The paper presents the basis for the setting up of a revised policy for Technical Cooperation amongst Development Countries. The overall long-term objective of the TCDC Phase II project is the promotion of technical and economic cooperation between Pakistan and other developing countries in accordance..........

1. Technical Cooperation Amongst Developing Countries:
The need for a Revitalized Effort in Pakistan
Background Paper
For the Consultative Workshop to formulate a National Policy
By
Sohail J. Malik
[UNDP Consultant TCDC] Chairman
Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd.
Islamabad, Pakistan
December 2002

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Table of Contents
1
Background
1
2
TDC in other Developing Countries
2
3
Pakistan Tcdc Programme Phase Ii (1999-2002)
4
4
TDC Pakistan - Lessons and Recommendations
5
5
Towards a Revised National Policy for TDC
7
Appendix Table
Experience with TDC
Breakdown of TDC Expenditure
8
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1. BACKGROUND
The Government of Pakistan (GOP), in partnership with the UNDP, is committed to promoting technical cooperation among developing countries (TCDC). Keeping in view the continuing high priority accorded to the TCDC by the GOP and the sustained efforts of the UNDP to make TCDC an integral part of its global development strategy, Phase II of the TCDC project has been designed to build on the achievements of Phase I and to strengthen the use of TCDC modality in the priority areas as outlined in the Country Cooperation Framework (CCF) for Pakistan1. The first CCF (1998-2003) is being implemented in all three of its thematic program areas i.e. Gender, Governance, and Sustainable Livelihoods. The CCF emphasizes the use of the TCDC modality in strengthening the overall efforts towards sustainable human development and poverty eradication through partnership, capacity building, advocacy, and resource mobilization.
The overall long-term objective of the TCDC Phase II project is the promotion of technical and economic cooperation between Pakistan and other developing countries in accordance with Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA) 1978. The immediate objectives of Phase II are:
 To promote the use of TCDC in current areas of CCF focus i.e. governance, gender, and sustainable livelihoods.
 To build capacity of the beneficiary institutions and the focal point.
As the TCDC phase II comes to an end it is important to review the TCDC experience in Pakistan, conduct a rapid assessment of its impact and devise ways in which the project can be made more efficient in achieving the universal goals of poverty reduction and economic development. This background paper presents the basis for the setting up of a revised policy for Technical Cooperation amongst Development Countries. Section 2 presents a summary of TCDC experience in other developing countries. Section 3 contains the description of TCDC in Pakistan, while the summary of lessons learnt from the review of Pakistan activities and recommendations for the future is presented in section 4. The key elements of the revised strategy on TCDC in Pakistan are presented in section 5.
1 The CCF spells out the goals, strategies, and priorities of the GOP for the development cooperation with the UNDP.

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2. TCDC IN OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
2.1 The Experience
It is noteworthy, that a number of developing countries are striving to achieve economic growth through the transfer of experiences among them, particularly in terms of new and innovative techniques and approaches to the organization of production to enable increase in productivity output and overall competitiveness in the global economy.
Significant progress has been made through a variety of activities including training and practical exchanges among developing countries which sought to address such issues as poverty, the environment, trade and investment, job creation, the transfer of technology, governance and gender. A number of specific interventions were also designed to increase awareness of TCDC and to strengthen the capacity of national, regional and inter-regional organizations in the promotion and management of TCDC activities.
Evaluations of the various experiences from around the world show that activities implemented were for the most part well planned and executed. Cooperation amongst various stakeholders including UNDP, NGO’s, implementing agencies and the community was marked with coordination and planning for the promotion of TCDC and in sponsoring a variety of activities as promotional instruments. Resources had been effectively applied for activities which were successfully implemented and that they had served to demonstrate the continuing relevance of TCDC as an important dimension of international development cooperation.
TCDC has the potential to be an effective instrument of international technical cooperation. However, there is a need for further work in terms of the identification of successful experiences as a basis for their replication, particularly in priority development areas of special concern to the developing countries. Some relevant examples / experiences of technical cooperation amongst developing countries are listed in attached Appendix Table 1.
2.2 Areas of training / cooperation
The experiences summarized in Appendix Table 1show the need for the adoption of a more strategic orientation for TCDC; focusing on a number of high priority areas such as poverty eradication, environment, investment, production, employment, macroeconomic policy coordination, as well as health, education, the transfer of technology and rural development and gender development. The promotion of activities in these areas is likely to have a major development impact on a large number of developing countries.
Selected areas of focus of the program should be those which have had a demonstrated impact in the past and which have the potential for replication in other developing countries. Secondly, emphasis should be placed on the development of national, regional and inter-regional capacities in formulating and managing TCDC initiatives of a strategic nature. Thirdly, particular attention should be paid to TCDC initiatives, which have the potential to support wider economic cooperation schemes among developing countries.

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2.3 Participation of Private Sector and NGO’s
Given the resource constraints of the Governments in the developing countries, it is imperative that the private sector and the NGOs’ be encouraged to provide and allocate resources for such activities. The Government should take the lead in encouraging the private sector through facilitation of dialog amongst various stakeholders and may consider providing fiscal incentives such as tax breaks etc. for the private sector and NGO’s to come forward and undertake such activities. Governments in collaboration with multilateral agencies such UNDP and the World Bank should provide for holding of workshops/ seminars for providing training for participants from national and appropriate regional and inter-regional organizations in the application of TCDC. Such workshops should be oriented towards the identification of opportunities for practical TCDC exchanges among participating countries instead of focusing exclusively on a theoretical exposition of TCDC principles. An important aspect of this support is to facilitate the dissemination of appropriate information and databases and provision of individual experts, centers of excellence and innovative technical cooperation activities capable of replication in other developing countries.
NGO’s have an important role to play in promoting specific interventions at the grass- roots level and working with other civil society organizations and transferring techniques aimed at stimulating increases in productivity output in the developing countries in order to enable them to compete effectively in the global economy.
A special effort will have to be made to assign execution responsibility to national entities as well as regional and inter-regional organizations representing the developing countries in order to ensure that ownership and responsibility are vested in the developing countries for the management of TCDC programs. By its very nature the TCDC Program requires the multilateral agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank to play a predominant role but this should be one of support for the national and regional initiatives.
Furthermore, various projects should be evaluated against clearly established qualitative and quantitative benchmarks in order to facilitate monitoring, review and evaluation in terms of actual outputs. The area requiring special attention is the creation of jobs and sustainable livelihood for the achievement of sustainable human development since stimulating an expansion of output is critically linked to the increase in employment and income generation.

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3. PAKISTAN TCDC PROGRAMME PHASE II (1999-2002)
The main purpose of the second phase of Pakistan’s TCDC program (1999-2002) is to exchange training, expert services and know-how among developing countries.
In line with the long-term objective of TCDC to promote technical and economic cooperation between Pakistan and other developing countries, the project phase contributed to the capacity building of various public sector organizations through training programs that were based on TCDC modality.
During the period under review (September 1999 to September 2002), 51 participants from Pakistan attended training programs mainly in China, Indonesia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. These courses were offered in a variety of fields including food processing, electronic engineering, telecommunication and media, manufacturing technology, housing planning, health, solar energy, and weather forecasting. In the same period Pakistan offered two international courses on gender issues and human resource development.
To disseminate information on project activities, a website of TCDC Pakistan has been launched and information on needs and capacities of 100 Pakistan institutions has been put on the internet.

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4. TCDC PAKISTAN – LESSONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The overall performance of Phase II has been modest due to a number of factors. First, technical cooperation has mostly occurred in low-priority areas whereas sectors of major interest to Pakistan have not received adequate attention. Second, the lack of effective participation of the private sector and NGOs in the training programs has severely limited the program’s outreach. Third, only a few countries have shared their technical expertise and know-how with Pakistan through the TCDC modality. Fourth, the program did not make tangible progress in promoting the use of TCDC modality in current areas of CCF focus.
National Priorities
The CCF is designed to address the issues of poverty eradication and sustainable human development through three broad program areas: governance, gender, and sustainable livelihoods and the environment. In each of the three thematic areas, the focus is on capacity building, alliance building, resource mobilization, and support to advocacy activities. The TCDC modality has the potential to contribute to the capacity building element of the priority areas outlined in the CCF. For a fuller utilization of this potential, however, the training programs needs to be demand-driven, based on the countries development priorities.
Global Trends
The current global TCDC activities of the UNDP are directed towards dealing with myriad developmental challenges including social and economic uplift, promotion of science and technology, protection and generation of environment, and improving agricultural productivity. Global TCDC operations are also being increasingly focused on major development issues such as trade and investment, debt management, and macroeconomic policy coordination. UNDP has also made efforts to encourage the use of TCDC modality in helping the developing countries to effectively meet the challenges of globalization. On the operational front, the UNDP has emphasized the importance of partnerships and networks among centers of excellence in pivotal countries, exchange and replication of best practices, and the use of triangular cooperation modality in the TCDC programs. There is a need to include these new modalities in the program’s new phase.
Regional Cooperation
It is increasingly being recognized that south-south cooperation initiatives should not only promote technical collaboration but also encourage joint efforts in social and economic development. Consequently, more emphasis is now being placed on bringing the TCDC within the broader framework of economic cooperation among developing countries (ECDC). As Pakistan is already striving to achieve greater economic cooperation with the developing countries especially through SAARC and ECO, efforts are needed in Phase II of the program to facilitate integration of TCDC in these regional arrangements. This would allow the country to broaden the scope of its cooperation especially with other developing countries in the region.

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Millennium Development Goals
TCDC remains an effective instrument through which the developing countries can pool their capacities to achieve the targets set at the Millennium Summit. Towards this end, efforts must be made to design and implement technical and economic cooperation programs having direct relevance to the Millennium Development Goals.
What is required is a coherent program that aims to strengthen the capacity of the focal points in the design, implementation, and execution of strategic TCDC program activities in line with Pakistan’s priorities and the global thrust of TCDC activities.

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5. TOWARDS A REVISED NATIONAL POLICY FOR TCDC
(to be completed through consultations)
5.1 TCDC Policy Towards Income Generation and Opportunity Building
6.1.1 Small and Medium Enterprise
6.1.2 Agriculture and Rural Development
6.1.3 Trade and Industry
5.2 TCDC Policy Towards Security and Empowerment
6.2.1 Population Welfare
6.2.2 Health
6.2.3 Nutrition
6.2.4 Technical Education
5.3 TCDC Policy Towards Improved Governance
6.3.1 Institutional Reforms and Public Sector
6.3.2 Corporate Governance
5.4 TCDC Special Policy Aspects Covering Gender
6.4.1 Reproductive Health and Mother-Child care
6.4.2 Skill Development and Income Generation Activities

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APPENDIX TABLE – Experience with TCDC
Name of Country/Project/Program
Types of impact (if assessed)
Lessons learnt with
a) weaknesses if any and
b) strengths/good points
1. City Farming Innovations India (Mumbai, Pune (innovative package of workable farming practices that enables city dwellers to grow their own food on every available square inch of urban space, including terraces and balconies, if they so desire.)
The impact of the practice of city farming is clear. Following Dr Doshi’s lead, urban folk are now growing their own quantities of vegetables and fruits without having to depend all the time on markets. Marketed food is expensive often because the cost of transport has to be added to it. It is also often hazardous: no one quite knows what amount of pesticides and pesticide residues will be found in the foods purchased from the market.
Dr Doshi’s agriculture precludes the use of chemicals and pesticides. For this reason, it is also safe. Since it does not require much time and money and relies on using wastes from nearby sources, it is an important form of sustainable agriculture.
Dr Doshi’s good practices could have a significant impact on policies relating to food production. Today, most governments have fallen into the trap of relegating all food production to the countryside. However, new policies supporting such forms of urban agriculture should now be entertained.
Urban farming brings the health and other benefits (including recreation and physical exercise) associated with rural agriculture to
In general, the techniques propagated are not expensive and rely on materials available close by. There are no requirements of heavy equipment or even light equipment. But the results are there for all to see and, if lucky, to taste.

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2. Rearing spiders as biological pest- control agents: India (designed to utilise biological control agents for control of pests without recourse to toxic pesticides the impact of which on health is well known. )
3. Sulabh Shauchalaya: Low-Cost Sanitation: India (programme based on fabricating a new design for low-cost water-seal toilets and pushed these through an imaginative self-financing scheme. Carried out by an NGO Sulabh
city folk.
Farms of the kind raised by Dr Doshi can help bring down prices in the market for obvious reasons. Even if the vegetables and fruits produced are not destined for the market, their availability to several households in the cities can help reduce scarcity generally.
The use of spiders in the domestic setting for control of cockroaches would bring down the use of the extremely poisonous substances conventionally used to control such pests.
An agricultural programme that is based on the use of predators like spiders would also create suitable environments for the return of several other beneficial insects which are unable to tolerate the presence of pesticides.
Knowledge of the use of biological control agents such as spiders can be easily transferred from community to community. The technology is simple and can be taught to children, women and youth. It can also be transferred to other countries when needed.
Wherever Sulabh technology has been introduced, it has led to a remarkable reduction in environmental degradation associated normally with slums. The availability of sanitary facilities dramatically reduces the threat of water-borne and other diseases and has
W. The multiplication of biological control agents is location-specific. Once local species are identified, they can be multiplied as per the available space and number of people. The technology is simple and the practice can be implemented in a small garage or one’s own backyard. This technology can be important to rural women and schoolchildren. The former can undertake this as a private entrepreneurial activity which can serve as a source of additional income for them. This technology can also be taken up by schoolchildren as a hobby which earns them pocket money.
W. The principal obstacle to the propagation of Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets remains the cost. For the urban poor who most need the toilets, the low-cost Sulabh toilet still involves money and is therefore still out of reach. To some extent, this problem has been addressed by constructing a certain number of public toilets

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International was founded by Dr Bindeshwar Pathak in 1970 in Bihar.)
4. The CPF: Mobilising domestic savings for development: (Singapore) Mobilising domestic savings for development (The CPF is a fully-funded defined- contribution social security scheme operated by the Singapore government. Employees and employers each compulsorily contribute a specific proportion of the employee’s monthly wage income to be credited into the employee’s CPF accounts. The
direct impacts on public health.
Such toilets improve the general environment considerably. They improve the quality of life, as women particularly need no longer have to face the humiliation of having to defecate in public.
The direct impact on the lives of scavengers is even more significant. Sulabh is committed to a complete elimination of the practice and to the rehabilitation and retraining of former scavengers. Wherever the new latrines have been introduced, scavengers have been rehabilitated and given new vocations. Even when scavengers have been retrained to maintain the new sanitary latrines, they find they are in a considerably more respectable and humane position.
A fully-funded provident fund scheme like the CPF encourages (compels, in fact) savings, which are an important ingredient of long-term economic growth through their provision of funds for investment.
The CPF has also developed further from its early phase due to the continuous managed investment approach underlying it. This approach has proven to be a relative success not least because of the double coincidence of wants achieved as a result of judicious management. The government has liberalised the use of CPF savings in areas where members
and having these maintained free of charge. However, most public toilets constructed by Sulabh International are pay-toilets and users must pay for their use on every occasion. This invariably means that people will continue to use open spaces for defecation.
S. Since the technology is simple and can be fabricated at the village level through trained artisans and masons, there is ample scope for replication in other countries of the South. The Sulabh revolution originated in Bihar, but has now spread to practically all the states of the Indian Union and abroad. For these reasons, it can confidently be asserted that the Sulabh Shauchalaya has long since passed the test of replicability.
W. One of the main problems associated with a compulsory defined-contribution social security scheme like the CPF is the aspect of forced savings it entails. Workers might not be too pleased at not being able to make use of part of their hard-earned income as and when they deem fit, particularly so if their intertemporal consumption preferences are positively slanted towards current consumption. Such reservations are likely to be felt especially at the start of such a scheme.
S. This scheme, or at least many of its elements, can be replicated in other developing countries

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employee’s CPF funds can be withdrawn for certain specified purposes over the course of his or her working life. The remainder is set aside for the employee’s old-age needs.)
5. The Regulation of Foreign Captial Flows in Chile (This practice is intended to regulate the composition of foreign capital inflows into the Chilean economy in order that the volatility which typically characterises short-term flows be reduced and that domestic macroeconomic stability, as well as Chile’s export-driven growth model, be preserved.)
have a need for funds and through which, at the same time, it can achieve a certain policy objective. For instance, allowing members to withdraw part of their balances to purchase their own homes accords not only with their desire for home ownership but also with the government’s aim of procuring a sense of stakeholdership among the population and securing their political commitment
A major aim of Chile’s capital-market regulations has been to discourage excessive inflows of certain forms of capital, whilst retaining the flows of long-term direct investment.
Measured in terms of percentage of GDP, FDI and longer-term portfolio investment have grown in importance compared to foreign borrowing
By contributing towards a more stable real exchange rate and a more sustainable current account deficit, regulations like Chile’s facilitate the pursuance of economic policy that is geared towards export-led growth. Indeed, the growth and diversification of exports has become the engine of growth of the Chilean economy. For example, in 1995, exports grew by 11% in real terms compared to real GDP growth of 8.5%
that would like to increase the level of their domestic savings and to channel these resources towards investment in physical infrastructure and social development, such as housing, education and healthcare.
S. The Chilean system has significance for developing countries that wish to better manage the interface between external financial forces and domestic macroeconomic and financial objectives. In view of the present financial crisis, which has spread from East Asia to other parts of the world, the Chilean policies assume even greater significance and are now often quoted as examples of prudent management.
S. The Chilean policy recognises the need to distinguish between long-term and short-term capital inflows, and the potentially harmful movements of short-term flows, and devises practical mechanisms to reduce their volatility.
W. The main policy significance, therefore, is that the measures contribute to the prevention of excessive capital movements that could cause damage to the economy through the inflows of too much funds and thus the build-up of foreign debts, their being channeled into unproductive investments, the risk of large

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6. The Small-scale Textile Production using Natural Dyes: Bangladesh (In this project, clothes are being produced with the use of various forms of natural dyes. Experiments to find the sources of natural dyes and mordants are conducted continuously. In this act, farmers and weavers collaborate together. The experiments are directed towards making cloth production cost-effective so that the finished product falls within the purchasing power of the common people.)
This project is very significant for policy decisions. In Bangladesh, there is no regulation of the chemical-dye business. It follows the regulatory framework of Germany. The German regulation on Consumer Goods is followed as a guideline to regulate the use of hazardous chemical dyes. On the other hand, the government is not taking any initiative to increase natural-dyeing activities and to provide support to the small-scale weavers.
The natural-dyeing practice is becoming popular among a small group of entrepreneurs. The only thing they need is training and sources for dyeing and mordants. There is a very good possibility of replicating the project in other districts with weaving pockets. The small-scale weavers are very much willing to take up such work. Interested groups in other countries to see whether elements of it can be usefully replicated can study the experience of this project.
withdrawals of the short-term funds and a consequent debt crisis.
S. The measures also enable a country to have better control over its financial and macroeconomic policies.
S. The overall impact of the project is positive. There is now a general awareness of the hazards caused by chemical dyes to human health and to the environment. In Prabartana, a more encouraging response towards natural-dyed clothes has been noted.
S. The factory produces yardage fabric with natural dyes which is sold in Prabartana. There is great demand among the middle- and upper-class customers who are ready to pay a higher price per yard of natural-dyed clothes. This is mainly out of health concerns. But lower-middle-class people are also buying such clothes nowadays
W. There is no competition between natural-dyed products and those produced with chemical dyes as the former still command a very small share of the market. However, the natural-dyed clothes are sold at a relatively higher price

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7. The Water-efficient Sugarcane Farming: India (A series of extremely intelligent modifications to the conventional package of practices associated with sugarcane farming developed by Suresh Desai)
8. Gender and Biodiversity Management in India. In 1997, the Indian NGO, the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), conducted a research project on "Gender Dimensions in Biodiversity Management: India" in different locations throughout the country.
The propagation of this method of organic farming for the raising of sugarcane, if made part of government policy, would help in better allocation of scarce resources and investments.
It would help improve the productivity of sugarcane farms over the years as it would remove the element of uncertainty that presently dogs sugarcane production, largely due to the unpredictability of water supply itself as a result of the reliance of large water projects on good monsoon precipitation.
As the methods tried out and tested would improve sugarcane production in several farms, the total output of sugarcane in particular areas would not fall because overall efficiency would be improved. Most important, sugarcane would continue to be produced on a sustainable basis and resources assigned now to expensive, capital-intensive irrigation projects could instead be assigned elsewhere. Water from already constructed reservoirs could be assigned to farmers who do not get any of it, leading to enhanced employment opportunities.
One of the principal findings of the MSSRF project in India was that gender roles are socially constructed rather than biologically determined. The studies found that there was much variation in the tasks assigned to men and women in different locations, with the same task like seed selection or winnowing being done by women in some communities but not in others. In areas of traditional agriculture, among communities and classes which
S. The modifications to the package of practices suggested by Suresh Desai are independent of scale and can be tried on small and large farms without any difficulty and with great benefit to all. The modifications, however, will work better on small farms as small farms, as a rule, are more efficiently managed than large farms
S. The Suresh Desai technique of reducing water channels and the raising of a ‘bio-film’ over the planted area is a cheaper, equally effective measure that can substitute for drip and sprinkler systems.
S. This gender analysis of the roles that women and men play in managing natural resources is a comparatively unexplored but crucial subject, which allows us to re-think current practices and understand the gender factors within them. Equipped with this gender-sensitive knowledge, it should be easier for us to prevent mistakes of the past and meet the specific needs, opportunities and constraints of both women and men in the future.

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did not practice gender seclusion, women's participation in biomass-related activities was high, and women's knowledge and interest in conservation was apparent.
The research clearly pointed out that there is a simple or uniform division of labour, skills and knowledge by sex. Secondly, the research demonstrated that age and education are increasingly important factors in determining gender roles and knowledge of the natural and ecological resources.
According to the studies carried out at MSSRF, the available literature on gender and biodiversity provides the following indications.
Men and women have different kinds of knowledge and information about plants and animals, in part because they have different tasks in farming and in providing income and goods for their households.
In many societies, women are mainly responsible for seed selection and storage, as well as for exchanging seed and ensuring that local agro-biodiversity is preserved.
Both men and women preserve their native plant and animal species. The motivating factors, however, may differ. Men tend to be more interested in the market value of the species, while women may be more interested in their cooking and nutritional value. In areas where there is out-migration of men leading to the feminization of agriculture, women tend to conserve a wide range of food and medicinal plants for ensuring household food and health security.

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The ways in which men and women have traditionally managed their seeds, plants and animals are fast changing. Government agricultural policies often lead to a change in dietary habits, resulting in tribal and rural families abandoning their traditional foods. This is particularly true in India, where the extensive public distribution system of the central and state governments generally concentrates on the supply of rice and wheat. Dietary changes also take place when tribal families lose access to non-wood forest products in habitats declared as protected areas.
While women probably constitute the largest group of farmers who have conserved and improved agro- bio diversity, they often have no property rights to land. Also, they tend to be bypassed by development schemes relating to biodiversity. Women's universities, Home Science colleges and other educational institutions catering to women's needs seldom include biodiversity as a field of specialization.
The program has provided small production units with the basic means for penetrating new markets, enhancing and perfecting production techniques and, thus, raising incomes.
In fact, the per-capita number of rural production units processing foodstuffs at income levels that do not reach industrial scale has increased by an average of 100 percent. Small family businesses, moreover, generate an average of five direct jobs per unit.

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9. Appropriate Technology: Brazil Brazil’s National Scientific and Technological Development Council (CNPq) is sponsoring a project to develop and disseminate appropriate technologies that have a scientific basis; are simple and low-cost; and are easily assimilated and accepted.
A reversal of migration flows from rural to urban areas has been observed as rural smallholders find opportunities for work and employment in the countryside. Another spin- off is the change in hygiene habits in smallholder homes leading to healthier conditions.
There is a noticeable change in social behaviour and political perceptions among smallholders participating in the program. Greater awareness of their rights and potential leads them to exercise their citizenship more forcefully, by presenting demands, offering proposals and taking responsibility for their small businesses. In other words, they cease to be objects of social exclusion and become active subjects, taking the reins of their own destinies.
Several problems were encountered during implementation of this innovative experience. Collaborations with partner institutions made it possible to overcome many of these.
Resistance and disbelief concerning the project's viability, which were expressed at the outset by some institutions and technicians, were overcome by the political determination of those responsible for it.
Smallholders’ initial limitations and lack of experience in developing their own business enterprises, coupled with an understandable sense of insecurity, are being overcome by investment in courses and training programs, technical assistance, constant monitoring and guidance. Adequate training of smallholders has helped improve assimilation of technological adaptations, which is a key factor in success.
The limitations and resistance of technicians, who are accustomed to rural extension projects geared mainly to primary production, have been overcome by the work of teams knowledgeable both in the technological fields encompassed by the program and in the management of small businesses.

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Problems related to seasonal availability of raw materials are being solved by means of technical consultancy aimed at producing other inputs and by using appropriate storage techniques.
Because innovative experiences nearly always encounter resistance, not only from the public but from technicians and local authorities, investments must be made to highlight successful experiences in courses, lectures, demonstrations, mass communication, visits and excursions. Such efforts have a positive multiplier effect in local communities because local inhabitants admire and often purchase the products of neighbours’ whose work is recognized by others.
Use of indigenous natural resources and management strategies tied to small-scale production make it possible to generate less waste material, thus diminishing harm to the environment.
Regionalized production and commercialization also cut transportation costs, saving energy. In the case of agro-industries, preservative-free foodstuffs provide consumers with healthier commodities.
Experiences with small businesses have shown that choice of the production unit must take account of: the potential consumer market; the suitability of the region in terms of availability of raw materials; and the skill potential of smallholders who will operate the unit.

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10. Caring for People: Pakistan Ziauddin Medical University's Department of Community Health Sciences, located in Karachi, Pakistan, has launched an innovative primary health care program for people living in Sikanderabad, a sprawling squatter settlement adjacent to the university. The program, which prides itself on being community-based, is devoted to education, research and service. Officials hope that this initiative will serve as a prototype for public health programs pursued by other medical universities throughout Pakistan, which have to tackle daunting public health problems with resources that fall far short of the challenge.
Project officials expect that over a three-year period student-led family intervention efforts will:
 Reduce infant mortality rates by 30 percent.
 Increase immunization coverage among children under five by more than 85 percent.
 Increase oral rehydration therapies among children suffering from diarrhoea by 50 percent.
 Raise contraceptive use among adults by 20 percent.
 Create a cadre of informal women health activists from the pool of women now actively working with students.
Program advocates have emphasized the principles of self-reliance and sustainability. However, these principles were not shared initially by members of the community who believed that the university was receiving
S. Participants learn to work effectively in partnerships, uniting public institutions to serve excluded social groups. The state, meanwhile, provides proportional subsidization in the most underprivileged areas, giving priority to those most in need.
The main obstacle faced by the program's staff has been the community's reluctance to participate in program planning and development. The eight-member health committee, formed right after the project was launched, lost half of its members in short order. The four members who remained on the committee were simply too few in number to fulfill the committee's mandate. This problem was overcome by transforming a cadre of young community volunteers, who had already given a great deal of their time to the public health center, into a general working group. This group was given responsibility for making day-to-day decisions and interacting with the health committee members for the major policy decisions.
Resources – or, perhaps more precisely, citizens’ expectations of additional resources – was another critical problem that stood in the way of the project's success. Because the university is a large private institution that appears, in comparison with the community, to be flush with funds, citizens anticipated that it would make heavy financial investments in the community's public health center. University

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outside financial assistance that was not being passed along to the community. The barriers of distrust were lowered somewhat through such activities as blood-pressure monitoring, which was offered to residents free of charge in their homes. The success of the university's polio vaccination campaign also helped boost the community's confidence in the university's health care initiatives.
Young local volunteers are now being trained in first-aid and other community-based health care procedures. They are also being given hands-on experience regarding the management of the public health center. For example, on a rotating basis, volunteers have been asked to manage the center's finances and accounting.
Despite the progress that has been made, the program still has a long way to go to achieve its twin goals of community self-reliance and long- term sustainability.
officials, however, emphasized self-reliance and community-based sustainability. Thus, in place of direct contributions, the university offered a helping hand. Such differing expectations led citizens initially to see the project in a different light than project administrators and staff. Not until after the successful campaign to ward off a potential polio epidemic did the two begin to see eye to eye on both their strategies and goals.
Language is another barrier that sometimes stands in the way of success. Most residents of Sikanderabad are from northern Pakistan or Afghanistan. They speak only Pushto. Women, in particular, are unable to speak or understand Urdu, Pakistan's national language. Language differences cause a host of communication problems when students enter the houses of the local residents to whom they have been assigned – usually at times when only the women are present. To address this problem, students have often asked a male child in the household to serve as their assistant or, in the most difficult cases, students have called on a health care volunteer who speaks both Pushto and Urdu to serve as a translator.
As mentioned earlier, women in Sikanderabad observe strict purdah, which means they remain completely segregated from males outside their immediate family. For this reason, male students can only enter a home and thus actively participate in the project if a male family member is present. It is also not a safe practice to send female students alone into houses. Each student group has included at least

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11. The Village Bio-Electricity: India The project concentrates on technologies that generate biomass and convert bioresidues into energy. Management strategies have been developed to use these technologies as part of an economically sustainable package to provide lighting, drinking-water and services such as the milling of grains.
The project has the potential to become fully economically sustainable. Biomass-generated
electricity often has proven more reliable than electricity supplied by the national grid. Villagers also have more say in how it is managed and organized.
This alternative electricity supply reduces pressure on the overstretched national electricity supply, which is currently 25 to 30 percent short of demand.
one male student who has acted more as an escort and data editor than a data collector. An alternative strategy now under consideration would allow students to collect information and data in local schools instead of at the homes of families.
First and foremost, the project shows that, despite the initial suspicion and cynicism of citizens, the project is unlikely to succeed in the long term if the community is not actively involved and does not assume responsibility for at least some aspects of the process. The bottom line is this: the more hands-on activities the community is engaged in, the more likely the project will continue into the future.
In the early stages, the project’s main problem was how to find finances. Once it was under way, the villagers involved started to believe that it was a government initiative and that they could enjoy its benefits free of charge. It wasn’t easy convincing them to pay tariffs and, although the collection rate has exceeded 90 percent, this continues to be a problem.
Another problem related to the fact that some people saw the forest planted to supply biomass as a source of timber for private consumption. There were two major thefts of wood but, because these were committed by politically powerful people, the police did not pursue them. This caused a certain amount of resentment in the rest of the village.

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People are more likely to accept an innovation if they are kept well-informed about the project and can what is going on. The free exchange of information is essential.

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Breakdown of TCDC Expenditures
PO Admin
Salary/Support/Sundri
es
7%Duty Travel
5%
Individual Training
Outgoing
54%
Training Pakistan
10%
Conferences/Meetings
/Workshops/Seminars
15%
Non-Expendible Local
8%
All Other NES
1%