Identities, interests, and preferences matter: Fostering sustainable community development by building assets and agency in western Kenya

Abstract

The efficiency and sustainability of climate change adaptation projects depend on appropriate models and tools to take climate‐smart practices to scale. This paper presents the “Building assets and agency” approach taken by the Accelerating Adoption of Agroforestry project whose objective is to scale the adoption of context‐specific adaptation and mitigation options. Through the approach, communities are encouraged to identify, mobilise, and use their existing assets to define community plans that are responsive to their identities, interests, and preferences. This innovative approach combines conscious selection of project staff and partners, group capacity and agency training, cocreation of skills in self‐selected agricultural practices with an emphasis on business skills, and tools for sustainable scaling through farmer‐to‐farmer extension. The paper addresses challenges and solutions, and case study data justifying proof of concept. While developed in a climate change context, and being sensitive to a number of factors, the approach can support effective, efficient, and socially appropriate action in any sector.

How to Effectively Enhance Sustainable Livelihoods in Smallholder Systems: A Comparative Study from Western Kenya

“…Concluding on the suitability of ABCD to promote sustainability, the study results show that the implementation of ABCD approaches can indeed allow external actors to support diverse and diversified, context-specific, and sustainable livelihoods and landscapes. In line with Fuchs et al [17], the study shows that external partners, however, must ensure that the skills, knowledge, and innovation they have to offer is relevant to the farmers they seek to support. Matching one's offer with the communities' identities, interests, and preferences (IIP) is critical.…”

“…Asset-based community-driven development (ABCD) is an approach and a set of tools that puts context-specificity at the forefront of rural development and sustainability promotion. ABCD tools help communities define their own development priorities in line with their various assets based on, and responsive to, their identities (who they are), interests (their rational calculations), and their preferences (what they like) [17]. ABCD approaches to international development, drawing on earlier work focusing on the empowerment of hundreds of communities across the United States [18], were comprehensively adapted by the Coady International Institute [19][20][21][22].…”

A Proposal on Developing a 360° Agile Organizational Structure by Superimposing Matrix Organizational Structure with Cross-functional Teams

“…Further, a small team size, with a clear delineation of roles, packed with all the STCs, will be structurally adaptive (Fuchs et al 2019) and will enable strategically the agile organizations to adapt themselves to new ends (Söderqvist et al, 2019).…”

“…Team climate, based on mutual trust among the members of the CFTs calls for resolving such conflicts (Webber, 2002). The CFT is a mechanism to improve interface among the employees, thereby reducing conflict and enhancing collaboration among them (Le Meunier-Fitzhugh & Massey, 2019). Also, the organizational innovativeness mediates partially between the cross-functional knowledge sharing teams and the team’s performance, thus enabling employees with coopetition (Nguyen et al, 2018; Shabbir, 2017).…”