Attempting to become self-developing, communities take on growing responsibilities. As they gain diverse skills and take on additional initiatives, they acquire greater confidence in their own capacities, and a greater share of the development dynamic can be powered internally, leading to more and newer skills and capacities, which can be used in turn to energize new enterprises, thus creating a virtuous cycle.

WHERE RESEARCH MEETS PRACTICE: NEW LESSONS ON LOCALIZING DEVELOPMENT MARCH 2023

Much progress has been made in reducing extreme global poverty over the past half century, with great resources dedicated to this noble cause. But progress isn’t coming fast enough – 10% of the world’s population still lives in extreme poverty, and the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change have set progress back. Global poverty has consequences that extend beyond the lives of those affected by lagging development -- peace, stability, and economic growth are threatened by widespread destitution. One of the clear failures in advancing development has been the marginalization of local leadership in designing and implementing solutions. Much research has shown the value of local leadership in driving development, but vital time and resources are still being lost in the failure to systematically localize development.

We are proud to share the results of a study led by Anirudh Krishna, the Edgar T. Thompson Distinguished Professor of Public Policy at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and Professors Daimon Kambewa and Frank Tchuwa of Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources in a research partnership with communities in central Malawi and World Connect. This study, funded by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and submitted for publication, found that communities in Malawi have sophisticated perspectives on the processes behind community-driven development, including a steadfast assertion that fundamental to any development endeavor must be local ownership. External agencies will be more effective if they recognize the centrality of local communities to their own development. An important distinction is made between authentic local ownership as opposed to the appropriation of local voices for support.

The paper’s conclusions provide powerful validation of the philosophy behind World Connect’s mission, which aligns, most notably and directly, with the goals stated by these communities.

“Attempting to become self-developing, communities take on growing responsibilities. As they gain diverse skills and take on additional initiatives, they acquire greater confidence in their own capacities, and a greater share of the development dynamic can be powered internally, leading to more and newer skills and capacities, which can be used in turn to energize new enterprises, thus creating a virtuous cycle.”

The findings highlight how locally led projects, including those World Connect supports, have enriched these efforts. World Connect grants start with listening, build upon existing assets and capacities, promote collaboration and skills development, and build trust through direct local investment in community-led progress.

Engaging in this research partnership helped the World Connect team learn important lessons about how we can serve this shared vision better. We learned from communities how much they yearn to see their leaders, people they know and trust, grow and learn and thrive with new opportunities, and we heard from communities how hard they have worked, and how development should build on their already significant efforts. We will seek to improve our efforts by listening intently, learning from our partner communities, and by providing them even more support to build unity, leadership, trust, and skills, which lead to mindset change, and all together power new appetite and aptitude for development.

The learning from this partnership intensifies our commitment to continuing to invest in locally-led development through grant making and further localizing grant making, as we hope it does others.