male catalysts.

In the rural areas of Pakistan, die division between the male-dominated public sphere and the female-dominad private or household sphere is referred to as purdah. While

Ismaili women enjoy greater public mobility, purdah remains a powerful social nom in

Sunni and Shia communities. Again, die local catalyst was the one best equipped to negotiatethe fine balance between intmdua'ngAKRSPs women's dewlopment packages and respdng existing noms.

The initial reaction in many non-lsmaili areas was that AKRSP was a corrupting influence on local women. The sight of men and women driving together in AKRSP vehides and the thought of wornen kingtrained by ghair mard, or men from outude their kin group or village, was unacceptable. Opposition to AKRSPfs inteiwntions continues in some areas and AKRSP has leamed to take a cautious approach to womenfs development

AKRSPs Women in Dwelopment NID) program began as an experimentai initiative and is now al1 tbree regional programme offices have WID (AKRSP Chitral refen to its program as a Gender and Developrnent or GAD &on). Womenfs Social

Organisers (WSOs) were trained first by male SOS.The male SO introdud his female counterpart to the VO and encourageci members to let their female family members fom their own women's organisation (WO).

Figure 5.6 Women Catalysts

l îatalyst Year Joined Education Current Position Yasmin Karim 1983 * B.Comrn. TSU Coordinator Culistan 1badat 1985 *MA Cender Coordinator Kulsoom Farman 1986 * BA Women's Coordinator ** 1989 * BA Social Organiser Zakia Karirn 1993 * BA Social Organiser Shakeela Bibi 1994 * MA Cender Coordinator ' Indikates 'pivate' degrees wfiich wre obtained througi correspondena! courses as opposed to aüendanae in university dases. '* Prefened to not have real name used.

The female SO's job was not only to motivate women, and encourage hem to save, but to also provide them with technical training for income generating activities such as poulûy rearing and vegetable faning. In recent years, the WID program has expanded to provide basic literacy and nurneracy courses as well as traditional birth attendant training for women. However, with men dominating the public sphere and the marketplaœ, the pace of social organisation around economic activities for women appears to be siower.

Female catalysts undemred the difficulties of working in a male dominated environment at AKRSP. They claimed that their ability to fundon as effective catalysts depended largdy on the willingness of their regional pmgram manager or field

74 manager to encourage them and prm-dethem with the necessary transportation to make

field visits. They felt that there was still much work to be done with rural women in ternis

of basic mobilisation and awareness raising. They also felt that opposition hmlocal

religious leaders had kenexacerbated by some instances in which non-local women

staff flouted purdah noms. They worked in an environment in which miasm and the

direat of &al sandion were constant Most were proud of the fact that their husbands

and other family members supported their work.

Resistance from local male staff also hinders their wok These 'opposers' feel diat

'Westemisationt of rural women will lead to a corruption of lslamic values. Other staff,

induding one longstanding social organiser, insisted that a separate women's program

was not necessary given social conditions in the NAs. They point4 out that the

organisational unit is the famiiy, and that the concept of individual spending for women was foreign, since rural women did not frequent the marketplace. Proponents of this view were confident that diere was a just division of resources between ail members at the

household lwel. Figure 5.7 AKRSP Social Organiser, Zakia Karim, conduds a WO meeting.

Figure 5.8 Kulsoom Farman, a female catalyst, speaks on the importance of poultry as an income-generating enterprise for women.

76 5.8 CurrentDirectionsinWomen'sOrganisaüon

In some parts of the program area, the role of the female SO differs litde from that of her male counterpah While îhere are examples of women taking on manageriai roles (one was an FMU manager in the Gilgit region for two years), fernale SOSgenerally do less

'liaising' work such as linkage formation with govemment agencies, higher level conflict remlution (e.g., inter-village), or infrastructure project dialogues. Their work can involve activities as simple as discussing with rural women what can be done to improve their lives.

Given the lower levels of literacy (see Figure 4.2) and Iimiteâ public mobility for women, the work of female SOS remains more basic, but no les important Their presence is needed on a more regular basis to nurture WO developrnent and to voice the needs of women. The delicate task of institution building for women, in a Society where such organisations are completely new, requires ongoing assistance from the female SO.

Instru~onin bookkeeping, record keeping, and fostenng women entrepreneurs are also key areas of acüvity. Female SOS have also requested training in conflict resolution.

In general, women catalysts are constrained by Iimited education oppoiainities. Although diere were no enroiment restrictimons on hem in down-country universities, women are hindered by the same la& of educational resources as men, compounded by restrictive social noms such as purdah which prevent rural families from seeing the value of women kingeducated to enter the public workplace. This situation is changing, in part due to die spread of down-country modem values, as well as the leadership of die Aga Khan in

Ismaili areas (where female education is süongly promoted).

At the same time. the 1998 Human Deveiopment Report for South Asia has noted that low primary enrolrnent levels for girls (25%) in Pakistan is more due to a lack of political cornmitment and consüous policy effort rather than religious faciors such as purdah. In comparîson, other Muslirn countries like Bahrain and boast higher enrolment levels

Tunisia, 100% and 96% respectively, CThe News, April 6, 1998).

Regardless of die causes, most women catalysts claimed they had demanding roles at home. Their responsibilities induded caring for children, husbands, and extended family members, cooking, cleaning and orher household tasks. These lirnited their ability to go on study leave or complete their higher education goals. The faci that al1 interviewees had completed univenity degrees via the 'private' or correspondenœ route (see Figure

5.6), radier than through dassroom attendance, is evidence of this constraint

5.9 Challenging or Confoming to Traditional Structures?

In Sections 5.2 and 5.3 1 have indicated how cmperation with key comrnunity figures or die local elite was essential to the SOfs work. This raises some important questions: The failure of the community development movement in the 1950s and 1960s was due in part to the failure to challenge elite power. Catalysts instead established alliances wih village el ites who took advantage of development proje- and simultaneously excluded the poor (Kortefi 1980:482)

1s the AKRSP cataw ctwptea by the ekte?

Why does the SO refuse to chalfenge elite power?

To annrver these. the tenn 'elite' must first be clarifiecl in the context of the Northern

Areas. Unlike the rest of Pakistan, the communities of the Northern Areas exhibit a high degree of economic homogeneity which has been aürïbutedto a steady disintegration of feudal power since the nineteenth century (Khan 1992:2). Residenîs are quick to point out that most households own land, and that there are few landless members of soa-ety.

The majority of rural households own between 0.8 and 2 hedares of land, depending on the region. Since the forma1 dissolution of the princely States in the 1970s, the influence of the feudal aristocracy has decreased to the point where it is negligible.

Local disputes are traditionally resolved through a meeting of the jirga. or council of village elders. The jirga may be dominated by respectrd dans. In Shia communities imams are important religious figures respeded for their leaming and consulted on matters relating to islamic jurisprudence. In Ismaili communities, members active the local representative of the ismaili Council which reports direcdy to the Aga Khan is influential. In his research on avillage in the upper Braldu Valley of Baltistan, MacDonald points out points out that traditional anangemenîs have exidparticularly around the shanng of common resounes such as water, pasture land and fore= long before the amval of AKRJP. These involve the role of a rotating village head and established niles of household responsibility or tum-taking (1 994).

I would agree with this analysis that in this area of Pakistan, traditional leadership is not by definition oppressive. On the contrary, traditional leadership and arrangements are often highly egalitarian. The target of an 'oppressiveelite' as &sts in Latin America or areas of Pakistan where feudal powr structures remin stmng

(e-g., rural Sindh), or highly stratified societies can be dismissed from this discussion. The catalyst's work, therefore, does not need to be overtly political or conhntational in this context.

GNen this condusion, it is not surprising then that the AKRSP SO would choose to first contact these focal points of local leadership. But what else can a catalyst do to assist

VO self-reliance? The analytical tools that enable a catalyst to logically monitor, evaluate and retlect on his or her successes and failures in the field have ken, in my opinion, neglected until very recedy at AKRSP. AKRSP dweloped an irnpressive system of assessing VO self-reliance callecl the

Institutional Matunty Index. Hwwer, based on 1 20 indicatm, diis attempt to quantify organisational processes was considered to be too time-consuming. it was also aiticÏsed for attempting to quantify social change (Narayan and Ebbe 1997:40). 1 would add that it left the al1 important leamhg pcocess in the han& of technicians at AKRSPfs

Monitoring and Evaluation &on radier than enabling the catalyst to betîer undentand his/her changing field context

As I hall explain in the following chapten, chere is sb'll a need for consûentising work on the part of AKWP catalysts. 6. CATALYST BACKGROUND

6.1 Rural Ohgins

The villages of die Northem Areas consist of small dusters of subsistence farming households. While in earlier time, these cornmunities rnay have benmore mobile, the colonial era was rnarked by Iimited mobility as feudal rulers restrided travel and maintained control over their subjects. increased mobility occurred with the dissolution of feudal power in the early 1970s and the completion of the ail-weadier

Karakoram Highway. This made travel to down-country urban centres for trade and education much easier.

Participant observation rwealed that most AKRSP local staff appear to be among the first generation of Nohem Areas youth to receive university edumtion down-country. A number of interviewees noted that their parents were either illiterate or had received litde formal sdiooling beyond the primary level. Traditional village schooling was camed out in madmsahs or reiigious sdiools. Here literacy in Arabic and Persian was taught rather than in local languages. Thus the current generation of AKRSP staff was among the first to be exposed to comprehensive govemment sdiooling in die medium of Urdu,

Pakistan's national language, as well as English. 6.2 Government Schooling

Pakistan's govemment schools tend to be poorly funded and administered men by South

Asian standards. The statistics tell the story. With 50 million illitente adults (60%

fernales), 10 miilion children not attending primary xhool, and an official literacy rate

of 38%, Pakistan suffers from a la& of govemment invernent in the education sector

Uhe News 1998:11). The atmosphere of apathy in government schools is refleded in

hi@ rates of teacher absenteeisrn. For example, surveys of gwemment schools in the

Pakistani province of Balochistan found one-fifth of teachers missing (The News

1998:11).

In recent years resource shortages have prornpted the creation of more private schools,

particulariy in urban areas. Exduding senior managemenf al1 AKRSP staff intewiewed,

particularly locals from the Northem Areas, had received government schooling for la& of any affordable alternatives. In addition some had also received their pre-university schooling in madrassahs or majored in islamic Studies in university.

The govemment school system throughout South Asia is charaderÎsed by rote iearning, die memorisation of large portions of text which are regurgitated in standardised examinations, then often prompdy forgotîen. 6.3 Universityhlucation

Most AKRSP staff cornplete degrees (either BA/B.Sc or MA/M.Sc) from universities in

tities such as Kadi, Lahore, or Peshawar. One inteiviewee dairned that this was due

to the availability of part-time jobs for students, particularly in Karadii, and relatively easy

admission standards. These standards suffered further during the 1980s when political

strife maneci campus life. Karachi University bore the bnint of violence between rival

political parties and ethnic groups.

More recendy, the religious Jamaat-i-lslami party has corne to dominate campus life at

the University of die Puniab (Lahore). Student m*kes,intimidation of faculty members,

and even armed conflict contributed to a general detenoration in the quality of higher

education in Pakistan since the 1980s. Some catalysts recalled that the appearance of

weapons on university campuses in the 1980s coincided with increases in instances of

cheating on examinations. They recalled cases in which faculty and -dents were

physically threatened.

6.4 Common Cround

They pointd out that generally die highest achiwen in university from the Nordiern

Areas qualify for the Pakisûini Civil Service or professions su& as Medicine or

Engineering. The vast majority obtain depes in the social sciences, humanities and wen

Islamic studies, for which there are few jobs. With a generally common levd of schooling, qualification, and English ability, and high unemployment, competition for

jobs in NGOs is hi&. Employment and promotion in many Pakistani organisations

depends on the recommendation (sifarish) of those in power rather dian the merit of the

candidate. This makes one's soda1 nehr~orkan important factor in job security.

Ali the catalysts listed in Figure 6.1 below joined AKRSP as social organisers. Most were

later promoted to management positions as the catalyst role diminished.

Figure 6.1 Male Catalysts

Catalyst Year Education Current Position Joined Shah Karez 1983 MA (Political Science) AKES Consultant Miraj Khan MA (Emnomics) Credit and Saving L.L.B. Manager (Chitral) Mohammad lqbal 1984 MA (Sociology) FMU Manager 1 Ali Mohammad 1 1984 1 *BA (History) FMU Manager 1 Wazir G. Haider 1 1985 1 MA (Islamic Studies) FMU Manager 1 Mohammad Alam 1986 1 MA (Politid Science)

1 Chulam Hussain 1 1986 1 *MA (Political Science) LSU Manager Mohammad (Social Work) Social Organiser Ibrahim TSU Manager (1997)

Nazir Ahmad 1989 MA (Geography) MER Manager * lndicates 'private' degees which were obtained through mrrespona necourses as opposed attendanœ in university dases. 6.5 Staff Devefopment at AKRSP

AKRSP offen numerous training opporhinities to its staff. These include:

a) In-house training

b) Training with Pakistani organisations

c) Study tours

d) Longer programs abroad

Staff noted that short courses at the Pakistan Instihite of Management (Karachi and

Lahore) were Ia@y ineffective due to their king designed for avil servants whose

bureaumatic development approadi differed from AKRSP's. Workshops at other rural

development NGOs su& as the National Rural Support Programme (NRSP) were found to be more valuable. In general, they suggested that in-country training programs needed to be more partiapatory and more specific to the AKRSP and Northem Areas contexts.

Study tours to other dwelopment NGOs in South Asia such as the Bangladesh Rural

Advanœment Commitîee (BRAC) were Iargely regarded as ineffective. Participants were sent on such tours without preparation, specific study objectives, or follow-up upon return. The study tours were treated more as holiday trips.

The most widely appreciated training experience was an in-house course in

Communication and Anaiyb'cal Skills. This ten-day intensive course introduced them to new techniques that encouraged refledion and problem solving. Some noted, however,

that with litde follow-up or refresher courses on the subject, the benefits won faded. This

was a general criticism of al1 training courses: ladof follow-up evaluations or refresher

courses contnbuted to a lack of continuity in training.

6.6 Professional Devdopment for Cataiptr

Howwer, al1 catalysts and c-lysts-himed-managers noted that an effective learning

experience was an AKRSP training course in Communication and Analytical Skills. This

ten-day intensive course introduced them to new tediniques that enauraged reflection

and problem solving. They noteci, however, that with litde follow-u p or refresher courses

on the subjecî, the benefits Mon faded. This was a general critiasm of al1 training courses for catalysts and catalysts-himed managers: the la& of follow-up e~luationsor refresher courses contributed to a lad< of continuity in training.

Exceptions to this were the two longer intensive leaming progtams: the ten-month Mid-

Career Program in International Rural Dwelopment Planningat the University of Guelph and the Training and Leaming Program in Social Organisation offered by the University of Bath.

From their own per~p~ves,the leaming needs of AKRSP catalysts varied. Those with a more comprehensive education background who occupied senior management positions had morespeafic skills-based needs such as projectdesign, comparative miam credit -dies, program waluation, or cornputer training. However social organises and

FMU managers identified a number of common areas which needed attention. These included:

Analytical S kills lmproved English Ability

Report Wnting

Linkage Capaüty

Catalysts who had just cornpleted a recent Training and Leaming Program in Social

Organisation course felt that their needs lay in action research and social analysis. Fresh from the course and with its research assignments in progress, they felt that this was dieir most urgent learning requirement Howwer, two senior management members questioned the value of trying to make researchers out of catalysts and catalyststurned- managers. Leaming the art of linkage formation was their prirnary need, they claimed. 7. THE DIMINISHING CATALYST

What does a rural development program do with its catalysts once its message has been transmiüed ta the people and communities have ben mobilised? 1s the catalyst redundant?Can they be re-trained and re-integrated into the organisation?The AKRSP case raises these important questions as fundamental to the wolution of any agency that uses catalysts.

In 1995, AKRSP underwent a series of major organisational changes. Its credit program had expanded to die pointwhere the three Regional Programme Offices could no longer serve hundreds of VOSand individual loanees. The decision was made to decentralise the credit program so as to allow 'doorstep' facilities to VOS. 'Field Management Unit9

(FMUs) replaced the original Social Opnisation Units. FMUs were designed to offer technical services for agriculture, livestock and forestry (now cumulatively called Nahirai

Resource Management) in addition to 'doorstep' aedit There are 14 FMUs, spanning the program area (see Figure 7.1)

The shift to FMUs coincided widi a depaiture from the original social organisation thru*

Recognising that the initial need for transmission of the program's prinaples and mobilisation was complete, the number of SOS was reduœd. This was done by tansferring the more comptent SOs to middle management positions (e.g., FMU

Manager, Trainingkeaming Support Unit Manager) and by layingoff remaining SOs through a 'golden handshake' scheme which induded a sewrance pay package.

The golden handshake scheme created a sense of insecurïty and displaczment among the former SOS who remained. They had once been what the General Manager describeci as the "king and queens of AKRSP" holding considerable autonorny and decision-making power within the organisation.

The architects of decentralisation frorn senior management claimed that al1 staff would be SOS, in die sense of kingsensitive to the social aspects of VO development Some

FMUs retained an amal male SO. The change was that the SOwas no longer the chief field agent or catalyst. He was on par with other FMU staff and under the direcüon of the FMU Manager (see Figure 7.21, whom I cal1 a catalyst-tumed-manager. The

SO no longer enjoyed the same authority or proximity to the CM. The catalyst-tumed- manager, was limited by a lack of managerial skills. niedecentralisation coincideci with an incfeasing emphasis on seMce provision. 1s this the fate of any organisation, once the initial mobilisation is complete?

Many former catalysts beliwed that not everyone could be an SO. The example was given of technical staff (e.g., agriailturists) who would not take on the respansibility of conflicî resolution because it neither was in dieir job description nor had they had previous experienœ in it One catalyst felt strongly that the limited experience of technical staff in the realm of social awareness made hem unfit for SO work. Figure 7.1 AKRSP FMU-Wise Map of the Northem Areas and Chibal

lgfffifiUfip!trlilioeni rro Figure 7.2 AKRSP Organogram (AKRSP 1996)

I Finance I

1 Personnel & Administration 1

- Naturel Resource Management 1 Savinos 1 I Training Support 1

Mountain Infrastructure 8 Engineering

Monitoring, Evaluation 6 Research Enterprise Devalopment Adminlstration/Personnel

I I finance I

1 Field Management Unît: FMU Manaer 1 Akhtar Hameed Khan pointed out that in die case of the Orangi Pilot Project in Karachi, the SO's task was to merely organise lane dwellers for the initial pro+ The catalyst could either be the OPP-trained SO,or a msted local lane dweller who had time and was willing to organise people. Akhtar Hameed Khan daims that his fle>rigblemodel, in which the catalyst is nota bound employee of the organisation but a concemed atken who eventually relinquishes the catalyst role, has proven both successful and less cosdy than the agency-employed catalyst Khan's approach was similar to India's community development movement which sees the development of the self-helpklf-reliance factor as an essential indiçator of success (Alliband 1983:ix-x).

Shoaib Sultan Khan recalled another reason for catalyst redundancy over time. Many natural or indigenous catalysts, such as village managers, began to supercede SOSin their ability to motivate, form linkages and achieve tangible results. Although less educated, some were highly adept at managing their communities and accessing resources from govemment and non-govemmental organisations. Retireci army servicemen prdto be particularly good leaders, managers and linkage brokers (Khan 1997. This is in keeping with the general rural development emphasis on dweloping the minority of 'progressive farmers' Alliband (1983 :3).

Similarly the timely downloading of responsibilities from catalyst to VO manager suggestr that genuine development of local institutional capadties has occurred. Uphoff reminds us that

. . . catalysts are not atternpting to change people and cornmunities so much as to facilitate their emergence as self-managing and empowered agents. The newer concept implies that the cataiyst wiii be withdrawn at some point, but the pnxess of transformation will go on. In some pmgrams, this is what happens, yet the continuity of egort may be proHematic. Maintainhg some connection between the pmgrams and communities is advisable. /tbnipt, cornpiete removal is not necessary and is destructhe of reiationships that have ken built up; hawever, the locus of initiative should shifi. (1998:54).

7.1 The Learning Pracgs at AKRSP

SOS recalled the intense demands of their work during the first decade (1 982-1 992) as the program spread. They noted how fittle time diey had to refled One recalled how he was lu* to get a newspaper once a week to read at his Social Organisation Unit There were few training opportunities, other than the occasional technical training or study tour to other NCOs. As their role changed to one of management, new training opportunities began to anse.

However, partiapation observation at AKRSP Baltistan revealed that there is litde follow- up or impact assessrnent of training experiences. This was confirrned by a Joint

MonitoringMission UMM) to AKRSP in 1997 which noted the need for a systematic staff development propmthat included staff development plans, a focus on adult ducation and training, and ongoing monitoring of impacts OMM 1997: 79-88). Interviewees claimed that study tours to other NGOs in Pakistan and other countries tend to be ineffective due to a lack of preparation and follow-up. Often in dwelopment organisations, training opporhinities tended to be offered rather as a 'perk' or reward for

performance ((IRR-AR0 1998) and the fit between the program and the leamer is ignoreci.

The opporhinity for academic study in the West arose with the establishment of a training

Iink with the School of Rural Planning and Dwelopment (SRP&D) at the University of

Guelph in 1992. In the second year of this ten-month program, senior social organiser/managers attended. By the third year (1 994-1 9951, the emphasis was on the increasingiy redundant SOS.

Another direction for the catalyst is to develop linkag- between VOS and other government and NGO actors. Shoaib Sultan Khan aplained that this was his intention in forming the link with SRP&D. He feit at the time that exposure to the Western academic institution, and the network of resources in a developed country like Canada, would help a catalyst become an innovator and broker of linkages. AKRSP Chitral's

regional program manager added that the SRP&D program helped the catalyst

understand the wodd and rnindset of the donor. More recendy, the JMM observed the following training needs for AKRSP staff:

FMU Managers Management, staff appraisal Technical staff Improvernentof tedinicd skills, social development skills Specifying their new ahr decentralisation, &al development skills and tools as identified by Prof-Wood's consultancy (see below) Al1 staff Women's role in the development process, development of a common understanding of 'participation' in AKRSP, ranging from: cooperation in AKRSP activitie to supporting self-determined, participatory village development processes.

UMM AKRSP 1997:86)

These suggestions confirm my daim that this süll need for work in the area of conscientisation. Encouraging women's empowemient, facil itating the participatory learning process and as has been suggested, assisted community self-rdiance are al1 parts of an essential leaming process that need further work phof off 1998).

Mon72 shows us that AKRSP is ptepan'ng to embark on this journey.

7.2 New Direcüons in Social Organisation

Under the decentralisation, it has become impossible for one SO to reach the 200-300

VOS within their FMU area. Similarly village lwel workers (VLWs) in India's National

Community Development Programme were seen as having too many tasks, with too many villages to cover, inadequate training, and rapidly fluctuating priorities (Alliband

1983:ix). Ail of these concems were expressed at AKRSP as wek Some remaining social organisers were disillusioned with their current role. Now under the authority of FMU Managers (their former SO colleagues), they fek their role was undear. Should they try to cover al1 the Vos? tiow much authority did they have to facilitate change under die new regime? Had bey, in fact, become redundant?

Uphoff notes diat social infrastructure rquires maintenance as much as physical infrastructure does, and that catalyst roles must shift to: training community members and new staff, monitoringand evaluation, conflid resolution, and troubleshoob'ng (1998:55).

Recognisingthat the original 50rde is no longer completely relevant, AKRSP is revisiting social organisation. Former SO staff are also king sent to train die staff of other rural support programme throughout Pakistan and in Tajikistan, fulfilling AKRSPs initial replication objective.

In 1996 a consultancy by Prof. Ceof Wood from the University of Bath recognised increasing income and social differentiation in the AKRSP programme area, and a consequent need to re-analyse AKRSP's assumption that a cooperative V/WO was the best vehicle for change. It challenged AKRSPfs assumption of an institutional vacuum bat ernerged after the dismanding of feudal powers in the 19705, claiming instead that traditional institutions had continued to resolve local disputes, religious issues and that resource sharing arrangements had aciually remained intact (Wood 1997). Participatory workshops with AKRSP staff redefined SO roles. It was felt that 50 responsibilities should indude:

Reactivation (where appropriate of dormant VOs)

Troubleshooting (ktmort conflict resolu tion, management advice)

Supporting the dedopment of various cluster initiatives (both geographic and functional)

Strategic planning and hstitutional hperimentation (analpis of socioeconomic and natural resource trends, worhg with viIIage activists as co-analysts, action- research on institutional initiatives around commercial activity, natural moune management, new infrastnctutal provision, case studies of such initiatives for wider dissemination, monitoring and advisory inputs).

lden trfying indigenous innovations and gwd practice (for appropriate replication or at least sharing of principles in other situations, including the formation of local NGOS)

Continuous support for other ÇMU staff in implementation (via both VIWOs and new institutional arrangements)

Functioning as Master Trainers for other ÇMU staff and capacity building among villagen (training of village activists as co-analystr).

lmplernenting and Monitoring new AKRSP initiatives

Developing linkges with other organisations (e-g., govemment, ADN, NCa, other initiatives linked to national and donor agencies).

(Wood 1 996: 10-1 1)

Wood's chief aiticism of the AKRSP approadi was bat, like Cornilla, it had becorne stuck in a formula approach that could not respond to more diverse or dynamic social situations. The SO role is kingrevised furdier airough an ongoing Training and Leaming

Program (TLP) in Social Organisation developed and co-led by Prof. Wood. This intensive six-week in situ course was designed to train catalysts and other staff in the social analysis toois bat wuld help develop a more targeted approach to equity issues such as addressing the needs of wlnerable and marginalid groups within a mmmunity.

The TLP course's six modules cover the following topic areas:

1. Socioeconomic and Cultural Change in the Programme Area

2. Livelihood ûynamics

3. Social Organisation Theory

4. NGOs and Rural Dwelopment in the Subcontinent

5. Tds, Techniques and Developing the Art in Social Organisation

6. Analysis of Entrepreneurial and Employment Options

The TLP course incorporates key features of Korten's iearning process approach, particularly the Iinking of knowledge to acüon, through a social analysis approadi.

Civen Professor Wood's long association with NCOs such as BRAC in Bangladesh, it is not surprising that key elements of BRAC's success as a leaming organisation (Korten

1980) are king introduced. By 1976 (five years after its founding) BRAC had adopted a people-cenbed approach that incorporatd social analysis and action-research into its

1O0 work with the rural poor, itr targeted beneficiaries (Korten 1980:490).

Shoaib Sultan Khan, countered that the original formula has been tested over time in many cultura! contex& It requires no revision. AKRSP Chitral's RPM, Masood ui Mulk, insists that the original approach was flexible mugh to allow for diverse arrangements, but that AKRSP's monitoring system simply did not account for them.

There is widespread agreement arnong AKRSP policy makers that the original focus on the VO was both necessary and highly effective to galvanise cornmunity interest and support at the outset But there is now aiw, agreement that AKRSP's relationship with communities must be flexible enough to include emerging interest groups and institutions in the local =ne, in addition to the V/WO. Youth groups, amy ex-servicemen societies, and small 'women's action groups' (in areas where there is opposition to WO formation) are examples of diese new institutions.

As the TLP redefines AKRSP's social deveiopment agenda, the SO role awaits further redefinition. AKRSP's Cenerai Manager has noted that SOS were still needed to liaise with communities, although witb betîer analytïcal and conflict resolution skills.

In sum, the AKRSP social organiser's role has evolved from that of catalyst to manager and now to action-researcher (see Figure 7.3). Questions still remain as to whether he/she

101 has the ability to carry out the latter two roles. Although some basic managerial training has been provided to FMU Muiagen, some inteni- felt that the weakest link in the post-1995 organisatio~lstructure was poorly trained FMU Managers. It appeared that hile highly fit for catalyst's wurk, some SOS did not have the managerial skills needed to plan and coordinate the techniml seMces offered by a Field Management Unit.

A more stn'king example of a lack of fit is the case of SOS who have been made

TrainingLeaming Support Unit Managers at the RPOs. With Iitde or no knowledge of adult education or program planning, two former SOS admitid that they felt unfit for their new roles. Both needed considerable assistance with basic managerial tasks. Unlike

BRAC which recopised the importance of adult education eady on, AKUSP's reliance on largely economic interventions may thus have limited long-term impacts.

Crib'a of TLP daim that the catalyst cannot acquire the skills needed to be social analysts or action researchers. They suggest that the TLP training is a waste of time and money.

The emphasis on participatory action research, howewr, suggests that the social sciences can be demystifiecl and effectively used as tools by catalysts (Korten 1980:501). The ultimate goal is to train the rural poor in the use of such tools to identify their own problems and develop their own solutions.

1 02 Figure 7.3 Changing Catalyst Roles at AKRSP

r . Act ion Cataiyst Manager Researcher I I > Motivation 1 >Management 1 >Social W Mobilisation >Service Anaiysis >Conflid 1 Provision 1 >More Resolution Linkage responsive, >Organisation 1 Formation ! targated wo 1 service Formation) I . provision I I

il Can catalysts be re-tained for managerial and research roies in a dwelopment

organisation? i i Instead, shouid aiey be let go, once their catalyst work is complete?

The answer to these questions may lie in AKRSP's absorption into the rural sœne of the

NAs. inte~*eweesgave exampies of the difficulty in implementing the 'golden handshake' scheme and the political factionalkm that resuited in the AKRSP workpiace.

The JMMalso noted the high degree of job insecurity that followed this xheme UMM 1997:86) With catalysts originating from the beneficiary communities in the NAs, and

some holding considerable political dout at the local level, the organisation may have

ken compelled to retain and re-train catalysts for other roles rather than risk further

insta bility.

It is usefui here to examine how, based on my own observations, AKRSP fits into Korten's

Three Stages of the Leaming Process which has been applied to other rural developrnent

programs (1980). Figure 7.4 AKRSP and The Learning Process

Stages of Program Development AKRSP -- - Stage 1: Learning Q Be Efléctive Stage 1: Learning to Be Eiktïve (1982-1 995) -0doping a wo&ng progam modei in the -Modei developed through village leaming and setüng of a village levd leaming iaboratory. past experÎences from other prog-ams (Cornilla, -Reçource intensive Daudzai etc) -Requires freedom from administrative -Resourœ intensïve constrain constrain ts -Flexible model using SOUS: room for error -Invoives learning about mmmuniiy dynarnics -More emphasïs on implementation, prograrn -Finding the tentative 'fit' between benefiaaties expansion and replication and propn rnodd -Tentative 'fit' found through PPWO cornbination -University Guelph program begrns (1992)

Stage 2: Learning to Be Efficient Stage 2: Learning to Be EffiUent (1995- ) -Reduang input requirements needed for -0ecentrdisation to FMU system to make credit results and technical seMces more effiaent and -Important adVities routinized, extraneous accesible adivities diminated -'Golden Handshake' downsizing scherne -Some loss of effediveness -Les emphasis on social organisation -Refining the 'fit' Stage 3: Learning to @and Stage 3: Learning to @and -Expansion of organizational capacity -1ncreased attention to enwring 'fit' -1997: Attempts to improve the 'fit' through -Ndto refine fit to changing da1 action-research and social analysis training CTLP) environment

Emphasis on rapid expansion throughoutthe NAs, replication, and output targets from the outset has cost the program in terrns of developing a leaming culture. Adaptation in the field demands inteption between managers, researchers, and catalysb. Yet FMU-level skills and inteption of FMU advities remain weak. This shiftto FMUs rnay have been premature. Today the learning process is being re-introduced through TLP.

(Adapted from Korten 1980) AKRSP appears to be in transition between Stages 2 and 3. In Part III 1 shall argue that a genuine learning proceu approach which will ensure diis transition involves a combination of TLP and the University of Guelph's Mid-Career (now Graduate Dipioma) in IRDP, and an overall mmmitmentto the printiples of the approach: embhngenor, planning with the people, and linking knowledge to action. AKRSP embderror to some degree through its original flexible SO model. The linking of knowledge to action is kingaddressed to some degree through the TLP course. But the planning wïth the people element has not been addressed.

The second case study in this project assesses the impacî of the Mid-Career Program which atternpts to respond to the needs of AKRS P staff, particuiarly catalysts, most of whom have now becorne citalyst-hirned-managers. PART III :THE MID-CAREER PROGRAM :CASE STUDY #2

A Social Organiser joins AKRSP after graduating from a Pakistani university. From then onward he or she is an 'action' person, working on the front lines of dedopment. Bot they have no theoretical base for they work and no time for reflection. At they get a chance to reflect, compare, and lin& cheory to pmctice. This refiection brings a clarity of vision. Consideringquestions Iike what is dedopment ? Where is it coming from ? What is social organisation? These broaden the -dent's horizons. They help them conceptualize things and introduce the idea of planning. But the net effkct is an increase in confidence and selfeeem. TMinferority complex is destmyed.

- Mutabiat Shah, AKRSP Credit and Savings Program Manager

8. CAPACITY DMLOPMENT FOR CATALYSTS

How can catalysts be provided with an effective learning experience that develops their pmfessio~lcapacitiest

As mentioned in the overview of catalyst cases and theories (Section 2), rural development catalysts there are vat ideological differences in programs that employ catalysts, ranging from Freirian catalysts on the feft to corporate change agenk on the right As a result their learning needs are envisioned differently (see Figure 8.1).

Discussions m'th catalysts and AKRSP senior management revealed that for the agency catalyst (i.e., social organisers), communicaüon, conflict resolution, and soagalanalys is s kills are important learning needs. For the agency catalyst-tumed- manager (Le., FMU, T/SU Managers), there is a need to develop capacities, such that he/she can couple the above skills with planning skills that require an understanding of larger detelopment processes. 1 have argued, howwer, that the key is to awid the tendency to train the catalyst to be soldy an implementer as this has consequemes in ternis of program impact on the rural poor. This second case study on the Mid-Career Rogiam in International

Rural Devdopment Planning at the University of Guelph and its impacî on AKRSP catalysts will demonstrate that a leaming pmcess approach, which has sdf-rdiance as its goal for rural communiües, is an appmch with high potential for long-tenn impact AKRSP, however, has until very recentiy not linlred the pmgram with a broader learning procgs within the organisation.

Specific findinp and remmmendations for improved collaboration between AKRSP and

SRP&D were submitted by the author to both organisations in a report tided Building

Pmkssional Capacity: An Impact Assessrnent of the Mid-Career Pmgram in International

Rural DeveIopment Planning in September 1998. A summary of these finding and remmmendations are prwided in Appendix B. Figure 8.1 Appropriate Training for Catalysts

Role Knowledge and Ap prop riate Skills Needed Training

-- Leadershi p, Basic management, Requires litde innovation and contlict resoluthn, training . stabilising in the social network and Basic nird community. capacity to form management linkages. and leadership ûaining help. -. Pol itical Communication Conscientiser Understanding of conscientisation principles Faalitation skills Critical awareness Gram Sevak* Spiritual Guide/ Understanding of Re! igious/ Monk CatalyWf Community spirihial prinuples of Community Priest Catalyst*** developer self-help (e.g., dwelopment Gandhian, Buddhist, training. li beration theology) . Agency Catalyst Motivator Communication SO lnternship (eg, AKRSP social lmplementer Conflict Resolution TLP organisers) Social SRP&D organisatiordanalysis Diploma Prograrn in l RDP Agency Catalys t- Se~*ceprovider. Soàal analysis TLP turned Manager Planner and Analytical skills SRP&D (e.g, AKRSP FMU manager of Planning skills Diploma Managers) projeds. Understanding of Prograrn in larger development IRDP c processes. 8 Frorn Gandhian community development ( ** From the Sarvodaya ~hramadanaMovemen t (Sri LanM *** From the Christian base communities (Brazil, Latin America) 8.1 The Mid-Career Program in Intedonal Devdopment Planning

Discussions in the Northem Areas between AKRSP founder Shoaib Sultan Khan and Dr.

Farokh Afshar from SRP&D led to the initiation of the Mid-Career Program in 1992.

According to Khan, the purpose was to enable local middle management staff to dwelop the capatity to fmlinkages between nrral cornrnunities and other dweloprnent adors.

Contact with these such as researchers, govemment agenaes and NGOs, could begin through exposure to the university environment in the West

Khan indicated that this study experience was not intended to turn development field practitioners su& (e.g., social organisers) into academia, but Mer to build their capacity to facilitate linkages beenrural communities and organisations offering technical expertise. He felt strongy that exposure to the univenity environment would build confidence and enhanœ analytical and communication sla'lls. These would imprwe herhis ability to lobby on behalf of rural communities and improve the quality of technical packages accessible to the rural people of the Northem Areas.

But are linkages and access al1 that is required?

Is facilitating linkagpc the same as Korten's bottom-up 'planning with the people'

(1980)t Figure 8.2 Graduates from the University of Guelph's Mid-Career Pqiamin IRDP at the AKRSP Core Office, Cil&

Dr. Farokh Afshar, the Coordinator of the Mid-Career Program, recalled discussions with

Khan regarding the refledve capacity of Maal opnisen. Khan noted how SO field joumals tended to be largely desaiphive in content He wanted SOSto be able to think analytically and critically. Afshar refers to diis as retlective pracüce. The aim of die program is thus to produœ reflective practitioners, diose who cm "critically reflect on their experienœ, on the experienœ of others, and on the latest in knowledge and skills that would improve their praciiceM (SRP&D 1 998:l).

When Nazeer Ladhani, Director of the Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFO agreed to fund the initiative, the program began on an experimental bais with two AKRSP senior management staff as the first students in 1992. AKFC began to accept candidates from the Bangiadesh Rural Advancement Commitîee (BRAC) in 1994 and the Aga Khan

Housing Boards (AKHB) in 1996. The largest proportion of shidentr however, has been from AKRSP (see Figure 8.3).

Figure 83 Number of Mid-Career Students Enrolled per Year

Organisation Aga Khan Rural Bangladesh Rural Aga Khan support Advancement Housing Boards Programme Cornmittee (India and Pa kistan)

1 Total Enmlled Figure 8.4 Proportion of Mid-Career Alumni* from Participaüng Organisations

I -p I BRAC 1 AKHB 1 Total (tndia and Pakistan)

Number of 14 7 2 23 AIurnni

1 Percentage 61 1 30 1 9 100% * Graduates up to June 1998

82 Programobjectives

In sum, the capaaty building objectives of the SRP&D Mid-Career Program are:

1. To develop critical analysis skills (mitical thinking, listening, and

communication),

2. To improve participants' ability to effedively plan and manage rural

development projects and prograrns (id.faulitating linkages).

3. To offer participants spdc sectoral skills (e.g., environmental impact

assesment, projeci financial analysis, program evaluation etc.).

Intewiews revealed that some senior management and human resources personnel were not fully aware of tbese objectives. This may be due to the absence of regular and direct communication between SRP&D and AKRSP management at the three regional programme offices.

While initially AKRSP sent senior management staff, the majority of participants since then have ben social organisers. Shoaib Sultan Khan's hope was diat die 50could dewlop the ability to fom linkages between VMlOs and other organisations and that the experience of studying in a university in the West would generally expand the ~talyst's vision of development 9. ASSESSING THE IMPAa OF TRAINING

A recent workshop on impact Assesrnent of Training held at the International lnstitute of Rural Reconstrucîion - Afnca Regional Office (IIRR-ARO) produced a useful diagram for guging the impact of training for local development professionals (Figure 9.1) and raises the dificuit questions of how b attribute changes in mime (e.g., Mid-Career

Program graduate) behaviour to a particular trainingfleaming experience, and then how to demonstrate that the behaviour change translated into a positive effect on clients (e.g., the rural poor).

Figure 9.2 explains the logic model of the Mid-Career Program. Program effectiveness anbe assessed in ternis of inaeased knowled~,skills and attitude change on the part of participants. It rwisits the original assumptions and objectives of the Mid-Career

Program, providing the logical links between its a&vities and the ultimate benefit it should have. Bearing in mind that it is sometimes diffinilt to amibute the higher level effects sdely to the training program (Cummings 1997:591, Robinson et sl. 1998: 807), it is still a useful starting point

It is assumed that a benefiaai training program will lead to a tangible behaviour change in trainees. This should then influence the trainee's performance and professional praaice, and have a positive effect on society in the long run. This long-tem effect is generally referred to as Yimpact*. However, an attempt to evaluate these long-tem mcietal benefits of the Mid-Career

Program may be somewhat premature as it only bqpn in 1992. It is alw, important to remember that AKRSP did not request me to conduct an 'evaluation' of die program.

Thus while evaluation litwature tends to distinguish over time between outputs, effects, and ultimately impact as a long-ten objective, 1 instead use the term 'impact' loosely to refer to the general observable changes or effectr on program participants. Impact in this general sense is more akin to immed iate output and intermediate effect (see

Figure 9.1 ).

Figure 9.1 Assessing the Impact of Training

How do we know that the How do we know and How do we know and what factors support or 'irnmediate outpur resutts in what factors support or change of job behavioufl hinder that translation ttmder that translaüon process? What fadors support or hinder prncess? that benslation process? 1 Figure 92 Mid-Career Program Logic Mode1

Societai Benefits (To Northem Areas Residents)

Behaviour Change (in M-C. P. Graduates)

Knowledge Skills Attitudes

Mid-Career Program Activities Masters-kvei cou rses Field Trips Major Professional Paper

(Adapted from Frarnst 1998)

9.1 Key Questions

Data from semi-structureci and key informant interviews was collected according to the following key questions:

1. What is the education background of the rural dweloprnent professionals frorn

AKRSP who have attended the Mid-Career Prograrn?

2. How has their experienœ at the University of Guelph improvd their professional 3. Haw applicable were SRP&D courses to their professional work?

4. In what dher ways has the program transforrned their lives (e.5, attitudes,

worldview)?

5. How have they reintegrad into their organisation upon return (i.e., how have

their new skills been used)?

6. How have AKRSPs training and staff development priorities changed since the

program began in 1982, and since its collaboration with SRP&D began in 1992?

7. How dws the Mid-Career Program fit into current training directions at AKRSP

(e.g., the Training and Learning Program in Social Organisation)?

8. What are some of the current perceptions of the Mid-Career Program among

senior management at AKRSP?

9. How can a more effective collaboration be fostered between SRP&D and AKRSP

to further the capadty building needs of AKRSP? 1O, THE SRP&D EXPERIENCE

10.1 Selection of Candidates

Potential candidates are first identifid by the three Regional Programme Managers who

then submit their recommendation to the Human Resources Management Cornmittee

(HRMC). The HRMC consisb of the three RPMs, the General Manager, and the Human

Resources Development Program Manager.

White initially only two candidates were sel& in 1992, it has recendy become

pradice to choose one candidate from each region (Gilgit, Chiml and Baltistan) in order

to ensure parity and equity. Seledon can be a contentious issue and interviewees

contend that there have been cases of selection based on the candidate's political

influence within die organisation. In some cases, this was coupled with a la& of

understanding of the purpose and demands of the program on the part of senior

management, leading to participants whose lwel of Engfish and general motivation was

inadequate for Masters-level courses.

Poor sdection is a cornmon ptobiem in development organisations. A recent impact

assessment of training in African NCOs notes that, "Training waiis also used to punish and dislocate people or as an incentive for good behaviour. Therefore impact assessment

is useiess if seledon of trainees is based on mkeria which are not related to content and needs." (IIRR-AR0 1998:5)

SRP&D faailty expressed frumtion widi inappmpriate candidates and seek a wider pool of candidate applications from which to seleci, as some are rejected for medical and personal reasons during the processing period. Weak English and low motivation on the part of inappropriate candidates appeared to consume excessive amounts of time from the Diplorna Program Coordinator, Assistant, and other faculty. AKRSPs Ceneral

Manager daimed that after the first three groups of participants AKRSP "sent candidates who could not deal with the demands and opportunities at the University of Guelph."

Despite this, however, even the weakest candidates daimed to have benefitted greatly from the Program.

The AKRSP General Manager outlined three criteria for seledion to the Diploma

Program:

i) Graduate of AKRSP's Training and Learning Program in Social Organisation. ii) Cood Englis h language skilis. iii) Able to cope with the demands of a Western univers*.

The first of these criteria supports my argument that a leaming process approach requires reflection and carefully measured steps. Catalyst participation in a program like the Mid-Career Program should ideally be preceded by the six-week intensive TLP

Uirough which the catalyst begins a process of action-research inquiry, and importandy, research exercises which culminate in analytigcalwritten work. Mid-

Career Program graduates noted the difficulty of suddenly leaving their field context, kingtransporteci to Guelph, and the having to adjust to the Canadian environment and simultaneousiy M.Sc-kvel courses.

103 Pre-Departure Preparation

Located at the AKRSP Core offiœ in Gilgit, the HRD -on is responsible for proœssing applications to the SRP&D Diploma Progam, in addition to other programs at universities abroad. Liaising with AKFC in Ottawa and SRP&D is an essential part of this process.

Retumees complained of a lack of preparation prior to departure. They daimed that

Iitde, if any, information was provided to hem regarding the Diploma Program, the

University of Guelph, or Canada itself. Many participants corne direcdy from field placements (e-g., in FMUs). 75% of AKRSP's SRP&D graduata had not visited a

Western country prior to their SRP&D experience. Those who had were primarily senior managers who attended SRP&D from 1992-1 994.

There has been litde in the way of pre-departure training offered to staff- In 1996, some

121 partiapants were provided with an English language training course through the British

CounUl in Islamabad. Similarly in 1998, a memonth intensive English course taught by a British VSO instnibor was offered at the AKRSP Core Office. Participants found these courses to be very helpful and felt they had helped improve their performance at

SRP&D.

As AKRSP nwsends catalyst-tumed-managers (e-g., FMU Managers) who have not had such exposure, the need for cornprehensive pre-departure training and is high. The potential for adequate preparation is limited to some degree by the demands of their current jobs and the lengthy visa clearance and application process. However, AKRSP, will benefit from well-prepared candidates. 11. MID-CAREER PROGRAM ACTIVITIES

The ten-month program at SRP&D consish of four graduate (Masters level) courses, a major professional paper, and numerous field visits. All participants are required to take

International Rural Dedopment Planning (IRDP) as a core course.

11.1 Cou~ses

Mid-Career students are required to take four graduate level courses during their ten- month program. While ocmsionally students take courses frorn other departrrtents such as Rural Extension and Sociology, generally take courses offered by SRP&D. Nine Mid-

Career Program graduates commented on the positive and neetive aspects of each course. International Rural Development Planning is a core course requirement as is the

Major Professional Paper. Other courses listed below, such as Quantitative Research

Methods were less relevant to participants' work and few interviewees (2 out of 9) had taken it A summary of participant comrnents are listed below in addition to standard descriptions of each course. While interviewees were asked about the applicability of the course to their work there was a tendency to respond in terms of how much they felt they had lwned (i.e., new material), or enjoyed the course. 1. International Rural Devdopment Planning (IRDP)

This course presents the xope and nature of international developrnent planning and

alternative roies for development planners; has a rural ernphasis; reviews the evolution

of development planning from macroeconomic beginnings to more integrated local

planningapproaches; examines die development planning process and its organisational

and spatial dimensions; compares policy, program, projeci, sedoral and integrated area

planning; and compares rural development planning in market, mked and state-driven

societjes. Case studies from AKRSP, BRAC, the Sulawesi Rural Development Program

(Indonesial, Angola, the Philippines and Huron County, Ontario.

Positive Aspects

This course was valuable in that it introduced participants to an ove~*ewof planning and

its theoretical background. Examples from other global contexts allowed hem to criically compare the AKRSP approach with that of other organisations for the first time.

Group assignments provided opportunities for interaction with Canadian and other

international students along with mutual learning.

In ternis of skills, the course required that participants leam how to structure writing, and do presentations. The instnibor's farniliarity with the AKRSP/Nordiem Areas context made die course more accessible. Negalive Aspects

Understanding and comparing projects without seeing hem was difficult Some felt the

course needed a pradcal component for better understandingof projects and prinaples.

The reading and overall workload was found to be too heavy.

2. Project Ddopment

This course introdues -dents to the prinaples, procedures and methods in developing a project It -amines the projecyde: identification, preparation, appraisal,

implementation/supe~sion,monitoring and evaluation. It gives an understanding of the major methods involved and teaches selected mediods in social, finanaal, and ecological analysis. The focus is on the international, rural con- and on srnail projects: small industries, small physical infrastructure and social projects.

Positive Aspects

The content of dis course was found to be highly relevant It offered AKRSP staff the chance to compare AKRSP's project cycle with other approaches. They felt diey had gained analyb'cal skills and leamed about feasibility issues and projeci design and feasibility issues that were applicable to their work. it serveci as an important introduction to general proposa! writing for many. The group work component of this course was also ap p reciated. Negaüve Aspects

Heavy readingand workload made the course difficult Participantswith no background in financial analysis found the course particularly challenging.

3. Pmgam Evaluation

An advand seminar dealing with the theory and practice of program waluation focusing on public sector programs in agriculture and rural developrnen& international and domestic case studies.

Positive Aspects

RPMs and MER graduates felt this skill-based course had direct relevance to their work wh ich involves the design, review and implementation according logid frarnework anaiysis (LFA). Other staff found logic models and LFAs could be usefui in other applications. They felt this course improved their critical capacities and also offered them a sense of what outside evaluators (e.g., World Bank) do.

Negath Aspe&

No significant negative aspects. 4. Community Economic Devdopment

Theones and perspectives of local emomicdevelopment, partiailady community-based planningfor rural economic development Economic dewlopment widiin a cornmunity dewlopment framework, and challenges of sustainable development Interdisciplinaiy perspectives and alternative approadres to professional planning pradce, strategic planning, management and organizational desigddwelopment issues. Alternative economia paradigms (to die neo-classical) are examined. includes international case stud ies.

Positive Aspects introduced the linkage between community and economic dwelopment using a comparative approach. tnduded guest speakers and field visits. Participants learned how to identify, respond to interest groups.

NegativeAspects

Mody Canadian examples provided. Participants found dieir own lack of awareness of the European/North American cultural context to be a limitation.

5. Tourism and Recmtiion Planning

This course is intendeci to instnict the student in the principles of planning for recreation and tourism dedopment Ernphasis is placed on the economic and &al benefits and costs that accrue from tourism and recreation developrnent Planning principles are applied to this conta

Positive Aspects lntroduced participants to concepts of tourism and ecotourism planning for the fim time.

Many found the opportunity to reflect on the potential of tourism development in the

Northern Areas inteMng.

Neetive Aspects

With litde work in the area of twrisrn or emtourism planning, partitipants found this course las applicable once they had retumed.

6. Environment and Devdopment

This course examines the problems and potential for ecologially sustainable development in the context of rural dewlopment planning particulady in Third World environments. The course ffltically examines the stra-c planning approaches and methods which involve the interaction between social sy~bemsand natural ecosystems in the contwt of planned intervention and change in rural environments.

Positive Aspects

The 'environment' as a dwelopment issue and environmental approaches to development planning were new to most participants. As another new knowledge area

they found this course interesting.

Negative As*

Some participants found the course diffÏcult without a basic science background. They

noted that it was not suffiaendy related to the AKRSP context for diem to do applicable exerases, espedally as global environmenh differ so much. Reading were found to be too heavy.

7. Quantitative Research Methods

Anaiysis and application of standard quantitative, statistical and cornputer-bas4 tediniques utilized in rural planning and development Problems of data collection, analysis and interpretation.

Positive Asecfs

This less cornmon choice was well received as a course in which the partiapant leamed how to analyse variables, quantifiable indicators, and demographic data.

Negative Aspects

There was no direct relevanœ to the work of any participants. Continuity of leaming was limited by the unavailability of key sobre (e.g., SPSS) at AKRSP. 8. Major Pmfessionai Paper

The paper focuses on the major interest area of the student, likely one he or she will retum to pradce in after graduation. It includes a review of the international literature and experience on the topic, and compares his with the personal experience of the

-dent and his/her organisation and work con- Where appropriate, for example when the student is returning to a specific organisation or place of work, the -dent is encouraged to develop a work plan aamining how to apply, what is proposed in die paper and/or what was leamed in the program, to the work context the student is returning to.

The student writes the paper in the form required for a professional report or for a publication in a refereed journal (although publication is not required). The student will also make an oral presentation for aitique of the paper More the advimy cornmittee and faculty of SRP&D.

Positiw Aspects

Participants appreciated this independentexercise as a chance to review literature, other experiences in rural development and compare them with the AKRSP con- Owrall it conûibuted to an imprwement in their mpauty to write aitically vs. desniptively. NegahAs-

There was a lack of available information in =me topic areas (e.6, aedit, non-formal education) at the University of Guelph libraiy.

Dr. Afshar fek that the major professional paper contributed to reflective praciiœ, noting the difference beenstudents* ability to identiv problems and articulate solutions in this final assigrment in cornparison to their first assignment a short written refiedve piece in the IRDP course. My own experïenœ as a Program Assistant confimis that there is indeed improvernent between these two papers. However, 1 disagree in the degree to whicb refIedve practice can be refiecied in written assignments. Gien the many years of rote leaming, weak English skills, and their implementer roles at AKRSP, I noted a stmng tendency for partkipants to rdy far more on the words of others in their mitien assignments than their own experience. Figure 11.1 Diploma Program Coordinator Dr. Famkh Afshar (lefi), AKRSP student Mahmood Isa Khan (centre) and Hussain Jeewanjee fmm AKFC, at major professional paper presentations.

In general, partiapants with weak English found class lectures difficult to fully comprehend. The reading and written assignment workload for some courses was higher than participants expd. The weaker their English, the more difficult these two tasks are. Most courses (exduding IRDP and PD) are lacking in s

Areas and other faculty have extensive developing world experience, graduates felt that faculty had insufficient knowledge about the changing Northern Areas context

11.2 Field Visits

AKRSP staff are exposed to a ~rietyof field experiences through study twrs of rural regions, visk to Canadian international (e-go,CIDA, AKFO and local development organisations. (e.g., Huron County Business mainstream and 'alternative' farms (e.g., Mennonite, organic), and participation in professional and academic conferences organised by the Canadian Association for Studies in international

Development, South Asia Partnenhip, and the Ontario Rural Counul.

Refemng to this exposure, Mid-Career Program graduate Miraj Khan recalled a visit to

AKRSP from Pakistan's development guru, Akhtar Hameed Khan:

"When 1 was an SO, Khan Sahib encouraged us to take village advim dwn-country, to expose hem to more developed environments, to open their eyes. I see the field trips in the Mid-Career Program as a similar kind of exposure for us." Field trips al- fulfill

Shoaib Sultan Khan's objective to expose the catalyst to technical and organisational expertise amilable in the West Figure 11.2 AKRSP social organisers NazïrAhmad and Mohammad Iqbal, along with BRAC colleagw Cunendu Roy, visit a dairy hrm in nid Ontario, 1995.

Some interviewees noted the difficulty in linking projects and organisations in the

'dweloped' world with their local AKRS P context The sale and extent of facilities to for

such initiatives were simply not available, they claimed. There is still need to identiv and develop field expiences that date to the AKRSP context and hmwhich catalysts can dnw information, knowledge and pracb0cesapplicable to this context. Conferences, however, offered a unique opportunity for catalysts to meet and leam from

Canadian and international niml developrnent experts. Many noted this as a highly empowering experience for them. Participants agreed that some of the conferences and field trips contributeci to a more global understanding of rural development issues. This confimis the value of mutual leaming in the program (Afshar 1992).

11.3 Grades

Mid-Career student performance in terms of grades can be misleading. The Program

Coordinator pointed out that many SRP&D courses consist of a major group work assignment Working dosely with their M.Sc dassmates, studentr share the responsibility of witing and presenting on a particular assignment topic This contributes to an environment of mutual leaming (Afshar 1992). However, editing assistance from M.Sc students can potentially infiate the individual's grade.

Dr. Afshar further added that with upgrading of the Mid-Career Program to Graduate

Diplorna status, marking would becorne more sbingent Grades for 1997-1 998 Mid-

Career Program -dents ranged from 75% (B) to 88% (A), with rnost students achieving between 78% (B +) and 82% (A-). He insisted, however, &at pdes are not the point of the program.

There has also been a danger of plagiarism in written assignments. One faculty member

135 notd in an evaluation of student performance bat the stuclent 'did not understand the need to give credit to other authors." This is likely an outcome of the rote leaming background which SRP&D faculty have not given sufficient attention to. Dr. Afshar underscored the need for faculty to be more wary of this tendency.

Figure 113 AKRSP Women's Coordinator Kuîsmm Farman presents her major professional paper to faculty and pis. 12. RESULTS : TRANSFORMED PERSPECTIVES

12.1 Re-Entty into the AKRSP Work Environment

Some graduates recalled aperiencing a period of disiilusionment upon retum. Having left the cornforts of Canada and the support of SRP&D behind them, they felt frustrated with the paœ of change in kirown communities and the bureaumatic processes of

AKRSP,

Often retumees felt dieir new skills were not appreciated or further nurtured in the organisation. There is no process of debriefing upon retum, nor is there the opportunity for retumees to share their leaming experience dirougti a fonnal presentaüon to their organisation. One interviewee felt that la& of encouragement may be due to petty jealousies on the part of odier staff memben.

12.2 Promotion and Advancernent

The managers (RPMs) of AKRSP's regional programme offices are faced with the challenge of how to re-adjust the retumee in their organisation. Most expected some sort of promotion which they attained within a year of their retum (see Figure ). While AKRSP poiiq does not guarantee promotion based on completion of the Mid-Career Program, there has been a general trend of position change upon return.

One RPM was critical of those who prornoted graduates immediately upon return,

137 daiming it set up unrealistic expedations of advancernent He noted that there is liale room for vertical movement within AKRSP. While the SO could be promoted to Manager of an FMU, movement beyond could only be horizontal such as becoming Manager of a seaion (e.g., Leaming Support Unit). Thus the position changes listeci in Figure reflect this horizontal movement, in some cases, rather than promotion.

Promotion from catalyst (SO)to middle management also became more cornmon in and akr 1995. AKRSP had achieved high program merage and established its credibility witfi the rural communities of the Northem Areas. it decentraliseci its credit and technical seMces into Field Management Uni& and its top Maal organisers were transfened to middle management (e-g., FMU Managen, T/LSU Managers). Most remaining SOSwere either absorbeci into AKRSPts technical sections or dismissed through its "golden handshake" scheme. The end result was a shik from a social organisation orientation to a management orientation.

The same RPM claimed that immediate promotion to manager status would be unproductive, as partiapation in the Mid-Career Program did not guarantee that the retumee was capable to be a manager. Another RPM pointed out that some staff viewed the Mid-Career Program as a step towards promotion, without any sense of the benefits of the propm. In fa6 program benehwere found to be highly underestimateci by staff who had not been to Guelph. Having seen the seledon of inappropriate candidates, some staff were convinceci that the Mid-Career Program was undemanding and of low standard.

12.3 Confidence

Dr. Afshar has added that the propm impact should be considerd fim on the lwel of confidence, recognising empowerment as the beginning of a leaming process. Faculty and M.Sc pers interad with them as equals. Being on a first-name bais with faculty, open discussion seminan and group work helped shape a non-hierarchical pedagogy which al1 participants appreciated. Many explained how their inferiority cornplex was destroyed as they leamed to find their own voice and reœived validation of their yean of field experience at SRP&D. All graduates indiated that their confidence increased greatly because of the Mid-Career Program.

While the translation of knowledge and skills into action iebehaviour change/imprwed performance) may be difficult to assess, there were many examples of additional changes in attitude. Ali participants daimed they had becn transformeci in some way by the program. Shah Karez daimed that he retumed from the Mid-Career

Program a "changed person".

Al l Mid-Career Program grad uates noted a significant increase in thei r confidence and self-esteem. For both senior management as well as field-based social organisen, diis new opportunity to reflect on the prinaples of rural development, examine comparative

examples from other Third Worid contexts contributeci to a deeper understanding of

devdopment. The RPM for Chitral felt that this was one of die ktoutputs of the

program. He wanted his staff to understand the world and language of the international donor mrnmunity. He believes that the middle management field pracîitioner is the

bridge between the dismete worlds of the rural community and the donor. He is saîisfied that the Mid-Career Program helped his staff bridge this gap.

For other partiapants comingfrom traditional lslamicschding, the mposure to the non-

Muslim culture of the West was an eye-opening experience. Their old prejudiœs of the

'immoral We-st' were shattered as they gained an appreciation for other cultures, religions, and secular demma'es.

A number of graduates felt a noted increase in their motivation to devdop professionally. Chulam Hussain, a former FMU Manager, began to seek out other training opportunities in his new role as LSU Manager at AKRSP Baltistan. He mon found himself enrolling in workshops on Training Needs Assesment and Croup Faditation at the National Rural Support Program {NRSP) in Islamabad. His predecessor, Nazir Ahmad, had similarly sought out leaming s

Disaete areas of knowledg are generaily accessed dirough SRP&D courses. Areas indude international nid dwelopment planning, project development, program evaluation, environment and dwelopment, community economic development, tourism and recreation planning in amdance with the courses listed in Figure 6.

Although partiapants' knowledge increased significandy in areas that they were previously unfamiliar with, detemiining whether this knowled~has translated into tangible sectoral skills is difficult For example, although 7 out of 9 interviewees had taken program evaluation, only one was found to be working in an MER ~ecb-on.Taking environment and dwelopment as another example, diere were no cases of a Mid-Career program graduate kinggiven a role in AKRSP's Natural Resource Management section akrhavingcompleted this course. Participants' sectoral skill background before entering the program shapes their ability to grasp new disciplines and skills in SRP&D courses.

Civen catalysts' cornmon educaüon background (noted in Sedon 6), the gap behem prior learning in Pakistan and M.= level courses in Canada is considerable. It would be unrealistic to eqmt this gap to be completely bridged in a ten-month program. Regardles of their grade achievement, participants do not alwiiys acquire the sectotal skills (e-g., financial analysis, environmental impact assessrnent etc.) offered in SRP&D courses to the extent that they can confidently use them in th& work context at AiœSP.

Two participants who returned to be appoint4 managers of TraininULeaming Support

Units dairned that had they known what their new position would be dunng their course

of study at SRP&D, they would have taken courses more specifically related to adult

leaming from the Dept of Rural Extension Stucfies at the University of Guelph.

At the same time, the four senior managers who attend4 SRP&D during die first two

program years dairned that diey fmd leamed specîfic sectorai skills which had

contributed significandy to their professional developrnent For example, Mohammad

Darjat, a former RPM, felt that the Mid-Career Program had improved his ability to

design projects, mite proposais and work in other development mntexts. He has

practiced these skills as a consultant in ~fghanislanand at the time of interviewing he

had completed a one year consultancy for a UNDP/Govemment of Nepal projed that

repficates the AKRSP mode1 in Nepali cornmunities living on the periphery of national

parks. Dajat dairned that his experience in the Mid-Career Program had direcdy contributed to his career developrnent beyond AKRSP.

Mid-Career Rogram are ofken undear about what their position will be upon retum to AKRSP and are given positions undated to the extent of knowledge and skills thqr may have acquired in the Mid-Career Program. RPMs and T/LSUs should develop strategic staff development plans (al= recommended by 1997 Joint

MonitDnng Mission bo AKRSP). Where possible, Mid-Career Program partiapants should be informeci (prior to departure) of their position upon return so they can select SRP&D courses accordingiy.

Figure 12.1 Mohammad Darjat (lefi), a former RPM daims SRP&D directly conbibutd to his capacity as a nird devdopment consultant

143 Similady, Shah Karez (1993-1 994)' another former RPM who is now a consultant planner with the AgKhan Education Services (AKES), claimed that he was more able to intepte

IRDP concepts in his work. He felt that specific analyücal and planning skills remained an important part of his professional practice. Shah's counterpart, Miraj Khan (1993-

1994) who is now a Manager of AKRSP Chitral's Credit and Saving daimed that the sectord skills he dweloped in pmgram evaluation were still kingused. Miraj noted that he uses evaluation matrices (which he learned at SRP&D), to evduate credit products.

It is important to note here that both Shah and his counterpart, Miraj Khan, had received training in die rural development model prior to AKRSP from its founder Shoaib Sultan

Khan at the Pakisîan Academy for Rural Development This coupled widi other training experiences abroad (University of iowa, University of Manchester) and a higher level of

English fiuency made dieir ability to acquire sectoral skills greater than students who followed.

Senior mana~mentaqoired more sedora1 skik because of their extensive rural development background and Engiish abilities. One current RPM suggpcted that the program was more geared to someone with his capaaty and responsibility for program planning. Assuming Diplorna Program courses are appropriate for senior management personnel or field praditionen who have had previous training, senior management should be encouraged to upgrade through SRP&D's Diplorna or M.Sc programs.

12.5 0th- Skilis

Participants daimed that die Mid-Career Prograrn also required them in develop skills in areas which they had felt weak in prier to amval.

12.5.1 Computem

Many parüapants had never used a cornputer before they attended the Mid-Career

Prograrn. Under the guidance of the Mid-Career Program Assistant, ail learned how to use basic word processing and spreadsheet sofhyare to the point where diey could produce a written assignment wiaiout assistance. Most daimed that they continued to use cornpubers regularly in their work at AKRSP.

12.52 Preseritation

The developrnent of communication skills is part of the id-Career Program's critical analysis objective. The ability to deady express one's ideas in front of an audience is an important professional skill. Many participants found this to be a partiailady empowering experience, some using visual aids such as overhead and slide projedors for the first tirne. Faculty provided feedback on how to improve presentation style and delivery. 1253 Report Writing

With every course having three to five written assignments, participants leamed haw to analyse and structure ideas into a dear concise written piece. For later participants, specific weekly classes were provided in English writing and speaking. They did not feel,

howwer, that these courses contributeci significandy to improvements in their writing as

mu& as written assignments, with feedback from the Mid-Career Program Coordinator and/or Assistant,

12-6 lmpmved Linkage Capacity

The ability to broker sound linkages between comrnunities and other support organisations depends in part on the participanfs autonomy within AKRSP. For example,

SOSwho became T/LSU Manager noted that dieir contact with communities was now limited to involvement only in die planningof training programs. These training programs were detenined to a large degree by their RPOfs technical secti*onsunder the direction of die RPM.

By 1998 there were numerous instances of local catalysts who had emerged from village organisations to broker linkages on their own. An AKRSP found that army officers had become important community leaders, for example, and formed linkages without the assistance of AKRSP (Khan 1997). Thus there were only a few examples of Mid-Career Proprn graduates who had forrned

effective linkages. One was Ali Mohammad, a social organiser who attendeci SRP&D in

1995-1996. The son of a local imam (deric) Ali was in the perfed position to motivate

conservative Shia communities in Nagr that had been resistant to development

initiatives. At SRP&D, he wrote his major professional paper on the Naunihal

DevelopmentOrganisation, a local development organisation (LDO) in Nagar. His paper

induded a detailed work plan. Upon return, he -me involved with Naunihal as an advisor, providing hem assistana from AKRSP, and assisting Naunihal's linkages with other international NGOs. Ali Mohammad attributes his motivation and ability to conceptualise linkages to his experienœ at SR?&D.

Similady, Nazir Ahmad, an SO from AKRSP Baltistan who aitendeci SRP&D from 1994-

1995, retumed to a position as Manager of the Leaming Support Unit Working closely with four emerging LDOs in Baitistan (induding the Kadiura Development Organisation and TSKYN, an LDO led by youth from his own village of Toqrangah), Nazir faalitated their linkages with other organisations such as the Canadian Hi& Commission in

Islamabad, Volunteer SeMce Overseas (VSO) and AKRSP. Figure 12.2 Putting his major professio~lpaper into practice, Ali Mohammad returned to form important linkages between local development organisations in Nagar and other NGOs. Figure 12.3 Change in Position after Completing the Mid-Career Program

Mid-Career Position Prior to Position within 1 Current Position Program Mid-Career Year of Return (as of May 1998) Graduate Prognm

- - Mohammad Darjat* Regional Programme Regional Progmmme Unknown: MaalP Manager UNDP consultant in Nepal in 1997

Mitand saviltg5 Chiid and Savings Program Manager Program Manager Shah Karez RegidProgramme Consultant w/ Aga Manager Khm Education services (Chitridl

Miraj Khan Senior Social Senior Social Credit and Sarings Organiser Organiser Manager (Chitd Nazir Ahmad Social Organiser Lsaniing Support Monitoring, Unit (SU) Manager Evaluation and W (MER) I Mohammad lqbal Social Oiganiset Tmining Support FMU Manager 1 A6 Mohammad SodOlganker FMU Manager FMU Manager Sartaj Quadir Women's Social Gender and Organiser ûedopment Manager

Muhammad Ashm Social Organiser

Learning Support Leaining Support Unit (SU) Miinageer Unit (ISU) Manager

MalOrganiser Training Support Manager Unit USU) Manager Punjab Rudsupport Programme (Multnn)

- 1 Mohmmad Ibrahim Social Organiser 12.7 Tangible Behaviour Change

Changes in job status and responsibility do not neœsarily reflea an inaease in capacities. Similarly, a change in attitude may not necpssarily translate into a tangible behaviour change. However, some participants dairned that they had experienced a distinct transformation of their professional pracüce. Figure 12.4 notes these changes as evidence of professional dwelopment which cm be aüribd, to a large extent, to the

Mid-Career Progam. Partiapants statements were corroboratecl through participant observation, feedbad from their peers and material evidenœ (e-g., reports they had written etc.).

There are l ikely more cases of significant behaviour change, both within these individuals as well as other graduates, but these examples appeared prominent during the research.

Khaleel Teday, a former RPM and current TLP Coordinator pointed out that some were capable to begin with, but added that several staff members had developed not just in ternis of promotion, but in terrns of professional capaaty.

An individual's leaming process is influend by a nurnber of factors, rather than one leaming experience. Yet participants themselves indiated that these examples were reliable proof that the Mid-Career Program has yielded results. The change, they felt, had been translated into action. Their acüons benefitted AKRSP and, assuming AKRSP is an effective agent of dewlopment, uftimately the residents of the Nordiem Areas. Figure 12.4 notes important examples of catalysh who felt their skills had translated into

a distinct change in their professional prabice. While job change is not necessarily an

indication of impmved capacity, many these catalysts had taken on new responsibilities

in areas which demanded upgrading of skills. Most significandy, they were al1 inter&

in a long-term leaming process approach and applying dieir experience at SRP&D to their professional practice.

In addition to seledon of inappropriate candidates, howwer, another reason why there were not more visible examples of tangible behaviour change is the absence of a bmader leaming process approach at AKRSP. This is refleded in the lack of pre- departure preparationand follow-up in the case of the Mid-Career Program. The TLP course shom that there are signs of change, however. Pre and pstTLP assignments contribute to the continuity of the learning process. Figure 12.4 Examples of Behaviour Change in Mid-Career Program Crad uates

Mid-Career Position Before Mid- Examples of BehaMour Change Program Career Program Graduate

- -- - - Mohamrnad Regional Programme - Plans for communities, replidng Darjat Manager the AKRSP mode1 through the UNDPIHMCN Parks and People Projecî Nepal - Projecî proposal and report writing. Mutabiat Shah - Pianned and executed AKRSP's decentral isation of cred it services dirough FMUs Shah Karez Regionai Programme - Education planning consultant for the I Manager Aga Khan Education Services (Chitral). Miraj Khan Senior Social Credit and Savings Manager (Chitral) Organiser - Plans and Evaluates Credit Programs. - Board member with the Aga Khan Heaith Services. Nazir Ahmad Social Organiser - Supporteci the creation of Participatory Learning Centres (PLG) in Baitistan - Formed linkages between TSKYN (an LDO) and other NCOs - Case study reporh'ng for MER &on. - Planned for the provision of Traditional Bi& Attendant and Basic Literacy/Numeracy courses for women.

-- - - Ali Mohammad Social Organiser - Assists strategic planning for LDOs in Nagar. - Facilitates linkages between these LDOs and international NGOs. FMU Manager - Plans for training programs at Leaming Support Unit 13. RMSiTlNC KEY QUESTIONS

Key Questions

-- -- 1. What is the education background of - Low quality gwemment schooling in the rural development professionals the Northern Areas (fint in Urdu with from AKRSP who have attended the later introduction of English medium) Mid-Career Program? - Generally BA or MA from Pakistani universities.

------2. How has their experience at the - lncreased sedora1 knowledge in areas University of Guelph improved their such as environment and development, professional ca pacities? program evaluation, projed development, comparative approaches to rural development, burism planning and community economic development - Less evidence of translation of knowledge into impmed sectoral skills. - Clear evidence of changes in am'tude, motivation and ability to understand development - improvement potential limited by poor selection of candidates with weak English, low motivation, lack of study foundation.

------3. How applicable were SRP&D courses - Greater applicability for senior to their professional work? managers. - Applicable courses indude IRDP, project development, program evaluation.

------4. In what other ways has die program - Broadened horizons vis a vis work ûansformed their Iives (e.g., attitudes, ethia, non-Musiim cultures, rural worldview)? developrnent, personal growth.

- 5. How have they re-integrated into - Changing roles (e.g., SO to FMU or their organisation upon return (i.e. how T/LSU Manager)/prornotions have their new skills ben used)? - Some cases of frustration - Tasks assigned do not use or build on skills learned at SRP&D. - Expectations of promotion unmet Key Questions

--- - 6. How have AKRSPs training and staff - lncreased em phasis on rnicrmçredit, development priorïties changeci sine natural resource management, and the program kgan in 1982, and since social analysis. its collaboration with SRP&D began in 1992?

-- 7. How does the Mid-Career Program - TLP offers a focused course in social fit into aiment training directions at analysis adon research that is highly AKRSP (e.g., Training and Leaming relevant to the changing dynamio of die Program in Social Organisation)? Northem Areas. SRP&D can potentially complement TLP with specific training in prograrn/project planning, monitoring and evaluation.

-- -- 8. What are some of the current - Unclear understanding of program perceptions of the Mid-Career Program objecîbes, methods and results in some among senior management at AKRSP? cases. - Mixed reviews of Mid-Career Program effectiveness. - Negative impression left by weak candidates who did not demonstrate tangible behaviour change.

9. How cm a more effective - SRP&D faculty should visit the collaboration be fostered berneen Northem Areas to conduct a detailed SRP&D and AKRSP to further the Needs Assessrnent at AKRSP. capaaty building ne& of AKRSP? - SRP&D and AKRSP should develop an action plan to match the Diploma Propm with the capacity development needs of AKRSP. This plan could include follow up in situ courses for alumni in the NAs, the indusion of more NAs-related content in Diploma Propm courses. - intemships at AKRSP for SRP&D M.Sc students. - Further M.Sc study option for q ual ified AKRSP staff. 14. FURTHER COLlABORATION WiTH SRP&D

lmproved collaboration depends to a large degreeon communication and understanding between partner organisations. All intehewees felt that greater familiarity with the

Northem Areas environment and AKRSP would help shape courses that were more relateci to their working reality. Below are a few suggestions for refining the Diploma

Program through the darification of capacity buildingfocal points at AKRSP. Refiningthe focus of the SRP&DAKRSP partnenhip will ultimately be up to the two organisations.

Cornpiementing Social Anaipis Training

The six-week Training and Leaming Program (TLP) in Social Organisation offered by Prof.

Ceof Wood from the University of Bath is an effective in situ course that trains managers and other staff in social analysis and action-researdi. AKRSP's General Manager, Stephen

Rasmussen has suggested that full use has not ben made of the SRP&D program in recent years and that SRP&D can design a program that is more rigorous, and that builds on skills and knowledge acquired in the TLP.

For this to be realised, SRP&D faculty must gain a deeper understanding of the Nordiem

Areas and AKRSP contexts. Ali participants hail from these hivo contexts and this cornmon orientation requires greater awareness from faculty in order for the Dipiorna Program to be more responsive to their needs. Pmject Planning and Design

Training in international project planning and design can be a key complement to TL?.

SRP&D's extensive experience in this area can be tapped to its full potential through a more responsive Diploma program that is refined in coordination with HRD, RPMs and the TLP Coordinator.

MoSc lntemships at AKRSP

M.Sc students from SRP&D can offer their skills as developing praaitioners and researchers. Regular internships will provide a healthy flow of information between

AKRSP and SRP&D and balance their partnefihip.

M.% Opportunities for AKRSP Staff

AKRSP staff, including Mid-CareedDiploma Program graduates can benefit from the

M.Sc. program in Rural Planning and Development at SRP&D. Candidates can meet the

English language academic and professional requirements for admission should be encouraged by AKRSP and SRP&D to further develop their apacities and attain the appropriate accreditation of an M.Sc

All of these areas for collaboration can be developed so as to make a strong link between researdi and action. As I have argued throughout this paper, the key, however, is in maintaining a learning process approach in al1 acanües. 15. SUMMARY INSICHTS

Having only begun in 1992, it is dificult to conclude that the Mid-Career Program has not only kenof benefit to catalystr, but has consequendy made a dear impact on the lives of the rural poor in the Northem Areas of Pakistan. It has clearly, however, built up the self-confidence of participants. An important learningfoundation has therefore been laid. It has provided catalysts with a deeper understandingof developrnent and the world and language of the donor community.

it was difficult to gauge the degree of critical awareness or reflective capaaty it has imparted as participants were invoived in their implementer roles at AKRSP at the time of data colleciion. Similady, there is no indication that those who possessed this refledive capacity did not possess it before entering the program. But, returning to the self- confidence issue, empowerment has led to, or translated into, tangible behaviour changes. Consider the evidene of catalysts who have taken on new areas of development pradœ, had the courage to apply their skills outside of AKRSP, and embarked on a self-direbed leaming process with awareness and motivation.

Acquiring secioral skills depends, to a large degree, on previous education and familiarity with the skill or discipline in question. For this reason, the Mid-Career Program would benefit from having a dearer understanding of çatalyst and catalyst-tumed-manager leaming needs and sedord skill areas. ideally the propmshould then be tailored to fit diose needs, as opposed to incorporating the catalyst into a standard M.Sc program which may have many cornponents bat are not relevant to the catalyst's work context

As can be expd, program impact also depends on appropriate selection of candidates, prior preparation, and the opportunity within the organisation to continue the leaming process. AKRSP has been revisiting issues of social organisation, social analysis and adon research through its TLP course. The new Graduate Diplorna Program in IRDP should be aware of these new areas, and complement TLP to provide catalysts, catalyst-turned-managers, and other AKRSP staff with a more integrated leaming experience.

In order to provide a genuine iearning pr-s approach, critical refledon, dialogue and experiences which conxientise the leamer should be encouraged. University prograrns wtiich over-emphasise grades, production of written assignments, al1 at a high pressure pace, may not provide the ideal experience in this respect. In fact, they may contribute to further institutionalisation of the cataiyst, and eliminate the flexibility and field enthusiasm needed for catalyst work

Hoi~ww,distance fmm one's culture and society, time for refldon, instructive field expetiences, and exposure to a different culture and way of approaching work, can pddea critically transformathe experience. Many catalysts claimed that they had been thus hnsformed by their experience at the University of Guelph.

The overall success of the Mid-Career program depends on its integration in a broader leaming pcocess approach at AKRSP. The energy and enthusiasm devoteci to the TLP program and renewed interest in collaboration with SRP&DPs Diplorna

Pmgram on the part of AKRSP senior management, are signs that AKRSP is now committing itrdf to a leaming ptocess approach. This will hopefully mean a more consdous, planned shifi to Korten's Stage 3: Leaming to hpand (see Figure 7.4). PART IV :CONCLUSIONS

The role and fundion of catalysts are shaped by a given culture and society. In Latin

America, where leftist movements have kenpopular challenges to an oppressive status quo, a catalyes work may be overdy political, airning to conscientise the margihalised rural pmr. The role of catalysts thus depends on both ideology and agenda of those wishing to take action.

In contacts where religious and leftist struggles have not succeeded, such as Pakistan, a more conventional approach appears warranted. The agency approach, adopted by the

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme demonstrates how agency catalysb can successfully mobilise the rural poor to work mperatively and develop capaaties for rural people to improve their standard of livingthrough the regeneration of a sustainable rural economy.

Catalysts thus play a key role in the process of rural change. However, in order for them to have a sustainable long-tem impact, they mist be part of a broder learning process approach rather than simply sewing as implementers of agency programs.

The role of agency catalysts such as the AKRSP social organiser appears to be shaped by the evolution of the programme and its activities. Many catalysts now find themselves in

160 middle managerial roles (cataiyst-tumed-managers)which require a considerable amount of capacity development in areas such as planning, social analysis, and a generally deeper understandingof the development proces. While these remain cunent dirwmons and outcornes from its original thnist, intensive targeted training will have to be provided to tum the agency-catalyst from an implementer to an innovator and critical pradtioner.

AKRSP founder Shoaib Sultan Khan pointed out that once the dewlopment message has been spread, the need for catalysts diminishes. However, this case also suggests that the role of the catalyst can evolve to becorne management and action-research oriented.

Current diredions in social organisation at AKRSP are attempts to prove that the catalyst can be effectively recast in the roles of manager and action-researcher. Time and further study will tell whether this cm, in fab, be achiwed and ultimately be of benefit to rural communities.

Effective capacity development for catalysts depends on the role of the catalyst as well as the extent and nature of prior training. In the AKRSP example, both catalysts and catalyst-tumed-managers have traditionally ken trained to implement without signifiant attention given to analysis and critical thinking. A combination of the six-week

Training and Learning Program (TLP) in Social Organisation currendy king offered at

AKRSP through the University of Bah, and the ten-month Mid-Career (now Graduate

Diplorna) Program in IRDP at the University of Guelph, can provide catalysts and catalyst-tumed-rnanagers with a substantial leaming expenence. Building on experience and training gradually, this combination would follow a leaming process approach that enables the catalyst to be a genuinely reflective ppractitioner.

Effective training for catalysts at univenities in the West also depends on education background prior to the training experience. For example, catalysts with poor English were not able to take full advantage of the university experience. Taking the TLP course beforehand should ensure that the appropriate groundwork is laid prior to embarking n university studies in the West

Despite king unable to take full advantage in the pst, AKRSP social organisers have gained in a number of key ways such as attitude transformation, improvement of presentation, writîen, and computer skills. Most importandy, they have gained in temis of confidence and self-esteem. This is ttie foundation of a leaming process approach. It is this sense of empowerment which, ideally, the catalyst would then pass on to the rural communities he or she works with. One key element of the leaming process approach is 'planning with the people' (Korten 1980:498). This element appears to have ken abandoned in favour of channeling agency resources and staff time into more conventional actkities such as distribution of technical packages. This research highlights die various types of catalysts, key figures in the process of rural change. Foaising on the agency catalyst, the AKRSP case study fills a gap in the available knowledge about catalysb and irnportandy, what constitutes appropriate education for a catalyst. The Mid-Career Program case study at the University of Guelph is a step towards addressing the leaming needs of field pradtioners from the developing world by ensuring that there is a suitable 'fit' between university leaming and effective rural development practiœ.

Through its activities such as courses, field trips, and major professional paper, I conclude therefore that the program has cfearly had a positive impact on AKRSP catalysts. This impad is most dear in tems of confidence and attitude change, and les so in tems of speafic secbral skills. improved programming at SRP&D, through more activities more tailored to the AKRSP-Nordiem Areas context will iead to a more program that is even more responsive to learner needs.

However irnproved programming must also take place at AKRSP where catalysts and catalyst-turned-managers will benefit from selecb'on based on merit and preparation prior to the program through the TLP course, as well as preparatory English classes.

Refining the program in these ways will contribute to a learning process approach. It is this approadi which catalysts must bing to their important work of empowering and assisting self-reliance for the rural poor. EPILOCUE

During my fieldwork in the Northern Areas and since the research was completed, there

were calls for a stronger partnership between the School of Rural Planning and

Development and the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. AKRSPs human resource

development staff, senior management and Mid-Career Program gaduates al l highl ighted

the importance of a doser collaboration, which they suggested should begin with an

S RP& D faculty visit to the Nordiem Areas.

Upon retuming to Canada, I completed an Impact Assessrnent of the Mid-Career

Program for SRP&D in July 1998. The report was timely in that it assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the program over the past six years, just as it was kingupgraded to the more stnictured and amedited Graduate Diploma Program. lt was also provided to

AKRSP at a time when the organisation itself chose to rwiew the rnerits of the program.

Readng positively to the report, AKRSP has sine initiateci plans for a long-awaited

SRP&D faculty visit to the Nordiern Areas in 1999.1 am confident that this kind of doser contact will help AKRSP set its staff development prionties, ensure more appropriate candidate seledon for the program, and enable SRP&D faculty to respond more to

AKRS P's leaming needs. It is gratirying to note that this research is already having a positive effecî and 1 sincerely hope bat it has contributed to a strengthening of the leaming process at AKRSP and a collaboration with SRP&D that uitimately benefits the people of the Nordiem Areas of

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A@ Khan Rural Support Programme 1997. joint Monitoring Mission Draft Re~ohGiigit, Pa kistan.

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Wood, Geof. 1996 "Developing the Art and Avoiding the Totem: A Strategy for Social Organisation in AKRSP (Overviewand Recornmendations)". AKRSP Cil@/ Centre for Development Studies, University of Bath, UK.

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World Bank. 1986. Evaluation of the Am Khan Rural Suoport Promarnrne. OED/I BRD. Washington, DC. APPENDIX A : AKRSP Mid-Career Program Alurnni

1992- 1993 ~ohammadDarjat Mutabiat Shah

1993-1994 Shah bre. Miraj Khan

1994-1995 Nazir Ahmad Mohammad iqbal

1995-19% Ali Mohammad Sartaj Quadir

1996-1997 Mohammad Ibrahim Sardar Nawaz Khan Mohammad Adam ChuIam Hussairi

1997-1 998 Mahmood isa Khan Kulsoom Farman

1998 -1999 (current students) Mohammad Karam Shah Makeen Raja Safdar Khan APPENDIX B : SUMMARY OF FINDINCS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

(From Building Professional Capacity: An impact Assessment of the Mid-Career Pmgram in International Rural Dewlopment Planning submitted to the School of Rural Planning and Deveiopment at the University of Guelph, and the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme. Septem ber 1998.)

Finding 7 There is litde follow-up or evaluation of the impact of training experiences at AKRSP. Study tours are ineffective due to lack of preparation and follow-up.

Recommendation 1 Preparation and post-evaluations of training experiences will contribute to more comprehensive leaming. Study tours can be more productive if participants are given infornation, tour objectives, and encouraged to reflect and present on what they have learned to their colleagues upon retum.

Finding 2 There is insufficientliterahire and communication frorn SRP&D that explicidy outlines die objectives of the Mid-Career Program that is effecîively brought to the attention of AKRSP senior management

Recommendation 2 SRP&D should produce a more detailed information package that States the objectkes of the Diploma Program in International Rural Dwelopment Planning and revisit these objeciives in dialogue with AKRSP.

Finding 3 Poor selecîion on the part of AKRSP has resuited in some inappropriate participants in the program who could not make optimum use of the Mid-Career Program.

Recommendation 3 Candidates must be carefully saeened and recommended for admission to the Diplorna program based on their abilities (Engiish, cornputers etc.) and most important their motivation to leam and work hard. Those involved in the selection process at AKRSP should be fully acquainted with the purpose, content, and demands of the Diploma Program. ldeally a hogram 'retumee' should be fomally induded in the selection and pre-departure preparation process. Finding 4 The current AKRSP policy of requiring diat one candidate be selecîed from each of the three regions (to ensure parity) results in weak candidate selection.

Recommendation 4 The AKRSP General Manager has oudined three criteria for selection to the Diploma Program: i) Graduate of AKRSPfs Training and Leaming Program in Social Organisation. ii) Good English language skills. iii) Able to cope with the demands of a Western university.

Fulfiliment of this criteria should ensure proper seleaion. AKRSP should ensure they continue to provide a pool (more than three) of top candidate applications to SRP&D to allow for backup candidates. finding 5 With the exception of periodic English language courses, pre-departure preparation has been minimal in the past Participants are often unprepared when they amve.

Recommendation 5 Selected participants should receive an intensive needs-based English course which focuses on dear communican'on and analyticai readingand wnting. SRP&D isalso willing to offer this intensive kind of course with the assistance of AKFC. Additional topics could include dweloping a research topic, report writing, and basic cornputer use.

Finding 6 Late seldon of candidates has limited the possibility of adequate pre-departure preparation.

Recommendation 6 Considering the visa processing and medical screening delays from the Canadian High Commission in Islamabad, the seledion process should begin earlier (e.g., Januaryfor the upcoming Fall semester). Confirmed seldon well in advance will allow for smooai pre- deparhire training. Finding 7 In general, partiapants with weak Engiish found dass lectures dificult to fully comprehend. The reading and written assignment workload for Mme courses was higher than partiapants expebed. The weaker their English, the more clifficuit these two tasks are.

Recommendatr'on 7 The new Craduate Diploma Program requires bat candidates have an IELTS xore of at least 6.5. If AI

Finding 8 Most courses (exduding IRDP and PD) are lacking in examples that can be applied diredy to the Northem Areas. While IRDP and PD refer to AKRSP contexts, AKRSP case study materials are not up to date. Although the Coordinator has worked in the Northem Areas and other faculty have extensive developing wodd experience, faculty in perd have insufkient knowledge about the changing Northem Areas conta

Recommendation 8 Faculty should visit the Nordiem Areas to learn more about its general environment and relevant rural development issues. Course materials should have case studies that are direcdy applicable to the Northem Areas conta This will make the Diploma Program more responsive to AKRSP staff needs.

Finding 9 Lack of a formal debriefing/presentation on dieir SRP&D experienœ contnbutes to a sense of discouragement for graduates upon return to AKRSP.

Recommendation 9 Retumees should be encouraged to forrnally present on what they have learned at SRP&D. Their major professional paper can be of particular value in sb'mulating discussion within the three regional programme offices (RPOs). This can be arranged by the Tmining/Leaming Support Units at the RPOs.

Finding 70 AKRSP opinions of the quality of the Mid-Career Program have suffered from poor candidate selection and inadequate communication between SRP&D and AKRSP. Recommendation 70 SRP&D faculty should offer a presentation at AKRSPto oudine the benefits, dernands and academicstandards of the new Diploma Prograrn in IRDP. As mentioned, AKRSP should ensure seledon of only the best candidates.

Finding 7 7 Mid-Career Program participants are often undear about what their position will be upon return to AKRSP and are given positions unrelated to the extent of knowledge and skills diey may have acquired in the Mid-Career Program.

Recommendation II RPMs and T/LSUs should dwelop strawc staff dweloprnent plans (also recornmended by 1997 Joint Monitoring Mission to AKRSP). Where possible, Mid-Career Program participants should be informed of their expected retuming position, so they can select SRP&D courses accord ingly.

Finding 12 Senior management acquired more sectoral skills because of their extensive rural development background and English abilities. One amnt RPM suggested that the program was more geared to someone with his capacity and responsibility for program planning.

Recommendation 12 The Diploma Program courses are appropriate for senior management personnel or field practitionerswho have had previous training. Senior management should be encouraged to upgrade through SRP&D's Oiploma or M.Sc programs.

Finding 13 There are only a few examples of Mid-Career Prograrn Graduates who formed linkages between rural aimmunities and other organisations upon retum.

SRP&D can provide training in linkage formation through more training in projeci proposal wrïting and praaikal exercises which require students to liaise with organisations in Canada. APPENDIX C :Social Organiser Job Description (1995-1 997)

Job Objective: To organize communities at village leuel in oder to manage resources collectitnely.

Reporthg ResponsibiIiw to FMU Manager

Major Dutrges -V/WO formation -Conduct dialogues with V/WOs -Liaise between AKRSP professionals and VIWO mernbers in order to faulitate die adivities undertaken by such professionals in the field in collaboration with VMs. -To strengthen and develop existing V/WOs to improve planning, irnplementation and sustainability of social development -To conduct and attend V/WOs' meeting -To help identify the needs of VMlOs and communicate the same to AKRSP -To plan and report periodically on hidher own activib'es during the year -To facilitate the seledon of V/WO representativei for Speâalists' trainings -Any other job related acîivity as assigned by the supetvisor from time to time.

Qualifications At least graduate (BA/BSc) with some expetience in social work. APPENDIX D

INTERVIEW SCHEDULE KIR DEVELOPMENT CATALYSTS

Name:

Position (region):

Education level:

SRP&D Year:

Date:

Describe your job as a catalyst and its responsibilities.

What End of training did you receive (e.g. SO internship, Satellite intern)?

What techniques did yw employ (savine, organisation, training)?

What are the matessential quaIities/skills for an effective catalyst?

What obstacles does a catalyst face in his/her work? How are these solved?

Was the original SO mode1 effective? How?

What changed for the SO with the decentralisation in 19953 Was this a good or bad change? Describe.

Describe the in situ trainings you received.

What were some of the strengths of these trainings?

What wre their weaknesses?

How could they be impmved in future?

ABROAD 9. Describe the overseas trainings you have received (courses, workshops etc)? 10. Strengths (course material, environment, support)?

12. Did the university program (SRP&D) meet your learning needs at the time? How?

a) Courses

b) Academic guidance (insbucton

d) Environment

13. Did purjob position change upon your retum?

a) Describe purcurrent job and ib responsibilities?

14. How appropriate was the program to your job upon your retum?

a) Did the job you were given on return make full use of the knowledge and skills you acquired at the uniwrsity. -lain

15. How supporüve was your organisation of your leaming experience?

a) How could AKRSP have made better use of pur newly acquired skills?

16. What in your leaming process continueci after you returned?

a) What did not continue after leaving the univwsity environment?

17. What cultural differences/barn*ersinhibited your leaming experience?

a) What differences contributed to your learning?

b) Could the knowledge/skills you acquired at SRP&D have been offered in situ. How?

18 (4.3) How anuniverrity programs (e.g., SRP&D) be improved to better suit your needs? 20. How can your organisation better support/collaborate with the univeisity (SRP&D) afier your return? (e.g, follow-up, communidon, alumni OF.)

20 a) How did the SRP&D course compare with other study abroad experiences yw are aware of?

21. What do pufed are your cumt leaming needs? lMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (QA-3)

APPLIED 2 IMAGE . lnc - 1653 East Main Street ----. , Rochester, NY 14609 USA ---- Phone: 71 61482-0300 =-* Fax: 716/28&S989