Leaders and Intermediaries as Economic Development Agents in Producers’ Associations

Abstract

Abstract The development field is currently dominated by two powerful and interconnected ideas: the idea of participation, and the idea of a bottom-up approach. The idea of participation emphasizes the process of development, and claims that development is more likely to be successful if as many as possible of its beneficiaries are actively involved in improving their own conditions. The bottom-up approach—which has a parallel in fiscal decentralization in public finance—maintains that the beneficiaries should choose democratically the means and objectives of the development strategies that concern them.