Community Capacity and Rural Development -2-.pdf

Koichi Miyoshi Yumiko Okabe

Naomi Stenning Hisano Ishimaru

Ana Puatu

Community Capacity and Rural Development

Constructive Development Approaches

March 2014

Kyushu

International Center, Japan International

Cooperation Agency

Koichi Miyoshi

Yumiko Okabe

Naomi Stenning

Hisano Ishimaru

Ana Puatu

Community Capacity and Rural Development:

Constructive Development Approaches

March 2014

Ritsumeikan

Asia Pacific

University

ii

Contents''

'Foreword' iii"Preface' ' iv"Contributors' v"

' "Chapter"1" Introduction" "" Koichi&Miyoshi,&Yumiko&Okabe&and&Naomi&Stenning& 1"Chapter"2" Organizing"Training"Programs"for"Community"Capacity"and"Rural"Development:"

A"Case"Study"of"the"JICA"Group"Training"Programs'"

& Koichi&Miyoshi&and&Yumiko&Okabe& 3"Chapter"3" Participatory"Approach"and"Facilitation"for"Rural"Development" "" Yumiko&Okabe&and&Koichi&Miyoshi& 20"Chapter"4" Community"Capacity"and"Rural"Development:"A"Model' "

& Naomi&Stenning&and&Koichi&Miyoshi' 29"Chapter"5" Evaluation"and"Planning"for"Rural"Development' "

& Koichi&Miyoshi" 53"Chapter"6" Evaluation"and"Policy"Structure' "

& Koichi&Miyoshi& 67"Chapter"7" Alternative"Approaches"for"Participatory"Evaluation" "

& Yumiko&Okabe&and&Koichi&Miyoshi& 77"Chapter"8" The"Decentralized"HandsPon"Exhibition"Approach" "' Hisano&Ishimaru,&Yumiko&Okabe&and&Koichi&Miyoshi& 84"Chapter"9" Rural"Development"Project"through"Community"Capacity"Development"in"Surin,"

Thailand:"Project"Framework"and"its"Implementation" ""

' Hisano&Ishimaru,&Yumiko&Okabe&and&Koichi&Miyoshi& 96"Chapter"10" Constructive"Participatory"Evaluation"for"Rural"and"Community"Development" "" Yumiko&Okabe,&Hisano&Ishimaru&and&Koichi&Miyoshi& 124"Chapter"11" Systematic"Value"Addition"and"Collective"Activities" "" Yumiko&Okabe,&Naomi&Stenning&and&Koichi&Miyoshi& 142"

' "

iii

Foreword''''

With" the" rapid" progress" of" globalization," the" disparities" between" urban" and" rural" and" the" gap"between" rich" and" poor" have" become" pressing" issues" around" the" world." These" issues" are" being"addressed" in" Japan" and" various" countermeasures" have" been" formulated" for" rural" development."Kyushu," in" the" southeast" part" of" Japan," is" full" of" good" practices" of" community" based" rural"development"such"as"the"“One"Village"One"Product"Movement"(OVOP)”"in"Oita,"“Onpaku”"in"Beppu"and"“Saruku”"in"Nagasaki."The"common"characteristic"among"these"approaches"is"a"perspective"of"rural"communities"toward"development." "Kyushu" International" Center" of" Japan" International" Cooperation" Agency" (JICA" Kyushu)" has"

focused"on"rural"development"since"2002"and"implemented"a"great"number"of"training"courses"for"participants"from"developing"countries."There"have"been"approximately"600"participants"from"over"60"countries"so"far."OVOP"is"one"of"the"most"wellPknown"Japanese"community"development"movements."The"aim"of"

OVOP"is"to"develop"human"resources"in"rural"communities"through"community"collective"activities,"such"as"creating"leadership"or"higher"valuePadded"products."The"Onpaku"approach"also"helps"human"and"local"resource"development"and"encourages"human"relations"with"the"spirit"of"cooperation"in"the"community."This" reading" material" is" published" by" JICA" in" cooperation" with" Ritsumeikan" Asia" Pacific"

University"(APU)"in"order"to"provide"knowledge"accumulated"at"APU"for"JICA"training"participants"and" to" deepen" their" understanding" for" further" studies." Learning" the" theoretical" background" and"some" case" studies" enables" training" participants" to" understand" the" concept" and" practice" of" rural"development"and"to"apply"these"methods"to"their"home"countries." "I"am"very"thankful"to"APU"for"sharing"their"knowledge"and"sincerely"hope"this"material"is"useful"

for"rural"development"all"over"the"world."''''

Yukihide' Katsuta'Director'General,'

' JICA'Kyushu'' '

''

March'2014'

' '

iv

Preface''

'UrbanPrural" disparities" and" the" decline" of" rural" areas" have" become" major" issues" today." Rural"development" is" often" mentioned" as" the" countermeasure" for" such" issues;" however," much" of" the"discussion" regarding" rural" development" projects" is" conducted" from" an" urban" perspective." Rural"perspectives" are" often" not" sufficiently" explored." This" book" focuses" on" development" from" the"perspective"of"rural"residents"and"the"communities"they"have"created"with"the"aim"of"helping"them"create"more"fulfilling"lives."Integrating" concept" with" practice" is" essential" in" rural" development." The" concept" of" rural"

development"is"necessary"to"determine"the"development"best"suited"for"one"rural"area"or"another."Using"the"concept"as"a"filter"helps"clarify"the"similarities"and"differences"between"the"development"experiences" of" various" areas." It" also" facilitates" the" implementation" of" practical" approaches."Development" itself" is"not" something" that" can"be" completely" explained" through"a" concept."This" is"because"it"concerns"the"everyday"lives"of"people."I"feel"that"more"appropriate"development"can"be"achieved"by"creating"as"close"a"connection"as"possible"between"concept"and"practice."Concepts"are"important" for"understanding,"planning"and"evaluating"development;"however," the"concept"sought"must"be"one"that"leads"us"to"practical,"operational"and"experiential"activities"that"are"functional."

We have been conducting training programs on community capacity and rural development at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University since 2006. The Japan International Cooperation Agency entrusts us with trainees who are engaged in development issues in their countries, focusing on government officials, provincial governors, municipal mayors and representatives of associations. As of March 2014, we have conducted approximately 50 training programs with participants from more than 60 countries.

An introduction to the concept of community capacity and rural development and a number of practical approaches is followed by field visits to hear from those involved in implementing these activities. Participants examine the cases and discuss how to interpret the information and their experiences in the context of community capacity development and higher value-added social, economic, environmental and political activities. These activities are a review process, allowing program participants to see concepts in practice and conceptualize their experiences in a more practical way. The program concludes with the preparation of action plans for rural development in participants’ own countries.

This book is a compilation of literature edited for our trainings, selected existing articles – an accumulation of our knowledge on rural development and community capacity. The"aim"of"publishing"these" training" materials" is" for" the" training" to" be" more" understandable" and" usable" for" future"implementation"of"development"plans"after"participants"return"to"their"homes."I"hope"this"material"is"useful,"usable"and"adaptable,"and"it"contributes"to"real"development"in"the"field.''

Koichi'Miyoshi'Professor,' '

Ritsumeikan'Asia'Pacific'University'''

March'2014''

v

Contributors'(Alphabetical"order)"

""Ana' Khristina' S.' Puatu' is" a" PhD" student" in" the" Graduate" School" of" Asia" Pacific" Studies" at"Ritsumeikan" Asia" Pacific" University." " She" received" her" MSc" in" International" Cooperation" Policy"from"the"same"university"(2009)"and"her"BA"in"Communications"from"Ateneo"de"Manila"University"(2003)."Ms."Puatu's"research"interest"focuses"on"community"capacity"building"and"communityPbased"enterprises."She"is"currently"working"on"organizing"a"Decentralized"Hands"On"Exhibition"Project"in"the"Philippines."""Hisano'Ishimaru"is"a"PhD"candidate"in"the"Graduate"School"of"Asia"Pacific"Studies"at"Ritsumeikan"Asia"Pacific"University."She"is"currently"conducting"action"research"while"working"as"a"sub"project"manager" for" the"Rural"Development" Project" through"Community" Capacity"Development" in" Surin"Province,"Thailand."Ms."Ishimaru"also"graduated"from"Ritsumeikan"Asia"Pacific"University"both"with"an" MSc" in" International" Cooperation" Policy" (2010)" and" a" BA" in" Asia" Pacific" Studies" (2008)."Additionally,"she"studied"at"Thammasat"University"in"Thailand"as"an"exchange"student"during"her"undergraduate"studies."She"was"in"charge"of"organizing"trainings"for"the"NPO"Hatto"Onpaku"from"2008" to" 2011" and" a" secretary" of" NonPProfit" Cooperative" Organization" Japan" Onpaku" in" 2011,"conducting"action"research"while"she"was"there.' '''Koichi'Miyoshi" is"a"Professor" in" the"Graduate"School"of"Asia"Pacific"Studies"at"Ritsumeikan"Asia"Pacific" University." He" graduated" from" the" School" of" Political" Science" and" Economics" at" Waseda"University" in" 1971" and" received" his" Doctor’s" Degree" of" Human" Sciences" from" Osaka" University"(2005)."Prior" to"his"current"position,"Dr."Miyoshi"worked" for" the" Japan" International"Cooperation"Agency" for" more" than" 25" years." His" research" fields" cover" community" capacity" and" rural"development,"policy"and"program"evaluation"and"international"cooperation"policy."He"has"written"numerous"articles"and"books"and"organized"various"training"programs"in"these"fields."Dr."Miyoshi"is"also"a"Vice"President"of"the"Japan"Evaluation"Society"and"President"of"the"Institute"for"Community"Design,"a"community"capacity"development"organization."""Naomi'Stenning'holds"a"PhD"in"Asia"Pacific"Studies"from"Ritsumeikan"Asia"Pacific"University,"Japan."She"also"holds"a"Master"of"Science"in"International"Cooperation"Policy"from"the"same"institution"and"a"Bachelor"Degree"in"International"Business"and"Japanese"from"the"University"of"the"Sunshine"Coast,"Australia."Dr"Stenning"works"in"Indigenous"affairs"in"Canberra,"Australia"as"a"senior"advisor"for"the"Australian" Government." All" views" expressed" are" her" own" and" do" not" in" any" way" represent" the"position"of"the"Australian"Government."""Yumiko'Okabe' is"the"Bureau"Chief"of"the"Institute"for"Community"Design,"a"community"capacity"development"organization."Ms."Okabe"graduated"from"Ritsumeikan"Asia"Pacific"University"with"an"

vi

MSc" in" International" Cooperation"Policy" (2011)" and" a"BA" in"Asia"Pacific" Studies" (2009)." She" has"worked" for" rural" development" projects" in" Africa," Asia" and" Latin" American" countries." Ms." Okabe"currently"works"in"various"trainings"and"consults"rural"development"projects"in"all"over"the"world."She"was"a"member"of"the"Beppu"Administrative"and"Economic"Reform"Committee"as"an"evaluator"for"municipal" policies" and" currently" is" an" evaluation" expert" for" the" rural" development"project" in"Surin"Province,"Thailand."

Community Capacity and Rural Development 1

Constructive Development Approach

Introduction

Koichi Miyoshi, Yumiko Okabe and Naomi Stenning

This book is a second edition of our reading material for JICA training programs. We have been conducting

training programs on community capacity and rural development at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

(APU) since 2006. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) entrusts us with trainees who are

engaging in development issues in their countries, focusing on government officials, provincial governors,

municipal mayors and representatives of associations. There have been 48 programs including participants

from 67 countries thus far as fiscal year 2013. Our training programs begin with an introduction of the

concept of community capacity and rural development highlighting Community-Based One Village, One

Product (OVOP) and Decentralized Hands-on (DHO) Exhibition approaches. Participants visit the field to

listen to the real voices of people engaging in rural development, helps them better understanding the

concepts. Participants are encouraged to examine the cases and discuss how to interpret the information

and experiences gained in the context of community capacity development and higher value-added social,

economic, environmental and political activities. These activities are a review process, allowing program

participants to see concepts in practice and conceptualize their experiences in a more practical way. The

program concludes with participants’ preparation of action plans for rural development in their countries.

(Training program contents are explained in Chapter 2.)

To supplement these training there is a need for reading materials on community and rural development,

as well as evaluation and planning. However, there are no appropriate traditional development-related

reading materials that match our training concept. The lack of such materials means that participants are

not able to study these aspects in-depth. Under these circumstances, we gather together all of the available

reading materials related to our training concept. This book provides sufficient materials for our

participants to gain the knowledge for community and rural development and take in the lessons from their

training program.

This book is a compilation of literatures edited for our trainings, selected existing articles, and revised

papers, as necessary. Some content newly added in order to provide reading materials that coordinate with

our trainings. This is, therefore, an accumulation of our knowledge on rural development and community

capacity, focusing on mainly Japanese cases. Our goal with our trainings and this book is to create an

environment where rural development takes place through connecting concept and practice.

This book is divided into chapters as follows:

Chapter 2 introduces our training programs and their relationship to rural development. Chapter 3

discuss participatory approach and facilitation for rural development. We believe that participatory

approach and facilitation are key for integrating concepts and practice in rural development. Chapter 4

discusses the concepts of community capacity and rural development, along with our intention of the

research to provide the perspective of the community in our theories, and demonstrates an alternative

approach to rural development through the community capacity development and community policy

structure model. It also explains why it is necessary to take the perspective of the community to build

community capacity for rural development. Chapter 5 continues with the use of evaluation in planning for

rural development. Chapter 6 addresses the interrelations of a policy structure and its evaluation and the

characteristics of each level of evaluation, focusing on the framework and constituent elements of the

1



policy structure to be evaluated. Chapter 7 presents the case of use of participatory evaluation for rural

development. Chapter 8 discusses the Decentralized Hands-on Exhibition Approach. Chapter 9

introduces the rural development utilizing the Decentralized Hands-on Exhibition Approach in Thailand

and Chapter 10 continues its participatory evaluation. Chapter 11 discuss systematic value addition and

collective activities. We would like to emphasize the implementation organization for community

collective activities and its responsibility in division of works for rural development.

Each chapter has an independent purpose, so interested readers can gather information according to

their own needs and interests to better understand the contents of community and rural development

trainings. As a result of this format the contents of some chapters involve the same theory or framework,

causing some overlap. The papers in this book are going to be improved continuously even after publishing

the book and will be revised. Furthermore, the contents itself broaden through organizing them by

participants or stakeholders of the trainings.

Discussions in each chapter explore the integration of concept and practice in order to achieve rural

development. The operationability of rural development is emphasized with the aim of finding more

strategic and specific activities. This book only scratches the surface; however, it is our utmost honor if

readers find it useful in the field of development. We encourage you to incorporate this knowledge into

practice and hope you find success in the future of development.



Organizing Training Programs for

Community Capacity and Rural Development Case Study of the JICA Group Training Programs

Koichi Miyoshi / Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Yumiko Okabe / Institute for Community Design

1. Introduction

Rural communities throughout the developing world are often characterized by their lack of development

and persistently low levels of quality of life. Despite this, successful community development initiatives in

towns like Oyama-machi provide historical lesson and know-how that could certainly help other rural

communities better themselves. It is with this intention that we conduct the Community Capacity and Rural

Development group-training programs in cooperation with the Japan International Cooperation Agency at

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) (Table 1).

This chapter aims to introduce and describe the structure and nature of the group training program as

well as share our experiences in its implementation. This chapter will also discuss the implications of the

promotion of such rural development initiatives in developing countries.

2. A Training Framework for Rural Development

The training program combines “classroom” lectures and discussions in APU with study tours to some

best-practice rural development communities within Oita or in nearby prefectures. The training sessions

emphasize on deepening the participants’ understanding of the concept of community capacity and rural

development by allowing them to experience, observe and generate their own insights of the concepts

discussed in the program. Program participants are also provided with the opportunity to incorporate this

newfound knowledge and develop specific rural development plans during group discussions. Figure 1

summarizes the elements of the training program.

Figure 1. Training for Community Capacity and Rural Development Concept

Source: The Autho

2

Inception Report

(Project, Program or Policy)

Interim Report


1. Community Capacity Development and

Community Policy Structure Model

• Concept of Community Capacity

Development

• Concept of Planning and Evaluation

• Concept of Community Based OVOP

Approach Model

• Concept of Decentralized Hands-On

(DHO) Exhibition Approach Model

2. Study Tours

3. Case Studies: Group Discussions

4. Workshop: Group Discussions

Revision and

Modification

Final Report

(Project, Program and Policy)

Conceptual Framework:

Theory /Concept + Practice

Implementation

Project, Program and Policy



Table 1: List of Training Program Course (Country/Region) as of FY 2013

Course Name FY Year Country/Region

Number of

Participants

1 Training Course in Seminar for Municipal Mayors of

Clustered LGUS: One Village One Product Movement

2006, 2007,

2008, 2009

Country:

Philippines 38

2 The Country focused Training Program on the "One

Village One Product" Movement in Tunisia 2006, 2007 Country: Tunisia 18

3 Training Course in Region Development Promotion for

ASEAN Countries - One Village One Product

2007, 2008,

2009 Region: ASEAN 31

4

Training Course in Community Capacity and Rural

Development - Focusing on One Village One Product –

for AFRICAN Countries + Malawi

2008, 2009,

2010 Region: Africa 47

5 Training Course in Enforcement of Region

Administrative Function for Local Industrial Promotion

2008, 2009,

2010 Country: Chile 28

6 Training Course in Seminar on One Village, One

Product Movement in Savannakhet and Saravanh 2008, 2009 Country: Laos 8

7 Training Course in ANDEAN Region One Village One

Product Promotion

2009, 2010,

2011 Region: Andean 45

8

Training Course in Development and Promotion of

Region Industries Utilizing Local Resources for

INDOCHINA and PACIFIC Regions

2009

Region:

Indochina &

Pacific

13

9



for AFRICAN Countries (A) & (B)

2010, 2011,

2012, 2013 Region: Africa 110

10

Training Course on Community Capacity and Rural

Development Promotion for ASIAN Countries – One

Village One Product

2010, 2011,

2012 Region: Asian 49

11 Training Course in Promotion of Local Industries for

GUATEMALA

2010, 2011,

2012

Country:

Guatemala 46

12 Training Course of Promotion of One Village One

Product Movement in COLOMBIA

2010, 2011,

2012 Country: Colombia 49

13 Training Course in NEPAL One Village One Product

Promotion 2011 Country: Nepal 15

14 Enhancement of Capacity for Promotion of One Village

One Product Program in Uganda 2012 Country: Uganda 14

15


Development Promotion for Central & South America –

One Village One Product (A)&(E)

2012, 2013 Country: Central

and South America 60

16 Training Course of Promotion of One Village One

Product Movement in Kenya 2012 Country: Kenya 15

17


Development Promotion for East Europe – One Village

One Product

2013 Country: Eastern

Europa 8

18



for Asia and Pacific Regions （C）

2013 Country: Asia and

Pacific Regions 15

19

Thailand Training Course: Marketing Techniques and

OTOP Enhancement for Producers, Farming

Households and Agricultural Products

2013 Country: Thailand 17

Total : 48 Courses and 67 Countries 626



Table 2 is a sample of the training program’s schedule. Historically, most of the programs were

participated in by administrative officials from the national or local government, each with the capacity to

plan, implement and evaluate rural development policies, programs and projects. This, we thought, was a

reasonable requirement because program participants are expected not only to exhibit awareness of the

various issues in their own countries but also actively discuss these issues in relation to the program’s

concepts during discussions. In recent programs, however, we have accepted more participants from NPOs

and similar organizations, and industry and community leaders in order to broaden the perspective and

make the discussion more practical and effective. Similarly, we have accepted elected officials (such as

governors and mayors) to the program, recognizing that their interest and mandate could facilitate the

effective and efficient adoption of this rural development approach.

Overall, the essence of the program comes with its ability to relate rural development ideas to practice.

The program was, after all, designed to offer practical knowledge not only through the constant reiteration

of community capacity development concepts, and planning and evaluation methods but also by

demonstrating how these ideas are applied in practice to a particular rural community. Ultimately, this

methodology aims to positively reinforce the use of this knowledge for the planning, implementation and

evaluation of the program participant’s own policies, programs and projects (Miyoshi and Stenning 2008c;

Stenning and Miyoshi 2009).

3. Conceptual Discussion of Community Capacity and Rural Development

The accumulated knowledge we have obtained through the execution of our training programs since 2006

and our research on the rural development experience of Oita Prefecture and other similar communities

helped conceptualize our alternative development approach. As such, our training program include the

following models and approaches:

(1) Community Capacity Development and Community Policy Structure Model;

(2) Decentralized Hands-on (DHO) Exhibition Approach; and

(3) Community-Based One Village, One Product (OVOP) Approach.

The intention of introducing these approaches and models is not to theorize rural development

phenomena but to present it, instead, a practical and operational concepts that may be examined, discussed

and analysed through actual development experiences. Because real life is complicated and cannot be

interpreted through simple theories of causality, there are understandably various options for development.

Our alternative rural development approach was thus framed to provide practitioners and researchers with a

map for rural development. Although these models and approaches are briefly discussed below, a more

detailed explanation is provided in Chapters 4,8 and 11.

3.1 Community Capacity Development and Community Policy Structure Model

Community capacity is defined as the ability of the community, organization/s and individual/s, to produce

outcomes from their collective activities through the use of available human, physical, social, political and

organizational resources. As such, the Community Capacity Development and Community Policy

Structure Model (Figure 2) illustrates how a community may use its capacity to plan, implement and

evaluate community policy structures through the identification, examination, conceptualization and

clarification of community processes, whilst simultaneously providing a basis for the analysis of its

community capacity. It is a dual function model aimed at the development of community capacity, the

production of higher value addition and the creation of improvements in the community policy structure

(such as economic, social, environmental and political activities).



Table 2: Sample schedule of a Community Capacity and Rural Development Promotion Program

Community Capacity and Rural Development Promotion

-One Village One Product Movement- (C)

October 28 – November 8, 2013 Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University（APU）

M D Time Topic and Destination for Visit

10

28 Mon

9:30-10:00 10:00-12:30

Orientation/ Briefing Inception Report Presentation

1 13:30-15:00 15:00-16:30

Inception Report Presentation Community Capacity Development (Lecture + Discussion)

29 Tue

9:30-11:00 11:00-12:00

Community Capacity Development (Lecture + Discussion) Planning and Evaluation of Project (Lecture + Discussion)

2 12:30-13:10 13:10-14:00 14:00-14:45 15:30-17:00

ONPAKU Experience ≪Beppu/Kannawa area≫ ◈ E (Lunch): Jigokumushi (steamed dish by “hell” hot spring / Daikokuya) ◈ L: Daikokuya Inn【Mr. YASUNAMI, Owner】 ◈ O: Kannawa Hot Spring walk【Ms. KONO】 ◈ L：ONPAKU【Mr. KADOWAKI, NPO Hatto ONPAKU】

30 Wed

9:30-11:00 ◈ L：History of Oyama ‘Our Beloved Lush Town’【Ms. OKABE】

3

14:00-15:30 15:30-15:50

17:00-18:30

≪Yabakei Town≫ ◈ L：Shimogo Agricultural Cooperative【Mr. YASAKI, President】 ◈ O： Milk factory 【Mr. CHO, President】 ≪Hita City Oyama Town≫ ◈ L：Ogirihata Green Tourism【Mr. KODA】

31 Thu

9:30-11:00 11:10-11:45 12:00-13:30 13:40-14:30 14:30-14:50

◈ L：Hibikinosato【Mr. OGATA, Director and General Manager】 ◈ O: Hibiki no Sato Plum Liquor Factory【Mr. TESHIMA】 ◈ L：Marukin Farm【Mr. KUROKAWA, President】 ◈ Lunch（Mizubenosato） ◈ O: Mizubenosato【Mr. Fujinami】 Transfer：Oyama→Fukuoka→Okayama

4

11

1 Fri

10:00-12:30 12:40-13:30 13:40-14:30 14:30-15:20 15:45-17:30 20:00-21:00

Transfer：Okayama→Soja ≪Soja City≫ ◈ L：Michikusa komichi【Ms. KATO, President, NPO Kibino Kobo Chimichi】 ◈ Lunch（Chinese restaurant） ◈ L：Okayama prefectural government【Mr.IKEDA, Regional Development Division】 ◈ L：Soja City【Mr. NISHIKAWA, Town Planning Office】 ◈ E：Paper Cutting 【Ms. KAWAHARA】 ◈ E：Japanese drum workshop【Mr. Shiojiri, ‘Ura daiko’】

5

2 Sat

9:30-10:20

10:20-11:10 11:20-12:20 13:00-14:30

≪Soja City≫ ◈ L：My involvement with Chimichi 【Ms.OOKA, NPO Kibino Kobo Chimichi】 ◈ L：My involvement with Chimichi【Ms.ITSUJI, NPO Kibino Kobo Chimichi】 ◈ Lunch: Chimichi lunch (Chimichi house) ◈ E：Kino castle walking and Bamboo whistle experience【Mr. HORI, Association of Kitano kibimichi conservation】 Transfer：Soja→Okayama→Kokura→Beppu

6

3 Sun － 7

4 Mon 9:30-12:30 Group Discussion (case study: Onpaku)

8 13:30-16:30 Group Discussion (case study: Oyama)

5 Tue

10:00-11:00

11:00-12:00 12:30-13:30 13:30-14:10 14:15-15:30

≪Kunisaki City / Aki Town≫ ◈ L：Management of regional resources in agricultural community 【Mr. VAFADARI, Ritsumkeikan APU】 ◈ L：Kunisaki City 【Mr. INOUE, Town Planning Office】 ◈ O：Satonoeki Musashi【Mr. Fujiwara, President】 ◈ Lunch（Satonoeki Musashi） ◈ E：Nordic Walking in Kunisaki【Mr. UCHIDA and Ms. NAGAKURA, Oita Nordic Club】

9

6 Wed

10:00-10:30 11:00-12:30

◈ O：Konohana Garten Antenna Shop (Tokiwa industry) ◈ Group Discussion (based on inception report) 10

13:30-16:30 Group Discussion (based on inception report)

7 Thu 9:30-12:30 Group Discussion (based on inception report)

11 13:30-16:30 Interim Report Preparation

8 Fri

9:30-12:30 Interim Report Presentation and Discussion

12 14:00-15:00 Evaluation Meeting

15:30-16:30 Closing Ceremony

17:00-19:00 Closing Party



Figure 2: The Community Capacity Development and Community Policy Structure Model

Source: Miyoshi 2010; Miyoshi and Stenning 2008a, 2008b

Community capacity consists of (1) strategic components (actors/agents), (2) the characteristics of

community capacity and (3) its functions. Enhancing the use of these components and increasing their

mutual interactions may improve the level of community capacity and lead to changes in the policy

structure of rural communities. Consequently, improved rural community capacity also enables the

community to design, introduce and maintain more complex and advanced community policy structures.

Meanwhile, the community policy structure part of the model depicts the relationship between the

economic, social, environmental and political activities in the community. This includes agricultural

production, development initiatives, and other collective activities. Eventually, they result to end outcomes

(effects represented as social changes), intermediate outcomes (effects represented as changes in the

behavior or situation of target groups including individuals and organizations), outputs (products and

services produced as a result of activities), more activities (series of actions for producing outputs using

inputs) or more inputs (human resources, machinery, equipment, facilities, wages, expertise, time, etc.)

These relationships are not linear; rather they are interactive and continuously changeable. This reflects

how human lives and experiences are not static; they are temporal and dynamic, and often affected by their

previous experiences.

At this point, it would be advisable to clarify the definition of community. Often, community is treated

as a social construct of people that consists of individuals, groups and organizations that share a common

and general sense of belonging to a particular area defined by administrative boundaries. While geography

and common life are important factors in a community, there are no significant problems in considering

community in a broader sense. For example, expanding its definition to include villages, towns, cities,

prefectures, provinces, nations and even international societies. Doing so makes it possible for analysis to

include not only rural residents but also administrative bodies, civil groups, NGOs, NPOs, private

enterprises and educational institutions as constituents of communities and examine the collective activities

that they create. Widening the range of the subjects of analysis also benefits policy-oriented debates

(Miyoshi 2010; Miyoshi and Stenning 2008a, 2008b).



3.2 Decentralized Hands-on (DHO) Exhibition Approach

The DHO Exhibition Approach is a type of community capacity development and community policy

structure model. The team in Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University developed the DHO Exhibition

Approach based on its observation and analysis of events such as the Onpaku in Beppu,

Michikusa-Komichi in Soja, Bonpaku in Miyakonojo and Saruku in Nagasaki. The introduction of the

DHO Exhibition concept helps broaden, modify and elaborate the scope of these events into an effective

rural development approach.

The DHO Exhibition’s policy structure is divided into three parts: 1) community-based activities and

resources, 2) partners’ participation, creation and implementation of the DHO Exhibition programs, and 3)

the collective activities of the DHO Exhibition implementation organization.

The introduction and implementation of the DHO Exhibition Approach is done in three levels: 1) policy

formulation at the supporting organization level, 2) implementation at the organizational level and 3)

program development and implementation at the program partner level. The distinction between each level

is illustrated in Figure 3.

The organizations responsible for each level play specific roles in the implementation of the DHO

Exhibition Approach in local communities (Figure 4). For instance, the role of the DHO Exhibition

Policy-Making Organization is to select and support the implementing organization in each community.

Meanwhile, it is the DHO Exhibition Implementing Organization’s responsibility to build the exhibition

framework for their community and support the program partners’ in the planning and implementation of

their specific activities. As such, the implementing organization is a key player in the initiative because it

functions as the development agent in the community. At the program level, the program partners plan and

implement their own activities. It is important to note, that each support mode can be systematized so that

the DHO Exhibition can be implemented within short period of time (Miyoshi and Ishimaru 2010;

Ishimaru and Miyoshi 2010).

3.3 Community-Based One Village, One Product (OVOP) Approach

The Community-Based One Village, One Product (OVOP) Approach is another type of community

capacity development and community policy structure model. Our conceptualization of this approach was

borrowed heavily from the rural development experience of Oyama Town in Oita Prefecture, Japan.

Before the introduction of the OVOP Movement in Oita prefecture, Oyama had already achieved high

levels of community capacity development. This served as the inspiration for former Governor Hiramatsu

when he first formulated the OVOP Movement. It is also because of this accomplishment that we

formulated the framework of the Community-Based OVOP Approach.

The implementation of the OVOP Approach is similar in structure to the DHO Exhibition Approach. It

consists of three levels: 1) policy formulation at the supporting organization level, 2) implementation at the

organization level, and 3) the producer and service provider level.

Likewise, each organization plays a specific role in the implementation of the OVOP Approach (Figure

5). First, the OVOP Policy-Making Organization selects and supports the OVOP implementing

organization. Then, the OVOP Implementing Organization builds the program framework in the

community. They also provide support to the famers, small producers and service providers’ in the

planning and implementation of their activities. The program producers and service providers then plan for

and implement higher value added activities. Figure 6 details the distribution of roles in the OVOP

Approach.



Figure 3: DHO Exhibition Approach: Community Responsibility

Source: The author

Figure 4: DHO Exhibition Approach: Activities

Source: The author



Figure 5: OVOP Approach: Community Responsibility

Source: The author

Figure 6: Community-Based OVOP Approach: Activities

Source: The author

Community



Training on the Community-Based OVOP Approach begins with a series of lectures on its conceptual

framework. Group discussions are then conducted to deepen the participant’s understanding of the model.

For instance, lectures emphasize the important role that capacity development played in the municipalities

of Oyama, Yufuin and Himeshima, the pioneers of the OVOP movement. Meanwhile, group discussions

deal with specific cases from the program participants’ hometowns. These discussions focus on identifying

the specific characteristics of community capacity (sense of community, commitment, ability to set and

achieve objectives, recognition of and access to resources) and the strategic elements (human resources,

leadership, organizations, networks) found within their respective communities.

In terms of leadership, for example, discussions may include the various styles of leadership and the

ways by which such leadership qualities can be nurtured. These discussions allow program participants to

raise related questions that would hopefully be addressed in the course of the training.

Similarly, discussions aim to encourage program participants to enhance their ability to plan, implement

and evaluate programs. To do so, they are given exercises in actual policy, program and project planning as

well as in the development of their own program theories. Ultimately, the goal of this process is to help

them understand that community activities or interventions can be adjusted and upgraded. Knowledge of

which would allow them to add value to the economic, social, environmental and political activities they

are already involved in.

Rural development is often addressed from the standpoint of governments rather than from rural

communities. In particular, interventions for rural societies are often created from the perspective of central

governments that tend to have only a vague awareness of the situation on ground. To address such

imbalance in planning and evaluation, the training program also include discussions on the localization of

the policy structure, rural communities’ policy structure and government interventions, program versus

project based approach, aid coordination, and model projects and their dissemination. Activities are also

examined within the framework of existing administration systems as well as planning for modifications,

changeovers or improvements of existing policy structure.

In addition, evaluation is strategically positioned as an important tool in this project management cycle.

The roles of policy evaluation, program evaluation, and project evaluation are thereby distinguished and

practical approaches for these are also discussed (Miyoshi 2010; Miyoshi and Stenning 2008a, 2008b).

4. Study Tours

The purpose of the study tours is to provide program participants with the opportunity to listen to the voices

of people engaged in rural development. The program participants’ experiences in the places we visit

during study tours are integral to the trainings (see Figure 7 - 12). Among the places we visit include:

Oyama-machi - Local Commercial Exchange Center Hibikinosato, the Oyama Agricultural

Cooperative, Marukin Farm, Ogirihata Green Tourism;

Himeshima - Village Office, Himeshima Island Women’s Society, Himeshima Kuruma Shrimp

Culture Company;

Beppu city - NPO Hatto Onpaku, Yanagi Tea House Kirara;

Soja city - NPO Kibino kobo Chimichi, Soja City Hall, Okayama Nordic Walk Assoc. Kiyone

furusato kobo, Okayama Prefectural Government;

Yabakei – Shimogo Agriculture Cooperative; and

Oita City - Oita OVOP Movement International Exchange Promotion Association, Oita Prefecture

Shiitake Mushroom Agricultural Cooperative Association.

The study tour schedule is carefully arranged so that the participants are able to understand (1) the roles

of the various stakeholders in rural development, (2) the balance between the implementing organization



Figure 7: Local commercial complex

“Hibikinosato”

in Oyama Machi, Hita City

(Photo by Koichi Miyoshi)

Figure 8: Direct sales shop, Konohana

Garten, Oyama-machi, Hita City


Figure 9: Production Facility,

Marukin Farm

in Oyama Machi, Hita City


Figure 10: Group Photo

At the Oyama Development Promotion

Bureau in Oyama-machi, Hita City


Figure 11: Kurokawa Onsen

Minami Oguni Machi


Figure 12: Hands on Program

(Onpaku Program),

Yanagi Area, Beppu City




level and the program partner level in the DHO Exhibition Approach, and the implementing organization

level and the producer and service provider level in the Community-Based OVOP Approach. Ultimately,

the focus of the study tour is to allow program participants to obtain first hand knowledge of the collective

activities that are created by communities.

4.1 Beppu Onpaku

The local residents and business owners in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture established Onpaku in 2001 with

the purpose of revitalizing the rural area. Running for approximately one month, Onpaku offers more than

150 types of programs that utilize local resources and talents. Local residents or local businesses,

commonly referred to as partners, help identify notable local resources and attractions that convey the

charm of the city to the general public. The event also provides new products or service providers with the

opportunity to enter the market, thereby promoting innovation in the development of products and services.

The Onpaku provides an effective methodology to make use of the community’s local resources and

talents. Through the implementation of the Onpaku, all partners are encouraged to either revise or improve

on their existing community-based activities or establish new ventures. They are also responsible for the

implementation of those abovementioned programs.

Onpaku became known as a rural development strategy because of its small-scale programs that are

short and recurring. More than 150 programs could run simultaneously in the period of one month; each

having no more than 20 to 30 participants. The Onpaku is held once or twice a year, allowing partners to

try out various business activities.

A brochure of programs is published to provide a list of the products and services that will be offered

during each event period. Because of the increasing number of programs it offers, the Onpaku event has

become more attractive to the public and the media. This rapid program development resulted from the

participatory feasibility study conducted by the local people.

While the consequences of failure are small, a successful Onpaku experience substantially elevates

community motivation. Program repetition fosters the development of a support and cooperation network.

In particular, it may lead to the establishment of a core organization and community development network

with in the area. Thereby nurturing community capacity and triggering the potential continued success for

the program. Consequently, the repeated implementation of the individual programs under Onpaku

provides the partners with the opportunity to test market services and goods, and create business models

that could build a new customer base. Overall, the Onpaku serves to motivate small and medium

enterprises as well as small-scale agricultural producers.

Although Onpaku mainly focuses on small-scale programs, it still effectively makes use local resources

and provides many opportunities for cooperation between established small and medium-sized enterprises

and new ventures, and small-scale and new agricultural producers. In principle, Onpaku is able to achieve

rapid results in community and rural development because each program is planned and developed based

on pre-existing activities in the community and rural area (Miyoshi and Ishimaru 2010; Ishimaru and

Miyoshi 2010).

Inspired by Beppu City’s Onpaku events, other municipalities and areas have adopted and developed

the approach to fit their context. For instance, Nagasaki’s Saruku has adopted Onpaku’s walking tour

program through the formulation of over 40 walking routes that cater to every visitor or tourist’s need or

interests. During the event, map users also have the option of subscribing to guided tours and lectures. This

program enabled tourists to simply walk around the city instead of going around it on a tour bus. This

eventually led the residents to become more aware of their local resources and motivated them to take care

their community for the benefit of the visitors. Although the Saruku was available only an event in the



beginning, walking tours/programs can now be done any time and has become a daily activity.

Meanwhile, Soja’s Michikusa Komichi adopted the approach with a focus on the local community’s

treasures. Small programs incorporated the city’s artifacts, historical places, traditional culture and human

resources. Unlike Beppu and Nagasaki, Soja is a relatively unknown area that is rarely visited by tourists.

However, the implementation of the Michikusa Komichi, helped not only generate awareness for the

noteworthy resources available in the community but it also contributed to the development of networks

within and outside of the community.

4.2 Oyama-machi

In rural areas, expansion of businesses inevitably leads to the creation of winners and losers. As a result,

some farmers who have lost confidence in their ability to manage agricultural businesses would, out of

financial need, move to urban areas to seek jobs. The decline of residents and farmhouses in rural

communities makes consequently diminishes the social functions of offices and branches of administrative

institutions, elementary and middle schools, clinics, hospitals and healthcare centers, post office branches,

financial institutions, retail stores and restaurants.

To manage the farmers’ losses and prevent urban migration, the town of Oyama has decided to take a

different approach. Almost 50 years ago, it pursued a multi-dimensional agriculture production program

that promoted not only primary agricultural production, but also the processing and marketing their own

products. They promoted higher value-added economic activities to compensate for their limited farmlands

and also introduced various collective activities that increased the productivity and profitability of each

farmhouse.

The Oyama community was established through administrative zoning. Within this zone, members of

the community recognized their commonality and increased their sense of belonging through daily

conversation, awareness of their surroundings and cohabitation. The main actors of the community include

the town government, the agricultural cooperatives and other related organizations such as the farmers

engaged in agricultural production and processing.

Community capacity and rural development in Oyama was initiated and led by the town government

and the agricultural cooperative. These two organizations acted as the implementing organizations of what

has come to be known as the NPC Movement. The community is seen as an operational body and placed at

the core of the development approach. Eventually, Oyama became known for its series of successful

endogenous development initiatives which began with the innovative New Plum and Chestnut (NPC I)

Movement in the 1960s. With its catchy slogan “Ume, kuri uete, Hawaii ni ikou! (Let’s plant plums and

chestnuts and go to Hawaii!)”, NPC I focused on “hataraku (work)”. This was done through drastic

agricultural reform where most rice paddies were turned into orchards. Rice production was only done for

self-consumption. Raising livestock was banned and farmers were encouraged to work less and play and

learn more.

Eventually, the town went from being a community with “tired thatched roofs, humble earth walls, no

money and an unusually strong level of social jealousy” to a wealthy, culturally rich, harmonious and

content farming village. The story of their success is in itself an inspiration for any person striving to

develop a disadvantaged rural community.

Following the success of the NPC I Movement, Oyama launched two other movements, the NPC II and

the NPC III. The Neo Personality Combination campaign (NPC II) was added simultaneously to the NPC I

and focused on “manabu (learning).” Under this program the Oyama administration established a learning

program comprised of community-centered activities called Seikatsu Gakkou. Under the program, local

residents ran cultural learning classes that discuss topics like the traditional Japanese tea ceremony, martial



arts and kimono wearing. The administration also invited prominent professionals to give out or facilitate

these lectures. Social events like classical music concerts were also organized for residents in order to

“refine their personalities.” They were encouraged to take tours around Japan as well as participate in

exchange activities overseas to study agricultural and community development techniques. In fact,

scholarships were provided for young people who expected to become involved in agriculture in the

community. For instance, elementary and secondary students went on study trips to the United States and

Korea. The Farming youth were sent to learn about the kibbutz in Israel. Even the adults were sent to learn

about farming methods in China.

On the other hand, the New Paradise Community (NPC III) focused on “aishiau (love)” and aimed for

a more enjoyable and affluent living environment for the residents of Oyama town. The campaign sought

to construct the perfect environment for living in order to prevent residents, particularly the young people,

from moving to other cities due to the lack of entertainment, amusement and cultural facilities in the town.

Under this campaign, Oyama was divided into eight cultural zones each with its own cultural center.

In 1949, the Oyama Agricultural Cooperative was established. As the core organization in the

community, the cooperative slowly increased the sophistication of the town’s community activities through

the formation of more specialized organizations such as the Agricultural Processing Center, the Enoki

Mushroom Center and the Konohana Garden direct sales shop and organic restaurant. These organizations

became important means through which the community conducted its multi-dimensional activities. At the

same time, the local administration established the Oyama Cable Broadcasting, Oyama Cable TV and the

Oyama Lifestyle Consulate in Fukuoka. These organizations expanded the reach of the town’s community

activities by creation of events such as the National Umeboshi Competition. Other establishments such as

the community center, the producer’s group, softball teams, the Bungo-Oyama Hibikinosato and the

roadside station Mizubenosato Oyama were also created in support of NPC III’s goals.

Sense of community becomes more explicit through regular interaction with internal and external

players. During NPC I, the national agricultural policy was to focus on the cultivation of rice. Naturally, the

Oita Prefecture administration and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) met the

town’s advocacy to concentrate on the cultivation plums and chestnuts very coldly. Such opposition steered

the people of Oyama to develop a strong awareness of their position as a community.

But when NPC I began bearing fruit, the attitudes of the Oita Prefectural administration and MAFF

grew warmer that they gradually transformed into actively supportive organizations. For instance, Oita

Prefectural Governor, Morihiko Hiramatsu, developed the framework for the OVOP Movement and

publicized the case of Oyama-machi as its primary model. This acknowledgement greatly changed the

relationship between Oyama town and Oita Prefectural government.

Soon, Oyama started engaging a range of external actors. They did this by holding trainings in other

municipalities, going on study tours and participating in regional social events. The training and immersion

program with the kibbutz in Israel resulted in the agreement between Oyama and Megiddo to become

sister cities. In addition, the training programs in Europe that were conducted concurrently with the Israel

program helped the participants compare their status in Oyama with each of the other cities they visited.

The town of Megiddo, especially, provided the people of Oyama with a model on how to develop under

difficult conditions.

There is a distinction in the OVOP movement models in Oyama Town, Yufuin and Himeshima, and

that introduced by former Governor Hiramatsu. For one, the original OVOP model and activities as

implemented in Oyama Town are more community-oriented in contrast to Hiramatsu’s OVOP Movement

that is inclined towards a production-oriented approach. The original nature of the OVOP model may be

observed in development of the hot spring resorts of Kurokawa and Onpaku in Beppu. This is reason why



the abovementioned cases are discussed during the training program (Miyoshi 2010; Miyoshi and Stenning

2008a, 2008b).

5. Group Discussion on the Study Tours

During the training program, participants are encouraged to examine cases and discuss how the

information and experiences they gained are relevant to the context of community capacity development

and value-addition. Constant discourse allows program participants not only to understand concepts in

practice but also conceptualize their experience in a more practical way. During these discussions,

participants are asked to identify community boundaries by categorizing internal and external stakeholders,

and examine community capacity and community policy structure from the perspective of rural people.

Sometimes, participants are asked to role-play and act as specific key players in the community.

To facilitate critical thinking, program participants use sticky notes during the discussions to write down

important points, visualize how conflicts evolve (see Figures 13-16) and see the connection between them.

This style of discourse increases the program participants’ awareness of the nature of community and

enables them to understand it holistically. Below are the discussion guides for the DHO Exhibitions

(Beppu Onpaku, Nagasaki Saruku and Soja Michikusa Komichi) and Oyama-machi case studies.

5.1 Decentralized Hands-On Exhibition Case Study Discussion Guide

Discussion 1

o Identify the organizations responsible for each level of the DHO Exhibition (Beppu

Onpaku, Nagasaki Saruku and Soja Michikusa Komichi) - policy level; (policy-making

organization, central government, prefectural government), implementing organization

level; (NPO, municipality), and program provider level (partner, farmer, small business).

o Which of these organizations play the policy-making role? What kind of work do they

do?

o Which of these organizations act as the implementing organization? What kind of work

do they do?

o Which of the stakeholders participate as partners? What kind of work do they do?

Discussion 2

o Examine the necessary improvements to community capacity in order to implement the

DHO Exhibition Approach for rural development.

Consider the actors (i.e. the implementing organization and program partners)

Describe the characteristics of community capacity – sense of community,

commitment, ability to set and achieve objectives, ability to recognize and access

resources

Discussion 3

o Examine the measures available to promote the DHO Exhibition approach at the

municipal level.

o What is the implementation timeframe?

5.2 Oyama-machi Case Study Discussion Guide

Discussion 1

o Identify the target community and stakeholders for rural development at the municipal

level.

o Which governments, organizations, communities or groups are involved?



o Draw a stakeholder map. Identify as many stakeholders as possible, including those in the

community, provincial and national levels. Identify internal and external stakeholders.

Estimate how many of each type of stakeholder there is.

Discussion 2

o Formulate the program theory (community policy structure) for rural development at the

municipal level. Identify the relevant items under each category in the policy structure and

project implementation diagram (e.g. end outcomes, intermediate outcomes, outputs,

activities and inputs).

o When proposing activities, focus on collective and value-added production activities that

contribute to village or district development. Also consider economic, social,

environmental and political activities.

Discussion 3

o Examine community capacity at the municipal level.

o Identify the characteristics of community capacity - sense of community, commitment,

ability to set and achieve objectives, ability to recognize and access resources

o Identify any effective strategies that have contributed to community capacity

development, including leadership, human resources, organizational development, and

networks.

o

Figure 15: Group discussion

(Presentation)


Figure 16: Group discussion(Presentation)


Figure 13: Group discussion

(Photo by Koichi Miyoshi) Figure 14: Group discussion




Discussion 4

o Identify the support and interventions from the central and prefectural governments that

contribute to the development of the community capacity.

o Identify support and interventions at the local level, including economic, social and

political support.

6. Group Discussion on Action Plans: Policies, Programs and/or Projects

Each participant prepares a rural development plan based on the inception report he or she prepared prior to

the training. The program participants are divided into groups composed of five to six people to discuss

their plan. It should include policies, programs and/or projects for rural development for their respective

countries. The Plans are the discussed and refined during the group discussion. Afterwhich, the participant

is expected to reflect on the outcome of the group discussion and compile their findings into an interim

reports that is presented to the group the next day.

These group discussions aim to further reinforce the role of the community as the driving force for rural

development. This reaffirmation is important because it is critical to the identification of key players for the

rural development initiative, the creation of the implementing organizations and the conceptualization of

relevant collective activities.

The following points guide group discussions on the action plans:

o Discussion 1 – Reconfirm or identify the appropriate target communities for the action

plan and identify stakeholders in the community that are relevant to rural development.

o Discussion 2 – Revise or create the community policy structure based on the action plan

by filling in the necessary policy structure components (end outcomes, intermediate

outcomes, outputs, activities, inputs). Discuss appropriate collective activities for

community policy structures by utilizing the DHO and OVOP Approach.

o Discussion 3 –Assess the current state of the target community’s community capacity

(e.g. sense of community, commitment, ability to set and achieve objectives, ability to

recognize and access resources) based on the new community policy structure. Consider

community capacity development strategies (leadership development, human resources

development, organizational development, network development) and incorporate them

into the policy structure.

o Discussion 4 - Identify appropriate measures, possible support or interventions from the

national or provincial governments, or other supporting organizations that would help

promote the new community policy structure. Compile them as an action plan that

contains the specific policy, programs and /or projects for rural development. Prepare an

implementation schedule for this action plan.

7. Conclusion: Implications for the Promotion of Rural Development

These training programs relate the conceptual to the practical in four stages: (a) the introduction of the

concepts of rural development and community capacity development; (b) the sharing of the experiences of

communities in Oita such as Oyama-machi through study tour; (c) the discussion and application of

concepts learned to cases visited during the study tour; and (d) the search for possible applications of the

concepts to the program participants’ countries through group discussions of their inception reports.

This kind of training program is conducted for a variety of purpose. For instance, it may be done to help

formulate community development plans or to examine existing community policy structures in

developing countries. In fact, the training program’s framework provides effective ways to conceptualize



development approaches and practice for people in rural communities.

The definition of community and the appointment of implementing organizations are issues that must

be examined by community members at the policy-making level. The implementing organizations in the

community are critical to the creation of collective activities. And as observed, introduced and emphasized

in the DHO Exhibition Approach and the Community-Based OVOP Approach, these collective activities

are essential for community and rural development.

The Beppu Onpaku is introduced as a case study for the DHO Exhibition Approach while Oyama

Town serves as the case study for the Community-Based OVOP Approach. Opportunities to listen to the

experiences of people involved with rural development through a study tour are eagerly planned. The

concepts and exercises from the training program complement the practical examples demonstrated by the

communities in Oita prefecture and its surrounding areas.

The concept of an alternative development approach was derived from the knowledge we have gained

through our training programs and the experience of rural development in and around Oita Prefecture.

Each community share their interesting experiences and ideas in promoting better quality of life. We

encourage people in underdeveloped areas to organize this kind of training program, identify best practices

in their community and share them with others to facilitate the development of collective activities and

ultimately, foster rural development.

References

Miyoshi, K. 2007. “Community Capacity Development and Participatory Evaluation.” Fourth Annual Conference

Proceedings of the Japan Evaluation Society. Kyoto. (in Japanese)

Miyoshi, K. 2008. “What is Evaluation?.” Pp. 1-16 In Hyoka-ron wo Manabu Hito no tameni (For People Learning

Evaluation Theory). Miyoshi, Koichi (Ed). Tokyo. Sekaishisosha. (in Japanese).

Miyoshi, K. 2010. “An Alternative Approach for Rural People: Proposal for Rural Development for Laos.” Pp. 4-18

In A More Strategic and Participatory Approach for Rural Development: Round Table Discussion Proceedings,

Koichi Miyoshi, Cindy Lyn Banyai, Yumiko Okabe (Eds.). Beppu: Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University.

Miyoshi, K., Morita, S., and Aizawa, Y. 2003. “Toward Constructing More Suitable Program Theory for Japan’s

Evaluation: Focusing on International Cooperation Evaluation and Policy Evaluation.” Japanese Journal of

Evaluation Studies 3, no. 2: 40-56. (in Japanese).

Miyoshi, K., and Stenning, N. 2007. “OVOP and Community Capacity Development: A case of JICA group training

programs.” Pp.63-66 In International OVOP Policy Association [IOPA] First Annual Conference Proceedings.

Beppu: IOPA.

Miyoshi, K., and Stenning, N. 2008. “Designing Participatory Evaluation for Community Capacity Development: A

Theory-driven Approach.” Japanese Journal of Evaluation Studies 8, no. 2: 39-53.

Miyoshi, K., Ishimaru, H., and Okabe Y. 2011. “Developing Community Capacity for Rural Development: An

Alternative Approach for Rural People Community.” Unpublished document for Capacity and Rural

Development for African Countries-Focusing on One Village One Product. Beppu: Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific

University.

Stenning, N., and Miyoshi, K. 2007. “Evaluating Community Capacity Development: The Case of Oyama-cho.” In

Proceedings: Eighth Annual Conference of the Japan Evaluation Society: How can evaluation results be utilized?.

Nagoya: JES.



Participatory Approach and Facilitation

for Rural Development Yumiko Okabe / Institute for Community Design

Miyoshi Koichi / Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

1. Introduction

Definitions of the world from decades ago no longer accurately represent the way things are today. For instance,

international cooperation is no longer simply about the giving of aid and the traditional relationship it implies

between the donor and recipient country. This is because the power balance between nations has rapidly shifted

due to the changing dimensions of development wherein a lot of developed countries have experienced

setbacks due to a huge economic crisis. On the contrary, developing countries find themselves slowly catching

up with the former through the discovery and use of their hidden potentials and environmental resources.

Development has traditionally placed greater emphasis on the economy. But recently, other components

such as social, environmental and political development prove essential as well. The measurement of

development, especially sustainable development, is not longer determined just by the economic state of

individual countries. Global issues, such as global warming, have started to figure into the concerns of nation

states. In fact, many of the world’s leading international organizations has shifted their focus towards ‘global

development’. But under such circumstances, the use of traditional or conventional approaches towards

development is no longer appropriate. What we need is an alternative approach that is grown from the ground

up. Moreover, international cooperation should now be about learning from each other rather than just teaching

the other what to do.

Unfortunately, the development field is still engaged in many conventional and traditional practices.

Notwithstanding, there have been many attempts from practitioners to formulate and shift to new and

alternative approaches. For instance, participatory approaches have been recognized as a viable substitute to the

top-down approach, which tends to neglect the needs of the poor in rural communities (World Bank 2012). It is

essential to incorporate the perspectives of the local community especially in terms of rural development, in

order to produce outcomes that are really beneficial for them. This community-based approach to rural

development, when used alongside the participatory approach, has many proven advantages.

There are gaps often seen in development field: between the governments and local people, central

governments and local governments or NGOs, and experts and members of the community. It is not the

intention of this paper to prescribe specific participatory development projects that would help close these gaps.

Instead, this paper suggests practical and efficient ways to make use of participatory approaches as well as

recommend facilitation methods that would help implement the concept.

We have seen many development practices all over the world. But only a few that made use of the

participatory approach. Perhaps this is because the use of both the participatory approach and facilitation is not

as easy as it sounds. So in order to comprehend these ideas better, this paper shall also illustrate the concept of

policy localization through community-based development.

Similarly, this chapter shall introduce actual uses of the participatory approach in the development field as

well as methods in training for the reference and use of development practitioners. For instance, the

participatory approach can be used in facilitating a discussion between participants (as seen in Chapter 2).

3



2. The Participatory Approach

Good governance to strengthen public administration systems through cooperation with the private sector,

rather than a “do-it-alone (Kooiman, 2003, p. 3)” approach, has emerged, and decentralization to reform

government entities and give authority to lower levels of government and communities is being implemented

in many developing countries. These concepts are not simple terms to define and they embrace a variety of

meanings for different people under different circumstances. Along with developing the concept of working

with civil society, a participatory approach arises from it involving the disempowered poor because it is

“fundamental to development, which leads to the eradication of poverty and injustice (White, 1994, p. 16).”

Having local communities in the process of decision-making with local government, NGOs, donors and other

such external stakeholders is set as an objective, that is eventually expected to achieve the common goals,

create social capitals and good governance.

Approaches such as Participatory Action Research (PAR), Rural Rapid Appraisal and Participatory

Learning and Action initiated by Robert Chambers, Farming Systems Research, and Self-Evaluation and

Beneficiary Assessments have sprung from social researchers and development practitioners in various

countries and development fields since the 1970s. Unfortunately, participatory is often confounded as just

another development jargon, having numerous meanings, definitions and use. In many cases, the

participatory approach does not include a holistic concept of participation, rather it is still top-down with

experts defining the problem, thinking how to solve it, and developing a plan from their point of view

(Bessette, 2004, p. 16; Mikkelsen, 2005, p. 53). Participatory approaches may have been incorporated into

community-based or community-driven projects because of previous use of PRA, but in order to make

these techniques meaningful there must be comprehension of their underlying fundamentals (Bessette,

2004, p. 18). This discussion relates to the debate on contradictory interventions constructed for

communities by external experts, NGOs, donors, practitioners, and researchers. It is often insisted that local

people are the main actors and end outcomes of the project, but are typically viewed taking part the

implementers’ project. Development practitioners sometimes claim it is hard to convince or mobilise local

people to participate in a project. Although that is often the misconception about participation itself that

partaking does not equal to the participatory.

3. Fundamental Concept of Localisation

Uchiyama (2011) talks about Watsuji’s climate theory1 by stating that people are created in the context of their

area or place, which can be substituted as a community, by its climate. For example, eastern Asian countries

have rather diverse, wild and unstable climate in comparison to European countries. In fact, there are

considerably more climate disasters in Asia than in Europe. As a result, Asian people are more likely to

consider things that are centering in nature in contrast to Europeans who tend to see themselves as the central of

universe. Uchiyama further elaborates on the messages of Watsuji by saying that there is no such thing as

‘developed’ or ‘undeveloped’ when it comes to a way of thinking or ideology. Ideologies are produced based

on the relationship between human beings and the climate in their specific area.

However, modern ideology or what is often called globalization has affected traditional or local customs

even at the lower level of communities all over the world and has resulted to their gradual standardization.

Local communities have lost their unique identities in the midst of such a big global movement. Hence,

Uchiyama’s (2012) assertion, although considered a theory, falls short when it comes to its application to actual

and realistic rural development activities. The difficulty is that human science, which Uchiyama emphasizes,

does not really go along with development approaches. As such, there is a need to filter its ideas in order to

1 See more details of the concept Mochizuki 2006



make it more realistic and applicable to practice. What really the difficult part is that human science, as

Uchiyama emphasizes, and development approaches do not get along well together although these need its

balance to put into practice more realistically meaning that the world is what it is.

Changing the way society works is time-consuming and backbreaking. Therefore it is very important to

properly evaluate and plan how existing social systems such as institutions, regulations and laws at local levels

will be used. This way, the voices of the people will appropriately be reflected in the creation of policies made

at higher levels of community, a concept of localization.2

It is not our intention to propose a solution for globalization. Instead, this paper attempts to illustrate the art

of facilitation especially for neglected rural communities that still have a chance of regaining their confidence

and identity through the practical application of participatory development activities. In addition, it is also

necessary to search for ways to maximize the use of existing mechanisms as a development tool. This means

incorporating some conventional modes or settings that still play a major role in development practices to the

new methods. Nonetheless, we must be realistic when it comes to exercising practical approaches. As such, this

paper hopes that it will lead to a new discussion of the approach.

One of the main resources or authority we can utilize in the context of rural development is the power of

government entities. Mobilization is not a problem if participatory projects are considered beneficial for the

community. But in most cases, they are not. Therefore, utilizing the government’s authority to invite people and

provide a place to discuss development issues could just be the necessary first step towards the implementation

of a participatory approach.

It should also be noted that discussions should be done on a regular basis. More discussions mean more

ideas and more initiatives from the community members themselves. Repetition is a way to make activities

sustainable because it allows them to regularly and unconsciously exercise critical and creative thinking.

4. Constructionist Facilitator

Schon’s (1982) book, The Reflective Practitioner, discussed the superiority of researchers over practitioners

and makes the distinction between professional knowledge and practice. He notes that “technical rationality is

the positivist epistemology of practice (p. 31)” and “increasingly we have become aware of the importance to

actual practice of phenomena-complexity, uncertainty, instability, uniqueness, and value-conflict-which do not

fit the model of technical rationality (p. 39)." Shon also states tacit knowledge is preserved while we are doing

it through “reflection-in-action (p. 50).” “Research is an activity of practitioners (p. 308)”. “There is no

question on “exchange” between research and practice or of the “implementation” of research results, when the

frame- or theory-testing experiments of the practitioner at the same time transform the practice situation (p. 308,

309)”. As a reflective practitioner, we need to develop and construct the appropriate framework from

implementation and the field, meaning we take the role of facilitator in implementation process rather than

expert or professional. The facilitation is an art of form, not something that can be a definitive role likewise

leadership.

Hence this section introduces the basic philosophy of facilitating. Recently facilitating is gaining attention

from the business world to social development and has several types of roles. The role of the facilitator is to ask

questions to motivate participants and deepen their thoughts during group discussions. Facilitating is a tool for

practitioners or researchers to communicate with local communities and reduce the gap; it is not simply the role

of assistant or helper. Knowing what to ask, rather than what to teach is important, as it guiding the group

toward what to do, creating opportunities for people to speak out. It is a dialogue with participants in

discussions on “the development problem or the goal to be addressed and the action to be undertaken (Bessette,

2 Refer Chapter 6 for more explanations.



2004, p. 19).” Therefore it is crucial for facilitators to know and comprehend the objective of the discussions

and where the discussion is led to beforehand.

Learning by doing is the only sustainable way to master facilitating. The facilitator must be a chameleon,

changing and adapting to the situation and what is required in a particular field. Its biggest difference from

leading or coaching is that facilitators only take the lead when it is absolutely necessary. If they try to control

the discussion, they can eliminate creativity from the participants or create bias in a consensus or

decision-making activity. As such, the easiest approach in creating a good discussion can be the most difficult

part when it comes to facilitating. This is to bring out the best out of each participant’s potential while still being

able to direct the discussion.

People have goodness within them. No matter where they are from or who they are. And it is the

responsibility of the facilitator to discover people’s potentials and bring them out to the table. How and what

kinds of questions facilitators ask is the only key to do so. Therefore, it is advisable for a facilitator to practice

and accumulate their experience in facilitation.

5. Group Discussion

In order to create the environment conducive for discussion, it is advisable that the participants be broken

up into smaller groups. Normally a group that consist of 4-7 people can make a good discussion. If there

are too many or too few members in a group, effective discussion outcomes lessen. To create a stimulating

environment for the participants, group members should be randomly selected. In contrast to formal

meetings that are mostly one-sided, informal discussions allow people to express their ideas freely. This,

alongside the skills of the facilitator, makes the discussion much more interesting.

Each country, province, town, village, community or person have their own rules and customs.

Different people see cases differently. Overcoming status, positions, age, gender and other such condition

will become an issue only if the people recognize it. But there is always a way to make it work. It does not

matter if there is a lousy speaker, quiet speaker, lazy participant, dictatorial participant or deterministic

participant. It is not an easy task to make different participants work harmoniously and try to make a

consensus. But it is also not an impossible thing to overcome.

To conduct an effective workshop, it is recommended that a template be prepared for the participants to

follow and fill up, along with detailed guide question. We also encourage the use of sticky notes for their

response/answers. The advantage of sticky notes is that it allows flexibility in terms of discussions. Writing

absolute and concrete ideas is not a worthwhile thing to do due to the limited time and continuous input.

Moreover, it could be difficult for the participants to write down just one answer because it would mean

immediately arriving at an agreement for that one right answer. Demanding for them to do so can

potentially lead to an argument and cause them to loose their interests in the process. Encouraging

participants to write as many ideas as possible, put them all in the table and then later decide how to

organize them.

When the group discussion ends, we also ask the participants to share their outputs to the bigger group.

This is done not only for the purpose of communication but to trigger some ripple effect amongst the other

participants. A group with a better depth of understanding can help the other groups catch up and expand

their knowledge about the topic. Facilitators will have a chance to get to know the potential of people

around this time. Presenters are also given the opportunity clarify ideas and process their newly acquired

knowledge better when they think of how and what they should present.



6. Case of Workshop 1

We mainly utilize the workshop approach during our rural development trainings regardless of country,

circumstances or people. An example of which has been described in Chapter 2 as well as in Chapter 10

where our rural development project in Thailand was discussed.

Another sample case was that of the rural development workshop conducted in the Philippines that only

used the participatory evaluation framework. The municipal Mayor of New Lucena, Iloilo Province was

promoting development with the vision of “an agriculturally productive and peaceful tourist destination

with healthy, educated, environmentally-minded and child-friendly people” and the mission “to promote

the welfare and well-being of the populace through an efficient and effective delivery of basic services and

implementation of innovative approaches.” The municipality is rather small with a population of just over

two thousand people. Their target is to improve the quality of the citizens’ lives through increased

agriculture production, the conduct of clean and green programs, the provision of social services, the

establishment of peace and order, and the maintenance of social infrastructures. They have taken all these

development responsibilities upon themselves.


The workshop was convened last August 3rd, 2011 from 9:00 to 17:00. Twenty-five people from various

departments in the municipal office and other relevant organizations participated it in. The workshop was

conducted when I visited the municipality of New Lucena with three graduate students from APU and an

expert from AIM (Asian Institute of Management). The objective of the visit was to identify the municipal

development approach and the course of development among stakeholders in the development field

(Figure 4 and 5). The graduate students from APU went along the trip as part of their summer session in

graduate school.

Figure 4: Group Discussion Figure 5: Group Discussion

Source: The author

The workshop began with the Mayor’s presentation on the municipal development policies and goals.

It was then followed by a short lecture on community and rural development and a two-part group

discussion on the procedures for practical participatory evaluation. The group discussion was divided into

two parts. In part one, the participants evaluated the municipality’s development through the practical

participatory evaluation framework and discussed their future scope. Specifically, they focused on

identifying the stakeholders of community and rural development, clarifying the existing community

policy structure, formulating evaluation questions based on the community policy structure they have

outlined, and conducting the evaluation.



The first group discussion focused on economic activities. The second group focused on social welfare

activities, especially the people with disabilities (PWD) program. Each group conducted discussions

focused on specific target groups and searching for the changes necessary to achieve the municipality goals.

They especially concentrated on identifying objectives, characteristics, and desired changes. As a result,

their evaluation became more program-oriented rather than project-oriented.

During the second session, potential development projects in the municipality were discussed and

specific economic activities were identified. They examined the implementers, resources, purposes, and

business potentials of the projects by sketching out the concept of the policy structure, which is the basic

evaluation activity under the Decentralized Hands-On (DHO) Exhibition rural development approach.

When using this approach it is important to identify as many projects as possible (Miyoshi and Ishimaru,

2010). Each group then enumerated existing local resource-based projects and identified twenty potential

programs for the exhibition. This resulted to the examination of over fifty project activities. The groups

then conducted evaluations of these projects using the following questions: (1) why does this project have

potential, (2) what makes this project different from others, and (3) are the targets identified selling.

They also assessed the possibility of community economic activities that focus on the projects that

demonstrated potential. Finally, the group discussed the kinds of policies that were necessary to promote

those business activities, taking into special consideration the possibility of implementing collective

activities. The graduate students participated as facilitators during the abovementioned workshop.


Another case utilizing this approach is the Country Rural Development Strategy Planning held in

Guatemala, which was attended by participants from neighboring countries. The regional seminar on the

One Village One Product movement was held in Guatemala last August 16th, 2013 from 8:30 to 17:30. It

was a one-day workshop that gave the Central American countries a chance to share their activities and

progress on the implementation of the OVOP community-based approach. The session commenced with

each country presenting the policies and activities they adopted under OVOP. This was followed by a

workshop that developed plans based on the modifications in the policy structure. There were around 100

participants from eight countries. Each participant had a different professional background so it was not

necessary that they were all from the central or regional government but there were also some

representatives from the private sector as well as those who helped initiate the OVOP movement in their

respective countries. The host country, Guatemala, had the biggest number of participants. The rest of the

other countries only had around 6 to 10 participants each.

During the workshop, the participants were asked to identify their good experiences; the reason for

choosing such incident and their ideas to replicate them. In order to generate a variety of cases, the question

were formulated very vaguely so that they would be encouraged to utilize their own experiences or those of

others. They were also not confined to a specific level of community. For instance, central government

officers can identify a local community’s activity if they felt that it matched what was asked of them. They

were also not limited to identifying just OVOP activities but they could actually specify any good

experience in rural development. Later, these ideas could serve as a good reference for planning.


The last case that will be discussed in this paper focuses on facilitation. The workshop was held during a

participatory evaluation meeting for rural development project (described in Chapter 10) on February 4th

2014 in Surin, Thailand. The facilitators came from a variety of backgrounds; government officers from the



provincial and district levels, Japanese experts and project staff who have volunteered and benefitted from

the project since the beginning.

After the workshop, a meeting was held to review and evaluate what has happened during the day. This

is done so improvements can be made, in terms of content, for the next meeting. But the facilitators started

to speak about their concerns on their capabilities in facilitation. This never happened before. Usually,

feedback of such kind will only be given towards the end of the second year of the project. This shows that

the people have started to have a sense of belonging to the project. The questions of the facilitators

included: (1) how to approach to the people who only came because they had to, (2) how to lead the

answer the way we want them to, (3) how to make them understand the meaning of questions, (4) what to

tell to the people who do not want to work more or go into details, and (5) what to do when the facilitator

him/herself get lost during discussions. These are just a few examples of their concerns. Although there is

no right or wrong answer to these, it just proves that humans are different from another.

Having said that, there is a good way to carry out facilitation. But first, it is important to know the

philosophy of the matter. Some people might have the natural skill or talent to become a facilitator.

However, in order to make the activity more beneficial for participants, it is always good to have a basic

knowledge of facilitation in the context of rural development. This paper only argues for the basic

facilitation approaches rather than human science side of facilitation such as adopting personalities.

The start of facilitation begins with an understanding of the objective of the discussion. In the case of

this particular workshop, most facilitators won’t have a chance to fully understand the objectives due to the

time limit. They were only provided with a short explanation on how the workshop should be carried out

before the beginning of the session. Considering that facilitation is an art of form that cannot be learned

through reading or listening to other people’s experience. In reality, professionals were not born

professionals. They were trained and made a certain efforts to become a professional. There is no other way

to learn this kind of job but to do it. More importantly, seeing the results of discussions make better

facilitators. The results and people’s behavior are a reflection of the facilitator’s skills. If a facilitator is

never concerned with the way a facilitation job turns out, it would be difficult to develop his/her skills. A

good facilitator needs to be aware of the way they facilitate. Thus, facilitators who ask questions about their

abilities demonstrate that although they just started to develop their skills, they would take the initiative to

understand the objectives and eventually become better at the job. Similarly, different people have their

own unique character within them that compliment and improve standard facilitation approaches. It is just

a matter of being aware and following the basic principle of good facilitation.

After understanding the objectives of the discussion, it is important to learn how to ask the right

questions during a discussion. While coaching is about telling participants what to do, facilitation is about

assisting participants in deepening their thoughts. Comprehension can only be achieved through

generalizations; thus it is recommended that facilitator’s ask open-ended questions ask in order to obtain a

variety of answers. Another important point to remember is that it is necessary to avoid explaining details,

giving examples or too much information before starting the discussion. Most of the time the participants

will try to obtain more information but a good facilitator, to eliminate narrow-minded images of the answer,

will not give in by giving more examples. A good facilitator always has to draw out the participants’

potentials not by leading them but by guiding them.

People have different levels of skills. It cannot be expected that all participants would immediately

obtain a good understanding of the matters being discussed. Some people might get bored. Some people

might not be interested at all. Good answers can be made by asking the participants a lot of questions; even

better if the questions are directed between the participants. If one person in the group understands it,

he/she can eventually share it with others who might be bored from thinking. Moreover, people have a



different way of understanding things so asking the same question in different ways or approaches is

sometimes needed.

Finally, good facilitation means being able to transform general answers to specific cases. Most

incidents in the rural development context, workshop and discussions are not imaginary situations but are

actually real. As such, the outputs from the discussions regarding them should be useful or practical. There

is a big difference between a generalization and an actual case. For example, making a general idea or

standard can be misinterpreted when you look at the bigger picture. A 10-year old boy plus a 60-year old

man averages to a 35-year old man. These two people would naturally have two different accounts of the

same thing. From these, the 35-year old man’s account would have nothing to do about those two. Instead,

taking these two accounts as separate examples would be a more useful and practical tool. For instance,

you cannot generalize that all public officers will respond the same way. For one, there are different types

of public officers; from central government to local government, and even a police officer. Only they know

the information that they share during the workshops. It is therefore the facilitator’s job to ask for more

details regarding their stories. This would subsequently deepen the participant’s thoughts and result to

better outcomes later on.

The case of the Surin workshop made facilitators, in a way, more participatory. Based on observation,

there were only a few facilitators who did not actually participate. They were very reluctant with their

comments during the workshop. Among the reasons they cited was the behavior of some of the participants,

especially those who were not eager to be there. There were also people who remained stubborn or

indifferent towards the facilitators. During these circumstances, the facilitator’s previous experiences as

well as that of his or her peers will surely count. Sometimes, it would be best to leave things as it is.

Controlling them or disciplining them can eradicate their potentials. People who consciously refuse to

cooperate just won’t cooperate. But repetition can compel people to generate realizations and further their

understanding. So instead of trying to convince them to do certain things, it would be easier and more

effective to just repeat the exercise. Other forms of participatory approaches can also be created and

utilized to provide the participants with the opportunity to discuss or participate.

10. Conclusion

The participatory approach and facilitation is not to do. However, training and constant practice will

surely help improve and individual’s ability to facilitate. Different people would have different styles of

facilitation. Their style depends on the depth of their knowledge and awareness. Their current circumstance

and situation is also reflected in the work that they do. As such, mastering the art of facilitation depends not

only on the quantity and quality case studies a facilitator encounters, but also on the experiences he or she

acquires. Put simply, there is no easy way to learning.

References: Bessette, G. (2004). Involving the Community: A Guide to Participatory Development Communication.

Malaysia: Southbound. Kooiman, P. J. (2003). Governing as Governance. Sage Publications Ltd. Mikkelsen, B. (2005). Methods for development work and research: a new guide for practitioners. New

Delhi; Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE Publications. Uchiyama T. (2012) Rokarizum Genron: Atarashii Kyoudotai wo Dezain-suru, Nobunkyou (in Japanese) Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: how professionals think in action. New York: Basic

Books.



White, S. A. (1994). The Concept of Participation: Transforming Rhetoric to Reality. In S. A. White, K. S. Nair, & J. R. Ascroft (Eds.), Participatory Communication: Working for Change and Development. New Delhi: Sage Publicat



Community Capacity and Rural Development:

A Model

Koichi Miyoshi and Naomi Stenning

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific Univerisity

1. Introduction and rationale

There is much existing research that demonstrates the concept of endogenous development and theoretical

frameworks based on such concepts as community capacity. There are also various studies that describe the

historical story of successful rural development. However, from the perspective of a practitioner most of

these concepts, frameworks and accounts are not practical and operable in reality. Many theories are useful

and effective in assessing rural development, but are not sufficient for utilization in the actual development

process. This is because theoretical research often views development from the perspective of the

researcher and lacks the practical reality of the practitioners’ perspective. Meanwhile, research that details

descriptions of successful experiences in rural development often fails to conceptualize the activities that

took place. This may well be sufficient in understanding a specific process, but is not applicable in different

contexts and/or environments. These studies lack the necessary conceptual definitions to interpret rural

development for practical and operable use.

This deficiency was experienced during the JICA training programs in rural development conducted at

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University. The lack of practical and operational development concepts,

frameworks and accounts made it especially difficult to conduct the JICA training programs, which aimed

to introduce development cases in Oita Prefecture to countries with different circumstances than Japan. The

same difficulty was found in conceptualizing and establishing a model for the Decentralized Hands-on

Exhibition (Onpaku) development approach during JICA trainings. Much of the research we have

conducted since is principally to respond to these situations and stems from reflecting on how to resolve

these issues.

Development can be thought of as people’s behaviors and activities that are dependent on the

circumstances and context of a particular location. The thoughts and intentions of those involved are

reflected in the development of the area. Some activities may appear similar, but a closer look reveals that

each group of people behaves in different ways. This makes certain experiences in development difficult to

utilize or transfer to other circumstances. However, by conceptualizing and interpreting development

activities and behaviors from the viewpoint of practice and operations, people are able to understand these

different activities and behaviors in ways that can be utilized even though their circumstances are different.

This kind of conceptualization and interpretation can also help people to understand their own situation and

development activities and improve them. They are enabled to apply different activities and behaviors to

their own circumstances. Through conceptualizing the reality of development in a different context, people

can better understand the development experiences of other areas and discuss commonalities despite their

different circumstances.

In the course of conducting the research and training programs, collective activities and community

capacity have been found to be particularly important. Development in Oyama-machi and Himeshima,

which are recognized as the original models of Oita’s One Village One Product Movement, are easier to

interpret and understand when viewed through the development of each community’s collective activities

and the community capacity supporting those activities. During the JICA training programs, study tours to

both Oyama-machi and Himeshima were made to listen to the development experiences directly from the

4



people who were involved. After the study tour, group discussions were facilitated to interpret these

experiences using the newly established conceptual models and through this they were improved gradually

to be more practical and operable for the realities of rural development. These conceptual models were then

used by the training program participants to formulate and prepare development action plans with their

own ideas derived from the Japanese rural development experiences. This approach has yielded

satisfactory results.

To prepare readers for, and to enrich discussions of community capacity and rural development, this

chapter presents a rural development model that aims to deepen the analysis of communities. It discusses

rural development based on the development of collective activities and community capacity. It also aims

to support the use of rural development experiences from Oita Prefecture by establishing a real connection

between concept and practice.

2. Community’s Perspective in Rural Development

Rural disparity and the deterioration of rural areas are crucial issues in most countries, including both

industrial and developing countries. However, discussions on these issues usually arise from the

perspective of urban areas or are based on urban criteria. Is this approach really appropriate for rural

development? Can the development challenges of people residing in urban areas and rural areas be judged

from the same perspective and based on the same criteria? Can the lives of people living with, or

surrounded by, nature be equally and adequately discussed alongside the lives of those who must actively

seek and pay handsomely to come in to contact with nature? It is doubtful that this urban-centered

approach is best.

In many countries, even though economic growth is taking place, people in rural areas are left behind in

the development process, constantly feeling it is futile to compete with those in urban areas, and almost

impossible to truly improve their living conditions. Many are unwillingly moving to urban areas, the

economic centers, because they have no other choice, or need to find more secure income. They must

move away from their homes in order to capitalize on the economic advantages that accumulate in urban

areas. It is true that capital, technology, information and human resources all come together in urban areas,

making it difficult for rural areas to compete. Even though rural people desire a better life, such disparities

between urban and rural areas will more than likely continue on into the future.

The monetary economy is an important part of our lives, but it does not account for all that is good in

them. It is merely one part of the lives we lead. Is treating the monetary economy as if it were everything

and measuring the quality of people’s lives based on income level valid? Traditionally, economists do

compare, and based on these kinds of values, try to measure our lives by how much money we make.

Admittedly, this is one way to measure development, but it is a mistake to think this is the only criteria

of measuring development. Often discussions on development take place from the perspective of the

economy and formal markets. Economists impose these criteria on development. However, such

misconceptions could be driving people in rural areas to steer their lives in the wrong direction. When

discussing rural development, social, environmental and political, and at times, informal perspectives are

also needed. Discussions that treat any and all results of development activities simply as economic

benefits must be strictly avoided.

A specific discussion on who actually benefits from development activities is vital. Questions such as

“Who benefits from this?” and “Are the envisioned administrative services actually reaching the target

groups?” are extremely important and determine the development target group. Development is not only an

economic concern, but also encompasses social, environmental and political concerns. We must be wary of

using terminologies such as “social benefits” as they are described in cost-benefit analyses with vague



target groups. In general, cost-benefit analysis does not clarify exactly who benefits. Life and development

should be conducted based on the criteria of that particular area in which people live. People in rural areas

should conduct development based on the values, visions and norms of the rural area and community they

belong to. This results in truly rich rural development.

We cannot be precious about the traditional development approaches that focus on the economy. We

need to move away from that in order to overcome poverty in rural communities. People in rural areas

must pursue development based on their own circumstances and the perspective of their community. There

is a need to create an alternative development approach that meets the needs of rural people themselves.

Such an alternative development approach must be grounded in reality and it must be holistic, practical and

operable to ensure benefits to the people of rural communities.

We are seeking better rural development by focusing on the capacity and strength of communities as a

method of attaining their goals. The development approaches employed by urban areas, which focus on

and emphasize the individual activities of people and enterprises, will not work for people in rural areas. It

is through collective community activities, which transcend individuals, groups and organizations, that we

can arrive at a better approach for rural development that allows rural areas to better compete with urban

areas. Thus, we want to look at development from the perspective of the community and shaped by the

rural people themselves and to present a strategic model for development based on the particulars of that

area, instead of the conventional and traditional urban-oriented development strategy.

In response to this requirement we are aiming to provide an alternative development approach focused

on community capacity development that benefits rural communities. This approach seeks a dual function

aimed at both developing community capacity, and introducing and implementing a higher value added

and better well-being policy structure, which consists of economic, social, environmental and political

activities to change the life of the community’s population. This approach emphasizes the operable aspects

of its utilization and aims at providing concrete and practical concepts for the implementation of rural

promotion and development by utilizing existing potential resources in rural areas. In this chapter our

intention is not to theorize the rural development phenomena, but to conceptualize a rural development

approach for practical usage. Real life is not so simple that it can be interpreted by simple theories of

causalities. There are various options for development available for us to choose from. It is important to

clarify the concepts to examine, discuss, and analyse their use in reality for those people seeking a better

life.

3. Community

Our alternative development approach views the community as the main body of discussion, as well as the

main unit of analysis and for activities. This approach sets the development of community capacity and

policy structure as the central topic of discussion. But why should we focus so much on the community and

its development?

The concept of community has been a target of interest for sociologists for more than two centuries.

Nevertheless, a completely satisfying definition has still not been presented. Meanwhile over the course of

a lifetime people establish and solidify mutual relationships by living together in a specific area. Therefore,

drawing a line between those engaged in a solid relationship and those outside of such relationship can be

considered academically valid (Bell and Newby, 1974, p. 5).

Community as used here is a relative aggregation constructed by individuals, groups and organizations

within a specific area. This is generally defined by administrative boundaries and within this boundary,

individuals, groups and organizations recognize themselves as being members of the community. In

general, the word community is used to describe a group of people residing in a relatively small area within



a town or a city, or a specific district or area where local people reside (neighborhood), and community

analysis targets the circumstances that such people are in (Chaskin et al., 2001). Also, in Japan, it has long

been used to describe local groups based on co-ownership of land property (Kitahara, 1996).

However, giving community a wider scope does not cause any real problem. On the contrary, by

interpreting the word as broadly as possible to include villages, towns, cities, prefectures, countries and

even international society, community then includes not only people living in specific areas, but also

administrative bodies, civil society organizations, NGOs and NPOs, private enterprises and educational

institutions. This broad definition allows for a wider target of analysis, enabling more policy-oriented

discussions.

This way of thinking expands the concept of community by MacIver (1970). To put it simply, even if

there are academic criticisms, the community can be thought of as a group of people who reside within a

rural boundary and experience common life, and such definition matches our daily, empirical perception.

How far should the boundaries be expanded, or how should shared common life be defined? The existence

of community at the levels of villages, towns, cities, prefectures, countries and international society match

what we experience when we speak with awareness of the cities and prefectures we reside in, or share

topics regarding the lives of those residing in the same areas. It makes sense that academic disciplines

should be developed based on the common perceptions of everyday people.

Based on these points, it can be understood that people acknowledge whether they are inside or outside

a community and recognize where they stand in a specific area, especially those in rural areas delineated by

administrative boundaries. Such situations are simply assessed by identifying entities either “inside” or

“outside” of the community and by asking questions about people’s relationships with one another within

that specific area.

On the other hand, individuals residing or active in an area could be identified as members of that area

even if they do not recognize themselves as being inside the community. This type of interaction occurs

through relationships such as those that develop within families and households, organizations that people

are involved with or work for and through unions and associations in which they participate. Such

person-to-person relationships are the building blocks that establish the community as a social construction,

which we will look at as the target of development.

A community can be thought of as a unit of social recognition where people’s existence is valued and

their participation entitles them to membership (See Wenger 1998). Specific areas are normally established

by administrative boundaries and within those boundaries members recognize commonality among

themselves through common daily topics of conversations, awareness of the region and lifestyles in the

region. Members of a community include not only individuals, but also groups and organizations.

Organizations are included because they act as stakeholders within the community, playing important roles.

Whether an organization is a member or not is determined by the purpose of its existence and how it is

involved with the community. Also, its status is largely influenced by the awareness of those working in or

otherwise active in the organization. Things easily overlooked, such as what the organization’s employees

talk about, how they share their lives, and where they live and commute to can change how the

organization engages with the community.

For example, prior to recent widespread municipal consolidation in Japan, town halls in villages, towns

and cities were workplaces for many residents of municipalities. After the consolidation was implemented,

however, former town halls became rural branches of the newly formed city, which means that the

employees who work there is determined by the personnel rotation plan of the entire city hall. The new

rural branch may take on a similar administrative role in the community, but if the new employees do not

share a common life as those in the original community then the branch’s overall role as a community



member will inevitably change.

This example demonstrates how organizations can be considered community members. In one case of

merged municipalities, a town member visiting the former town hall was unable to share common topics of

conversation on their lives in the town with the staff who now works there. As a result, the town member

no longer recognized the merged rural branch as a member of his community. Administrative mergers are

said to be inevitable, but there are many cases where people feel that great changes to the understanding of

their community has occurred.

A specific area and a common life that is recognized by the people are important elements of a

community. We can apply this concept to specific geographical areas and regions such as rural farming

villages, cities, prefectures, nations, and even international society (MacIver, 1970; Ninomiya et al., 1985;

Funatsu et al., 2006). Here, however, we focus on rural communities as the target of discussion of

alternative development approaches. In our discussion, we will focus on the community as a social

aggregation constructed by people residing in specific areas, especially in rural areas.

4. Community Design – A Model

Community design is the continuous process of building the institutions and activities that serve as the

foundation for the social entity in order to provide a better life for people in the community. Institutions

here mean widely encompassing regulations, rules, operational methods, and organizational structures.

This chapter aims to use the rural development model to establish the two goals of community capacity

development and the planning, implementation and evaluation of policy structures to facilitate community

design. Seeking economic growth and better lives while simultaneously maintaining and developing social

functions requires careful attention.

In rural areas, farmers aim to expand their businesses, and this often results in the creation of winners

and losers. As a result, some farmers may lose confidence and due to financial need, they may move to

urban areas to seek jobs. As rural populations decline, the social functions of offices and branches of

administrative institutions, elementary and middle schools, clinics, hospitals and healthcare centers, post

office branches and financial institutions, as well as retail stores and restaurants diminish. A comprehensive

perspective must be upheld at all times in rural community design. To this end, it is important to establish

an aggregation where community members conduct collective activities that compete with urban areas.

The model shown in Figure 1 (Community Capacity Development and Community Policy Structure

Model) shows how the community uses its own capacity to plan, implement and evaluate its own policy

structure. This framework makes it possible to identify, conceptualize, and clarify the process of activities

and behaviors of individuals and organizations in the community by including the community policy

structure based on program theory which articulates the relationship between ends and means. Meanwhile,

it also provides a foundation for analysis of community capacity. The policy structure created by economic,

social, environmental and political activities is implemented and carried out with the goal of changing

people’s lives by creating a community that secures richer lifestyles with more added value. This model

was created with reference to Chaskin and colleagues (2001), Friedmann (1992) and Miyoshi and

colleagues (2003), and through the conduct of JICA programs and the creation of training materials1.

1 Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, with consignment from JICA, conducts rural development training programs. Training programs include: “Community Capacity and Rural Development Promotion for Asia Countries -One Village One Product- JFY2010” , “Community Capacity and

Rural Development for African Countries -Focusing on One Village One Product, (1) & (2) - JFY 2010”, “Andean Region One Village One Product Promotion JFY2009”, “Country-focused Training Course on Local Industrial Promotion in Guatemala , JFY2010”, “Country-focused Training Course

on One Village One Product” Movement in Colombia, JFY2010”, “Technical Cooperation Project for The Enforcement of Regional Administrative

Function for Local Industrial Promotion in The Republic of Chile JFY2008-2010”, “Country-focused Training Course on the “One Village One Product” Movement in Savannakehet and Saravana, Laos JFY2008-2009”, “Community Capacity and Rural Development for ASEAN Countries

-Focusing on One Village One Product- JFY 2007-2009”, “Training Course in Seminar for Municipal Mayors of Clustered LGUs: The Philippines



Figure 1: Community Capacity Development and Community Policy Structure Model

Source: Created by the authors

This model depicts the relationship between the development of community capacity and changes in

policies created by economic, social, environmental and political activities in the community. Community

capacity is structured by the community’s strategic components, the characteristics of the community

capacity, and functions of the community. Development and mutual interactions of these structural building

blocks bring about improvements in community capacity, which in turn results in changes in the

community policy structure made up of the economic, social, environmental and political activities of the

rural community. With improvement of rural community capacity, rural communities will be able to create

more complex and sophisticated community policy structures.

The community policy structure presents the relationship of economic, social, environmental and

political activities of the community, such as agricultural production and specific development initiatives

(see Miyoshi 2008), in the context of the End Outcome (actual effects that change the target society),

Intermediate Outcome (actual effects that change the target groups, including individuals and

JFY2005-2007”, “The Country Focused Training Program On the “One Village One Product” Movement in Tunisia JFY2005-2006”, “Development and Promotion of Regional Industries utilizing Local Resources for Asia (1) JFY2009” and “Development and Promotion of Regional Industries

utilizing Local Resources for Asia (2) JFY2009.

Outcomes of

Community

(Change of

Society)

Function

Planning

Implementation

Evaluation

Strategic

Components

Human

Resources

Leadership

Organization

Network

Intermediate

Outcomes

(Change of

Target Group)

Outputs Inputs

Community

Implementation

Outcomes

Characteristics of Community Capacity

Sense of Community

Commitments

Ability to Set and Achieve Objectives

Ability to Recognize and Access to Resources

Community Capacity

EconomicFormal/InformalCollective/Individual

SocialFormal/InformalCollective/Individual

EnvironmentalFormal/InformalCollective/Individual

PoliticalFormal/InformalCollective/Individual

Activities

Community Policy Structure

Historical Condition and Context

Decentralization



organizations), Output (capital and services generated through activities), Activities (series of activities

using Input to generate Output), and Input (human resources, equipment, operating expenses, facilities,

capital, specialized skills, time).

5. Elements of Community Capacity

Community capacity is a basic element that enables a community to function and refers to the ability to

achieve the community’s shared goals as well as to promote and maintain the richness of the community

through the collective efforts of individuals and organizations within a community, utilizing the human,

organizational, social, environmental and historical resources available. Community capacity is built

through the deepening of mutual relationships among individuals and organizations in the community, and

is the result of the efforts of individuals and organizations who are community members, toward enabling

formal and informal economic, social, environmental, political, and cultural activities to take place.

Community capacity is an intrinsic ability retained by individuals and organizations belonging to the

community; therefore, as a basic rule, it is something that community members must be aware of and make

conscious efforts to improve. It is especially important that economic, social, environmental, political, and

cultural activities be organized and conducted collectively and continuously in order to achieve community

goals and promote and maintain the quality of life of community members. It is important to find an

appropriate combination of individual activities for each person and organization in the community, as well

as collective activities that individuals and organizations can do together to yield effective results.

An alternative approach for rural development is presented in the Community Capacity Development

and Policy Structure Model (the model) outlined in Figure 1. Many developments in a community occur in

a unique way, based on specific circumstances, through the behaviors of its members. These developments

reflect the wishes and desires of the people and organizations involved. Although the process may seem

similar, a closer investigation of the actual activities of those involved reveals that each activity is unique;

however, by analyzing these developments through the concepts offered in the model, every development

experience can be utilized as a shared experience by those involved in development.

This is a dual-function model that elucidates interaction and synergies between rural community

capacity and community policy structure whereby improvements in community capacity enable the

formation of more complex and sophisticated community policy structure. Community capacity and its

development is one of the two pillars of this alternative development model and is defined by the

interaction of three basic elements: strategic components, characteristics of community capacity, and

functions of the community.

First and foremost, community capacity is defined by its characteristics. If the members’ sense of

belonging to the community is enhanced by them sharing their values, norms and future visions, then

community capacity grows. Community capacity can be strengthened further if each community member

also becomes aware of his/her role and acquires a sense of duty in order to realize these values, norms and

future visions, and carries out his/her role in a systematic and collective manner as one part of the greater

whole of community. If individuals and organizations in the community can set community values, norms

and future visions as specific community goals and actually achieve those goals, community capacity can

be developed further. Likewise, if the community is able to recognize resources available and utilize these,

community capacity can be enhanced.

It is important to note that these community characteristics can function as community capacity by

being converted into a tangible community function that plans, implements and evaluates the community

policy structure as a community activity. This community function would allow clearer discussion of the

socially constructed community as a social body, by implementing the concept of community policy



structure. It is rare, though, that such policy structure is explicitly recognized among the individuals and

organizations in the community. It is perhaps safer to say that usually community policy structure is

recognized only after the administrative activities of core service providers such as city halls, town halls

and village offices, and activities of other actors such as agricultural cooperatives, chambers of commerce

and tourism bureaus are added up and looked together.

In general, people’s lives and the activities of organizations have their respective purposes, and people

and organizations make various efforts and employ different methods in order to attain those purposes. If

applied to the community, to realize the community’s vision, values and norms, the link between a series of

explicit or implicit community purposes envisioned by individuals and organizations, and the methods of

attaining them, can be found. Connecting purposes and methods enables formation of the community’s

policy structure. This means that a community policy structure exists in any given community, be it explicit

or implicit. Recognizing the general policy structure of the community, the functions of community

capacity can be expected to be recognizing, planning, implementing and evaluating the activities of

community members, individuals and organizations, as a collective activity. The policy structure

functions to achieve the envisioned future of the community.

On the other hand, community capacity can enhance its own characteristics through the leadership,

human resources, organizations and networks that exist in the community. In particular, the emergence of

leaders, existence of human resources, establishment of organizations, and formation of networks can all

greatly change a community’s characteristics, such as individuals’ and organizations’ sense of belonging to

the community, commitment, ability to set and achieve goals, and ability to recognize and secure resources.

The emergence of leaders, existence of human resources, establishment of organizations, and formation of

networks are all intrinsic, but influences can be exerted externally.

Community capacity goes through transitions. At times, changes in the administrative scope of cities,

towns and villages due to municipal mergers may bring changes to the community itself. The coincidental

relocation of one individual into a community may create a leader. Laws may require the formation of a

new organization, and this organization may become the central actor of collective community activities. A

symposium held in the region may trigger the sharing of future visions for the community.

Community capacity is not fixed; it must be constantly maintained and controlled by community

members. The proposed development model can be used to enrich the lives of people in the community by

viewing the community as an operational social construct and an operable framework. The planning,

implementation and evaluation of community activities can be conceptualized as a collective, systematic,

and strategic policy structure that is delivered through the enhancement of community capacity. This is

why we propose developing community capacity. To this end, it is necessary to maintain, control, and

enhance this changing community capacity in such context.

In this chapter, we focus on community capacity, examine the contents and development of community

capacity, and then go into the details of its role as a practical framework. First, we will go into details of

each of the basic elements.

6. Characteristics of Community Capacity

The characteristics that define community capacity are identified in the Community Capacity Development

and Community Policy Structure model: sense of community, commitment, ability to set and achieve

objectives, and ability to recognize and access to resources. These items are based on the research results of

Chaskin et al (2001, p. 13), with the following modifications: ‘problem-solving ability’ is replaced by

‘ability to set and achieve objectives’, and ‘access to resources’ is replaced with ‘ability to recognize and

access to resources’.



These are replaced because in reality, a positive approach, or in other words, an asset based approach to

community development that takes into account the resources available to the community, has a higher

possibility of achievement than focusing on problems or deficiencies. We feel that a community setting

realistic objectives based on the general community lifestyle, and making efforts to achieve those

objectives by utilizing available resources, is the more realistic and straightforward option, instead of the

negative approach of focusing on unachieved issues or, in other words, problems and efforts needed to

solve them. A good example of this would be child rearing: when raising children, their abilities are

enhanced more when their strong points are found and encouraged, rather than when their weaknesses are

revealed and resolved.

Sense of community, the first characteristic of a community, defines the community itself. This is

related to what community members recognize as being their community. Important aspects of sense of

community include the level of solidarity among community members, the strengths of their relationships,

the level of recognition each has of others in the community and the degree to which values, norms and

visions are shared among community members. The sense of community that organizations hold as

community members is defined by the intent of their establishment, purpose, norms and so on (see

literature related to community psychology such as Sarason 1974 and McMillan and Chavis 1986).

If community members share a vision of the kind of society they want, their sense of community is

enhanced. If people can see the common goals the community should strive to achieve and share common

awareness of the qualities the community should promote and maintain, then shared vision will become

clearer.

In the case of Oyama-machi, members converted their vision to the NPC Movement in order to

overcome poverty. They succeeded in encouraging townspeople to share a common vision for the town.

The catchphrase “Ume, kuri uete, Hawaii ni ikou!” (Let’s plant plums and chestnuts and go to Hawaii!)

was created in the 1960s in order to solidify community vision and awareness. This phrase encapsulated a

specific image of the rich life that people could aim for. The actual trip to Hawaii was realized in advance

with a loan financed from the agricultural cooperative. People from Oyama-machi actually going to

Hawaii consolidated this shared vision, making it more tangible and therefore motivating.

The town of Kokonoe-machi, an agriculture-based town located in a mountainous region rich with

nature, is now working toward its future vision as “Japan’s Top Rural Area,” along with having Yume

Otsurihashi (Bridge of Dreams), Japan’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge, to become a society created

by residents and visitors of Kokonoe-machi. Their dream is to explore the future vision of the town, driven

by the completion of the Otsurihashi and seeing more visitors come to see the bridge than people residing

in the town. The Otsurihashi was an idea from residents, and was realized through the persistent efforts of

the Kokonoe-machi town hall. Now, the question is whether it is possible to create a common sense of

value that can be shared by both the community members and the many tourists who come and go each

season.

In Bungotakada city, the regeneration of the city proceeded through the planning of “Showa Town.” A

retro-modern townscape was realized by re-creating the 1950s and 1960s (part of the Showa period)

atmosphere along a commercial avenue that once thrived during that period. Moreover, the town provides

information on Showa topics through Yumekura, a museum that exhibits toys and different aspects of life

from this period and gives guided tours of the commercial avenue and Yumekura. They also run old-style

buses reminiscent of those in the Showa period and conduct various events including a Showa-period

automobile exhibition.

Showa Town is attracting tourists and the project itself becoming renown. In 2009, the town received

the Suntory Regional Culture Award. We have heard that people from Bungotakada City, who in the past



had only been able to introduce their hometown in a passive manner, now add a description of “Showa

Town” when they speak of their home. Such community development itself can give residents confidence

as community members and contribute to enhancing their sense of community. A similar phenomenon is

also seen in Oyama-machi, and in Kokonoe-machi as well.

An awareness of one’s role and commitment toward progressing collective activities of the community

shows whether individuals, groups and organizations are aware of their positions and responsibilities

regarding what occurs in the community. This has two aspects. The first, regarding achieving the

community’s shared goal and collectively promoting and maintaining the community’s richness, is the

degree of awareness each person has as a constituent member of the community, as a direct or indirect

stakeholder, and at times as a beneficiary of the community’s collective interests and activities. The second

aspect is whether each member of the community consciously and actively participates in collective

activities as a stakeholder in order to achieve the community’s shared goals and thereby promote, maintain

and improve the richness of the community. This focuses on members’ awareness of their participation, as

well as on the act of participation itself. In fact, often the responsibilities of community members toward

collective activities are systemized and implemented.

In Oyama-machi, farmers have been working together for thirty years to create good soil in order to

produce fresher, safer, better tasting vegetables. Diligent efforts continue to re-utilize the mushroom bed

compost of enoki mushrooms to fertilize the soil so as to produce better vegetables. The people of

Oyama-machi are also good at going outside of their town to observe, bring back and share what they

learned, resulting in the development of unique Oyama-machi products. One leader in particular has put

this kind of external knowledge into practice for plums and enoki, fulfilling his role by finding innovative

methods that leave no one behind in the trend.

When staying at a farmhouse in Oyama-machi even today you can hear voices from the cable radio

broadcasting at six in the morning. Knowledge and skills were conveyed via this cable broadcasting when

residents faced many technical and managerial difficulties at the onset of the NPC Movement. This

movement brought about a transition from simple rice crop farming to plum and chestnut orchard tending

and management. At this time specific tasks were conveyed via the cable broadcasting, helping farmers

learn the new skills they needed for this different type of farming.

Oyama-machi has cleverly incorporated a mechanism that helps each person recognize his/her role in

the collective activities. Such a mechanism that enables awareness of roles and activities in the group is

very important. Oyama-machi’s concept of “Centipede Agriculture”, a unique approach to agriculture

resulting from the town’s agricultural improvement project, has been supported by community members

being aware of their roles and activities. If there was a falling out, adjustments were made so that the leader

and followers could coexist; in this way, the social function of Oyama-machi has been promoted and

maintained.

Such examples of role awareness and role commitment can be found in other rural communities as well.

The village of Himeshima conducts its own unique fishery operation, where the catch is distributed to each

area. The village also makes efforts to enrich its fishery environment, such as releasing juvenile shrimp in

nearby waters. These activities have now been in place for many years and have built strong community

awareness among the fishermen that make up the community.

Kurokawa Onsen (hot spring) members show role awareness and commitment through such efforts as

shared signboards, standardized external design of buildings and common entrance tickets to open-air hot

spring baths. These collective activities are conducted in order to first and foremost market Kurokawa

Onsen itself, instead of prioritizing the marketing of individual ryokan (Japanese-style hotels). The

community has conceptualized the town as being one ryokan; “roads are corridors, and each ryokan is a



room.” This was a way for Kurokawa Onsen to realize its aim to coexist with the environment, and to

achieve prosperity for all ryokans by enhancing the economy of the entire area. Eliminating individual

signboards, promoting buildings to have balance with the surrounding environment, and establishing a

marketing system of open-air baths that includes ryokans that do not have open-air baths was extremely

difficult. However, through collective efforts, the role awareness and commitment of community members

toward collective activities strengthened.

The ability to set and achieve objectives is the ability to convert into action the role awareness and

commitment illustrated above. We prefer to focus on objectives-oriented approaches such as appreciative

inquiry. Such approaches are more realistic than problem-solving approaches that point out what is lacking,

criticize reality, and then demand difficult changes in order to resolve problems (see Case Western

University).

Our approach also focuses on setting objectives. The ability to set objectives, purposes, and issues is

indispensable in accomplishing the longer-term goals, and crucial for guiding activities in the appropriate

direction. This calls for an objectives-oriented approach. Whether the community can set objectives that

would realize their vision for the future depends on the community’s abilities. The community must be able

to set specific, realistic objectives, and to link these objectives to specific activities conducted by willing

members who understand their roles. In order to do this, a mechanism is required for community members

to set specific objectives and go about achieving them.

In Oyama-machi, the conventional method of tailoring the production system to meet the volumes,

standards and prices of products set by the public wholesale market was changed by the producers.

Konohana Garten, a subsidiary of the agricultural cooperative, was created to offer an alternative

production and distribution system where producers determine their own production volumes, standards

and quality, set prices, and sell produce directly to consumers. By cultivating consumer taste for fresher,

safer, better tasting products and, at the same time, creating a system that meets these consumer tastes, they

were able to create a higher value added production system. In this direct sales system, farmers retain about

80% of the sales revenue; this means increased income for farmers. They decide and set their prices for

their products based on the retail prices at the supermarkets and the information of the price in the public

wholesale markets from the Oyama Agriculture Cooperative. The established system enables careful and

direct responses to consumer demands resulting in timely adjustments to products in order to better suit the

varying tastes of consumers. This is facilitated by farmers having direct contact with consumers at

Konohana Garten and seeing firsthand the impact that changes to product quality, packaging and price

have on sales. This example shows the strength of a direct marketplace where producers come face to face

with consumers.

In addition, the National Umeboshi Contest, which began with the support from the central government

called Furusato Sousei Fund (Homeland Re-creation Fund), is an example of the importance of the ability

to create criteria in order to achieve a goal. Historically, the criteria for umeboshi (pickled plums) were set

by the region of Kishu in Wakayama Prefecture. Generally, consumers perceived umeboshi from Kishu as

a kind of signature product and therefore were more likely to purchase them than umeboshi from other

areas. Oyama-machi used the National Umeboshi Contest event to create the uniquely emphasized

traditional criteria that “umeboshi must be made with plums, salt, and perilla (shiso) leaves,” which

developed into a criterion of evaluation for umeboshi’s different from the Kishu style. The contest brought

various styles of umeboshi to Oyama-machi, naturally resulting in an accumulation of information and

knowledge. Success in plum orchard cultivation in Oyama-machi was achieved by transitioning from

selling raw plums to processing them and by branding the Oyama-machi umeboshi.

This kind of system building for collective activities is also seen in Onpaku of Beppu. Onpaku plays the



role of an incubator for many programs. Onpaku conducts many trials and experimental programs during a

set period in order to increase recognition of and examine the future potential of the programs. Onpaku, an

incorporated NPO, is the key actor, providing incentives for activities and presenting venues and

opportunities for collective activities to partners who want to contribute to town revitalization and through

the use of local resources. In cooperation with partners, Onpaku has initiated approximately 150 programs,

each held for about one month, and published 20,000 copies of a brochure of these events distributed to

about 5,000 people including fan club members. This brochure is also available in Beppu’s major tourist

information centers. The group’s efforts are posted on the website as well, with online access and

application for participation available. The NPO serves as a liaison for support from public and private

organizations, which would be difficult for each partner to attain individually. The NPO also enables

Onpaku partners to conduct activities at a lower risk than they would be able to do alone.

The ability to recognize resources, and to collect and secure these, requires recognition of diverse and

useful community assets and ensuring their productive utilization. Resources include human, information,

economic, social, political, physical, and environmental resources, whether within the community or

outside community boundaries. This also includes promotion and capitalization of relationships between

community member individuals and organizations and individuals and organizations outside the

community. Relationships with prefectures, the central government, the international society of

municipality-based communities and the various levels of communities not associated with administration

are included in this view. A wide range of discussion is possible through these kinds of relationships, such

as who the community knows, who has special knowledge and skills, and the relationship with these

individuals and organizations. We also emphasize the ability to identify development resources that

normally are not viewed as resources at all. The ability to discover and use these latent resources enables an

expanded scope and more diverse options for development.

The people of Oyama-machi have discovered many resources for development; however, to recognize

and utilize resources, it should not be forgotten that information and knowledge in addition to the right

skills to support the development activities are necessary. In this example, Oyama-machi was triggered by

the NPC Movement to transition from rice farming to plum and chestnut orchard cultivation to increase

income. This transition was backed by patient investigation and research on high-profit crops suited to the

agricultural production environment of Oyama-machi. The production status and market standing of plums

and chestnuts were investigated and Oyama-machi’s production possibilities of plums and chestnuts

evaluated.

Additional products were sought that would generate a regular income akin to that of company

employees, which could not be influenced adversely by the weather. Enoki mushrooms were identified

after discovering mushroom farming at Chikuma Kasei in Nagano. While Chikuma Kasei purchased

sawdust to use as mushroom compost; Oyama-machi identified a latent resource in the sawdust by-product

of forestry in the town.

Such local resources of traditional cuisine have also been used in opening the restaurant attached to

Konohana Garten. The major issue for any restaurant is finding a chef. One Oyama-machi leader took the

word “chef” and reworded it as “shufu (housewife),” pointing out the importance of recognizing and

utilizing farming household wives as human resources. Although it required some significant initial

investment to turn shufu into chefs, their ability to contribute to the development of the community was

recognized.

The General Manager of Hibikinosato emphasizes that who you know and your connections with

people are resources that determine whether you can convert the resources at hand into productive

activities with higher added value. The high-grade plum wine manufacturing at Hibikinosato is the result of



a marriage between the high-quality plums of Oyama-machi and the skills of Nikka Whiskey. Valuing

network capital as a resource realized this.

Ordinary objects can also be turned into a product of resource with creative and clever marketing or

even naming. For example, plum flowers, when given the moniker, “blossom,” become more product-like

for garnishing dishes.

A system that converts resources into products also makes the activity of recognizing and securing

resources from the production area more strategic. Oyama-machi’s Konohana Garten sells killifish in glass

containers during summer. By grasping the needs of consumers, and securing a venue where consumers’

needs are met, the process of recognizing and securing resources was dramatically promoted into a

resource in itself. Konohana Garten functions as such a venue. Housewives from Oyama-machi farms

produce unique products using the local environment and, using the salesfloor of Konohana Garten,

continue to make improvements on products every day.

A similar situation can be seen with Sazanka Cross, an agricultural group in Hiji. Sazanka Cross is a

group of farmers organized based on the model of Konohana Garten in Oyama-machi. Sazanka Cross is

organized mainly by agricultural producers that sets up limited sales areas in supermarkets and department

stores to sell agricultural product and agricultural processed products directly to shoppers. Daily

improvements on products are being made here as well and sales of processed products using fishery

ingredients from Hiji that had previously been ignored are now yielding large profits.

In Ajiimu, a new industry is being developed that combines the farming experiences of urban residents,

rice farming by farms, sake manufacturing by sake breweries, and sake sales at department stores. People

from urban areas follow the process from the rice they helped plant as it is processed into sake that they

named themselves and in turn can purchase at local department stores. Farmers recognized their daily task

of growing rice as a resource for the business in addition to the commercialization of a product they

produce in collaboration with manufacturers and distributors.

7. Strategic Components of the Community

The strategic elements of the community shown in the alternative development model influence the

characteristics of community capacity; it can be viewed as something that maintains or influences

community capacity. Therefore, strategic components of the community can be handled either as the entry

point for the development strategy of community capacity, or as specific targets.

Asking questions such as what is the leadership situation in the community, are organizations being

created or are community human resources being fostered enables one to grasp the current situation and

formulate a way forward. Community capacity is improved by first analyzing the community with

emphasis on the community’s leadership, human resources, organizations, and networks, and by

implementing activities that result in changes to these components.

Communities change through their leaders. Oyama-machi, Yufuin, and Himeshima, which became the

models for Oita Prefecture’s One Village One Product Movement, all had leaders who trail-blazed the

development of each town. In Oyama-machi, it was mayor and agricultural cooperative president Harumi

Yahata who led the NPC Movement. In Yufuin, there was the first mayor of Yufuin, Hidekazu Iwao, and

ryokan managers Kentaro Nakatani and Kunpei Mizoguchi who promoted the consolidation of the tourism

industry, hot springs and natural mountainscape. In Himeshima, there was Kumao Fujimoto and Teruo

Fujimoto, a father-and-son pair both serving as village mayors, who sought to enrich the lives of people on

a remote island. Also, in Kokonoe-machi, town mayor Kazuaki Sakamoto played a pivotal role in the

development of his community. These leaders’ first major role was to introduce a philosophy to rural

development, and then present a future vision for their respective communities. Their greatness is in



changing existing values and norms, sharing among community members the future vision that the rural

community should aim for, and then connecting the future vision with specific goals.

In Oyama-machi, Mayor Harumi Yahata used cable broadcasting to discuss multi-dimensional

agriculture, and repeatedly spoke to the townspeople of his vision for Oyama-machi; Yahata’s way of

thinking and vision for Oyama-machi sank in gradually, but steadily.

Yahata also concentrated on fostering the next generation by creating study groups for young farmers.

He also sent young people to a kibbutz in Israel to explore a new future for Oyama-machi. Under Yahata’s

leadership, many young people developed into productive and valuable community members, becoming

the next generation to bear the future of Oyama-machi. This was a particularly amazing aspect of the

Oyama-machi story; leaders fostered the development of future leaders. Community capacity depends on

the human resource development of the community. In Oyama-machi, the next generation of leaders

fostered by Harumi Yahata contributed greatly to the development of the town. During the NPC Movement,

they were the ones who translated the future vision of Oyama-machi into reality based on their experience

in the kibbutz, set goals to specifically promote multi-dimensional agriculture, developed and introduced

new products and production methods and established a sophisticated community policy structure

supported by value added production activities.

Such cultivation of human resources can be seen in the activities of Onpaku in Beppu as well. The

Onpaku currently operates approximately 140 programs, with the organization and operation of the

programs conducted by respective Onpaku partners and many supporters. These partners use their own

resources whilst coordinating with other partners and supporters through the network established by the

Onpaku for the purpose of organizing and operating Onpaku programs. Through this organization process,

partners are recognizing and securing community resources and establishing and strengthening a network

of people and organizations in the town of Beppu, thereby enhancing the capacity of the community.

The establishment of organizations contributes greatly to community capacity development and the

introduction of more sophisticated programs; however, the key point is whether an effective incubation

venue or institution can be established that promotes the community’s characteristics and enables people

and organizations in the community to conduct collective activities.

Konohana Garten, the direct sales market of Oyama-machi, provides a marketplace for the agricultural

producers of Oyama-machi, encouraging the producers’ enthusiasm and innovation. Agricultural producers

make creative and innovative efforts to meet consumer needs. Because these growers in Oyama-machi are

now able to sell their products at Konohana Garten, they have developed the ability to engage in agriculture

that capitalizes on the characteristics of Oyama-machi, which is located in a semi-mountainous area.

The Yume Otsurihashi of Kokonoe-machi provides a venue of great possibility for the people of

Kokonoe-machi. Far exceeding expected numbers, visitors to Yume Otsurihashi have became consumers

of agricultural products and processed goods of Kokonoe-machi sold at the Otsurihashi gift shop.

Kokonoe-machi is well on track to realizing its future vision of becoming Japan’s top rural area in terms of

both the numbers of people visiting and living in the town.

In Himeshima, the introduction of the Remote Island Act in 1957 brought about major changes within

the community. The village is actively utilizing this Act to create a future vision of the village and thereby

realize improved quality of life for the island’s residents. Emphasis was placed on running water supply,

electricity and health care, and facilities for each were established. The village office undertook the

implementation of initiatives under the policy with the mantra “what the government can do, the

government will do.” The village office became the central actor of community activities and conducted

these under the fundamental guiding principle of equality. This resulted in the creation of many unique

Himeshima approaches to development and service delivery such as the village’s comprehensive



community health care system, resource management approach to fishery, work sharing practice, and

aluminum can deposit system.

Onpaku created a system where partners and supporters, corporations and groups can join in collective

activities through the creation of the Onpaku brochure, website, fan club and evaluation system within the

Onpaku secretariat. By managing Onpaku under this system, people and organizations are creating an

enabling environment where networks are established, issues of rural rejuvenation objectified and goals

achieved.

Moreover, networks among community members and between individuals and organizational bodies

inside and outside the community connect people with other people and organizations with other

organizations, thus establishing a foundation of community capacity. Networks are important social capital

necessary for development (see Putnam 1993).

An intriguing aspect of Onpaku is the speed at which the network expands. Each year, a network is

created among the people, groups and organizations participating in the organization and implementation

of its many programs. Many programs are organized and implemented under the Onpaku framework, but

each program is actually conducted by local residents and organizations who have become Onpaku

partners. These locals build their own knowledge, historical resources, and environmental resources by

collaborating and cooperating with the other participating partners and supporters. Partners, as heads of

programs, expand their own network by coming in to contact with many people and organizations,

including the Onpaku secretariat, supporters, program participants, media covering Onpaku, and

administrative personnel interested in the programs. Such network expansion leads to the discovery of new

resources as well as new programs.

The strategic components of the community contribute to changes in the sense of community by

intrinsic, community-initiated methods, and also by extrinsic interventions coming from outside the

community. In practical terms, these strategic components should be differentiated from the activities of the

community policy structure under which strategic activities of community capacity development are

conducted for the purpose of achieving better lives. This differentiation is very difficult; however, it is

easier to understand if community capacity development is conceptualized as development of the

fundamental infrastructure of the community. The various economic, social, political and environmental

activities of the community then unfold on this infrastructure.

The elements of community capacity are not necessarily stylized, static or fixed; as a community

changes and evolves, community capacity and its components change and evolve as well. Attempts to fix

community capacity at a certain level or to use one method as a cure-all solution are probably going to be

ineffective at best. This is because each community is different and the situations of communities are ever

changing. Community capacity must be understood as something diverse and flexible.

An interesting case is the changes in community members of towns and villages during the municipal

mergers of the Heisei period. In many old towns and villages, it can be assumed that communities were

formed according to the administrative zoning of the former municipality. Before the mergers, members

consisted of people and organizations of the community, including the town halls and village offices;

however, after the mergers, administration is now excluded from the community based on the old zoning.

Instead of being shut down, former town halls and village offices have been turned into branch offices

of the new post-merger city’s town hall. The new city is governed by the laws, ordinances and regulations

of the city, not the members of the community that still remain within it. Such a change in members greatly

affects the community. This becomes even more prominent if the former administrative body was a core

member of the community, if there are no organizations other than the administrative body that can serve as

the community core, or if the new core organization is weak. Also, in general, when former town halls and



village offices are restructured into branch offices, the number of employees is greatly reduced. Where

employees of the former town halls and village offices are transferred out of the former towns and villages

due to the human resources requirements of their new employer, the community element of human

resources changes as well. Leadership, internal and external networks also go through changes. In some

cases, community restructuring may occur.

In our development approach, we treat communities as an operable social construct and the subject of

development, but it is important to be aware that communities change. The new merged city is another new

community and will go through its own changes with former towns and villages as its constituents.

Putnam (1993) studied the introduction of regional governments in Italy and the course of

developments thereafter from the social capital perspective. It is also possible to view this as community

restructuring in accordance with the administrative re-zoning of the regional government resulting in new

communities with different strategic elements of capacity. From the community design perspective, the

municipal mergers of the Heisei period are indeed very interesting.

8. Community Functions

Community functions consist of the planning, implementation, and evaluation of a community’s policy

structure. Community capacity is executed through the fulfillment of these functions. Community

functions can be viewed as the process of realizing the community’s goals. Community policy structure is

actually the collective concept of activities to achieve the respective goals of individuals and organizations.

Activities carried out to achieve the respective goals of individuals and organizations are recognized as

separate activities of each; however, it can be difficult to fully conceptualize all of the activities in a

community policy structure. In fact, it is rare that a community policy system is recognized fully by the

community.

Municipalities devise basic administrative plans of cities, towns and villages, but the scope of such

basic plans is, in general, insufficient in describing the community policy structure in its entirety; however,

whether a community is able to recognize its policy structure and then plan, implement and evaluate this as

a community greatly influences its ability to achieve its goals and targets. The ability to examine the end

outcomes of the desired social changes and who in the community will be responsible for them is

particularly important.

The functions of community capacity are designed by the community as a whole, resulting in the

community’s existing policy structure. Individuals, groups and organizations will each act under this

community policy structure. By differentiating the functions of community capacity and the separate

activities of individuals, groups and organizations under the community policy structure, we feel it is

possible to provide more specific and practical direction to rural development efforts. Whether a richer

community policy structure can be planned depends on the level of community capacity. If capacity to

carry out the planning function is high, the community will be able to devise a more complex and higher

value added policy structure; if the implementation function capacity is also high, the community will be

able to appropriately operate, control and implement this complex policy structure.

Whether collective activities by individuals, groups and organizations can be absorbed into the

community policy structure is especially significant. Absorbing collective activities into the community

policy structure enables other activities that would otherwise be unachievable by an individual or single

organization. The community policy structure can evolve into something more complex and rich.

Establishing a shared community policy structure helps the community to fulfill functions required to

realize its shared vision, values and norms.

Collective activities are, more often than not, carried out by the core organizations within a community.



In Oyama-machi, the town hall and agricultural cooperative play this role by creating a system that

supports collective activities. In the first phase of the NPC Movement, the town hall distributed plum

seedlings free of charge to farms that decided to switch from rice farming to plum orchard cultivation.

From early on, people and organizations with information became resources themselves, making efforts to

collectively share the information and knowledge among the residents using cable radio broadcasting,

cable TV, and in the beginning of the NPC Movement, through organized technical guidance study groups.

The Oyama-machi method for the production of enoki mushrooms allocates the difficult and risky

process of creating the mushroom beds to the Mushroom Center of the agricultural cooperative, with the

farmers then taking over the cultivation, harvesting and packaging of the mushrooms. In addition, enoki

mushrooms are shipped year-round in order to maintain the Oyama-machi enoki mushroom brand, but

since summertime production is not particularly profitable, enoki mushroom farms are cooperating by

supplementing the summertime producers.

The Oyama-machi Agricultural Cooperative also established Konohana Garten, reforming the market

to create a direct connection between producers and consumers. Here, the intent to conduct collective sales

activities is both strong and obvious. Konohana Garten is a sales facility of the agricultural cooperative, but

its main purpose is to generate profits for the agricultural producers, who are members of the community.

Farmers are able to set their own shipment volumes, standards and prices. The agricultural cooperative

influenced the production activities of farmers by implementing a system to act collectively in agricultural

sales. This resulted to farmers selecting higher value added production activities, making the community

policy structure more complex and sophisticated. It is important for a community to establish the ability to

design and implement strategies as a community; this equips the community with the ability to design

itself.

9. Community Capacity Development

Enhancing community capacity is referred to as community capacity development. Community capacity

development seeks and creates strengths and opportunities that can lead to development, in order to

promote positive change within the community. Capacity is developed through the attempts of the

community to develop and maintain these discovered strengths and opportunities.

The community’s hidden strengths and opportunities are represented by the potential of the

community’s strategic components, characteristics of community capacity, and community functions. By

identifying potential strengths and opportunities that can lead to development and then focusing on them

and by energizing mutual interactions and synergies among the community capacity components of

various community strategic components, characteristics of community capacity and community functions,

the potential strengths and opportunities can be objectified and activated.

It must be emphasized that community capacity development should be perceived not as something

linear, but rather as a continuous process. Furthermore, capacity development achieved through the

promotion of intrinsic development by mutual interaction and synergistic effects among community

capacity components is preferable over development forced onto a community by external intervention.

Strategic components of the community, characteristics of the community capacity, and community

functions should not be simplified to a linear, mono-directional concept of mutual relationship that can

easily be categorized. In reality it is not that simple. For example, improving individuals’ abilities

contributes to the betterment of the community organization, and improving the organizations’ abilities

reflects back to the ability enhancement at individual levels.

Community capacity is unavoidably connected to and influenced by the historical and communal

context. The development of community capacity is the result of a long-term process spanning five years,



ten years, one generation, or at times even several generations. Community capacity development is an

ongoing phenomenon for communities. Political context may not always be present in a community.

Community boundaries also influence community capacity. For example, decentralization usually takes

place transcending community boundaries, but can bring positive outcomes to community capacity

(Stenning, 2007). Municipal mergers in Japan also influence community capacity by bringing changes to

the community members.

This chapter proposes a concept of alternative approach for rural development, and by viewing

communities as an operational construct established in society, attempts to clarify methods to renew or

change the scope or boundaries of communities, community capacity, and existing community policy

structures. There are many reasons behind rural developments; some are economic, social, environmental

or political, and individual or group benefits, among other factors, may also exist. A community is a

constructed social aggregation. Community capacity can be changed through the efforts of people. By

implementing such a concept, people of the community can then have discussions, enabling them to create

more realistic, operational, and practical approaches to development.

10. Community Transition

Communities are continuously changing. We perceive this ever-changing community as an operable social

construct and discuss development with the community as the operating body. A community is built by the

individuals, groups and organizations that recognize themselves its members. Therefore, it is very

important to clearly recognize the roles and responsibilities of the individuals, groups and organizations

that make up the community.

Changes to a community can occur internally or through external forces. A community is formed

through the interaction of the awareness of the people in the community and people outside the community.

Interactions between organizations and groups created within the community and external groups and

organizations that surround the community also help form the community.

Let us now take a look at an overview of the transition of community members in Oyama-machi, Hita

City, and observe the community characteristics. Table 1 shows the community transition of Oyama-machi.

Figures 2 and 3 show the transition of the community stakeholders, those involved with the community

both internally and from outside.

The Oyama-machi community was established by the administrative zoning of the Oyama-machi

municipality. Within this zone, members of Oyama-machi recognized their commonalities through their

shared topics of conversation, awareness of the area, and the similarity of their lives within the area. What

is interesting is that in Oyama-machi the community was created by the town hall, the agricultural

co-operative and its related organizations, and farmers and farmers groups mainly engaged in agricultural

production and processing. Before merging with Hita City, the administrative scope of the town hall, the

operational scope of the agricultural cooperative, and the farmers and famer groups accumulated to create

this unique community.

Looking at the past, the turning point for members in the community was in 1949 when the Oyama

Agricultural Cooperative was established and became a core member of the community. Community

activities in Oyama-machi became increasingly sophisticated when the Oyama Agricultural Cooperative

established organizations such as the agricultural product processing center, enoki mushroom center, enoki

mushroom branch plant (to support enoki mushroom production farmers), Konohana Garten and the

Organic restaurant as part of its operation. These organizations became important members and actors in

the community, particularly for conducting and coordinating collective activities. Also, the town hall

established Oyama Cable Broadcasting, Oyama Cable TV, and the Oyama Lifestyle Consulate in Fukuoka,



Table 1: Transition of the Oyama-machi Community

Community members (inside) External parties involved (outside) Before the NPC Movement (Up to 1961)

- Traditional rural community - No clear awareness as a community,

but organizations are beginning to form. - Oyama-machi town hall - Committee for Conditional Action Against

Dam Construction - Establishment of the Oyama Agricultural

Cooperative (1949) - Establishment of Oyama Cable

Broadcasting

Beginning of NPC Movement (1961–1970)

- Oyama-machi local government - Oyama Cable Broadcasting - Oyama Agricultural Cooperative - Junior Agricultural Research Group - Plum farmers - Village Center - Softball team

Critical, hostile attitude and passive support toward Oyama-machi - Oita government - Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry

and Fisheries (MAFF) Megiddo, Israel

After full establishment of NPC Movement (1970s and on)

- Oyama-machi local government - Oyama Cable Broadcasting - Oyama Agricultural Co-op - Plum farm - Enoki mushroom farm - Produce farm - Junior Agricultural Research Group - Various study groups - Various farm producer groups

Critical, hostile attitude and passive support toward Oyama-machi - Oita government - MAFF

1980 and on, start of OVOP Movement: 1979

- Oyama-machi local government - Oyama Cable Broadcasting - Oyama Cable TV - Oyama Agricultural Cooperative - Konohana Garten (1990) - Organic restaurant - Umeboshi Contest (1191) - Oyama Yumekobo, K.K. - Hibikinosato - Roadside Station Mizubenosato - Oyama Dream Club - Plum farmers - Enoki mushroom farmers - Agricultural farmers - Junior Agricultural Research Group - Various study groups - Various agricultural producer groups - Ogirihata Green Tourism

Positive attitude and active support toward Oyama-machi - Oita government - MAFF Fukuoka City (Oyama Lifestyle Consulate in Fukuoka)

Merger with Hita City (2007)

(Start of reorganization of awareness as a community after separation from Oyama-machi town hall) - Oyama Agricultural Cooperative

* Konohana Garten * Organic restaurant * Umeboshi contest * Oyama Cable Broadcasting

- Oyama Yumekobo, K.K. * Hibikinosato * Roadside Station Mizubenosato * Oyama Dream Club

- Plum farmers - Enoki mushroom farmers - Agricultural farmers - Various study groups - Various agricultural producer groups - Ogirihata Green Tourism

- Hita city hall (Oyama-machi merged with Hita City, placed under jurisdiction of Hita city hall) * Fukuoka City (Oyama Lifestyle Consulate in Fukuoka) * Oyama Cable TV

- Oita government - MAFF - Public market - Konohana Garten customers

Note: Underlined bold letters indicate newly formed organizations. Source: Compiled by the author.



Inside Oyama-machi

Outside Oyama-machi

Oyama-machi

local governmet

Oyama Cable

Broadcasting

Oyama Agricultural Cooperative

Committee for

Conditional Action

Against Dam

Construction

Fukuoka City

(Oyama Lifestyle Consulate in Fukuoka)

Direct sales shops

Konohana Garten

Oyama

Cable TV

Umeboshi contest

Oyama Yumekobo, K.K.

Hibikinosato

Enoki mushroom

farmers

Agricultural

Farmers

Various study

groups

Various

agricultural

producer

groups

Junior Agricultural

Research Group

Village Center

Plum farmers

Softball team

Public market

Organic restaurant

Ogirihata Green

Tourism

Konohana Garten

customers

Customers / consumers

Roadside Station

Mizubenosato

Oyama Dream Club

(Direct-sales shop)

Oita government

Megiddo, Israel

Outside Oyama-machi

MAFF

Inside Oyama-machi

Figure 2: Transition of the Community Stakeholders (Before)

Source: Created by the author



MAFF

Oita government

Megiddo, Israel

Oyama Cable

Broadcasting

Oyama

Agricultural

Cooperative

協同組合

Committee for

Conditional Strike

Against Dam

Construction

Fukuoka City

(Oyama Lifestyle Consulate in Fukuoka)

Direct sales shops

Konohana Garten

Umeboshi contest

Oyama Yumekobo, K.K.

Hibikinosato

Enoki

mushroom

farmers

Agricultural

producers

Various

study groups

Various

agricultural

producer groups

Junior Agricultural

Research Group

Village Center

Plum farmers

Softball team

Public market

Organic restaurant

Ogirihata Green

Tourism

Konohana Garten

customers

Customers / consumers

Roadside Station

Mizubenosato

Oyama Dream Club

(Direct-sales shop)

External parties

involved

Hita Municipal Government

(Oyama Promotion office)

Hita City

Cable TV

External parties

involved


Figure 3: Transition of the Community Stakeholders



and expanded community activities by making these organizations become community actors as well.

Moreover, the town hall led the establishment of private organizations, Bungo Oyama Hibikinosato and the

Roadside Station, Mizubenosato Oyama. The community further added other actors such as the

community center, farm producer groups and softball teams.

Community becomes more explicit through mutual interactions between inside and outside

stakeholders. With Oyama-machi, their community became clearer with the involvement of Oita Prefecture

and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF). Opposing the agricultural policy of the

time, the NPC Movement switched Oyama’s farming focus from rice to plums and chestnuts, and neither

Oita Prefecture nor MAFF were supportive. Through such interactions, Oyama-machi began to develop a

strong awareness of their position as a community. However, as the NPC Movement of Oyama-machi

began bearing fruit, Oita Prefecture and MAFF became more open, and they gradually transformed into

actively supportive organizations. In particular, Prefectural Governor Hiramatsu proposed the Oita One

Village One Product movement and publicized the development of Oyama-machi as a model example.

This greatly changed the relationship between Oyama-machi and Oita Prefecture.

Oyama-machi itself has also created many external stakeholders through which the community

interacts with the outside world, for example through municipalities where trainings are held, places visited

with study tours, and participating areas at social events. Through the Youth Training Program conducted

on a kibbutz in Israel, Oyama-machi and Megiddo, where the kibbutz is located, became sister cities.

Megiddo, especially, gave the people of Oyama-machi a model of how to develop the town despite tough

conditions. The Oyama Lifestyle Consulate in Fukuoka, located in Fukuoka City, is helping to create

opportunities to form increased mutual interactions with urban areas.

Taking the above into consideration, since we are viewing the community as an operable body, and

placing it at the core of the development approach as an operable and practical development subject, it is

important to clearly identify the boundaries and scope of the community based on the structure and

changes of community members.

11. Integrating the Concept and Practice of Rural Development

This chapter aims to understand the concept, framework and methodology of a development strategy for

new rural regeneration based on an alternative strategic model that differs from conventional development

models, and to decipher development from a rural view and clarify ways to utilize such development by

listing examples of rural development in Oita Prefecture. Such examples included: Oyama-machi

Konohana Garten, which was responsible for market innovation of rural communities; rural development

of Kokonoe-machi, which aims to become Japan’s top rural area through interaction and Yume Otsurihashi,

the largest pedestrian suspension bridge in Japan; the experience of Onpaku as a multi-layered event

strategy utilizing rural human capital and resources; and the development experience of Himeshima, which

attempted to create a comfortable living environment on a remote island.

In order to understand the practice of rural development, and to practice rural development, the ability

to understand the concept of rural development and decipher its practice is essential. After one has

understood the concept of rural development and deciphered its practice, only then can one conduct

investigations on, research, plan, and a practice rural development that is matched to each unique

circumstance and context.

Many books have been published on rural development, but those that adequately connect concept and

practice are few. This chapter provides a brief response to such an important need.

The purpose of this chapter is not to theorize about the phenomenon of rural development. Rather, it is

to conceptualize the rural development approach so as to enable practical utilization. In general, theories



are useful when explaining a phenomenon or evaluating the current situation, but as mentioned earlier,

many are also operationally and practically useless when it comes to discussion of what kinds of changes

should be made to the current situation. It is possible to assess the reality, but seems difficult to manipulate

and make changes. Real life is too complicated to be explained by simplified theories that seek simply to

explain causal relationships.

In the real world, people can select their own development approach from many diverse and effective

development options. People continually make decisions from diverse choices in order to improve the lives

of people within the community. Based on such reality, it is important to clarify the practical concepts used

in investigating, discussing, and analyzing actual lifestyles to allow people to seek better, richer lives.

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Evaluation and Planning for Rural Development

Koichi Miyoshi

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

1. Framework of Planning and Evaluation

Evaluation and planning are important elements of the functions of community capacity (Chaskin et al.

2001, Miyoshi and Stenning 2008a, 2008b). To enhance the understanding of these functions, this chapter

explores the details of evaluation and planning, the elements that guide changes in a community.

Evaluation and planning are standard-based tools that enable organized analysis to understand an

existing situation and improve it. In the context of community, it is necessary to clarify the subject of

evaluation and planning by conceptualizing people’s daily live and the activities of organizations that are

part of the community. This conceptualization process encompasses the community policy structure, in

addition to establishing and examining what must be clarified to create a better future for the community.

This chapter discusses these aspects of evaluation and planning.

First, a framework for evaluation and planning must be defined. This framework consists of evaluation

and planning subjects, evaluation and planning questions, and examination methods for conducting

evaluation and planning. It is critically important to clarify the subject of the evaluation and planning. This

means, conceptualizing the policies, programs and projects of the evaluation and planning. Next, based on

the identified subjects, questions must then be formulated and asked. Examination methods are then

selected and the questions answered based on the evaluation and planning subjects. In general, I feel that

the process of identifying the subject of the evaluation and planning is often neglected. In my experience, if

the subject is adequately defined, the results of the evaluation and planning will be satisfactorily solid.

This chapter clarifies the role of evaluation and planning in the process of examining and revising an

existing policy structure. Then to move the discussion along, five evaluation criteria from the Organization

for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Development Assistance Committee (OECD/DAC) for

international development will be introduced.

I see the five OECD/DAC evaluation criteria as the result of the developing countries discussion on

development with developed countries. Making the use of the criteria is most beneficial to already

developed nations engaged in rural development programs. Much effort has been poured into reducing

poverty in developing countries; however the results of these programs have not always been good. The

successful cases only came when developing countries implemented ideas for integrated development

based on their own local contexts, including specialized rural or urban development. These successful

examples of local development are implemented without many of the setbacks that occur when external,

developed countries implement international development programs. The similarities between these

examples reveal new perspectives for rural development.

2. Evaluation and Planning, and the Community Policy Structure

It is critically important to clearly identify the subject of evaluation and planning. But while it is easy to

understand and develop a subject for evaluation, identifying a subject for planning can be more puzzling.

Community activities are ongoing and contained within the community people’s daily lives. Community

planning is the process of taking these activities and envisioning their ideal forms in the future. It is

necessary to understand evaluation and planning as two inextricably linked processes that target the lives

5



and activities of community actors.

Figure 1 depicts a policy structure based on the people’s live and organizational activities. Figure 2

shows the organization of evaluation and planning, the subject of which is this conceptualized policy

structure. Communities hold policy structures relating to end outcomes. Changes in communities are

secured by evaluating, planning and implementing these policy structures to achieve the corresponding end

outcomes.

Although it may be repetitive, I would like to confirm the subject of evaluation and planning again.

Readers may be wondering about the word order of “evaluation and planning” used up to this point. Why

wouldn’t this be “planning and evaluation?” In Figure 2, the order becomes easier to understand. The

reality of the situation must first be established through evaluation, with planning commencing based on

the findings of the evaluation. If reality is the starting point in considering evaluation and planning, it is

Figure 1: Policy Structure


Figure 2: Evaluation and Planning


End Outcome

Intermediate

Outcome

Intermediate

Outcome

Project

Output

Activities

Input

Project

Output

Activities

Input

Project

Output

Activities

Input

Project

Output

Activities

Input

Existing policy structure

Existing situation of people’s daily life and organizations’ activities

Evaluation (evaluation activity targeting existing policy structure)

Evaluation of existing situation of people’s daily life and organizations’

activities

Planning (revision of existing policy structure)

Planning for existing situation of people’s daily life and organizations’

activities



only natural that evaluation comes first. Planning often comes first, but this inevitably results in plans that

ignore reality, or plans that do not identify reality as the evaluation subject. This clarifies that planning must

target reality, making it important to conceptualize reality as the subject of the evaluation.

In general, people’s daily lives and organizational activities have reasonable ends, and people and

organizations make efforts, using various means, to achieve those ends. When applied to communities,

linked relationships between the community ends envisioned by people and organizations and the means of

achieving them, explicitly or implicitly, must be considered to achieve visions, values or norms.

Connecting ends and means forms the community’s policy structure. This results the creation of a

community policy structure, whether it is explicit or implicit.

By introducing the concept of community policy structure, we are able to discuss more precisely the

socially constructed aggregation we call community. In actuality, though, it is rare for such a policy

structure to be explicitly recognized by individuals and organizations in the community. It is safe to say that

a community’s policy structure is comprised of the overlapping accumulation of administrative activities

by actors such as the city hall, town hall or village office serving as the community’s core, as well as the

activities of organizations such as agricultural cooperatives, chambers of commerce, and tourist

associations.

The policy structure includes End Outcomes (effects realized as changes in the target community),

Intermediate Outcomes (effects realized as changes in target groups including individuals and

organizations), Outputs (goods and services generated through activities), Activities (series of actions that

use Inputs to generate Outputs), and Inputs (human and material resources, operating funds, facilities,

capitals, expertise, time, etc.).

With the introduction of a more explicit community policy structure, the lives of the people and the

activities of the organizations can become more sophisticated, organized and refined, enabling further

enrichment of people’s lives.

The evaluation and planning of communities are processes through which change to an existing

community policy structure is possible. The community activities are distilled through the policy structure;

this policy structure is evaluated, and then based on the evaluation results, a future policy structure is

established.

Figures 3 and 4 show changes in the policy structure through evaluation and planning. Figure 3 shows

how evaluation and planning result to community goals that are unachievable through conventional

programs. New programs are then introduced to achieve these community goals, and the policy structure

revised to enable relevant operations. As programs are introduced, new target groups for intermediate

outcomes are set and new operations and activities are implemented to change these new target groups.

Figure 4 depicts a case with no existing established explicit community policy structure. Here, the

existing operations and activities are evaluated, planning is done based on the evaluation results and in the

end an explicit policy structure is created. Actually, explicit community policy structures are rare. Also, the

process of explicitly formulating policy structures is often not conducted with willful recognition in many

communities. In many cases, municipal policy structures are formulated as a part of basic planning, or in

relation to such planning, but they are based on the municipality’s administrative activities and therefore

not necessarily applicable to the community as a whole. However, if the community’s future vision,



Figure 3: Characteristics of Evaluation and Planning


Figure 4: Characteristics of Evaluation and Planning (no existing community policy structure)


Evaluation/Planning



recognized by individuals and organizations that are members of the community, is included in the

municipal policy structure and if each member acts based on such recognition, then it can be said that a

community policy structure exists.

This is the realistic process that must take place if a community wishes to combine collective activities

with higher added value to ensure better, more enriched lives for its members. Formulating such a policy

structure is the starting point of community development.

The community evaluates, plans and implements activities based on the existing policy structure, then

reevaluating the structure to create a continuous cycle. During this process community capacity improves

and more complex and sophisticated policy structures evolve. Figure 5 shows this cyclical process.

3. Characteristics of the Community Policy Structure

Community capacity development interacts with the community policy structure, influencing adoption and

adaptation. Policy structures are representations of the economic, social, environmental and political

aspects of the daily lives and activities of the people of the community. The dimensions of a community

policy structure depend heavily on the status of community capacity. When the community develops and

improves its capacity, it can evaluate, plan and implement to transform the policy structure into something

new and more refined, or adopt more sophisticated policy structures. This phenomenon is similar to a

figure skater delivering a wonderful performance through the use of his/her physical abilities acquired

through basic training, where practices are based on technical capacity. Performance and capacity are

mutually related.

Mainstream narrow-mindedness limits the definition of development to purely economic considerations,

such as per capita GDP, directly focusing on accumulation of capital while sacrificing other important

development items (Friedmann 1992). This narrow view, still present today, ignores impoverished people

in rural areas, and by doing so, drives them into destitution. For alternative development to be effective, the

scope of development must be widened.

This model of policy structure requires emphasis on the diverse, non-economic aspects of social and

political activities, in addition to formal and informal activities. The community policy structure shows the

Figure 5: Continuous Revision of the Policy Structure




activity process through the use of program theory.

The policy structure is viewed in various ways: as the process of agricultural production activities, a

specific development initiative, community events, or informal yet special processes. The model clarifies

these processes through program theory showing the relationship between the series of goals and the means

of achieving them on a logic model (Funnell 1997, Rogers et. al 2000, JICA 2004, Miyoshi 2002 and

2008 ) to the logical framework and program theory.

Determining the community policy structure and successfully deploying it depends heavily on the

status of community capacity. In other words, as the community develops and enhances its capacity, it its

ability to create a more complex, sophisticated policy structure with higher added value increases. On the

other hand, the process of the community using its capacity for to evaluate, plan, and implement the policy

structure contributes to community capacity development, as long as it results to changes in the target

groups (intermediate outcomes) or society (end outcomes). The process of policy structure implementation

and the development of community capacity are mutually beneficial.

Community policy structures are typically recognized through the overlapping and accumulated

administrative activities of administrative actors, but they actually are a consolidated accumulation of

individual policy structures of activities conducted by each organization and each person. Community

policy structures vary in meticulousness depending on the development status of the community and the

level of evaluation and planning functions. What is important is to identify the community policy structure,

recognize community activities, evaluate, devise a plan, and respect the efforts made toward creating a

better community.

4. Examples of Community Policy Structures

Let us now look at specific examples of how to conceptualize community policy structures. As previously

explained, this chapter proposes handling communities as a socially constructed aggregation in order to

view them as an operable unit of development. The basis of this is the community’s policy structure. In the

previous section, the conceptualization of the community policy structure was outlined in the objective tree

form, as seen in Figure 1. To enhance operability, this section uses the program theory matrix. The program

theory matrix displays the logic in the objective tree in table form (Table 1).

Table 2 shows the development process of Oyama-machi organized into a community policy structure.

I formulated this policy structure when I was involved with Oyama-machi. The community does not

explicitly recognize the Oyama-machi community policy structure but collective and individual activities

construe efforts toward a richer life; therefore, it can be said that a policy structure does exist. Triggered by

the three-phased NPC Movement, the Oyama-machi community policy structure developed and evolved.

Since the beginning, the NPC Movement has been recognized by the individuals and organizations of

Oyama-machi, and many activities have been planned and implemented in connection to the various

Table 1: Program Theory Matrix (PTM)

End

Outcome

Intermediate

Outcome Output Activities Input

EOC

IOC/1 OP-1/1 A-1/1 IP-1/1

OP-1/2 A-1/2 IP-1/2

IOC/2 OP-2/1 A-2/1 IP-2/1

OP-2/2 A-2/2 IP-2/1




Table 2: Oyama-machi Community Policy Structure (Overview)

End Outcome Intermediate

Outcome

Projects Output

Projects, Activities, etc. Collective community activities

Phase 1 NPC Movement (Seeking income increase) Securing confidence as agricultural producer

Rice production

Sales increase of producers of plums and tree fruits

Plum production: promotion of orcharding (Conversion to production of plums and chestnuts: Plums become the mainstream)

Purchasing and operating agricultural machinery Distribution of plum and chestnut seedlings Orcharding of new fruits (sugar plums, citron, etc.) Operation of fruit sorting center (preparing fruit sorting

equipment) Agricultural cooperative shipment Konohana Garten (sales) Study tour

Umeboshi processing Processing of agricultural products (processing plant) Umeboshi Contest (from 1991) (Improvement of

umeboshi quality)

Brewing umeshu (plum wine) Hibikinosato (cooperation with corporations)

Sales increase of enoki mushroom producers

Enoki mushroom production (Oyama method)

Production of mushroom beds (Enoki mushroom mycelium center)

Soil improvement with used mushroom beds

Increase in total sales of small-scale farms

Vegetable production (small-lot production of many varieties)

Watercress, etc. Konohana Garten (direct sales)

Change in agricultural awareness of farms that are shipping (Market-oriented production)

Konohana Garten (sales) Market revolution (Direct connection between producers and

consumers) Production regulations, etc. Direct-sales shops (sales): 8 shops

Increase in sales total of small-scale farms

Hibikinosato Umeshu Sales of processed products (farmers/Hibikinosato)

Change in agricultural awareness of farms that are shipping (Market-oriented production)

Roadside Station: Mizubenosato Oyama

Organic restaurant Women of the farming village: chefs 3 restaurants

Promotion of communication awareness with urban areas

Green tourism Ogirihata Green Tourism Society

Phase 2 NPC Movement (Human resource development) Securing wide perspective

Promotion of sense of belonging Information sharing

Oyama Cable Broadcasting (OYHK) Information sharing

Oyama Cable TV: CATV: OYT (from 1987)

Information sharing

Obtaining information on overseas status

Hawaii trip (from 1967) 1st to 34th times

Implemented as town project

Training on a kibbutz in Israel (from 1969) 1st to 19th sessions

Implemented as town project Sister-city relationship with Megiddo, Israel

Training in South Korea for 9th graders (from 1991)


Homestay training in Idaho, USA Implemented as town project

European tour for women for beautiful urban planning


Promotion of sense of belonging Information sharing

Lifestyle Academy (from 1971), “Let’s Learn about World Society”


Morning softball games, nighttime track meets, gateball competition


Oyama Dance Song, Song for the Townspeople, etc.


Economic boost symposium, National Oyama-machi Summit


Phase 3 NPC Movement (Environmental development) Securing a rich living environment

Vision sharing Everyone’s Wish Statue (1979): Flags for eight groups within town


Richness of life Operation of day care center Implemented as town project

Community center: village center Implemented as town project

Marine center: gymnasium, swimming pool


Welfare center Implemented as town project

Maintenance of environment Increase in flow volume of Oyama river Implemented as environmental activity

Source: Compiled by the author, with reference to JICA training materials, overview of Oyama-machi, Hita City, etc



phases of the movement. As a result, a policy structure that achieved three end outcomes has been

established.

The first phase of the NPC Movement was named after the New Plum and Chestnuts campaign. The

first phase aimed to increase income. This was a development movement to make Oyama-machi, a poor

rural town in Oita Prefecture, a more prosperous town through agricultural conversion from the main crop,

which is rice, to plums and chestnuts. A production format with higher added value was sought to ensure

profit even for farms with only a small amount of land. As a result, today’s complex and sophisticated

community policy structure combines all of their collective and individual activities.

Oyama-machi calls this multiphasic production method the “centipede agriculture” -- where the town

facilitates everything from the production to marketing, making plums and enoki mushrooms core products,

and encouraging small-lot production of a variety of vegetables and easily produced products to secure

steady income.

Oyama-machi’s plum-related production and processing operations began when they gave up on the

cultivation of rice, which is not very productive in semi-mountainous areas like Oyama-machi, and

introduced plum and chestnut orcharding. Processing plums into umeboshi (pickled plums), as well as

producing other fruits such as sugarplums and citron came later. The National Umeboshi Contest that

began in Oyama-machi not only set quality standards for umeboshi, but also provided ample opportunities

for umeboshi producers in Oyama-machi to obtain information, helping them accumulate more knowledge

on umeboshi production. Later on, the local processing facility of Hibikinosato linked up with Nikka

Whiskey to produce high-quality plum wine. Hibikinosato purchases plums, from local farms at a price

higher than market value. This is an example of a fair trade-like system of purchasing and processing.

Enoki mushroom production was started by Kinji Yahata, Hirofumi Kurokawa and their colleagues.

They later shared the enoki growing technology with the agricultural cooperative, which went on to

establish the mycelium center to handle the technical portion of mushroom bed production. Farmers use

the prepared mushroom beds to produce and harvest the mushrooms -- this is the Oyama method of enoki

mushroom production. Using this method, enoki mushroom farms make profit. When demand is low and

production is costly, such as in summer, the agricultural cooperative produces the mushrooms to ensure

continuous shipment and maintain the Oyama brand enoki mushrooms year after year. This approach is

also unique to the Oyama method.

Konohana Garten was built in 1991 and provides Oyama-machi agricultural producers an innovative

marketplace. Konohana Garten uses a system where producers and consumers are directly connected, and

where agricultural producers, who are unable to systematically ship agricultural products that meet the

demands of larger public wholesale markets, can sell fresh vegetables and processed goods directly to

consumers. Sellers decide how much to sell and at what price, receiving 80% of sales as revenue, which is

much bigger than through the public wholesale markets. Currently, the number of direct-sales antenna

shops under Konohana Garten has increased, subsequently increasing sales. The Organic Farm Restaurant

was established to use the vegetables from Konohana Garten. The restaurant serves traditional cuisine of

Oyama-machi cooked by local housewives, providing another source of income. People who want an

agricultural experience, especially junior high-school students, are also being accepted to stay on the farms

in order to promote exchange between urban areas and farm villages, a form of Green Tourism.

The second phase of the NPC Movement was the Neo Personality Combination campaign. This second

phase aimed at human resource development and involved learning activities. For example, the Lifestyle

Academy opened as part of the learning activities at the community center, where tea ceremony lessons,

martial arts lessons, seminars and lectures by famous experts, concerts, were held. This emphasized

character self-improvement.



Training tours were encouraged and conducted so community members could learn agricultural skills

and community development methods. Networking was also a big focus of these tours. Tours around Japan

were arranged to explore model examples of agricultural development. Overseas, many young people

participated in training on a kibbutz in Israel. The Oyama-machi model was presented to aid in developing

agricultural skills and community development methods on kibbutzim. Junior high-school students were

sent to the U.S. and late-middle-aged adults were sent to China in an effort to broaden people’s horizons.

To make use of the newly found free time that became available with the termination of livestock

breeding, Oyama-machi supported the exercise activities of the townspeople by organizing morning

softball games and nighttime track and field meets. Many townspeople enthusiastically participated in the

softball games and tournaments between residential zones within the town. These activities played a major

role in cultivating a common awareness as town members. Other opportunities to discuss the town’s ideal

state and heighten connections between residents were found in the Oyama Dance Song, Song for the

Townspeople, an economic boost symposium and the National Oyama-machi Summit.

The third phase of the NPC Movement aimed at environmental development and securing a rich living

environment, and was named the New Paradise Community. During this third phase, the Everyone’s Wish

Statue was created in 1979 to share the same vision: to demonstrate the shared vision and desire of the

townspeople in Oyama-machi (Figure 6). When walking around Oyama-machi, one finds a number of

signs stating the views and ways of thinking of the townspeople. “Listen to the choir, a town full of culture,”

or “Going after the dream to make Oyama-machi global.” Hopes of the people are everywhere in such

words. Their intentions are also visible in flags made for the eight groups in the town, and the various

facilities that aid enrichment and promote collective activities. Operation of day-care centers, community

centers, village centers, marine centers, gymnasiums, swimming pools, and welfare centers are initiatives

meant to promote connections among people. Oyama-machi provides water to Fukuoka City. However,

due to the conventional supply agreement, the flow volume of the Oyama River is restricted. Efforts to

increase the volume and conduct ongoing maintenance began in order to preserve the environment, and

both have been developing with the aim of making the river fit for sweetfish habitation.

Figure 6: Everyone’s Wish Statue

Source: Photographed by the author



I organized the community policy structure of the Oyama-machi community based on the NPC

Movements in the town. In Oyama-machi, the “wish to work,” “wish to learn” and “wish to love”

comprise “everyone’s wish” culminating in what became known as the NPC Movement. Under this

movement, many activities were conducted, some continuing today. You can look at the individual policy

structures created by the Oyama-machi residents, including any of the activities conducted in order to

achieve the community’s vision and goals. Collective activities are conducted formally and informally.

Main community actors, such as the town hall and the agricultural cooperative, serve as core bodies for

such collective community activities. Collective activities make up the core of the community policy

structure in Oyama-machi, providing the foundation through which Oyama-machi people conduct their

activities with the goal of a richer life. Such a policy structure enables us to understand the macro events of

the movements and the community in Oyama-machi, as well as how the people and organizations of

Oyama-machi characterize and conduct each of their activities.

5. Questions Regarding Evaluation and Planning

As previously mentioned, evaluation and planning is a dual process that conceptualizes the tangible

activities of people and organizations as an existing policy structure; then, based on this conceptualized

policy structure, examines and revises the current situation to lead to better future activities. It is

“evaluation” when the main emphasis is on examining the current situation, and “planning” when the main

emphasis is on revising the current situation. However, evaluation and planning are inextricably linked.

Evaluation and planning are conducted using basic questions. What kind of questions should be

chosen? In the arena of international development, the DAC of the OECD proposes five standard

evaluation criteria. These criteria are related to the policy structure, categorized into five main areas. The

five criteria are relevance, impact, effectiveness, efficiency, and sustainability (Miyoshi 2005). These

criteria reflect upon the current situation, but if the questions are directed to the future and efforts are made

Figure 7: Policy Structure and Evaluation/Planning Questions




to revise the current policy structure, then they become planning criteria as well. Now, let us look

specifically at questions that would be asked. Figure 7 shows the role of questions in these five categories

in relation to the policy structure chart. Visualizing in chart form clarifies which part of the policy structure

is being questioned.

Relevance determines whether the changes envisioned by the society or target group are applicable.

With transitions in the environment surrounding the society, changes needed in the society transition as

well. Changing times bring changes to social values. The expected end outcomes change along with

changes in people’s values, visions and norms, and it is important to continuously question relevance. It is

no exaggeration to say that this is where evaluation and planning begins.

I consider this part very important. Which standard should be used to judge the end outcomes of your

community? Is it an urban standard? Is it a standard of the rural area where one resides? It is important to

formulate one’s own visions, values, and norms as a rural community then creating one’s own set of

standards.

The people of Oyama-machi designed their future vision of through the NPC Movement.

Kokonoe-machi aims to become Japan’s top rural area. Himeshima wants to create a comfortable living

environment on a remote island. Onpaku has been working for local revitalization by creating multilateral

connections among people through the use of human and other local resources. Each of these movements

has succeeded in designing their own future vision. Their standards for relevance in evaluation and

planning come from this, not from something borrowed from urban areas.

What we must look at next is the logic applied in order to achieve the end outcomes. You must

question the appropriateness of the linkage between ends and means. Regarding ends and means, DAC’s

evaluation criteria call the relationship between intermediate outcomes and end outcomes impact, the

relationship between intermediate outcomes and outputs effectiveness, and the relationship between

outputs and inputs efficiency. Impact, effectiveness, and efficiency are definitions of the linkage between

ends and means in a policy structure. You use these to give meaning to the established relationships during

the process of evaluation and planning, Impact asks who must be changed in order to achieve the desired

society. This is a very difficult item to examine. Who must change to enrich the community? Many

possible choices exist, such as changes in people within the community, or changes in people outside of the

community.

It may be necessary to create consumers who will purchase the community’s products to become

prosperous. Can it be expected that people from neighboring urban areas will change to purchase those

products at supermarkets in their cities? Can it be expected that those living in urban areas will change to

recognize the community’s products? Can it be expected that those living in urban areas will change and

travel to the community to purchase their products? The selection of who to change, or which target group

to change, greatly influences activities of the community.

In the past, agricultural products from Oyama-machi had been shipped to urban markets through

conventional agricultural cooperatives. Profits for Oyama-machi depended on how much the market

broker purchased the products and, therefore, it was necessary to harvest shipments of agricultural products

that met the broker’s standards. The richness of the lives of people in Oyama-machi depended on the

relationship of ends and means. The end here was to increase the profit from agricultural products from

Oyama-machi, and the means of achieving this would be to increase the buying inclination of the brokers,

the target group. Therefore, farmers were forced to meet the prices, volumes and shipping standards of

agricultural products in the market. Unfortunately, not too many farmers in Oyama-machi were able to

sufficiently meet such standards.

How can we sell agricultural products using pricing, volumes and shipment standards different than



the public wholesale market? How can we price products at levels we see fit? How can we decide how

much to ship? How can we ship products we think are good? How can we sell agricultural products

directly to our target consumers? The direct-sales shop of Konohana Garten began in order to address these

questions, directly targeting consumers who purchase agricultural products.

The completion of Yume Otsurihashi, Japan’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge, in Kokonoe-machi

brought more visitors than expected. Yume Otsurihashi brought in as much foot traffic as the busy

commercial avenues of large urban areas. Kokonoe-machi had always been a major producer of tomatoes

and shiitake mushrooms, but now, with about two million people visiting the suspension bridge every year,

Kokonoe-machi changed to make the visitors to the bridge the target group. New shops were built at the

bridge location and products using agricultural products produced and manufactured in Kokonoe-machi

were put on sale. The increase in sales brought a greater variety of products. Kokonoe-machi made those

visiting the bridge a top priority, complementing its efforts to become the top rural area of Japan.

How should intermediate outcomes be selected, or, in other words, who should be selected as the target

group in order to change the community? It is possible to select yourself as the target group. The young

people of Oyama-machi were dispatched to a kibbutz in Israel and were expected to change through the

experience. In Onpaku partners involved in about 150 programs were expected to become more creative

through the process of implementing the programs and networking with other people.

Amid the changes in the environment surrounding the community, selection of target groups as

intermediate outcomes is important. Social values change, people’s lifestyles change, the environment

surrounding the communities change. To achieve the end outcome despite these environmental changes,

strategic selection of target groups becomes increasingly important. Developments in the information

industry have also brought major changes to the environment. People who conventionally could not

become target groups are now becoming possible candidates. The relationship between end outcomes and

intermediate outcomes in the existing policy structure, and impact in evaluation and planning must be

comprehensively and systematically examined in order to strategically establish better policy structures.

This is the key element in the community’s development.

Effectiveness focuses on intermediate outcomes, which are changes in the target group, and asks

questions regarding operations such as what should be done to change the target group, which operations

should be deployed, what combinations of operations are effective, which operations are effective, and are

the outputs of the operations reaching the target group.

Selecting the operations often entails major decisions. In Himeshima, the village office prioritized

healthcare in its budgeting. The village makes efforts to secure medical and health care personnel and

facilities to enable the healthy living of villagers. The Himeshima government conducts necessary

operations on its own, such as water projects and running the ferry, when the private sector cannot fill the

needs gap. This means that projects are not large-scale, but based on priority and the vision of the

community. Efforts to maintain facilities without spending much money, such as the renovation of the

community center into village office, are made in order to maintain vital service in the island like health

care, ferry operation, water, and electricity. Decisions in rural communities often differ from decisions

made in urban areas.

The construction of Yume Otsurihashi, Japan’s longest pedestrian suspension bridge, in

Kokonoe-machi was a major decision. How could Kokonoe-machi attract people? It was necessary to

attract urban people to visit the bridge in Kokonoe-machi. The construction project started from the ideas

of the townspeople and was eventually carried out by the town hall. Upon construction, every bridge with

“Japan’s No. 1” title was investigated. It was found that all bridges that boast being “No. 1 in Japan” attract

a certain number of visitors. Backed by such preparation and confidence, the Yume Otsurihashi



construction commenced. After completion, aspects of the bridge such as the seasonal scenery seen from

the bridge, the bridge’s height, the way it swings, and its location as a node connecting tourist spots such as

Beppu, Yufuin and Kurokawa Onsen, attracted an unexpected number of visitors. With these visitors as

target groups, the town selected and implemented the operation of production, processing, and sales of

agricultural products.

The direct-sales shop of Konohana Garten in Oyama-machi and direct-sales antenna shops in Fukuoka

City, Oita City and Beppu City provided a marketplace for the farmers of Oyama-machi. Through the

distribution channel that allows farmers to sell their produce directly to consumers, farmers have the

opportunity to ship only the produce they want to ship, to select them based on their own standards, and to

price and sell them on their own. This is an unusual market revolution. Recognizing that an area within 1.5

hours of travel as a “direct market” the new distribution system that directly approaches consumers is now

an established operation.

Operation selection in Onpaku is supported by information technology. Onpaku, as in Oyama-machi’s

Konohana Garten, provides a market place for the collective activities of its partners in its website,

receiving online participation reservations, publishing and distributing a brochure, and organizing and

operating the Onpaku fan club. By establishing such an operation format, partners can use their resources

to attract new businesses or improve existing businesses at low risk. Onpaku expects its partners to take

initiative, and through collective activities, enable continued operations that aid in regenerating the

community. Examining effectiveness is important to identify target groups, to specify changes, and to

select collectively beneficial operations.

Efficiency examines the competence of activity’s implementation. Focusing on the process of inputs to

outputs, the overall operation is questioned. Has the operation been productive? Are the activities effective?

Were planned activities feasible? Was the cost worth the outputs? Was the operation appropriate for

generating the outputs? Basically, the suitableness of each operation is examined.

Improving the soil for organic cultivation has been as ongoing activity for the last 30 years in

Oyama-machi. Soil improvement using mushroom beds was proved effective in cultivating products that

are desired by consumers. Their cable TV broadcasting also regularly provides information on the market

pricing of agricultural products. Such activities establish one pricing standard for all farmers. It is said that

people in Oyama-machi have a habit of actually going to see something when they hear it is good.

Information collection like this empowers production activities. Such production skills have been provided

without interruption since the beginning of the NPC Movement and are contributing to the advancement of

agricultural production skills.

When evaluating and planning it is important to take the community policy structure and change it for

the better by investigating its relevance, impact, effectiveness, and efficiency in order to achieve the final

goal of desired social change. Furthermore, it is important to constantly examine whether such a

community policy structure can maintain and develop with changes over time. Many elements demand

changes in the format of the community policy structure, such as changes in technology or in the economic,

social, environmental, and political states surrounding the community. Decentralization also becomes a big

factor. Sustainability is then checked to examine that the community policy structure can be maintained

and developed amid such environmental changes. I believe that it is necessary to evaluate and plan a policy

structure for sustainability within the community. Communities are constantly put to the test on how to

make selections based on their existing policy structure in order to continually, strategically, and

systematically improve it.



6. Conclusion

New policy structures can be established through evaluation and planning. Community development is

brought about by such steady efforts. However, in many rural communities, due to a lack of community

capacity or insufficient understanding of the community policy structure, community development

activities do not adequately occur. Nonetheless, for rural areas to compete against urban areas and realize

their vision, it is necessary to identify the community policy structure, and based on that, conduct

individual and collective, formal and informal, and economic, social, environmental and political activities

in a comprehensive, systematic, and strategic manner.

References

Chaskin, R.J., Brown, P., Venkatesh, S., & Vidal, A. (2001). Building Community Capacity. New York: Aldine De

Gruyter.

Japan International Cooperation Agency Planning and Evaluation Department, Office of Evaluation Management.

(2004). Purojekuto hyôka no jissenteki shuhô – kangaekata to tsukaikata (Practical methods in project evaluation

– concepts and uses). Tokyo: Japan Internatinal Cooperation Association.

Miyoshi, K. (2002). Positioning program evaluation in the policy structure-program evaluation and project

evaluation.

Miyoshi, K. (2005). Kokusai kyôryoku no hyôka (Evaluation of International Cooperation). In S. Utsumi (Ed.),

Kokusai kyôryoku o manabu hito no tame ni (For people studying international cooperation). Kyoto: Sekai Shiso

Sha.

Miyoshi, K. (2008). Hyouka Towa Naika (What is Evaluation). In Miyoshi, Koichi (Ed.), Hyouka-ron wo Manabu

Hitono-tameni (For students who study Evaluation) (pp. 4-22). Kyoto: Sekai Shisou Sha.

Miyoshi, K. (2010a) Chiikiryoku (Community Capacity). Kyoto: Koyo Shobo.

Miyoshi, K. (2010b) An Alternative Approach for Rural People: Proposal for Rural Development for Laos. In A More

Strategic and Participatory Approach for Rural Development: Round Table Discussion Proceedings, Koichi

Miyoshi, Cindy Lyn Banyai, Yumiko Okabe (eds.). Beppu: Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, pp. 4-18

Miyoshi, K. and Stenning, N. (2008a). Developing Community Capacity for Rural Development: An Alternative Appr

oach for Rural People, the Asia Association for Global Studies (AAGS) Research Forum: Rural Development a

nd Community Capacity - Local Action in a Global World, September 20, 2008. (Presented Paper)

Miyoshi, K. and Stenning, N. (2008b). Designing Participatory Evaluation for Community Capacity Development: A

Theory Driven Approach, Japanese Journal of Evaluation Studies, Japan Evaluation Society, 8 (2): 39-53.



Evaluation and Policy Structure

Koichi Miyoshi

Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

1. Introduction

This chapter addresses the interrelations of a policy structure and its evaluation and the characteristics of

each level of evaluation (policy, program or project evaluation), focusing on the framework and constituent

elements of the policy structure to be evaluated.

2. Framework of Evaluation

In general, an evaluation is considered a systematic assessment of a policy, program or project with respect

to its implementation and effects (Weiss 1998, Miyoshi 2008). The evaluation itself should be conducted as

an ordinary and permanent activity that is part of the operation of the respective policy, program or project

with a view to changing the society for the better. In order to carry out such an evaluation, it is necessary to

clarify the framework of the evaluation.

When conducting an evaluation, it is first necessary to clearly identify the subject to be evaluated. To

carry out an appropriate evaluation of a policy, program or project based on a well-defined concept of the

subject, it is important to have a clear understanding of what should be evaluated.

As a general rule, all policies, programs or projects have their own objectives. Policy makers,

administrative officers and project implementers endeavor to achieve their respective objectives by using

every possible means at their disposal. Therefore, as a matter of course, such policies, programs or projects

would be implemented based on the causal sequences, either express or implied, between their objectives

and the means for achieving them as contemplated by the policy makers, administrative officers or project

implementers. For every project activity, there exist a causal sequence between its objectives and means for

accomplishing them - a relationship between the means that constitute the causes inherent in the project

activity and the objectives that constitute the results of the activity - and this relationship provides the

function to support the respective policy, program and project.

In order to achieve the purpose of an evaluation, an evaluation question is used to identify what should

be assessed. The more clearly the subject of evaluation is identified, the more appropriate the evaluation

method would be. Generally, evaluation questions can be divided into 3 groups: those designed to confirm

performance (Normative questions), those designed to identify process (Descriptive questions) and those

designed to explore causes and effects (Cause-effect question) (GAO 1991, Miyoshi 2008). The design and

nature of an evaluation may differ depending on what should be made known and, for this reason, there can

be cases where the confirmation of performance, identification of process, and exploration of causes and

effects should be conducted, independently of each other, as a performance evaluation, process evaluation

and impact evaluation, respectively.

In the past, most evaluations were conducted on an ex-post basis and therefore in order to evaluate a

policy, program or project it was necessary to monitor the process of performance of each policy, program

or project being evaluated. Today, however, an evaluation is recognized as an activity to be conducted

through the entire evaluation management cycle embracing ex-ante evaluation, mid-term evaluation,

terminal evaluation, and ex-post evaluation. Under this evaluation concept, if we can identify the

performance of a policy, program or project, or in other words if we can identify what has been achieved

6



by implementing a policy, program or project, and if we can assess the performance in comparison to

expectations in an appropriate manner as part of the management cycle of a project evaluation, such

process itself can serve as a monitoring function. Specifically, under this assessment process, the

performance will be assessed with respect to the production of outputs (as to how much of goods and

services has been produced), the use of inputs in project activities, and the degree of achievement of

outcomes (as to how much the society has changed or what change has occurred to target groups) as of the

date of assessment and will be evaluated in comparison to the expectations set forth at the planning stage.

To do this evaluation in a proper manner, it is important to define appropriate performance indicators and

criteria of measuring the performance.

3. Policy Structure

The process to identify the relationship between objectives and means of achieving them as discussed

above, which is the subject of evaluation, is called a program theory or logic model. In the case of

evaluation based on this program theory or logic model, the evaluation will be conducted to assess the

theory underlying the policy structure, namely, the causes and effects of interactions between end outcomes

of respective policies, programs and projects (effects realized as a change in the target society),

intermediate outcomes (effects realized as a change in target groups including individuals and

organizations), outputs (goods or services resulting from activities), activities (actions taken to produce

outputs by using inputs), and inputs (resources used to produce outputs including personnel, equipment and

materials, administrative expenses, facilities, funds, expertise, time, etc.)1 (Figure 1 and Figure 2 as

examples).

Figure 3 shows the schematic diagram of a policy structure as given in Figure 1 by using program

theory matrix. Figure 4 is an example of a policy structure in program theory matrix form. A table in a

matrix format can provide a lot of information in a concise manner. In the real world, a central government

has as many policy structures as the number of its policies. However, in actual cases of evaluation, policy

structures are not always clearly identified as the subject of evaluation. If a policy structure is unclear, its

evaluation cannot be done in an appropriate manner. The precise definition of a policy structure is

particularly important for its evaluation.2

4. Levels of Evaluation and Policy Structure: Scope of Recognition and Scope of

Assessment for Evaluation of Policies, Programs and Projects

While a policy structure should be evaluated, the concept of evaluation largely varies depending on which

level the policy structure should be evaluated. The concept and method of evaluation can be quite different

depending on whether the focus of the evaluation should be on policies, programs or projects.

1 In the world of evaluation, a problem in causal relationships at the planning phase of a project is referred to as a theory failure, and

a problem in the implementation of a project is referred to as an implementation failure. Theory failure implies that there is/are a

problem(s) in the chain relations between the objectives and the means to achieve the objectives of each policy, program or project,

namely, a problem in the logic on which the success or failure of the portion of a plan that cannot be directly controlled depends,

which portion of the plan covers the intermediate outcomes and end outcomes in the form of a change in a target group or the

society, and implementation failure indicates that there is/are a problem(s) in the implementation of project activities that an

implementer of the project can control throughout the process from inputs to outputs. It is important to distinguish the two types of

failure and analyze them differently in their respective contexts. 2 Traditionally, in the evaluation of international coordination, a logical framework (LF) approach, including Project Design Matrix

(PDM), has been used as a basic tool of evaluation through which points of evaluation can be determined and generalized into a

concept of a program theory, namely a policy structure by relating to each level of strategic elements to be evaluated the five

evaluation criteria (relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability) as defined by the Development Assistance

Committee (DAC) of the Organisation for Economic Coordination and Development (OECD). However, LF and PDM are a

project-oriented tool designed chiefly to evaluate the effects of a project on intermediate and end outcomes and, therefore, are not

considered an ideal tool when intending to extend the evaluation beyond the level of a project to the level of a program or a policy.



Figure 1: Policy Structure

Source: The author

Figure 2: Example of Policy Structure and Logic Model

Source: The author

Activities

Inputs

Activities

Inputs

Activities

Inputs

OutputOutput Output Output

PolicyEnd Outcome

ProgramIntermediate Outcome

Activities

Inputs

Project Project Project

ProgramIntermediate Outcome

Project

Health conditions of

mothers and children

are improved

Medical services are

improved

Nutritious status of

mothers and children

are improved

Output

(People’s awareness

campaigns are

conducted)

Output

(Clinic facilities

are well

equipped)

Output

(Medical staffs

are re-trained)

Output

(Seminars on

nutrition are

conducted)

Policy

End Outcome

Program

Intermediate Outcome

Activities

Inputs

Activities

Inputs

Activities

Inputs

Activities

Inputs

Project Project Project Project



Figure 3: Program Theory Matrix

Policy

End Outcomes

Program

Intermediate

Outcomes

Project

Outputs Activities Inputs

EEOOCC IOC1 OP1/1 A1/1 IP1/1

OOPP11//22 A1/2 IP1/2

IIOOCC22 OP2/1 A2/1 IP2/1

OP2/2 A2/1 IP2/2

Note: EOC、IOC、OP、A、IP stands for End Outcome, Intermediate Outcome, Output, Activity, and Input under respective policy structure.

Source: The author based on Miyoshi (2008)

Figure 4: Example of Program Theory Matrix

Policy

End

Outcomes

Program

Intermediate

Outcomes

Project


Health

Conditions of

mothers and

children are

improved

1. Medical

services are

improved

1.1 Clinic facilities are well

equipped

1.2 Medical staffs are

re-trained

To carry out training

courses

To develop training

materials

Trainers

Training facilities

2. Nutritious

status of mothers

and children are

improved

2.1 People’s awareness

campaigns are conducted

2.2 Seminars on nutrition

are conducted

Source: The author

The evaluation of a policy or program should start from outcomes and primarily focus on the

assessment of the appropriateness of the allocation and combination of the outputs produced by the policy

or program. On the other hand, the evaluation of a project is mainly aimed at assessing the effects of its

outputs on the outcomes produced. There is a clear distinction between the evaluation of a policy or

program and the evaluation of a project in terms of the scope of recognition of the subject to be evaluated

and respective analytical elements. Therefore, in order to conduct an evaluation, it is essential to ensure that

the scope of such recognition and analytical elements should be precisely defined with respect to each

policy, program and project within the policy structure. Figure 5 is a program theory matrix that shows a

conceptually categorized view of the scope of recognition and the scope of assessment applicable to the

evaluation of the respective policies, programs and projects within a policy structure. Figure 6 is its

example.

The difference in the scope of recognition between the evaluations of a policy, program and project

comes from the difference in perspectives between a policy, program and project, at the same time the

hierarchical difference between the subjects of evaluation. Further, such difference in the scope of

recognition is also related to the difference in the capacity to control end outcomes, intermediate outcomes,

outputs, activities and inputs. On the other hand, a policy structure is an expression of the intention of an

administrative agency and can be materialized only when it is recognized as a chain of objectives and the

means to achieve the objectives. However, not all administrative activities that constitute a policy structure

such as a chain of end outcomes, intermediate outcomes, outputs, activities and inputs can be identified

here. A policy structure can function only if it can be recognized at each level of policy, program and

project and each of such recognition is harmonized with each other. Therefore, in order to define a policy

structure, it is necessary to clarify how and by what mechanism each policy, program and project are



Figure 5: Policy Structure and the Scope of Recognition

End Outcomes Intermediate

Outcomes


EEOOCC IOC1 OP1/1 A1/1 IP1/1

OOPP11//22 A1/2 IP1/2

IIOOCC22 OP2/1 A2/1 IP2/1

OP2/2 A2/1 IP2/2

Note: EOC、IOC、OP、A、IP stands for End Outcome, Intermediate Outcome, Output, Activity, and Input under respective policy structure.

Source: The author based on Miyoshi (2008)

Figure 6: Example of Policy Structure and the Scope of Recognition

End Outcomes Intermediate

Outcomes

Outputs

Activities Inputs

Health

Conditions of

mothers and

children are

improved

1. Medical

services are

improved

1.1 Clinic facilities are well

equipped

1.2 Medical staffs are

re-trained

To carry out training

courses

To develop training

materials

Trainers

Training facilities

2. Nutritious

status of mothers

and children are

improved

2.1 People’s awareness

campaigns are conducted

2.2 Seminars on nutrition

are conducted

Source: The author

Policy

Program

Project

Policy

Program

Project



recognized by the respective organizations or administrative agencies in their actual activities.

We shall now discuss the issue of recognition in detail. When recognizing a project, the perspective of

recognition is basically focused on outputs. It may be easy to understand this question if you pay attention

to, for example, what goods or services have been produced from the administrative activities of a local

government, or what facilities or equipment have been created under a national project. In the case of a

project, the recognition of end outcomes tends to be weak and, where the focus of recognition is placed on

activities or inputs, the recognition of intermediate outcomes or results also becomes weak. A project is

understood to be an approach to control inputs during a certain limited period and this understanding is

consistent with the scope of the project being discussed here. Administrative activities are implemented and

managed, they produce goods and services and then, as a result of such process, the beneficiaries who will

be directly influenced are recognized.

In the case of a program, its focus is placed on intermediate outcomes and, in order to achieve these

intermediate outcomes, a project, namely a set of multiple outputs, is recognized. Then, the program's

effects on the policy, which appear in the form of end outcomes, are recognized and, as a result of such

recognition, a program is recognized. With regard to activities and inputs, since it is difficult to recognize

them all, the recognition of them becomes weak. Basically, the recognition of a program focuses on the

following questions: what projects or in what combination of projects the expected change in target groups

could be realized; of particular concern in this respect would be the selection or combination of the goods

or services produced from administrative activities.

When recognizing a policy, first, intermediate outcomes are recognized in terms of what policies should

be adopted or what target groups should be selected to achieve end outcomes, namely the expected change

in society. And then, outcomes are recognized from the viewpoint of what projects comprise the program.

As the recognition of projects becomes weaker, the recognition of activities or inputs becomes almost

insignificant. The recognition can potentially involve political elements. Such recognition confirms the fact

that a policy is discussed without reference to activities.

The evaluation of policies, programs and projects will be performed on the basis of such recognitions.

This means that generally a policy, program or project will be evaluated within the scope of recognition

relevant to each such subject of evaluation and thus the evaluation is subject to the differences in the scope

of recognition, or evaluation, of the respective policy, program or project within the context of the policy

structure. Therefore, if you intend to conceptualize the subject of the evaluation in the evaluation of policies,

programs and projects, you can cut off or separate the relevant part of the policy structure on the basis of

the scope of recognition pertaining to the subject of evaluation and then visualize it in a matrix format.

When evaluating a policy, it is necessary to identify the chain reaction between end outcomes as a goal

and intermediate outcomes as the means to achieve the end outcomes and to consider the appropriate

allocation between them. This can be done using a matrix prepared for evaluation purposes. Through this

process, it will be reviewed how the intermediate outcomes have been combined with the aim of achieving

the end outcomes. Likewise, in the case of evaluation of programs or projects too, the chain reaction

between the objectives and the means of achieving the objectives and the allocation - the combination of

means - will be reviewed within the scope of recognition relevant to each subject of evaluation.

5. Policy Structures and Localization, Decentralization and Model Project

This section provides an explanation on matters that are considered important for the clear definition of the

policy structure to be evaluated and other matters concerning the issues of policy structures and their

localization, decentralization and model projects. It should be noted that the results of an evaluation of the

localization or decentralization of a policy structure or a model project under a policy structure can



potentially be largely different depending on the appropriateness of the definition of the relevant policy

structure.

5.1 Localization

Localization is a concept that should be considered in cases where the performance of a policy formulated

at the national level must be aggregated at the local level or where the performance of a policy

implemented at a local level must be evaluated at the national level. A policy formulated at the national

level can be implemented only after the relevant policy structure established at the national level is

localized to a policy structure at a local level. In other words, policies at different local levels need to be

considered based on the same logic (Figure 7). Projects and programs are designed to achieve local level

objectives. In the case of evaluating a project, the project can be evaluated only after the inputs, activities,

outputs, and the chain of their causal sequences, that may lead to the intermediate outcome (change of

target groups at the local level) and the end outcome (change of society at the local level) can be clarified

and thus the subject of evaluation can be precisely defined at the local level and therefore can be evaluated.

As is natural, a policy of a country is formulated with the aim of achieving the end outcomes contemplated

by the country but it must be reviewed in consideration of end outcomes contemplated at local levels when

the policy needs to be localized. This is because end outcomes at local levels may not be achieved without

changing the inputs, activities, outputs or intermediate outcomes at local levels even if their policy

structures remain the same as the national policy structure with respect to fundamental points.

Suppose that a certain country intends to formulate a national policy relating to a health sector and that

the policy's expected end outcome is to improve the health condition of 5 million people. Under the policy,

if local region I is aimed at improving the health condition of 300,000 people while local region II's target

is to improve the health condition of 200,000 people, the programs and projects that the two regions will

implement to achieve their respective goals may take different forms: for example, region I may promote a

project to encourage periodic health examinations and region II may develop a project to improve the

Figure 7: Localization of Policy Structure

End Outcome Intermediate

Outcome

Output Activity Input

Nation-wide: EOC-

e.g. Improvement of health

condition of 5 million people

IOC OP A I

Region I: EOC-e.g.

Improvement of health condition

of 300,000 million people

IOC-e.g.

Medical services

are improved

OP-e.g.

Medical

staffs are

re-trained

A

To carry out

training

courses

I

-Trainers

-Training

facilities

Region II: EOC-e.g.

Improvement of health condition

of 200,000 million people

IOC-e.g.

Nutritious status of

mothers and

children are

improved

OP-e.g.

People’s

awareness

campaigns

are

conducted

A

I

Source: The author



nutritional state of its people, thus in order to achieve their respective intermediate and end outcomes;

activities under the same program or project may need to be changed depending on circumstances. This

shows that local programs and projects can contribute to national policies only if the programs and policies

to be implemented by relevant local agencies are well considered in the formulation of the national policies

and so the changes that may be needed at local levels may be directly reflected in the national policies,

which is also desirable from owners’ point of view.

Since in many cases, the subject of evaluation is rather vague, successes of individual programs and

projects would seldom lead to successes at policy level, it is frequently argued whether the policies being

formulated are really effective. To give a positive answer to such question, we need to define each policy

structure in a clear manner both at the central government and local levels (prefectures and municipalities)

and to review the individual policies implemented under the respective policy structure - this is the way a

novel policy structure can be established.

5.2 Decentralization

Decentralization is similar to localization but is different in that each decentralized level is endowed with

an independent authority and has its own role as part of a whole. A policy at a decentralized level is

different from that of a national level in terms of roles relating to outputs or intermediate outcomes (namely,

change of expected target groups). As an example, let's take the case of a policy for the construction of a

road in which policy respective authorities and roles are divided between central and local levels. The

outputs at the central level would be the construction of a national road or a road that serves a large area

and those at a local level would be the construction of a road serving local regions, districts or villages;

both the central level and local levels promote the same policy but beneficiaries are different. It should also

be noted that under a decentralized system each local level may establish its own policy structure based on

the shape of the end outcomes they expect.

On the other hand, it is potentially possible to formulate a policy structure that integrates the projects of

both central and local levels on the basis of the perspectives of a specific local government but such policy

structure can vary widely from region to region.

5.3 Model Project

In recent years, many projects have been developed as model projects. The concept of a model project is to

create a model project, gain experiences and outcomes through the model project and apply such

experiences and outcomes to other areas or projects on an extensive scale. Under this concept, the model

project will be established at a pilot site selected after a careful screening, and experiences will be

accumulated through activities within the model project. Then, the experiences gained will be reviewed

and extended to other areas within the country under a policy reflecting such experiences.

However, there are many cases of model projects that have failed to extend themselves to other areas

although a large amount of money have been invested and a policy structure itself has been created to

promote the model projects. On the other hand, there are cases where the logic for the policy structure is

inappropriate; for example, some of the projects set their intermediate outcome to establish a system or

some of the projects set their end outcome to extend the model project to other areas. Such

inappropriateness of the chain relations within a policy structure comes from the lack of awareness of the

fact that to establish a system is to clarify the set of relationships between the inputs, activities and outputs

of a project and that in order to extend an established system to other areas an independent policy structure

designed primarily to promote the extension is required.

In order to avoid the risk of formulating a policy structure involving inappropriate model projects and to



establish models of mode projects, it is essential to create and carefully examine a policy structure that

promotes model projects whose end outcomes are to achieve a change in the society for which the model

projects are responsible, and at the same time to assess the structure in comparison with the current policy

structures relating to the relevant model projects of the local levels to which the model projects are intended

to be extended. It is important to note that the evaluation of a model project becomes possible only after an

appropriate policy structure for the promotion of the model project has been firmly established.

6. Summary

We have discussed the scope of recognition applicable to policies, programs and projects, the concept of

evaluation of policies, programs and projects, localization, decentralization, model projects and aid

coordination, in relation to policy structures.

In summary (refer to Box), table 1 shows the characteristics of policy evaluation, program evaluation

and project evaluation. The implementation of policy evaluation and program evaluation is not an

extension of project evaluation. It requires that all of the issues of the scope of recognition, main

perspectives of evaluation and method of intervention should be properly changed. Therefore, it is

important to note that, in order to facilitate policy and program evaluations, it is not enough to discuss the

methodology of evaluation but it is also necessary that stakeholders themselves, such as aid agencies,

should change.

As regards policy evaluation and program evaluation, it will be possible, with the use of a program

theory matrix (PTM), to consider the issues of awareness of agencies about the policies, programs and

projects to be evaluated, localization, decentralization, model projects and aid coordination, based on

agencies' own policies or strategies or multiple projects with specific objectives or goals.

Table 1: Characteristics of Policy Evaluation, Program Evaluation and Project Evaluation

Policy Evaluation Program Evaluation Project Evaluation

Scope of

recognition

Focusing on end outcomes (change in

society as expected). Intermediate

outcomes (which are the selection and

combination of target groups expecting

the change in society) must be

recognized. With respect to the

recognition of results (as produced in

the form of goods or services), it

would suffice if they can be

recognized as a means to achieve the

intermediate outcomes.

Focusing on intermediate

outcomes (change in target groups

expecting the social change). The

selection and combination of

results (goods and services) as a

means must be recognized. With

respect to the recognition of end

outcomes, it would suffice if they

can be recognized as the objective

of the program.

Focusing on outputs (goods

and services). Activities and

inputs will be recognized as

the implementation of a

project. Intermediate

outcomes and end outcomes

are the project's effects.

Responsibility Examination of the expected change in

society and selection of target groups.

Examination of the target groups

expecting the change and selection

and combination of the projects.

Implementation of the project

and production of outputs

(goods and services).

Main points of

evaluation

Relevance and impact Relevance and effectiveness Efficiency

Aid intervention Provision of advice on the selection of

target groups and provision of

technical coordination (such as

researches and investigations) and

necessary funds.

Provision of advice on the

selection and combination of

projects and provision of technical

coordination (such as researches

and investigations) and necessary

funds.

Intervention with respect to

the implementation of the

project and the production of

the outcomes (goods and

services).

Aid

coordination,

development

and model

projects

Sharing of end outcomes to be

supported and allocated roles toward

intermediate outcomes.

Sharing of intermediate outcomes

to be supported and allocated roles

in the project.

Allocated roles for the

implementation of the project.

Sources: The author



Box Policy Structure and Aid Coordination

In an effort to produce better outcomes, the concept of aid coordination3 has been put forward by aid

agencies. The aid coordination is designed 1) to improve understanding of other development

organizations' aid policies and strategies and share relevant information, 2) to have the objectives and

priorities of policies, programs and projects in common between development organizations, and 3) to

support or implement programs or projects in coordination or jointly with other aid countries. An aid

coordination can be effective if the participating aid agencies share the roles in the aid function at all levels

of policies, programs and projects based on the policy structure of the aid recipient country (partner

country). There can be many variations of means to play shared roles such as the coordination in producing

common outcomes based on respective responsibility, coordination in providing budget support to achieve

end outcomes, contribution by supporting intermediate outcomes, or contribution to achieving outcomes at

the national level based on a national policy that integrates the programs and projects implemented in

different regions.

Like the case of an intervention in a policy, the intervention by a development organization in a program of

a developing country would typically be made in respect of planning, implementation and evaluation.

The intervention in respect of planning would include technical coordination such as making a master plan

and would be made mainly concerning the selection of objectives, namely intermediate outcomes and

outputs resulting from the intervention which is a means to achieve them. This intervention can also take

the form of support for the designing of institutional arrangements or legislation as with the case of

intervention in a policy. With respect to the implementation side, the intervention may take the form of

financial support to help the implementation of the respective programs, usually with a pool of funds made

available to support policies or the common funds as seen in sector wide approaches (SWAPs).

On the other hand, while development organizations have their own policies, if their intermediate outcomes,

namely their target groups, are the same, it would be possible for them to set their sights on bringing a

change in society as their end outcomes if their outputs can produce the same change of target groups even

if the outputs are produced through activities under their individual policies. Following this way, it is

possible for development organizations to expect a larger change than the change they can expect when

they act individually as a single agency and repeat their projects under a single-handed initiative as has

often been the case in the past.

Whether we can evaluate various aspects of aid coordination in an appropriate manner depends on whether

we can systematize the aid coordination to be evaluated based on a specific policy structure. To this end, it

is essential for us to understand and systematize the characteristics of the policy structures of both of the

development organizations and partner countries and formulate the policy structures in a manner suitable

for evaluation.

Reference

U.S. General Accounting Office (1991). Designing Evaluation, Washington D.C.: General Accounting Office.

Miyoshi, Koichi. (2008). Hyouka Towa Nanika (What is Evaluation). in Miyoshi, Koichi (Ed.), Hyouka-ron wo

Manabu Hitono-tameni (For students who study Evaluation) (pp. 4-22). Kyoto: Sekai Shisou Sha.

Weiss, Carol H. (1998). Evaluation METHODOS FOR STUDYNG PROGRAMS AND POLICIES SECOND

EDITION Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River.

3 There are two types of aid coordination: one is the coordination between aid agencies and the other is the coordination by aid

giving countries with the aid recipient countries with regard to the policies of the aid recipient countries.



Alternative Approaches to

Participatory Evaluation


Koichi Miyoshi / Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

1. Introduction

This paper introduces Appreciative Inquiry and Photo Elicitation as an alternative approach to participatory

evaluation as applied in the context of the rural development project in Surin Province, Thailand. There is

still much to discuss about participatory evaluation in comparison to conventional forms of evaluation.

This paper focuses on the specific approaches to participatory evaluation. Because it involves many

stakeholders that are most likely not familiar with evaluations yet, it is necessary that the approach be

practiced and included as a part of their routine. This will eventually prove beneficial especially for

stakeholders who really need its results. The paper also explains the methodology selection process as well

as the formulation of evaluation objectives and questions. Ultimately, the evaluation results confirm that the

end outcome was achieved by the communityand earning for them their confidence.

2. Participatory Evaluation

Participatory approaches for rural development, especially participatory evaluation, have been developing since

the 1990s. According Who are the Question Makers?: A Participatory Evaluation Handbook, published by the

United Nation Development Programme (1997), participatory evaluation traces its origin from participatory

studies such as PAR. Only recently, however, have policy-making spheres in development agencies also

recognized its significance and began adopting the concept to their setting. Participatory evaluations have been

recognized and implemented with developed concepts and techniques; there is still a lack of discussion on

participatory practice cases and frameworks in comparison to conventional evaluations (Miyoshi and Tanaka,

2001).

Morgan (2013), who is a development practitioner, claims capacity development evaluation “suffers at

present from more than just gaps in methodology;” people are the problem because they are “still confused

about what capacity is and is not (p. 76).” This means people still heavily depend on project-oriented

approaches, rather than the policy-oriented ones or else outcome-oriented. The project-oriented perspective

narrows perspectives to the relationship between outputs and outcomes, and are thus dependent on quantitative

analysis for the evaluation results. Participatory evaluations demand more practicality and holistic views in line

with development paradigm trends. Local communities must take initiative and be responsible parties in the

decision-making and planning processes. Practitioners and program implementers should facilitate the

participation of local communities to establish a dialogue to fill the gap in between them (Bessette, 2004, p.

23). Communities know the most about their lives, traditions, and cultures (Pretty and Gujit, 1992, p. 23), yet

they are often not fully recognized as potential partners for development. it is our role as constructionist

practitioners to facilitate communities to develop their skills, values, and knowledge on their activities, take the

control of their will, and “keep improving their capacity to do so within a more sustainable and just

environment” (Greenwood and Levin, 2007, p. 5), which also can be referred to as social change.

3. Community Policy Structure Model in Evaluation

Miyoshi (2012) introduces the community policy structure model (Figure 1) for a more holistic view on

practical participatory evaluation in the context of community capacity development. Figure 1 depicts the

7



Figure 1: Community Policy Structure

Source: Miyoshi (2012)

conceptualized causal relationship between ends and means as end outcomes, intermediate outcomes, outputs,

activities and inputs (Miyoshi, 2008, 2010, 2012) in an objective tree. The first step to implement participatory

evaluation is to recognize the community policy structure as an evaluation subject (p. 37). In order to

implement planning and evaluation, he emphasizes, “clarifying the subject of evaluation or planning, or in

other words, conceptualizing the policies, programs and project (p. 85)”. People usually conduct their daily

activities individually or collectively whilst having its purposes to achieve, either explicitly or implicitly. The

policy structure model presents these ties, the public administration and NPOs play the role of the public here;

however it is more likely that the public administration recognizes the policy structure explicitly in formats

such as a government development plan paper or other official document (Miyoshi, 2012). Miyoshi (2013)

also added “localization of policy structure in the rural community” as a requirement for practical participatory

evaluation. The real successful outcomes of any projects should influence people’s daily lives directly, as

they gain confidence in themselves or they gain eagerness to work, described as changes in behaviors and

attitudes as end outcomes in policy structure. This is how I define as capacity development here as well.

4. Benefits of Participatory Evaluation

Participatory evaluation is the process of rethinking the whole concept of evaluation -- for what, to whom,

and why. The use of participatory evaluation is best suited to formative evaluation projects, meaning

stakeholders construct their system of evaluation, and Patton (1990) added the occurrences in learning

within stakeholders called “process use” that reflects social constructivist learning theory (Coghlan, Preskill,

and Catsambas 2003, p. 6). It is the process for stakeholders to recognize the society change in the

community through evaluation experiences and learning (Miyoshi, 2012). Evaluation is the most important

participation of stakeholders because they gain knowledge and expand their networks. The benefits of

participatory evaluations are:

Emphasis on the significance of community’s perspective towards development, not external

stakeholders;

Knowledge sharing among stakeholders;

An empowering, transformational opportunity to effect social change;

Enhanced understanding of program;

Organizational and individual learning;

Development of skills, capacities among stakeholders; D

evelopment of evaluation skills among stakeholders;

Identification of locally relevant evaluation questions; and

Data-gathering and networking.

Policy:(

!End!Outcome

Program:(

!Intermediate!Outcome

Project:(Output/Ac5vity/Input(

(Project!of!a!Government)

Project:(Output/Ac5vity/Input(((Project!of!NPO)

Project:(Output/Ac5vity/Input(((Project!of!NPO)

Project:(Output/Ac5vity/Input(((

(Project!of!Private!Companies!or!Groups)

Program:((

Intermediate!Outcome

Public



Repeating evaluation activities in a learning process allows participants to construct their own activities

and framework. Evaluation activities become routine for the stakeholder’s own benefit in a sustainable way.

In addition to that, I would like to emphasize the concept of participatory is in the making, preceding ahead of

actual practices.

5. Alternative Approaches

5-1. Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is widely used for organizational development focusing on the positive to nurture the

potential strengths within individuals or organizations. It had been strongly influenced by the social

constructionism theory where “questions asked become the material out of which the future is conceived and

constructed (Cooperrider, Whitney and Stavros, 2003, p.8)”. AI embraces participatory inquiry and some

evaluations using AI are reported as having encouraging results (Coghlan et al., 2003). The goal here is not just

participation and learning, but how evaluation participants construct their social system through dialogue in

order for them to develop capacity individually and collectively for future actions.

Development often starts by identifying problems. It then leads to a discussion of possible solutions to

overcome the issues. In fact, problem solving often incorporates the negatives that it creates another problem

and never reaches its ends. However, this seems to be the most constructive approach. Simply considering that

common sense of human being do not prefer to be considered as inferior to another, many of the development

approaches or strategies ignore that fact. Development needs dreams and visions so that community members

can work towards a consensus and achieve their goals. Unfortunately, problem solving in participatory

approach does not generate enough influence to make a consensus. Alternatively, AI could give communities

what they dream of, a vision for the future and the common goal to achieve. The two paradigms are shown in

Figure 2.

While the problem solving approach makes the assumption that an organization is a problem to be

solved, AI assumes that an organization is a mystery that should be embraced as a human center of infinite

Figure 2: The Two Paradigms

Source: Cooperrider, Whitney and Stavros, 2003

Problem Solving

“Felt Need”

Identification of Problem

↓

Analysis of Causes

↓

Analysis of Possible Solutions

↓

Action Planning

(Treatment)

Appreciative Inquiry

Appreciating

“Valuing the Best of What Is”

↓

Envisioning

“What Might Be”

↓

Dialoguing

“What Should Be”

↓

Innovating

“What Will Be”



Figure 3: Appreciative Inquiry “4-D” Cycle

Source: Cooperrider et al., 2003

imagination, infinite capacity, and potential (Cooperrider and et al., 2013). AI focuses on affirmative topics

categorized into four different choices as a cycle shown in Figure 3. These are discovery, dream, design and

destiny.

The first step is the most important part in the process of evaluation. The discovery process is simply about

the sharing of discoveries and possibilities through dialogue. Doing so allows individual appreciation to

transform to collective appreciation, which is subsequent to having a shared vision for the organization. In

addition, these dialogues generate knowledge sharing from the members’ individual learning, experiences and

practices, among others. Therefore, unlike the conventional modes of the problem solving approach that begin

from deficits, AI starts from the positive and moves to the extraordinary (Cooperrider, et al., p 2003).

Utilizing this aspect of AI in evaluations might sound contradictory because of the negative image of

evaluation. On top of this, there are only a few practical cases of AI in evaluation and even less case studies in

the development field. But since AI was created for organizational management issues, it is only necessary to

conceptualize AI in evaluation further.

5-2. Photo Elicitation

Photo Elicitation is a tool from the field of visual sociology. It is used to explore diverse descriptions of

photographs, as well as to draw out voices from photo takers. As it is said ”photos speak themselves” and they

can deliver vast information with just one image where heaps of explanation would be needed in the written or

spoken word and people may hardly get the idea. There are numerous ways to use this approach. For instance,

participants may be allowed to choose the photos for discussion based on the following questions: why did you

choose these particular photos; which photo did you not take; why did you take this picture; how did you take

this picture, etc. Doing so will draw out their voices such that those who do not normally speak during

discussions can actually speak through photos they’ve selected.

A

Discovery

“What gives life?”

(the best of what is)

Appreciating

Design

“How can it be?”

(determining the ideal)

Co-constructing

Destiny

“What will be?”

(how to empower, learn and

adjust/improvise)

Sustaining

Dream

“What might be?”

(imagine what the world is

calling for)

Envisioning

Affirmative Topic Choice



One of the advantages of photo elicitation is its ability to get descriptive stories from the people. It is a

possible key towards finally attaining development as evaluations normally neglect qualitative inputs due to its

emphasis on quantitative-oriented outputs.

6. Evaluation Questions

Questions were set based on the two selected approaches and can be seen in Table 1. Photo elicitation focuses

on sharing the project implementation activities and finding those activities that made changes and impressed

stakeholders. This approach uncovers the kind of activities people are interested in through the selection of their

favorite photographs and a discussion on how they see those changes. This allows implementers to select what

kind of project activities they can emphasize on for future planning. People can get more detailed information

on what kind of activities were done in the project and how other people were able to make positive changes.

This approach also fosters learning and knowledge sharing.

The second set of questions is on the Excellence Award 2013, which focuses on sharing the best practices

among participants and making new goals for the next festival. In the book entitled Appreciative Inquiry

Handbook (Author), a case of an AI project was presented. AI was used “to discover the positive core” of the

center in question and “to enable the staff to focus on projects, process improvements, and rewards” and “to

build a team spirit, thereby creating a better environment (p. 151).” I found their case could be adopted exactly

as it is. My intention for the Excellence Award 2013 is to make everyone write stories from the perspective that

they are the winner. The first question is about their feelings before starting the project activities followed by a

question on the situation after the implementation of the project activities. The reason for this is to see how

people changed or were influenced by doing activities and where the chance for change was. The next question

focuses on the uniqueness of the practice so people can learn together and potentially adopt the best practice.

Some people might not be confident enough to describe their best practice, therefore I encouraged the whole

group to work together to find out what the best was from that particular person. This also provides people with

the opportunity to think about themselves, as well as other people, even if it was the first time they met. Asking

other people questions would eventually lead to reflections about the activities. Sharing stimulates discussion

and learning.

These lessons and knowledge sharing are ways by which people can detach from interventions or

consultations from higher levels of the community, and modify their policy structure on their own.

Table 1: Prompt Questions

Photo Elicitation Excellence Award

Briefly describe one of the pictures you like the

most

Emphasize the good points of that picture

Identify the stakeholders of that particular point

in time

Identify the changes that picture affected

Imagine you are representing the implementers/program

providers in accepting a festival award “Excellence in

Consulting/Program Providing Practice” in 2013.

Describe what you felt about consulting with your

program providers

Describe what you appreciate most about your consulting

with your program providers

Why do you think so?

What makes your consulting practice unique?

Describe the next goal by participating the festival



7. Evaluation Results

Each evaluation tells a story, but over several meetings similar results standout. Notable trends based on the

presentations, observations, discussions, interviews, and the result of evaluations came to light. Since

appreciative inquiry was new to most of the participants, they did not initially take it seriously perhaps thinking

that what they are being asked to do could not possibly be part of the evaluation. Meanwhile, others expressed

worry over not knowing how to do an evaluation. In this regard, appreciative inquiry helped people focus on

the positives so that they would gain confidence in participating in the evaluation process of their past activities.

This is the most important process of an evaluation that participants need to gain confidence at some extent

rather than analyzing the cause of problems. The discussion went very smoothly after which, especially when it

came to formulating their future goals. On the contrary, the problem approach tends to leave people more

unaware of possible solutions to their issues. If ever they do arrive at a solution, it is often just an assumption of

what can be done in order to overcome the problem. Appreciative inquiry starts with strengths and this is easier

for participants to recognize. Usually, this is not considered as important as knowing problems and causes but

in the context of rural development, people have to know what they can do so that they can take initiatives for

their own development.

Photo elicitation contributed to the collection of relevant information that comprised of, among others, local

knowledge, wisdom, resources and talents. Personal accounts and descriptions such as “this silk is made by

hands, therefore it is valuable’ also helped the participants’ recognize the importance of their cultures, customs

and values. With the photograph as its backdrop, the evaluation became the perfect venue for dialogue or

discussion between someone who knows the community well and someone who does not.

8. Conclusion

The appreciative inquiry and photo elicitation approach is a unique tool for fostering and enhancing individual

and collective capacities in the context of rural development project. Despite the fact that development is a

congregation of individuals, groups and organizations, it mostly starts from the viewpoint of human sciences.

This study proved not only the usability and practicability of alternative approaches for evaluation but also its

holistic benefits for the stakeholders.

Reference

Bessette, G. (2004). Involving the Community: A Guide to Participatory Development Communication. Malaysia:

Southbound.

Coghlan, A. T., Preskill, H., & Tzavaras, T. (2003). An Overview of Appreciative Inquiry in Evaluation. In H. S.

Preskill & A. T. Coghlan (Eds.), Using Appreciative Inquiry in Evaluation (Vol. 100). San Francisco:

Jossey-Bass.

Cooperrider, D. L., Whitney, D. K., & Stavros, J. M. (2003). Appreciative Inquiry Handbook: The First in a Series of

AI Workbooks for Leaders of Change. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Greenwood, D., & Levin, M. (2006). Introduction to Action Research: Social Research for Social Change (2nd ed.).

Sage Publications, Inc.

Miyoshi, K. (2011). Why Community Capacity for Rural Development? In K. Miyoshi, Y. Okabe, & C. Banyai (Eds.),

Community Capacity and Rural Development: Reading Material for JICA Training Programs (1st ed.).

Kyushu: Japan International Cooperation Agency.



Miyoshi, K. (2013). Toward a More Holistic Evaluation Approach for Rural Development. American Journal of

Evaluation. doi:10.1177/1098214013493494

Miyoshi, K. and Tanaka Y. (2001). Sankagata-hyoka no Shouraisei: Sankagata Hyouka no Gainen to JIssen

ni-tsuiteno Ichi-Kousatu, (Future of Participatory Evaluation-Concept and Utilization of

Participatory Evaluation), Japanese Journal of Evaluation Studies, 1(1): 65-79. (in Japanese).

Patton, M. Q., & Patton, M. Q. (1990). Qualitative evaluation and research methods. Newbury Park, Calif.: Sage

Publications.

Pretty, J. N., & Guijt, I. (1992). Primary environmental care: an alternative paradigm for development assistance.

Environment and Urbanization, 4(1), 22–36. doi:10.1177/095624789200400104

United Nation Development Programme. (1997). Who Are the Question-makers? A Participatory Evaluation

Handbook. United Nations.



The Decentralized Hands-On Exhibition Approach

Hisano Ishimaru and Koichi Miyoshi / Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University


1. Introduction

An exhibition is normally used to develop local communities by providing them with a venue to sell local

products and services. The idea of the Decentralized Hands-On (DHO) exhibition was developed as an

approach to rural community development in Japan fourteen years ago not only as a means to sell products

and services but also as a way to display local resources, local wisdoms and culture. The event also helped

discover other local resources that can be used for community development. Since then, the DHO

exhibition has been developed, based on Japan’s experiences, as a community development model.

Because it is a relatively new approach to community development, there is barely any literature written

about it. This paper aims to introduce the concept by describing (1) the characteristics of the exhibition, (2)

the DHO exhibition approach for community development, and (3) the implementation of the approach

through case studies.

2. Characteristics of Exhibition

When the DHO exhibition approach was developed, four words were used to describe the concept of the

exhibition. These are: 1) centralized, 2) decentralized, 3) display, and 4) hands-on. From these four words,

four characteristics of the exhibitions were also identified: 1) centralized display exhibition, 2)

decentralized display exhibition, 3) centralized hands-on exhibition, and 4) decentralized hands-on

exhibition (see Table 1).

“Centralized” means to hold an exhibition at a pavilion or exhibition hall, such as the international

exposition. On the other hand, the concept of “decentralized” exhibition means that the exhibition will not

be held or gathered in a specific place. Each exhibit is conducted in different locations such as the

exhibitors’ villages or production sites. Besides place, another difference between centralized and

decentralized exhibition is ownership. Normally, an organizer designs and manages a centralized

exhibition; the organizer asks and accepts producers to show or sell their products or services as exhibitors

at the exhibition. Therefore, the exhibitors do not have an ownership of the event. The organizer owns and

coordinates the entire exhibition. However, in the decentralized hands-on exhibition, each activity is

planned and implemented by the exhibitors so they maintain ownership.

“Display” oriented exhibitions shows products. Visitors are passive participants that come to the

exhibition just to see or buy products. Meanwhile, “hands-on” exhibitions provide experience-based

activities such as handicraft making, cooking and walking tours. It actually asks the visitors to participate in

the exhibitors’ display and not simply witness it.

Sometimes, producers demonstrate how they make their products. It is similar to the decentralized

hands-on exhibition, but it requires no participation from their visitors. If it asks visitors to be participated

in and it is considered as their products and charges participation fee from them, it calls the centralized

hands-on exhibition.

A decentralized display exhibition is a collection of exhibits, products and services that are situated in

several locations (e.g. production sites). In this format, visitors go to the abovementioned sites to view or

buy their products. DHO exhibitions require visitors’ participation in the production process.

8



Table 1: Characteristics of the Exhibitions

Centralized Decentralized

Display Centralized and Display Oriented

Decentralized and Display Oriented

Hands-on Centralized and Hands-on Oriented

Decentralized and Hands-on Oriented

Source: created by Authors

3. Features of the DHO Exhibition

The DHO exhibition has four features: 1) collection, 2) limited period, 3) ownership and 4) participation.

The first and second features are obvious given that the DHO exhibition is, in fact, an exhibition. But this is

easily forgotten by the implementing organization and other stakeholders because they are not simply

preparing a product but a hands-on activity called program. These are similar to tourism programs such as a

village walking tour or home stay, but are not like products and services sold at an exhibition hall. In

comparison to just selling products, more people are involved in the implementation of each activity.

During its first few years, the implementing organization preferred to hold the event at a small scale so they

can manage all the programs. This arrangement limited the number of programs conducted. But they

observed that the more programs they implement, the more visitors the DHO Exhibition attracts. Similarly,

the exhibition’s limited period of implementation compelled more visitors to sign up for the programs

because they did not want to pass up on the opportunity to participate in the event. Admitting that if they

can do it anytime, they will never do it. As such, the DHO exhibition should gather as much hands-on

activities as possible and offer them only for a limited period of implementation.

DHO Exhibition’s third feature is ownership. It is not held is a single venue where all exhibitors are

gathered. Each exhibit is conducted in the sites designated by each exhibitor, such as their own villages or

production sites. Each hands-on activity is formulated, planned and implemented by the exhibitors. They

may seek for advices and feedback from the organizer and their visitors, but the exhibitors have the final

say if they would apply comments to their activities. As such, the DHO exhibition is an opportunity for

exhibitors to plan, implement, evaluate and develop their activities by themselves. This feature

differentiates decentralized from centralized exhibitions.



Participation is another important feature of the DHO exhibition. Hands-on means that visitors get to

participate in the activity. In fact, visitors subscribe to these exhibits specifically for the experience. This

allows the to gain knowledge about the products the exhibitors make, the charms of local culture and the

preciousness of local wisdom that the people have conserved.

4. DHO Exhibition as a Community Development Approach

The DHO exhibition is not just about the hands-on programs but it has also been advanced as a community

development approach. In a community, there are many local resources that are not well utilized and

community economic activities that are exclusively conducted. But individual competition does not make

for effective community development. It even destroys rural communities. Figure 1 shows how the DHO

exhibition approach makes a community utilize its local resources and activities collectively. The DHO

Exhibition’s implementing organization acts as the intermediate supporting agency that facilitates the

introduction of a variety of collective activities to the community. The implementing organization is

established and recognized within the community. It is also responsible for fund raising and promotion.

During the DHO exhibition, individuals utilize local resources in their hands-on programs.

The concept of the DHO exhibition approach follows the community capacity and policy structure

model (Figure 2). In particular, it also follows community capacity and policy structure’s dual function

model. The development of the community’s capacity and the implementation of the DHO exhibition

under a higher added value and better well-being policy structure are dual function to change of society and

target group as end and intermediate outcomes.

Figure 1: Utilization of Potential Local Resources and Activities




Figure 2: The DHO Exhibition Approach Model


5. Implementation Framework of the DHO Exhibition Approach

When utilized as a community development tool, the DHO exhibition approach promotes the creation of

collective activities among community members. In order to do this effectively, division of labor must be

done between community members. There are three distinct levels to this: 1) the policy making

organization level, 2) the implementing organization level, and 3) the program provider level (see Figure 3).

The policy-making organization is basically the central or provincial governments while the implementing

organization and program providers are members of the community.

Figure 4 shows allocation of responsibilities for each level. For instance, the policy-making

organization develops the DHO exhibition policy that will guide the conduct of the exhibition in the

community. As such, the policy-making organization engages in collective activities at the wider level. On

the other hand, the implementing organization conducts its own collective activities such as the formulation

of guidelines, training, promotion and fund raising at the community level. These activities may actually

also be conducted by the individual program providers (see Figure 5) but the results may not be as

significant. In order to achieve effective results, collective activities must be organized and implemented at

the policy-making and implementing organization’s levels. This is done so that program providers, who are

the main actors and beneficiaries of the DHO exhibition approach, can concentrate on the planning and

implementation of their respective activities.



Figure 3: Three Levels of Stakeholders in the DHO Exhibition Approach

Source: created by the Authors

Figure 4: Activities of Each Level




Figure 5: Idea of Collective Activities


6. Case Studies of the DHO Exhibitions

More and more communities not only in Japan but also in other countries have applied the DHO

exhibitions approach as a tool for community development. At the very beginning, the NPO Hatto Onpaku

initiated DHO exhibitions to revitalize Beppu City in Japan. Interest from other communities and the

support from the national government allowed it to develop as a community development approach.

Eventually, the DHO exhibition approach has spread all over the world as the new community

development approach. In this section, four case studies of the DHO exhibitions will be introduced.

6.1. Beppu Hatto Onpaku

In Japan, rural communities also have are serious problems. Among these, the urban migration of more and

more working age people leaving the elderly behind in rural communities. Similarly, most local people are

not fully aware of the potential and value of their local resources. With a goal to revitalize the local

community of Beppu City in Oita Prefecture, the younger generation have, since 2001, organized a DHO

exhibition called the Beppu Hatto Hot Spring Exhibition (Onpaku). The word Onpaku was coined by

merging “On” from the Japanese word “Onsen” which means hot spring and “paku” from the Japanese

word H(P)akurankai which means Exhibition. Hot Springs are considered the biggest local resource in

Beppu City. Therefore it can be translated the “Local Resource Exhibition.” In 2004, they established the

NPO Hatto Onpaku as the event’s official implementing agency. The group aims to contribute to the

community revitalization of Beppu City by promoting the town’s wellness industry, specifically its hot

spring resources.

There are three levels to Onpaku’s implementing structure (Figure 6). The policy making organization

is Japan Onpaku which was established in 2010. The members of the NPO Hatto Onpaku



Figure 6: Three Levels of Actors of Beppu Onpaku


who organized and developed the DHO exhibition approach and policy formed Japan Onpaku. The

organization supports more than 100 individuals, groups, communities and SMEs that serve as program

providers for the exhibition.

The goal of the NPO Hatto Onpaku is community revitalization through the promotion of the town’s

wellness industry. As such, the program partners recognize Onpaku as an opportunity to test and promote

their products and services. For instance, Mr. Hayashi, the son of a local beauty salon owner, wanted to test

the market viability of hot spring mud spa services to Japanese customers. He then prepared a trial program

that offered a variety of hot spring mud spa services at different price points, and participated in the

Onpaku. Later on, Mr. Hayashi was able to develop and incorporate the hot spring mud spa service to his

salon’s regular menu. This was done through the feedback he received as an Onpaku program provider. At

present, Mr. Hayashi participates in the Onpaku to promote the services in his salon, and offers them at a

special discounted rate. His purpose of joining the Onpaku has evolved from simply needing to test his

business ideas to the promotion of the cities viable local resource.

6.2. Soja Michikusa Komichi

The Michikusa Komichi is organized by the NPO Kibino Kobo Chimichi, the local housewives’ group in

Soja City in Okayama Prefecture, Japan that was established in 2008. The president of the NPO was

encouraged to start the Michikusa Komichi after she attended a presentation by the NPO Hatto Onpaku

about the Onpaku event and the DHO exhibition approach. In fact, the event was created with the support

of the NPO Hatto Onpaku and the Japan Onpaku. Figure 7 illustrates the implementation structure of the

Michikusa Komichi. It shows that the Japan Onpaku (the NPO Hatto Onpaku) functioned as its

policy-making organization, developing the DHO exhibition approach and policy. Meanwhile, NPO

Policy Making Organization Level

Japan Onpaku

Implementation Organization Level

NPO Hatto Onpaku

Program Provider Level

Individuals

Groups

Communities

SMEs

Beppu Community



Figure 7: Three Levels of Actors of Soja Michikua Komichi


Kibino Kobo Chimichi serves as the event’s implementing organization. Finally, individuals, groups,

communities and local SMEs, called masters, make up the program provider level. The implementing

organization and program providers are composed of people that belong to the community. NPO Kibino

Kobo Chimichi is in charge of the collective activities conducted in Soja City such as fund raising and

promotion. Its aim is to revitalize Soja City through the development of a system that widens and

strengthens their local network. The masters, on the other hand, only need to concentrate preparation and

implementation of their activities and programs in pursuit of the personal and community goals.

The organization of the Michikusa Komichi was a step towards the implementation of sustainable

activities and projects that would eventually solve community problems. Although the town had a lot of

human talent, the local people felt that they did not have enough experience or network to make a project

or activity that could solve those problems. The Michikusa Komichi provided them with such opportunity.

For examply, Ms. Mio Itsuji, one of the program providers of the Michikusa Komichi, thought that she

needed to come up with a big and elaborate program to attract program participants. But she realized that

the quality of the program was more important than its quantity. Her participation as a program provider

gave her necessary experience and network that eventually helped her change the way she thinks and start

work on what she really wants to do. Now, she organizes a program that promotes women’s health. Her

community, likewise, conducts several events that make use of the network she has acquired through the

Michikusa Komichi.

6.3. Khong Dee Muang Surin Festival

The successes of the DHO exhibition approach in Japan have sparked interest for the exhibition in other

countries. Among them were the local people from the province of Surin, which is located in the

northeastern part of Thailand. The Surin Provincial Community Development Office collaborated with


Japan Onpaku

(NPO Hatto Onpaku)


NPO Kibino Kobo Chimichi


Individuals

Groups

Communities

SMEs

Soja Community



Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) to introduce the DHO Exhibition Approach to the community

in 2012. By the end of the year, Surin Province’s DHO exhibition called the Khong Dee Muang Surin

festival, which means the Surin’s Good Things festival, was held. Figure 8 describes the implementation

structure of the Khong Dee Muang (KDM) Surin festival. The policy-making organization for the

exhibition is the Surin Provincial Community Development Office and APU. Meanwhile, seventeen

district community development offices functions as the implementing organization in each district,

coordinating with program providers composed of individuals, groups, communities and SMEs (such as

OTOP producers). Under the province’s self-sufficiency model, each of the seventeen districts should

operate as one community to prepare and coordinate their own programs, but the KDM Surin festival

promotes Surin province as a whole. Therefore, there are two levels to the implementation of the Khong

Dee Muang Surin festival. All of the actors in the implementation structure of the exhibition belong to the

local community.

The KDM Surin festival provided not only the opportunity to develop community capacity but it also

paved the way for new types of marketing activities that would help sell local products. Prior to the festival,

the conventional marketing approach was to participate in centralized display exhibitions and sell products

in outside of the community. By implementing programs during the KDM Surin Festival, program

providers can sell products in their communities. Their customers come to the producers’ communities not

only to buy the products but also to see and experience the community’s local resources, traditions and

culture. Ms. Bunsri Paraphutha, a silver accessory maker, is one of program providers of the KDM Surin

Festival. She teaches program participants how to make silver accessories and allows them to customize

the products that they will make and bring home. Through this, she was able to strengthen her network

through the implementation of her program. It also provided her with the opportunity not only to work with

other local people but to also introduce her community to their visitors. Through the contact information

she has provided in the festival’s brochure, she has also been invited to hold her program and sell her

Figure 8: Three Levels of Actors of the Surin Khong Dee Muang Surin Festival



Surin Provincial Community

Development Office


District Community Development Office

District Community Development Office


Individuals

Groups

Communities

SMEs

Individuals

Groups

Communities

SMEs

District 1

District 17

Surin Province

17 Districts

APU Project

Coordination Office



products outside of her community.

7. Implementation Procedure of the DHO Exhibition

More and more communities introduce the DHO exhibition approach to develop their communities. One

of main reasons why the DHO exhibition approach is introduced to many communities in Japan and other

countries is that its implementing procedure is not difficult and the initial cost is low. In fact, there is a

model implementing procedure takes only one year to implement. On the first year, budget is only needed

for the preparation and publishing of the promotional brochure and other expenditures related to the

conduct of meetings and trainings (e.g. food, printing services, etc). This section shall introduce the

implementing procedure of the DHO exhibition.

7.1. Potential Resources/Programs

The DHO exhibition provides an opportunity to generate awareness for local resources that can be used for

community development. The first step is to identify potential local resources and programs in a target

community. Table 2 is a chart where potential program providers, resources, program names, purpose of

program implementation and potential participants can be listed down. It is not necessary to fill up the table

from left or right; you can start by writing down the resources or program names first. DHO exhibition

programs should be fun enough to attract people. As such, people in charge of making the list should be

creative and think of ideas that would excite and entice people to go.

The number and variety of the potential programs, program providers, and local resources is also

important because it also serves to attract people. In fact, selection is not necessary. The community can list

down as much potential programs, program providers, and local resources as they could. It will depends on

potential program providers’ decisions if he or she would continue and participate in the DHO exhibition

not. It is also not encouraged to force potential program providers to participate. Their involvement in the

exhibition should depend on their own willingness to plan, implement and evaluate their programs.

7.2. Program Planning

After the list is done, potential program providers should now be asked whether they are interested to

register as a DHO exhibition program provides and make their own program. This could be done through

training or individual meeting. The program providers could then plan their programs using Table 3 and

Table 4. These sheets will also be referred to when making the DHO exhibition brochure and during

Table 2: Potential Program/Program Provider/Local Resource List


Program

Providers Resources

Program

Names

Purposes of

Programs

Potential

Participants

1

2

3

4

5



Table 3: Program Detail Sheet


Table 4: Program Schedule Sheet

Time Activities


individual program planning consultations.

Some program providers would need individual program planning consultations. For instance, elderly

people who have experience and skills may not know how to utilize them in a program format. Based on

what they write on the sheets, the implementing organization staff, volunteers and students can go see them

and help them develop their program. As always, the final decision on what to implement and how to

implement it rests on with the program providers.

7.3. Promotion

The main promotional tools of the DHO exhibition are the brochures, website and social media that contain

the details of all the programs. Actually, there are similar community-based tourism programs such as

Homestays and walking tours that have their own pamphlets and websites. However, the one big difference

between DHO exhibition’s brochure and those pamphlets is that the DHO brochure contains a larger

number and wider variety of programs.

Program Provider’s Name

Catch Phrase

Program Name

Program Introduction

Start - Close Time

Date

Program Fee / Person

Number of Participants

Preparation

Venue

Meeting Point (if there is)

Reservation Phone Number

E-mail

Facebook

Team Member/ Supporting Organization

Purpose of Program Implementation



It therefore attracts a wider variety of readers. Likewise, the brochure constitutes a kind of encyclopedia

that showcases the community’s local resources such that even after the KDM Surin Festival concludes,

people can still contact the program providers through the contact details (mobile phone numbers and

addresses) listed in the exhibition brochure and website.

As such, the brochure is distributed to tourism-related facilities, public administration offices,

education-related organizations, stations, bus terminals, restaurants, cafes, department stores, supermarkets,

shops, convenient stores and other facilities that people go to daily in order to let them know about the

Festival. Brochure distribution is done not only by the implementing organization but also by the program

providers themselves. Word-of-mouth promotion is really useful when asking people to join programs. A

program provider’s meeting may be held when the brochure is ready to be distributed. This meeting will

also give them a chance to get to know other service providers and widen their personal networks.

7.4. Evaluation

After the DHO exhibition concludes, a participatory evaluation must be conducted by the implementing

organization. All program providers are invited to evaluate their respective programs. They are, in fact, the

main users of the evaluation results. As such, it is only appropriate that they evaluate the DHO exhibition

with the implementing organization acting as the facilitator of the process.

The participatory evaluation of the DHO exhibition uses an appreciative inquiry approach. The good

practices of each program provider is evaluated and shared with each others. This method helps not only to

improve their programs but it also aids in the improvement of both the policy structure and community

capacity. The evaluation results are then shared with the policy-making organization and the implementing

organization so that appropriate modifications to the exhibition’s and community’s policy structure can be

made.

8. Conclusion

The DHO Exhibition Approach is the new community development approach that aims to promote

community capacity and the policy structure model. More rural communities in Japan and other countries

are implementing DHO exhibitions. However, the number of research papers that describe the DHO

exhibition approach is limited. This paper introduced what the DHO Exhibition Approach and describes

how it is initiated and implemented. But a more detailed case study of the DHO exhibitions needs to be

done in order to further clarify what the DHO exhibition approach is and what its effects to community

capacity and policy structure are.



Rural Development Project through Community

Capacity Development in Surin, Thailand: Project Framework and its Implementation



1. Introduction

The disparity between urban and rural communities has widened despite the implementation of many

effective rural development approaches. The Kingdom of Thailand has suffered from similar problems and

the government has, likewise, introduced a variety of ways through which rural communities can survive

and be revitalized.

The One Tambon One Product (OTOP) movement, which was adopted from One Village One Product

(OVOP) movement in Oita Prefecture, Japan, is one of the most successful rural development approaches

implemented by the government of Thailand. Since 2001, it has brought significant positive changes to

rural communities in the country. The Community Development Department (CDD) in the Ministry of

Interior is one of its main advocates. In particular, its Provincial and District Community Development

(CD) offices have taken the responsibility of directly communicating with the people in rural communities

for the movement. Through the promotion of OTOP, a variety of local resources have been discovered in

rural communities that are now being processed to various products. Local brands have been developed

and carry in its packaging the OTOP logo. These products have also been recognized as guaranteed quality

products. Moreover, the OTOP movement succeeded in promoting and preserving local wisdoms and

traditions through the use of a tradition preservation approach, the Knowledge-based OTOP (KBO).

In addition, Thailand is recognized as an eminent tourist destination. Often called the land of smiles,

the tourism industry also has the potential to develop rural communities. The CDD has been, in the past

few years, selecting OTOP champion villages and promoting tourism in those villages as one of the

programs within the OTOP movement.

To support and strengthen existing activities, especially the OTOP movement, and develop rural

communities, the Surin Community Development Office (CD Surin) began looking for a new rural

development approach. In line with this, they sent a development expert to the community capacity

building training course conducted in Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, Japan through Japan

International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Surin Province is a typical rural community in the Northeastern part of Thailand. The main industries in

the province are agriculture (such as the farming of jasmine rice and organic vegetables) and sericulture

(production of organic silks). Because the profit from work in these two industries is no longer sufficient,

an increasing number of working-age people have migrated to urban cities to make better income

(Likhasith, 2010). The exodus of young people affects the transfer of local wisdoms and traditions; this

could eventually lead to their disappearance in rural communities. CD Surin implemented the OTOP

movement to tackle abovementioned issues. They are also in charge of the selection and development of

the tourism village under the Tourism Village Project.

9



2. Background of the Project

Based on her accomplishments in utilizing the Decentralized Hands-on Exhibition Approach to existing

OTOP activities, APU decided to support the implementation of a former JICA training participant’s action

plan for a rural development project in Surin Province, Thailand. The project proposal entitled “Rural

Development Project through Community Capacity Development in Surin Province (RD-CCD project)”

was also accepted as a JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project in 2011 and commenced as a

three-year rural development project May 2012. This paper shall introduce details of the project including

its theoretical approach, project activities, implementation, preparation, participatory evaluation and 2nd

year planning.

2.1 Training in Japan

The initial idea for the project was developed during a training in APU last June 2010. The training was

conducted by APU in collaboration with JICA under the name “Community Capacity and Rural

Development Promotion for Asian Countries -One Village One Product-.” It was organized based on the

following goals: 1) Enhance understanding of the concepts of community capacity and rural development;

planning and evaluation, the One Village One Product (OVOP) approach model, and the Decentralized

Hands-on (DHO) Exhibition approach model; 2) Enhancing understanding of the practical systems and

approach for community capacity and rural development based on cases from Oita Prefecture including the

OVOP movement and the Decentralized Hands-on Exhibition (DHO) approach model through study tours

and group discussion on the case studies; 3) Analyze rural development based on community capacity

development through group discussions; and 4) Formulate action plans for rural development based on the

OVOP movement and Community Capacity Development framework as well as workshops on participant

cases (Miyoshi, 2011).

The training also aims to improve the policy structure of the participants’ communities. Figure 1 shows

the concept of rural development training (Miyoshi, 2011). First, participants share the existing policy

structures in their respective communities through the inception report presentation session. Through their

attendance in the trainings, their policy structures are revised and modified based on 1) concept learning, 2)

study tours, 3) case studies, and 4) groups discussions. The revision and modification in their policy

structures will be described in the interim report/action plan they will present before the end of the training

programs. When they go back to their communities, they are expected to share their reports with other

community members and the organizations belong to. Final revisions to the action plan are then submitted

as a final paper, documenting the achievements of the project as implemented in their communities.

In the case of Surin, the community development expert who attended the training modified the policy

structure of the province by incorporating she learned in Japan. These include concepts of community

capacity development, planning and evaluation, the OVOP approach model, and the DHO exhibition

approach model. In cooperation with APU, the action plan was further revised and adopted as a project

proposal for the JICA Grassroots Technical Cooperation Project.

3. Theoretical Approach

At the beginning of the training, rural development concepts were introduced by the course leader. The

community capacity development and community policy structure model is shared to the participants as an

alternative and holistic rural development model. In addition, the OVOP approach model and the DHO

Exhibition approach model were developed in rural communities in Japan exemplify the community

capacity development and community policy structure model.



Figure 1: Concept of Training Program

Source: Miyoshi (2011)

3.1 Community Capacity Development and Community Policy Structure Model

Rural development must be organized from the perspective of the people living in rural communities.

Despite significant economic development in many countries, rural populations have been left behind and

continue to find it difficult to compete with urbanized areas and achieve real improvements in their living

conditions (Miyoshi and Stenning, 2008). Miyoshi and Stenning developed an alternative development

approach that emphasized on community capacity development that benefits rural communities. Their

community capacity development and community policy structure model is the basic theoretical idea of the

trainings in APU and the project in Surin Province.

The community capacity development and community policy structure model is a dual function model

aimed at developing community capacity, and introducing and implementing a higher value added and

improved policy structure to change the life of the community’s population (see Figure 2). In this context,

community capacity is defined as the ability of a community to produce outcomes in society as the result of

their collective activities that utilize available resources like human, physical, social, political and

organizational resources (Miyoshi, 2011).

Surin identified changes in the province and in its citizens as the outcomes of the project. The activities

they enumerated include individual and collective, new and existing community-based activities such as

the OTOP movement. These activities were collaboratively implemented in the community to contribute to

the development of its community capacity. Policy structure and community capacity are intertwined; the

more sophisticated the policy structure is, the more community capacity is developed. Accordingly, the

project also aims to sophisticate the policy structure and develop community capacity in Surin Province.

Inception Report


Interim Report


1. Community Capacity Development and

Community Policy Structure Model

• Concept of Community Capacity

Development

• Concept of Planning and Evaluation

• Concept of Community Based OVOP

Approach Model

• Concept of Decentralized Hands-On

(DHO) Exhibition Approach Model

2. Study Tours

3. Case Studies: Group Discussions

4. Workshop: Group Discussions

Revision and

Modification

Final Report

(Project, Program and Policy)

Conceptual Framework:

Theory /Concept + Practice

Implementation

Project, Program and Policy



Figure 2: Community Capacity Development and community Policy Structure Model and the Project

Source: Created by the Authors based on Miyoshi and Stenning (2008)

3.2 The Decentralized Hands-on Exhibition Approach Model

The DHO Exhibition Approach model was developed based on the rural development experiences of

Japan such as the Onpaku in Beppu City, Michikusa Komichi in Soja City and Saruku in Nagasaki City. To

develop the DHO exhibition approach four types of exhibitions were identified: 1) centralized display

exhibition, 2) decentralized display exhibition, 3) centralized hands-on exhibition, and 4) decentralized

hands-on exhibition (see Table 1).

From these, four terms were derived to differentiate each type. These are: 1) centralized, 2)

decentralized, 3) display, and 4) hands-on. A centralized exhibition is the most conventional type where the

exhibition is held at a pavilion or exhibition hall. Meanwhile, a decentralized exhibition is a form of

exhibition that does not occur in a single venue. Each exhibit is set up in different locations, such as the

exhibitor’s production site. The third type of exhibition, the display exhibition gathers and showcases many

exhibits and attractions at a specific place; here, visitors are passive participants that only come to see these

exhibits. Lastly, the hands-on exhibition provides its visitors with experience-based programs such as

handicraft making, cooking and walking tours.

In decentralized hands-on exhibitions, the exhibitor plans each exhibit so they maintain ownership.

Furthermore the DHO exhibition approach promotes collective activities among community members and

seeks the development of community capacity. To conduct collective activities effectively the DHO

Exhibition approach introduces the division of labor among community members. In particular, there are

three distinct levels in the implementation of a DHO exhibition approach: 1) the policy making

organization level, 2) the implementing organization level, and 3) the program provider level (Figure 3).



Table 1: Characteristics of the Exhibitions

Centralized Decentralized

Display Centralized and Display Oriented

Decentralized and Display Oriented

Hands-on Centralized and Hands-on Oriented

Decentralized and Hands-on Oriented


Figure 3: Three Levels of Stakeholders in the DHO Exhibition Approach


Implementing Organization Level

Producer & Service Provider Level


Policy Making Organization

Implementation Organization

Producer

Service Provider


Producer

Service Provider


Producer

Service Provider



The policy-making organization level and the implementing organization level conducts collective

activities such as the formulation of guidelines, trainings, promotions and fundraising activities. However,

program providers can also organize these activities individually but their results would be comparatively

smaller. To maximize the results, collective activities like those mentioned above should be conducted by

the policy-making and implementing organizations. Program providers, who are the main actors and

beneficiaries of the DHO exhibition approach, should just concentrate on their individual activities such as

program planning and implementation.

There are three major factors that distinguished the DHO Exhibition approach as a rural development

strategy: the programs are small in scale, short, and repetitive. This situation, in turn, triggers the program’s

ongoing success. Furthermore, the program implementation’s repetitive nature provides the partners with

the opportunity to market test their goods and services as well as create business models that would create

new customers and utilize local resources. In this way, the decentralized hands-on exhibition approach can

also motivate small and medium enterprises and small-scale agricultural producers.

4. Project Actors and Implementation Framework

Human resources and organizations related to the project are among the most important factors of the

project. The project stakeholders are divided into three levels based on their responsible activities (see

Figure 4). These are 1) the policy-making organization level, 2) the implementing organization level and

3) program provider level.

Figure 4: Project Implementation Framework




CD Surin and APU are in charge at the policy-making organization level. Together, they established

collaborative office in Surin Province and cooperated with other relevant organizations such as the

Community Development Department, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Tourism Authority

Thailand, the Surin Provincial Tourism Association as well as other stakeholders. Their main activity is to

organize and provide support to the implementing organizations, as well as to develop and improve the

project guidelines. The seventeen Surin CD district offices are in charge at the implementing organization

level. They also serve as the implementing organization in their respective districts. It is the responsibility

of the implementing organizations to directly communicate with local producers and service providers,

listen to their ideas and opinions, and implement the project. Under these seventeen district offices,

producers and service providers take charge of the program provider level. Basically, they are the program

providers of the DHO Exhibition.

Both OTOP and non-OTOP members were incorporated into the new program. These included organic

farmers, agro processors, fruit processors, bamboo craft makers, sericulture groups, silk weaving groups,

eco-tourism providers and many others. They are the main targets of the project as the project is

implemented to develop their communities. In particular, the implementation of these programs contributes

to the development of community capacity and the improvement of the policy structure.

At the same time, the DHO Exhibition network was established as an intermediate supporting group for the

project (see Figure 5). In the process of implementing the project, the collaborative team realized that there

are many organizations and individuals who are interested in the revitalization of Surin Province. They

include university professors, government officials and business owners who also know many interesting

local resources in the province. They work on a voluntary basis as program planning coordinators,

promoters and advisors. Apart from helping introduce collective activities, they also connect the gap

between the government and the local citizens in order to develop the project approach effectively and

sustainably. Despite their different backgrounds, they held a network meeting once a month to discuss

issues like how to improve project effectiveness and sustainability (see Figure 6 and 7) or how to develop

their community. This was the first step for the establishment of a practical public-private partnership for

community development in Surin Province.

Figure 5: Intermediate Supporting Group and Project Implementation Framework




Figure 6 and 7: Surin DHO Exhibition Network

Source: taken by the Authors

5. Project Activities

To develop community capacity and improve their policy structure, the project conducts four key activities:

1) The implementation of the centralized/decentralized hands-on exhibitions,

2) The provision technical support for selected products and services,

3) Market place creation and management for products and resources, and

4) Creation of knowledge sharing system on development experiences.

During the project’s first year, their main activity is the implementation of the DHO Exhibition (see

Figure 8). Based on the experience of this implementation, the following three activities are then conducted.

Then the four activities interact with each other, utilize each activity’s result and improve them. Table 2 is

the project implementation schedule of Surin project’s first year, JFY 2012.

Figure 8: Flow of Project Activities


Implementation of C/DHO

exhibitions

Market place creation and

management for products and

services

Technical support for

selected products and

services

Creation of Knowledge sharing system on development experiences



Table 2: Implementation Schedule

2012 2013

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 1 2 3

Imple

men

tati

on

of D

HO

Exh

ibit

ion

Working Team

Formulation

Guideline Creation

1st HRD Training:

Policy Making Orgs

2nd HRD Training:

Program Providers

3rd HRD Training:

Program Providers

4th HRD Training:

CD Staffs

5th HRD Training:

Program Providers

and CD Surin

Staffs

Training in Japan

Network

Formulation/

Meeting

Program Planning/

Data Collection /

Consultation

Brochure

Preparation

Website

Development

Promotion

Fund Raising

(Sponsor)

Program Provider

Meeting

DHOE

Evaluation

TS

Planning

Technical Support

MP

C

Planning

Preparation

Kn

owle

dge

Sh

ari

ng

Planning

SNS Development

(facebook)

Website

Development


5.1 Implementation of the Centralized/Decentralized Hands-on Exhibitions

The centralized/decentralized hands-on exhibitions operate using existing local resources and activities.

The centralized display exhibition is already held in Surin Province. In fact, there were at least five

OTOP-related centralized display exhibitions in 2011. In collaboration with the existing OTOP-related

centralized display exhibitors, the decentralized hands-on exhibition was developed in Surin Province.

The first DHO exhibition was held from January 10th to February 4th 2013 and was called the “Khong

Dee Muang Surin Festival.” The 2nd KDM Surin festival was held for three months from November, 2013

to January, 2014. Meanwhile, the 3rd KDM Surin festival will be held within the third fiscal year of the

project. The exhibition’s name, Khong Dee Muang, means City of Good Things when translated to English.

As such, the idea of the DHO exhibition is to exhibit all of the province’s “good things,” including its



people during the festival.

The implementation schedule of the decentralized hands-on exhibition in Surin Province can be divided

into 5 sections: 1) planning, 2) trainings, 3) preparation, and 4) implementation and 5) evaluation (see Table

2).

5.1.1 Human Resource Development Trainings

Human resource development (HRD) training activities are at the core of the DHO exhibition project

because it requires local initiatives to develop programs. HRD training does not only directly influence the

development of human resources but it also enhances community capacity in Surin Province. This also

means that improvements to the policy structure and sustainability will be secured even after the project’s

completion. There were six training sessions held before the 1st DHO exhibition was executed. Five of

these trainings were held in Thailand, while one was conducted in Japan (see Table 3).

The first HRD training was conducted to (1) broadcast the start of the project in Surin Province and (2)

collect potential program providers from the province’s seventeen districts. The training was held at the

Suwan Paa Resort on June 5th, 2012. There were 80 participants from several organizations such as local

universities, the government, private businesses and village heads.

Table 3: Human Resource Development Trainings

Activity Facilitator Participants Purpose

1 Lecture (DHO Exhibition)

Workshop (Potential HR and

programs)

Ms. Ishimaru, Ms.

Likhasith and Professor

Miyoshi

80 participants

(policy-making org/impl’t

org levels, village leaders,

ministries, private sectors,

universities and NGOs)

17 districts x 20

programs =340 potential

programs and resources

2 Introduce project

Distribution of registration

sheet

CD Staffs who are

participated of the 1st

HRD training (held at

each district)

Potential program providers

listed in 1st HRD training

workshop

Introduce project, recruit

program providers

Training in Japan Professor Miyoshi, Ms.

Ishimaru and Ms. Okabe

CD Surin staff 2

CD district staff 2

Familiarize participants

with DHO exhibition

approach, initiate project

3 Introduce DHO Exhibition

(Onpaku)

Workshop (Program

development)

Ms. Ishimaru,

Ms.Likhasith, Mr.

Nogami (DHO

Exhibition Expert) and

CD Surin Staffs

340 potential program

providers

(190 applied)

Help participants

understand DHO

exhibition approach,

make programs

4 Lecture on public servant by

Japan Training Participants

Lecture on Experience of

implementation of Michikusa

Komichi

Program Coordination

Workshop

Ms. Ishimaru, Ms.

Likhasith, Mr. Kato

(DHO Exhibition Expert)

and CD Surin Staffs

CD District Staff, CD Surin

Staff and Program providers

Help participants

understand rural

development better,

develop programs,

develop program

coordination approach

5 Trial implementation of

programs

Revision/Consultation for

programs

Ms. Ishimaru, Ms.

Likhasith, Mr. Kato

(DHO Exhibition

Expert), CD Surin Staffs

and Program Providers

CD District Staff, CD Surin

Staff and Program providers

Develop programs,

Show example of DHO

exhibition approach

adaptation




The first training session consisted of two parts. The first part entailed sharing the project idea and

asking for everyone’s cooperation. This session opened with speeches from the CD Surin chief, the

vice-governor and the project manager. This was followed with the introduction of the background,

concept and the details of the project by the project and the sub-project manager and the former JICA

training participant (see Figure 11 and 12). After the introductory session, the training participants were

divided into seventeen groups, corresponding to the seventeen districts in the province, for a workshop.

During the workshop, each group was asked to identify at least 20 potential program providers, resources

and programs that might have the intention to join the exhibition (See Table 4). At the end of the workshop,

the participants were asked to write down their notes and submit what they have discussed.

After the first HRD training, the project manager and sub-project manager visited several authorities

for a follow up. Everyone they met was interested in the project. Moreover, they were willing to cooperate

in the implementation of the project. They also noticed that there were many interesting existing activities

and local resources that were not properly promoted. They had many ideas. Conversely, the HRD training

also helped broaden their personal networks.

The CD district staff that attended the first HRD training were tasked to conduct the second HRD

training sessions. The goal of the second HRD training is to introduce the project plan to local potential

program providers, who were listed down during the first HRD training. They also held a workshop to list

down potential programs, program providers and local resources. They were also asked to join the third

training in order to get more detailed information about the exhibition and consider the programs they will

Figure 11: Vice Governor’s Speech Figure 12: Lecture by Sub Project Manager


Table 4: Potential Program/Program Provider/Local Resource List

Program

Providers Resources

Program

Names

Purposes of

Programs

Potential

Participants

1

2

3

4

5




Figure 13 and 14: 2nd Human Resource Development Training

Source: taken by the CD District Staff

provide during its implementation. Apart from those who were listed, the project also welcomed everyone

who became interested in the project and wanted to join along the way. Potential program providers who

were listed in the second training session were also able to join the project. That also comprised the

preparation for the third training (see Figure 13 and 14).

The third HRD training session was conducted for program providers who applied for it during the

second HRD training or later. By joining the third training session, the program providers were able to

listen to the experiences from Beppu City, Japan’s DHO exhibition, the Onpaku. The training featured a

lecture from a Japanese expert who has worked for the abovementioned exhibition. The participants were

then encouraged to develop their own programs for the DHO Exhibition (See Figure 15 and 16). All the

programs that were developed during the third training were the participants’ own ideas. Thus, it was

totally up to the potential program participants to determine whether participating in the project was an

opportunity that they should pursue. Furthermore, it also completely depended on them to make the

initiative to actually execute those programs. At the end of the training, the application form to become

program providers during the DHO exhibition was distributed to all the training participants.

Apart from the trainings held in Thailand, four representatives from the CD Surin provincial office and

CD Surin district offices (see Figure 17 and 18) were given the opportunity to participate in the training

program held at APU, Japan. They improved their action plan based on what they learned in the field and

the classroom; eventually, they became active promoters for the project. What they learned from Japan

enhanced what they would do for the project and also motivated them.

Figure 15 and 16: Third Human Resource Development Training




Figure 17 and 18: Human Resource Training in Japan


The fourth HRD training session was held for the implementing organizations and was conducted by

those who participated in the JICA training program in APU, with the assistance of another Japanese expert.

For this training, they invited at least three staff members from each CD district office. The JICA training

participants shared their experiences from Japan in order to further clarify the background and the concept

of the project. The CD district staff are the main program coordinators who directly communicate with

local program providers. As such, it was necessary for them to not only understand the project clearly but

also learn to effectively coordinate the programs. After the lectures, a workshop was conducted to check

the program providers’ list of each district and develop a coordination approach. If the number of program

providers is few, new potential local resources and program providers were sought (Figure 19 and 20).

The fifth HRD training session was held right after the fourth training. It was held for stakeholders from

all levels to further clarify concepts from the DHO Exhibition approach and the hands-on programs. After

the third and fourth HRD trainings, the project team realized that it was difficult for the stakeholders to

understand the idea of the DHO Exhibition approach and hands-on activities from just lectures in the

meeting room. As such, the sub-project manager and former JICA training participants organized five

hands-on programs as a simulation (see Figure 21 and 22). At least one staff from each CD district office

and program providers who wished to join the exhibit attended the simulation. Eventually, those who

Figure 19 and 20: Fourth Human Resource Development Training




Figure 21 and 22: Fifth Human Resource Development Training


participated were able to fully understand the concept because of what they saw, heard, ate and experienced

during the simulation hands-on programs. The photos of these five programs were then uploaded to the

project’s Facebook page. Thereby making the information available to the other program providers, CD

Surin and district staff who were not able to attend the simulation.

Figure 21was taken at Prathun village where villagers traditionally raise the silk worms and weave silk.

During the simulation, the villagers took the participants on a walking tour to see how silk worms are

raised; the process making the silk strings as well as the traditional silk weaving method. During the tour, a

local guide explained and showed participants around the village. He/She also talked about local cuisines

and traditional dances.

Figure 22 was taken at the Khoksaingam village. This village’s unique point is its elephants. There are

many elephants in the northern part of Surin Province but there are also many elephants in Khoksaingam

village which is located in the southwestern part of the Province. In addition, sericulture (silk production) is

also an important industry in the village.

Given these resources, the village conducted a program wherein participants can enjoy both sericulture

and elephant riding. After the program experience, all the participants were asked to attend a feedback

meeting to discuss opportunities to improve the programs. This activity also helped CD Surin and the

district staff to coordinate programs in their target communities.

5-1-2. Preparation Period

Following the five human resource development training sessions, the policy-making and implementing

organizations focused on preparing the exhibition’s main promotional tools, the brochure and website.

They also assisted in the development of each program provider’s program. Simultaneously, they collected

detailed information about each program from program providers and contacted other potential program

providers to join and vice versa.

The community programs consist of a collection of existing and newly identified potential activities

that are conducted by local people. Bringing these activities together as one collective program under the

project allowed program providers to create a bigger impact than if they did it individually. This also

helped them identify more resources in the community.



Figure 23 and 24: Program Development


5-1-2-1. Program Development

Most of program providers that attended the HRD training applied to participate in the KDM Surin Festival

by themselves. However, some of them did not fully understand what the program was about. There were

also others who did not attend any of the trainings. The CD Surin staff and district officers then visited their

communities to help develop their programs or make them more interesting (see Figure 23 and 24). Their

visit helped program providers gain confidence to implement their programs. Some believed that their

communities have nothing interesting to offer visitors or have never accepted visitors as program

participants. They needed someone to tell them that their communities also have interesting resources and

could, in fact, attract people. The CD Surin and district officers did not only become program coordinators

by helping them develop their programs but they also served as cheerleaders who motivated the program

providers.

5-1-2-2. Brochure

The brochure (Figure 25) and website, currently a Facebook page, showcases a collection of Surin’s local

resources and talents. The policy-making and implementing organizations prepared a template of the

brochure (see Figure 26 and Table 5 and 6) to each program provider so they could plan and develop their

programs independently. This material constitutes a kind of encyclopedia of the local community,

summarizing the variety of interesting local resources present in the town. Even after the KDM Surin

festival was over, copies of the brochure and website were still accessible so that people can easily contact

program providers via the contact details (mobile phone numbers and addresses) listed in them.

Programs were categorized based on the seventeen districts; this was done so that the readers in order for

readers could easily find each district’s interesting local resources and programs. This clearly demonstrates

the role that each CD district office play as the exhibition’s implementing organization. This very public

mention of their role and its corresponding outcomes is an obvious motivation for these district offices. In

addition, the arrangement fostered competition between each district to strive to stand out from the others.

The policy-making and implementing organizations had 20,000 copies of the brochure printed for

event’s promotion. The brochure was distributed to every relevant organization in Surin Province (tourism

related facilities, public administration, education-related organization, stations and bus terminals) as well

as to 76 other provinces all over Thailand. There were also copies left in restaurants, cafes, department

stores, supermarkets, shops, convenient stores and other places where people come in daily to let them



Figure 25: Brochure

Source: Khong Dee Muang Surin Festival (2012)

Figure 26: Brochure Template

Source: Khong Dee Muang Surin Festival (2012)



Table 5: Program Detail Sheet


Table 6: Program Schedule Sheet

Time Activities


know about the festival. In places like these, it would only take half a day to finish the brochure distribution.

Program providers also conducted promotional activities at OTOP fairs and morning markets where they

operated a shop in.

5-1-2-3. Program Providers’ Meeting

After the brochure was completed, the program providers, the DHO exhibition network members and

sponsors were all gathered on December 26, 2012 in the Suwan Paa Resort to get to know each other and

get copies of the brochures (see Figure 29 and 30). It was the first time for all stakeholders of the KDM

Surin festival to be gathered at the one place. The meeting focused on the self-introduction of each of the

program providers. At that moment they developed the KDM Surin Festival network. The opportunity to

talk about their program details helped the providers gain confidence about their programs.

Program Provider’s Name

Cathy Phrase

Program Name

Program Introduction

Start - Close Time

Date

Program Fee / Person

Number of Participants

Preparation

Venue

Meeting Point ( if there is)

Reservation Phone Number

E-mail

Facebook

Team Member/ Supporting Organization

Purpose of Program Implementation



Figure 29 and 30: Program Provider Meeting


Program providers had the chance to talk with each other and get ideas for business collaboration. It

took only a half-year to reach this point. During the meeting, other necessary information like program

preparation (cleanness of the community, role of each person of the group and community, how to receive

the reservation call etc.,) were also explained.

5-1-2. Khong Dee Muang Surin Festival

For a period of three weeks, 97 programs were conducted in the seventeen districts of Surin Province.

These included a variety of programs that include those that focused on culture, environment, agriculture,

history, industry, religion, and art. The Festival demonstrated that every local resource could develop its

own hands-on program. It also provided the opportunity to rediscover Surin’s attractions by gathering all

the programs together.

There were many communities or organizations that were already providing experienced-based

programs even before the project was implemented. Those communities or organizations worked

independently and the outcomes of their activities benefited only their immediate communities or

organizations; its contribution to the province’s development as a whole and the promotion of their

activities itself was limited. Figure 31 and 32 are scenes from the homestay programs in rural villages.

Figure 31: Homestay at the elephant village Figure 32: Gui Ethnic Group’s Tradition




Figure 33: Community Walking Tour Figure 34: Fishery Village Experience


These homestay programs were already developed and provided before the festival. But the program

providers were able to utilize the festival as a promotional tool. In addition, they already had their regular

customers who liked Surin Province. As such, these program providers were also able to support the

festival by promoting to their captured market.

However, most of the programs that were implemented were just newly developed programs in the

community. Figure 33 was taken at Janhom village. The program provider wanted to introduce traditional

Thai sweets and handicrafts to new generation. She developed community walking tour program that

focused on the cooking of traditional Thai sweets. She collaborated with other community members such

as the village head, youth volunteers and schoolteachers so she could take the participants around

significant places in the community such as the temple, community shrine and silk-making workshop to

introduce the community’s tradition, history and industry. After the community walking tour is done, she

would then ask the participants to try making Thai traditional sweets with her. Because she decided to

target the younger generation to participate in her program, so she approached local schoolteachers to

encourage their students to participate in the program. The first student group shared what they have done

with other students and teachers. This helped her secure a constant stream of student participants for her

program.

Meanwhile, Figure 34 depicts a program held at a fishing village. The program providers would take

the program participants to their fish cultivation spot in the middle of the river using a traditional wooden

boat. After feeding the fish, the participants would be served lunch that included a delicious fish dish and

other local cuisine by the riverside. The participants can also catch fish or search for shells at the river. The

shore of the river had beautiful white sand and was surrounded by stunning scenery that would surely

attract participants. In fact, some participants already asked the program provider if they could offer a

homestay option. Thus, the program was further developed from the participant’s feedback.

5-1-3. Participatory Evaluation

After the implementation of the 1st KDM Surin festival, an evaluation meeting was conducted (see Figure

35 and 36). The purpose of the project evaluation was to (1) discover good practices from both

implementers and program providers, and (2) examine the outcomes of the festival based on the results to

modify the policy structure. RD-CCD project’s evaluation was participatory and was participated in by the

project’s stakeholders, CD Surin staff, CD district staff, the KDM Surin network members, volunteers and



Figure 35 and 36: Participatory Evaluation Meeting


program providers. All these stakeholders are main users of the evaluation results. During the evaluation

meeting, each participant goes through the ends and means of all the activities and makes new goals for the

following year.

The participatory evaluation incorporates an appreciative inquiry approach and photo elicitation.

Photos of all activities that were conducted during the first year of the project were shown at the evaluation.

The participants were then asked to identify and explain good and interesting activities and programs using

the photos.

Participatory evaluation, appreciative inquiry and photo elicitation are new approaches to the project

stakeholders. Therefore, an alignment meeting with the facilitators, the CD Surin and district staff and

network members should first be conducted before the evaluation. The development of the facilitators

makes the project framework sustainable.

5-2. Technical Support for Selected Products and Services

The implementation of DHO exhibitions encourages people seek out potential local resources, products

and services. However, many of these daily commercial activities need to be developed or improved.

Technical support is needed to add value, improve quality, and increase the quantity of products or services.

To meet this need, programs that make use of local resources, products or services and have the potential to

be commercialized are identified and given technical support after the implementation of the DHO

exhibition (see Table 2).

Technical support is provided through the use of KDM Surin Festival’s network. The KDM Surin

Network members’ backgrounds and experiences are vast. Based on requests, the needs of the program

providers or potential resources, the CD Surin and district office can arrange for technical support to

address these requests and needs. Some program providers have already contacted CD Surin, the sponsors

and KDM Surin network members not only for collaboration in their businesses and activities but also to

ask for technical support from them. On the other hand, other stakeholders support active program

providers by sharing their knowledge and experiences.

In addition CD Surin and other governmental organizations provide many kinds of technical support.

Among them are product-related trainings such as a packaging workshop, package design support, youth

development training and guide training (see Figure 37 and 38). This project uses existing technical support

for development and improvement of potential products and services. The decentralized hands-on



Figure 37 and 38: CD Surin’s Packaging Workshop and Training

Source: taken by CD Surin

exhibition helps CD Surin find producers and service providers who really need technical support.

5.3 Market Creation and Management for Products and Resources

The market is the main connection between the producers and customers. Even if products or services are

developed they cannot be sold without an appropriate market. Distribution channels also need to be

established. Therefore market creation is also a component of the project.

The KDM Surin Festival’s programs and services were developed through the implementation of the

DHO exhibition. This requires an annual program distribution channel. Most of the Festival’s programs

can accept participants throughout the year even if the exhibition period is over. The festival brochures and

its Facebook page contain the contact information of the program providers. However, there are some

tourists who need a coordinator of their trip to Surin Province. Those come from other provinces,

foreigners or tour groups often want to participate in more than two programs. To match the needs of these

external participants, a market should be created. Currently the KDM Surin festival network and CD Surin

negotiate and are thinking of innovative ways to create this market by utilizing existing local authorities or

organizations.

In addition, the utilization of existing markets in Surin Province is being planned. Markets in rural

communities are mainly divided into two categories: 1) public wholesale markets and 2) direct sales shops

(see Table 7). An example of the public wholesale market is a traditional market characterized by auction

prices, large lots, and standardization. Producers are always in competition. Thus, they are required to have

large quantities and produce goods of a certain quality. To win the competition and meet market standards,

producers have to produce more quantity than required. They cannot satisfy market needs if they produce

the exact quantity of products. This often results in surpluses.

Table 7: Characteristics of the Markets

The public wholesale

market

Direct Sales Shop

Characteristics Auction Price

Large Lot

Standardization

Free Pricing

Small Lot

Unstandardization




Figure 39: Green Market Figure 40: Night Market


To fully utilize these surpluses and provide a market for small-scale producers, the idea of direct sales

shop was developed. Direct sales shop differs from the public wholesale market because they employ free

pricing, small lots, and un-standardization. The price and quantity of each product is decided by producers.

They also sell products that do not match the public wholesale market’s standard. There is a direct

relationship between the producer and consumer at the shop, making it easier for producers to set product

prices based on customer need.

In Surin Province, there are public wholesale markets and direct sales shops that focus on the sale of

goods from small-scale producers in rural communities. In the beginning of the project, a new direct sales

shop in Surin Province was planned. However, there are already many direct sales shop in Surin Province,

such as the OTOP Shop, the Green Market, and the Night Market (see Photo 39 and 40). Although many

local products are sold in these markets, they provide no background or depth to the products. It is

especially difficult to find the local charm of the products or producer’s faces at the OTOP shop because

the shop employees are not producers. The OTOP shop also lacks the description of the products (see

Photo 41). This project supports the OTOP shop in the development of product descriptions so customers

can foster connections with producers (see Photo 42).

Figure 41: Product at OTOP Market Figure 42: Product Story

Source: taken by the Authors Source: created by the Authors



Figure 43 and 44: Project Facebook Page

Source: Khong Dee Muang Surin Festival’s Facebook Fun Page

5.4 Creation of Knowledge Sharing System on Development Experiences

The fourth activity is the creation of a knowledge sharing system on development experiences. Knowledge

creation and sharing are highly related to building networks among community members and is a

community capacity strategy. Since knowledge creation was already being promoted through other

activities, the new activity focused on knowledge sharing among community members. This project

provided several venues for interactive communication among community members. There are both direct

person-to-person and indirect IT communications. Direct and indirect communications provide

opportunities to share knowledge and build the networks

Knowledge sharing among community members happens through interactive communication.

Effective knowledge sharing is best achieved through informal, spontaneous, person-to-person interactions

(Davenport and Prosak, 1998; Stenning and Miyoshi, 2008). The project provides venues where

community members can communicate with each other. For instance, the Festival’s collaborative office is

an open space for community members to express themselves anytime in a relaxed mood.

In addition to the collaborative office, the project utilizes social networking sites such as Facebook

(http://www.facebook.com/khongdeemuangsurin/khongdeemuangsurin) for virtual communication. The

Facebook page has the same contents as the brochure (see Figure 43 and 44) for promotion purposes, but

also provides the page viewers with the opportunity to share program experiences, photographs, new ideas,

and information. The social networking system is an easy to use communication tool for community

members. Visitors of the pages can also post their concerns or well wishes on the page. They could even

recommend new discoveries, especially if it involves new and interesting human and material local

resources.

Direct and indirect communications provide stakeholders with the opportunity to share their knowledge

and build stronger networks among community members. The CD Surin and CD district staff, active

program providers and network members keep the information up to date and add photographs to the

Facebook page as well. This also helps people who do not live in Surin Province to get information on

what is going on in the community. They are also able to join and enjoy the festival after browsing through

through the Facebook page.

However, knowledge sharing through the utilization of Facebook page limits people who can use it. It

is not easy for program providers who do not use a computer or a smart phone, or does not have access to

internet. Therefore, the publications are still an important experience sharing system. The project publishes

the results of the participatory evaluation at the end of the fiscal year. Copies are then distributed to all

program providers for their reference (see Figure 45 and 46).

http://www.facebook.com/khongdeemuangsurin/khongdeemuangsurin



Figure 45 and 46: Visual Reflection from the KDM Surin Festival

Source: CD Surin (2013)

6. Project Outcomes

The RD-CCD project is developed based on an alternative rural development approach that focuses on

community capacity that benefits rural community. Community capacity is intertwined with the

community’s policy structure. When community capacity is developed the community’s policy structure is

likewise improve. By conducting the RD-CCD project, community capacity was developed.

The implementation of the RD-CCD project brought many changes to Surin Province. Before the

project started, marketing promotion and finding potential local resources were done on an individual basis.

This was not efficient enough to develop the community or community capacity. Individual activities make

winners and losers in small rural communities. To a certain degree, this situation creates disparities between

members of the community. Having small success like this does not help enhance the community.

Table 8 shows improvements in the province’s policy structure and community capacity as a result of

this project. The policy structure development outcomes that are related to collective activities are also

described here. The implementation of activities led to the creation more collective activities that were

eventually added to Surin’s policy structure.

The network and number of stakeholders are important outcomes of the project. The project aims to

transform Surin Province from its past state (figure 47) to its present state (figure 48). There were already

many individual resources and capacities, but this project brought these individual resources and capacities

together. The project helped Surin Province develop as one community.

The RD-CCD project developed a network among different stakeholders through the creation and

implementation of collective activities within Surin Province (see Figure 49). Enhancing both internal and

external networks in different stakeholders contributed much to community capacity development. It also

contributed to the identification of potential resources, human resources and organizations. Therefore, the

characteristics of community capacity such as ability to recognize and access to resources is also enhanced.

Those actions mutually influenced and lead to the enhancement of the entire Surin policy structure.



Table 8: Project Activities and Their Effects to Policy Structure and Community Capacity

Development of Policy Structure

(Collective Activities)

Development of Community Capacity

Implementation of Decentralized Hands-on

Exhibition

・Marketing promotion ・Making invisible products and services visible to the public

・Creation of networks among implementation organization, local producers, service providers and other related stakeholders ・Identification of potential resources, human resources, organizations

Technical Support to Selected Products and

Services

・Development of production and services provision process ・Strengthening of economic and social activities

・Development of human resources ・Creation of technical leadership

Market place creation for

products and services

・Marketing promotion ・Restructuring marketing activities

・Creation of new marketing organization ・Development of network among producers and service providers for market place

Creation of knowledge sharing system on development experiences

・Knowledge sharing ・Creation of knowledge ・Transformation of tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge

Source: Created by the Authors

Figure 47 and 48: Surin Province before and after the project implementation


The provided programs in the KDM Surin festival were planned or implemented by local citizens

themselves. We recruited program providers for the KDM Surin festival from those who wanted to provide

the programs during the human resource development training that was conducted five times in the

community. We had 20 potential partners from each of the 17 districts. This totals to 340 participants at the

beginning of the project. Some dropped out during the process because they found it difficult to adapt to

the style of the activity. Some are used to participating in activities conducted by the government and was

used to being “helped” all the time that it took some time for them to grasp the idea and start working on

their programs by themselves. In addition to this, there were some participants who did not have

confidence in providing the program or they were uncertain if their communities had something interesting

to offer. But as time went by, those who decided to push through with their programs started receiving

enquiries and reservations for their services. Visitors also started coming to their communities. Eventually,

the program providers’ confidence was built and more community members became more engaged and

vigorous in their activities.

The utilization of the Facebook page was very effective in terms of attracting the attention of the youth

and people who live outside Surin Province. Among the 728 who liked the page, approximately 30 per cent



Figure 49: RD-CCD Project Stakeholder Map




of them are 18-24 years of age. There were also many people accessing the page from outside of Surin; page

views from people living in Bangkok or other cities were not few. They also enquired about the brochure, the

KDM Surin festival T-shirt, clicked on the Like button or commented on photos and programs in each

community. Furthermore, there are many more exchanges under the name of Surin Province Community.

Majority of the program participants were from education-related organizations such as universities and

schools. For example, program participation was given as an assignment to the students who study social

studies or rural development at a university. Other schools organized educational field trips that allowed the

students to participate in the programs as a means teach them about local traditions and culture as well as

show them local attractions.

There were some program providers that had no participants during the period of the Festival’s

implementation. But many have received enquiries on their products and services because they were able to

promote their products and services through the brochure and website. Although the program did not

contribute to them as much, it did contribute to the promotion of their daily activities such as production and

sales or cultivation of organic vegetables.

During the festival, there were some volunteers and they made a network among themselves. Now they

held meetings once a month on the festival and its implementation.

7. The Way Forward

After implementation of the project, CDD also became interested in the RD-CCD project. The main reason is

the uniqueness and potential of the DHO Exhibition approach to support the existing rural development

policies such as the OTOP policy. The CDD representatives visited APU and participated in programs and

attended a lecture on Beppu’s DHO exhibition, Onpaku. Now the CDD is considering how to introduce the

DHO Exhibition approach to other provinces. Moreover, the festival was chosen as a “Creative Project” (an

advanced project that could reform the existing administration system) by CD Surin for FY 2013. Its

development to a government-initiated project in other areas is also being considered.

Responses to the RD-CCD project have been very positive and it is believed that the next KDM Surin

festival will be bigger and will have more substantial contents. The 2nd KDM Surin festival was held over a

period of three months, from November 2013 to January 2014. It had 192 programs. They also anticipated

that the next year would have bigger networks with more stakeholders in the project since local communities

have been talking about introducing more local resources and talents for the third KDM Surin festival. By

networking among those internal stakeholders, promotion, planning and implementation ability will likely be

increased and the local human resources further enhanced. Community capacity has already been enhanced

through the project by gathering those local organizations. They are already starting their own project

framework with the confidence they gained from holding the festival. The creation of their own rural

development framework and community capacity development is expected within three years. Then technical

support, market creation and knowledge sharing system development will be more actively conducted based

on the results and progress from the first year’s activities.

To follow the RD-CCD project progress further research and reporting about the project are necessary in

order to see the development of the rural community and to help to establish the alternative rural development

approach.

References

Davenport, T. H. and Prosak, L. (1998). Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know.

Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press.



Likashit, K (2010). Inception Report. Beppu: Presented at the training “Community Capacity and Rural Development

Promotion for Asia Countries – One Village One Product -.”

Miyoshi, K. (2011). “An Alternative Approach for Rural People: Proposal for Rural Development for Laos.” Beppu: A

More Strategic and Participatory Approach for Rural Development (Round Table Discussion Proceedings).

Miyoshi, K. and Stenning N. (2008). “Developing Community Capacity for Rural Development: An Alternative

Approach for Rural People.” Osaka: Presented at the Asian Association for Global Studies Research Forum.

Surin Community Development Office. (2013). Visual Reflection from the KDM Surin Festival.



Constructing Participatory Evaluation

for Rural and Community Capacity Development Yumiko Okabe / Institute for Community Design


1. Introduction

This paper articulates the case study of a constructive participatory evaluation for rural and community

capacity development project in Surin, Thailand as described in Chapter 9. For community-based and

formative projects for rural development to be more holistic in order to have better outcomes, a participatory

approach towards evaluation is considered to be the most appropriate method; however, mainstream evaluation

still relies heavily on conventional modes and settings, evident by the reduced number of studies and practical

cases of participatory evaluation available. Therefore, this paper also attempts to describe how participatory

evaluation was conducted step-by-step in order for practitioners to utilize this kind of approach and its methods

in a practical sense. This study is also conducted based on the social constructivism point of view, and an action

research method was utilized during the fieldwork to collect information through implementing participatory

evaluation meetings during the project. The evaluation results presented the actual processes of the

implementers and actors of the project as well as future indications towards community capacity development

in many different aspects. Moreover it assisted to describe the policy structure of Surin Province. Through this

process the main stakeholders of the project, who are also local people, have greatly increased their confidence

in what they do and this has also substantially increased social capital and networks among communities.

2. Designing the Framework of the Participatory Evaluation

The first step of the design process was to develop a framework of participatory evaluation based on various

studies. A precise program theory matrix was also developed for this particular evaluation in consultation with

the project sub-manager and the main implementer who works in the field for managing preparation of the

evaluation meetings from distance1. The linear type framework as suggested by most participatory evaluation

related books or articles did not function well. This linear approach includes planning the evaluation design,

selecting the indicators and data collection methods, gathering data, researching consensus about findings,

conclusions and recommendations, and lastly disseminating results and preparing action plan. Lead responsible

organizations or persons were also identified for each respective activity. However, in reality this became more

complex and there were more interactions between designing processes as shown in Figure 1. The ongoing

desk study was added as well as reading materials on the project to collect information and confirm the

activities and situations. Having an opportunity to visit implementation sites in Thailand before the evaluation

enabled communication with local communities and project implementers, which really helped later on for

designing the process and actually conducting the evaluation meetings. The community policy structure model,

developed for the project, also emphasized taking the establishment of the evaluation subjects and objectives

into account. During the field visit the main author was not there as an evaluation expert, but rather just a visitor

observing people’s behaviors and experiencing project activities. In order to accumulate those moments,

photographs and videos were taken of the project activities and the people who participated. The desk study,

including developing the theoretical parts of the evaluation, was constantly carried out during the field visit,

while at the same time collecting information on the project and setting evaluation questions.

1 The main author was assigned as an evaluation expert for the project, but mainly based in a different country.

10



Figure 1: Framework of Participatory Evaluation (Actual)


3. Constructionist Evaluator and Facilitator

In the book entitled The Reflective Practitioner written by Schon (1982), the superiority of researchers rather

than practitioners in reality is discussed and the distinction between professional knowledge and practice is

made. He notes that “technical rationality is the positivist epistemology of practice” (p. 31) and “increasingly

we have become aware of the importance to actual practice of phenomena-complexity, uncertainty, instability,

uniqueness, and value-conflict-which do not fit the model of technical rationality” (p. 39). Shon also states tacit

knowledge is preserved while we are learning it through “reflection-in-action” (p. 50). “Research is an activity

of practitioners” (p. 308) and this was part of the preparation for the participatory evaluation. “There is no

question on “exchange” between research and practice or of the “implementation” of research results, when the

frame- or theory-testing experiments of the practitioner at the same time transform the practice situation” (p.

308, 309). As a reflective practitioner, we need to develop and construct an appropriate framework from

implementation and the field, meaning we take the role of facilitator in evaluations rather than expert or

professional evaluator.

Recently, facilitating is gaining attention from the business world to social development and has several

types of roles. In this evaluation, the role of the facilitator was to ask questions to motivate participants and

deepen their thoughts during group discussions. Facilitating is a tool for practitioners or researchers to

communicate with local communities and reduce the gap; it is not simply the role of assistant or helper.

Knowing what to ask, rather than what to teach is important, as it is about guiding the group toward what they

want to do, and creating opportunities for people to speak out. It is a dialogue with participants in discussions

on “the development problem or the goal to be addressed and the action to be undertaken” (Bessette, 2004, p.

19). Learning by doing is the only sustainable way to master facilitating. The facilitator must be a chameleon,

changing and adapting to the situation and what is required in a particular field. This constructionist practice is

more an art than academic work, so to speak. Successful facilitation can create a kind of consensus among

local people.

4. Evaluation Questions and the Objective

In participatory evaluation, evaluation questions are the key to make fruitful and successful evaluations. Before

setting the evaluation questions, the objective for the evaluation must be considered. This is done to guide



participants to 1) confirm their ends and means of activities in the project; 2) confirm other people’s best

practices, and 3) modify their policy structure. Along with those issues, the biggest responsibility as an

evaluation facilitator in the project was to motivate and encourage participants for future activities not only for

the project, but also for their daily economic, social, political, or environmental activities. With limited time in

evaluation meetings, making evaluations simple, easy, and fun to do was also necessary for sustainability.

In order to respond appropriately to evaluation questions it is necessary to define the methodology of the

inquiry as either quantitative or qualitative. The approaches used in this project can be found in Table 1. The

evaluation results were mainly for project stakeholders as they participated in the process of participatory

evaluation. The information or knowledge they gain through the evaluation process is one of the advantages of

the qualitative methodology. Qualitative inquiries “increase the understanding of the cases and situations

studied, but reduce generalizability” and is widely used in community-based field studies. The time frame and

required resources for the evaluation meetings and other necessary details were discussed with the project

implementers and the best practice stories of each stakeholder were considered appropriate. Their perspective

toward the project, the overall activities, outputs, and outcomes, is necessary as part of the evaluation for

implementers to modify the community policy structure and planning. For these reasons methodologies and

approaches that involved the community perspective, such as photo elicitation and Appreciative Inquiry (AI)

were selected.

Questions were set based on the two selected approaches and can be seen in Table 2. Photo elicitation

focuses on sharing the project implementation activities and identifying activities that made changes and

impressed stakeholders. This approach uncovers the kind of activities people are interested in through the

selection of favorite photographs and discussion on how they see those changes. This allows implementers to

select what kind of project activities they can emphasize for future planning. People can get more detailed

information on what kind of activities were done in the project and how other people were able to make

positive changes. This approach fosters learning and knowledge sharing.

Table 1: Making Method Decisions

Question Answer

1 Who is the information for and who will use the findings?

CD Surin Working Team CD District staff Program Providers Volunteer ‘Network’

2 What kinds of information are needed? What/how all stakeholders did (best practice at each level) How all stakeholders changed and why

3 How is the information to be used? For what purposes is evaluation being done?

For implementers/volunteers to know how project was implemented and make new plans (consultation, implementation..) For program providers to learn from others and reflect it for their daily business or future programs For all to know ends and means and make individual goal

4 Given answers to the preceding questions, what methods are appropriate?

The researcher is the ‘instrument’ Reflection-in-action (Design flexibility) Narrative inquiry – ‘experience happens narratively’ Storytelling Inductive analysis Holistic perspective Qualitative data Unique case orientation Photo Elicitation Approach Appreciative Inquiry

Source: Created by the author based on Patton (1990)



Table 2: Prompt Questions

Photo Elicitation Excellence Award

Briefly describe one of the pictures you like the

most

Emphasize the good points of that picture

Identify the stakeholders of that particular point

in time

Identify the changes that picture affected

Imagine you are representing the implementers/program

providers in accepting a festival award “Excellence in

Consulting/Program Providing Practice” in 2013.

Describe what you felt about consulting with your

program providers

Describe what you appreciate most about your consulting

with your program providers

Why do you think so?

What makes your consulting practice unique?

Describe the next goal by participating the festival

The second set of questions on the Excellence Award 2013 focused on sharing best practices among

participants and making new goals for the next festival. In the book entitled Appreciative Inquiry Handbook

(Cooperrider, Whitney, and Stavros 2003), a case of an AI project was presented. AI was used “to discover the

positive core” of the center in question and “to enable the staff to focus on projects, process improvements, and

rewards” and “to build a team spirit, thereby creating a better environment” (p. 151). This case was able to be

adopted exactly as it is. The intention for the Excellence Award 2013 was to make everyone write narrativels

from the perspective that they are the winner.

The first question is about feelings before starting the project activities, followed by a question on the

situation after project activities. The reason for this is to see how people changed or were influenced by doing

activities and where the opportunity for change came from. The next question focuses on the uniqueness of the

practice so people can learn together and potentially adopt the best practice. Some people might not have been

confident enough to describe their best practice, so the whole group was encouraged to work together to find

out what was the best from that particular person. This also provides people an opportunity to think about

themselves, as well as other people, even if it was the first time they had ever met. Asking questions of other

people eventually leads to reflection on activities. Sharing stimulates discussion and learning. These lessons

and knowledge sharing are ways for people to detach themselves from interventions or consultations from

higher levels of communities and modify their policy structure on their own.

5. Participatory Evaluation Meetings

Evaluation meetings were organized according to the program theory matrix by implementers of the project

after the festival. Table 3 presents a summary of the evaluation meetings. The evaluation period was about a

week from the 20th to 27th March 2013 excluding the weekend, from 9:00 to 16:30. There were six evaluation

meetings including different stakeholders in different areas shown in Table 4. In total 316 people were invited

to the meetings.

The framework of participatory evaluation is presented in Figure 2. The evaluation purposes were 1) to find

out good practices of stakeholders, and based on that 2) draw out outcomes to 3) understand ends and means

(Figure 3) of participants’ activities according to them, and 4) to make new goals for the next year of project

implementation (Figure 4).



Table 3: Evaluation Meetings

Source: JICA Training Material (2013)

Table 4: Workshop Schedule

Time Activities

8:30-9:00 Registration

9:00-9:30 Briefing (Introduction)

9:30-10:00 Opening Ceremony

10:00-10:30 Project Review (Ms. Kanjana from CD Surin)

10:30-10:45 Break

10:45-12:00 Lecture on Participatory Evaluation (Evaluation Expert)

12:00-13:00 Lunch

13:00-14:00 Evaluation Question 1: Group Discussion on Photos

14:00-14:30 Presentation (each group)

14:30-15:30 Evaluation Question 2: Group Discussion on Best Practices

15:30-16:00 Presentation (individual in groups)

16:00-16:30 Summary & Closing

*The Schedule was modified according to the No. of participants and situations




Figure 2: Framework of Participatory Evaluation


Figure 3: Relationship between Outcome and Output


Best practices Champions

• CD Surin

• APU

• Network

(volunteer

group)

• Buachet • Sangkha

• Srinarong

• Sikhoraphumi

• Samrongthap

• Jomphra • Kapchung

• Phanomdongrak

• Lamduan

• Sanom

• Khuwaosinarin • Chumphonburi

• Ratanaburi

• Thatum

• Nonnarai

• Muang Surin • Prasat


• Srinarong

• Sikhoraphumi

• Samrongthap


• Phanomdongrak

• Lamduan

• Sanom


• Ratanaburi

• Thatum

• Nonnarai


Implementation Level (17 CD district officers)

Policy making LevelProducer Level

Facilitator


Evaluation Results

New Goals

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

1st E

va

lua

tio

n m

eeting



Figure 4: Project Outcomes in Participatory Evaluation


The first evaluation meeting (Figures 5-11) held in central Surin Province invited project implementers and

volunteer group members. There were some politically influential executive visitors like the Vice Governor and

the head of the Tourism Authority in Surin Province who gave participants an encouraging speech on the

project. This support stimulated participant involvement in the project, even after implementation of the main

activity. Besides general evaluation purposes, another purpose for this meeting was to make district officers

facilitators for workshops with program providers. Even though they were not involved in the project activities

much, they still experienced and saw the influences of the project in Surin community through the evaluation

meeting. The evaluations were divided into five workshops by location. This reduced the overall cost, time, and

amount of human resources necessary to execute the workshops. The workshop still brought people together to

create an environment to exchange experiences to enhance capacity and expand the network of the

stakeholders.

The workshops incorporated lectures and group discussions. The contents of lectures were 1) reflection on

the project by project staff and 2) evaluation and participatory evaluation components delivered by the

facilitator. The lectures were followed by group discussions on 1) photo elicitation evaluation and 2) best

practice competition. Groups consisted of six to seven people selected randomly. Each group had a big piece of

paper and sticky notes to write down answers. Using sticky notes allows participants to have more flexible

ideas during brainstorming enabling them to move as the discussion progresses. This style was incorporated

into project development from the beginning, so participants were familiar with this technique. After the

discussions, each group presented what they discussed and their results as an evaluation.

Photo arrangements are shown in Figure 12. About 100 photographs were selected by project

implementers according to the stage of the project. They tried to select photos from different times and places,


• CD Surin

• APU

• Network

(volunteer

group)


• Srinarong

• Sikhoraphumi

• Samrongthap


• Phanomdongrak

• Lamduan

• Sanom


• Ratanaburi

• Thatum

• Nonnarai



• Srinarong

• Sikhoraphumi

• Samrongthap


• Phanomdongrak

• Lamduan

• Sanom


• Ratanaburi

• Thatum

• Nonnarai


Implementation Level (17 CD district officers)

Policy making LevelProducer Level

Facilitator


Evaluation Results

Modified policy structure

2nd

3rd

4th

5th

6th

Outcome

• Participation as a program provider

• Change of attitude/way of

thinking

Project

• Funding • Trainings

• Consultations • Preparation –brochure, website…

• Implementation of the festival

Ch

ang

e o

f So

cie

ty (S

urin

)



Figure 5: 1st Evaluation Meeting Figure 6: 1st Evaluation Meeting

Figure 7: 1st Evaluation Meeting Figure 8: 1st Evaluation Meeting

Figure 9: Photo Elicitation Figure 10: Photo Elicitation

Figure 11: Photo Elicitation Figure 12: Photo Elicitation

Source: Photos are taken by the Author



as well as stakeholders. One photograph was printed in A4-sized paper in color with numbering on it and

those were put together and hung on the walls. Participants were also asked to bring photographs if they

had any they would like to share with others. This was done to minimize the biases on selection of the

photos by only implementers; however, very few people brought additional photographs. Some people

talked about the situations presented in the photographs, whilst some were taking photographs of the

photographs. One of the district chiefs liked the activity so much he wanted to replicate photo elicitation in

his office. By the time there was another evaluation meeting in his district, he had already put photos on

the wall (Figure 13 and 14). According to the implementers, he was very supportive of the idea of the

project, and is very reflective when he finds something interesting for community development.

For district evaluation meetings, 17 districts were divided into five groups. District meeting photographs

are shown in Figures 15-20. Each meeting had the same contents, but with slightly different approaches.

Figure 13: Photo Elicitation in the District Office Figure 14: Photo Elicitation in the District Office

Figure 15: Evaluation Meeting in Districts Figure 16: Evaluation Meeting in Districts





Source: Photos are taken by the Author

Implementers and the facilitator worked together to improve each meeting through follow-up meetings after

each evaluation. Informal discussions with district office facilitators were also undertaken.

6. Evaluation Results

Each evaluation tells a story, but over several meetings similar results begin to emerge. Unique results are

represented in Table 6 for photo elicitation and Table 7 for best practices. There are several groups in each

evaluation meeting, and the result for photo elicitation is summarized according to the photo number selected.

Notable trends based on the presentations, observations, discussions, interviews, and the result of evaluations

came to light. The following is a list of the strongest findings.

Most participants who were invited to the evaluation meetings attended unless they had prior

commitments, such as another official meeting. In terms of being participatory, the project was successful.

Most participants were not familiar with participatory evaluation, or even evaluation itself. People were

incredulous when they were told they were going to be conducting the evaluation.

CD District staff were not tremendously prepared and most of them could not come up with any

examples of best practices. Volunteers and implementers mostly praised their own contributions to the

project.

Implementers, mainly government officials, came to understand how this project contributed to society as

a whole, as well as the benefits of the project during the evaluation meetings. Initially it was difficult for

them to comprehend the idea of participatory evaluation and to facilitate program providers and often

times they ended up not doing anything. Their perspective drastically changed, mostly for the better after

their involvement in the participatory evaluation.

Almost every program provider gained confidence that they can provide services through the festival. The

project impression for them was either positive or a bit confusing, but overall they were very satisfied

with the project. They had more ideas and are very eager for next time.

One program provider presented her program details with the collaboration of the district staff.

Everyone was willing to participate in the next festival.

One of the district chiefs had the idea of implementing the festival at the district level.

The presentations were a good opportunity for implementers to learn what people in the community did.

The structure of the program is such that one program has only one program provider. In reality, however,

more people were involved, such as families and neighbors, making the impact of the festival bigger than

just the number of programs.



Encouraging people to present and speak about their activities provided a good networking and

knowledge sharing opportunity. This is the real voice of people and results of the whole project.

Some people expressed they would like to have this kind of participative opportunity more frequently.

Table 6: Results on Photo Elicitation

No. Photo interpretation Notable observations Stakeholders Changes

8

Ms. Nok, Ms. Maru

Ms. Maru encouraged interest

Khong Dee Muang Surin’s

activities

supporting government

organizations participants exchange knowledge

22

meeting exchange of opinions

group members, experts

who share knowledge

Includes vision, policy structure, concept,

implementation approach serious cooperation

24

Development help

Demonstrates commitment

community leaders and

members Livable, clean village People are relaxed, happy

Enables beautiful silk weaving

25

smiles and enjoyment Cooperation from everyone everyone the community became better and

cleaner

liveliness unity

men and women of all ages

there is unity

cleaning everyone had a good time

smiles, laughter

community members enjoyed time

together and the community became

cleaner

children help clean

community

children use free time for

useful activity

children have good habits

encourages children to

volunteer

parents, community

leaders, children

Community is cleaner

children learned responsibility

Village cleaning Cleaner village leader, children, local

people

clean community

strengthens discipline in village

cleaning Encouraged love for

hometown Children, adults community clean, livable

27

people weaving silk tie-dyed silk weaving

elderly female teacher,

youth beautiful woven silk

group unity

silk patterns supportive government

organizations

silk weaving providing silk weaving

knowledge

program provider, leader

and community community members generate income

silk weaving trial use of local wisdom

provincial and district

community development

officers, networks

tourists came to village

tourist weaving silk

with program provider

conservation of local wisdom,

tradition

chief of district agricultural

office, Sub-district

administrative organization,

tourists, public

community has side business that

increases income




34

making souvenirs

from silk cocoons

value is added by

processing silk cocoons that

are not typically used

income generation

approach

Housewives, foreign visitors

new knowledge is gained

value is added by using remnant

materials

41

tourist spot People happy taking a rest people good atmosphere

48

teaching how to cut

glass

prevents global warming city municipality became tourist spot

beautiful glasses are used public glasses sell well

56

Rickshaw, brochure Surin’s image improved,

changed people’s perspective

Muang Surin rickshaw

group, Khong Dee Muang

Surin festival

Khong Dee Muang network expanded,

increasing promotion channels

60

local play generational inheritance to

preserve local play, culture Village children, youth

youth had enough confidence, unity to

perform

61

tourists, children, local

language cooperation from all groups

leader, group, public,

tourists local wisdom inherited

children and Khmer

language dictionary

Preservation of local

language

Increased appreciation of

hometown, identity

teacher, school, students,

youth

People are not ashamed to speak

local language

Students are ready for AEC

Growing pride in their hometown many languages, ethnic

groups




65

Enjoying delicious

grilled fresh fish from

local river

eating natural fresh foods in a

good atmosphere program provider, tourists

community generates income

Increased number of people aware of

community

development

Community lifestyle is taught

68

knowledge acquisition There are many things from

this province program provider, tourists

Province is a knowledge center

Good promotion of area

70

knowledge acquisition There are many things from

this province program provider, tourists

Province is a knowledge center

Good promotion of area

71

ancient ruins beautiful program participants tourism activity increased

75

Children, adults

digging crabs local natural food supply Children, adults brought crabs back home, ate with family

people looking for

crabs Increased food supply living thing (crab) Increased appreciation of nature

nature

spending time in natural

environment non-living thing (soil)

enjoyment

delicious there is a tourist spot

living things, living

things that are going

to die

being in nature

digging crabs

Preservation of positive aspect

of local lifestyle for next

generation

people from community,

outsiders

Understanding that without care the next

generation won’t have an opportunity to

see it

78

molding a stove to

save energy saving energy

program providers,

participants participants use knowledge learned

Stove molding

Teach how to mold stoves to

community members, next

generation

Owner, program providers local people’s life becomes better through

occupation, income generation




79

painted t-shirts beautiful Owner, program provider Introduces t-shirt painting teacher, place

where to do it

80

walking to find herbs

in natural forest

making healthy bodies,

strong community for

self-reliance

owner, program provider,

visitors

Learning to save, reducing waste,

increase income

81

enjoyment students gain knowledge Students, youth Knowledge gained outside class room

82

selling triangle pillows local wisdom program providers

community becomes better through

knowledge of how to make triangle

pillows, supplemental business

83

natural silk dyeing Lecture providing knowledge

to participants of field visit

Group from Ubonrachathani

Province

visitors gain knowledge to use in their

activities

85

Phumipon ancient

ruins at Village 5,

Dom Sub-district,

Sangkha District

many Thai, foreign tourists visit all related organizations

Motivation to work, income increased,

event design/planning improved for AEC

in future

Phumipon ancient

ruins

Ancient ruins, tourist/field-visit

location

community that takes care

of ruins cooperatively Location is now famous, well-known

Story of ruins shared Province has many virtues Program provider, tourists Area is knowledge center, good for

promotion

86

leisure activity Province has many virtues program provider, tourists Area is knowledge center, good for

promotion



Table 7: Results on Best Practices

Program Expectation (Before) Appreciation (After) Reason Selected as Best Practice Highlights Next Challenge

Ubon Bunmark (Green Market)

Sounds interesting, but who will come? Thailand is not like Japan.

findings demonstrator, MC, network, group, designer, planner, coordinator forcible conversation techniquetraining of telling a story Customers are interested in the demonstration. Telling stories more than "selling products"

Brochure for promotion, broadcasted on TV

Local market, minority farmers (non-professional), full stomach, getting knowledge

Develop program to be more interesting, enjoyable

Phakhawat Janpaa (Wood roots in our life)

See possibility of idea exchange among program providers and business. These may be better than ordinary activities. We could have international visitors see our activities and buy products if we join project.

I appreciate this project because it created an opportunity for our group to see other program providers, community development experts, officers, and others who gave us advice. I expect that this project will increase our business and increase the number of domestic and international consumers who know our group. I hope to increase our group's sales volume in the future.

Got attention from people who are interested in us and customers

Our group's products are different because we develop product designs to be more beautiful.

Develop program, focus on promotion to increase number of people who know us

Nit Sanosiang (Weaving silk and eating ice cream collaborated with the team of broom making from phoenix humilis leaves)

Community will increase income. Local people will not have to go to work outside of the community. It will make our products famous.

We could sell more products than before. People from other communities got to know our products.

Are people who know us from the brochure want to see real products and us in the community, or not?

Use of materials from the community

Conservation of famous local wisdom

Career promotion

Increasing number of programs next year to include dance performances from local children

Winai Sathipatai (Bhuddhist Medical Treatment)

No expectation

We could find friends to cooperate with us. I'm proud that I could introduce the self-health treatment approach to others.

It's easy. Everyone can do it. There is a monk as a leader. We planted herbs so that we

don’t have to buy them.

I want to increase number of people who know the Buddhist medical treatment so they will be able to take care of themselves.I want everyone to be their own doctor, so that they don't have to go to see doctors at hospital. The Buddhist medical treatment will always be in this project and improve the implementation method of the Buddhist medical treatment.

I want everyone to have good health.

Painting colors on glasses and bracelets makes us phisically healthy and mentally happy

I was confused. I didn't know how to do it. I know how to increase market channels.

Participation in the project means promoting it to others and giving myself opportunities.

Each handicraft is the only one in the world because I make them one by one. I am proud of it.

Sitting on the wood root and dyeing silk

Our place is not famous enough for tourists. Number of tourists who know us increased.

I could promote it, distribute the brochures and attend the training.

Products from wood roots are original and different from others. Silk is dyed naturally. These are delicately beautiful.

Self-efficiency economy village, sufficient, peaceful and happy

There are many valuable things in the community. However they don't know about product processing. There is a road to the

I'm glad and proud that the number of people who know us is increased from 0 to 1, 2, 3...

All activities in which we participated in made us realize how valuable our local wisdom is.

The sufficient self-reliance lifestyle that we have practiced for many years.



community, but it's still difficult to find us.

Molding soils to make a stove

It is not the famous place. I just mold soils.

I could teach knowledge to the next generation and others. They gain knowledge

Products are made one by one by hand. I want the next generation to learn how to make molded stove.

To have people to inherit Aunt Am's wisdom

Ancient ruins, one-thousand-year-old irrigation reservoir and Screw Pine trees

I thought we could develop more It is a very good project. It helps to promote our products.

Knowledge from other groups and idea exchange with other program providers

It is a property of the village and the community should be conserved.

Promoted it more, improvements to supports more tourists

Mrs. Wewathana Saleengam (Enjoyable forest tour)

We have natural resources and like the natural environment and walking around the forest. We want everyone to love nature.

We want everyone to find benefits from resources and to come to enjoy the beautiful nature with an enjoyable atmosphere.

We want everyone to love and value their own local resources. Beautiful natural resources

We want everyone to know about natural resources. We want to develop sustainably.

Aunt Am (molding soilsto make a stove) I want to do, learn and try. I want community members and tourists to

appreciate and learn local wisdom. I want everyone to know local wisdom and lifestyle.

Molding stove making demonstration and natural resource utilization

Have people inherit Aunt Am's wisdom

Aunt Thes (ebony-dyeing and embroidering cloths) I want to learn and try

Number of customers increased. Side business was created. I have pride.

I want next generation to inherit our village's wisdom

We consult and cooperate with each other to solve problems. Increase number of visitors

Sanguwan Sirithawee (self-sufficiency economy village)

It was good to join the project. because we prepare resources and individuals.

It is good that we could promote the village and exchange knowledge.

There is a model household and village. Local raw materials are used.

To make program time longer

Increase number of visitors to 50 people

Increase participation fee to 200 Baht / person

Ngiaw Aekthong (Chenla Kingdom)

I want everyone to know the Chenla kingdom.

I'm proud that I could introduce our community to tourists.

I want to use tourism for development and make our community a learning spot.

I want tourists to know ancient places in the community.

I want to everyone to know ancient kingdom and develop it sustainably.

Sunisa Kongsuk (Triangle-Pillow to make you happy)

I want to promote our group's products to make customers order.

Number of people, customers, that know us increased. I received the phone calls to order pillows.

I want to expand the business, make the community and widen the network

We are the only triangle pillow making group in Surin Province. We use elephant patterns to symbolize our product as Surin's product.

I want to make Tathai Village 4's triangle pillow famous and make Thathai Village a tourist spot to buy triangle pillows

Lamom Phandee I want everyone to know the group.

I'm really glad and proud that everyone knows us.

Community members developed their products and could have businesses to increase their incomes.

I want to many tourists to join "planting mulberries, raising silkworms and weaving silks" and increase the community income

I want all program providers to join all programs of the festival.

Charinrat Thong-om I want everyone to know local silk, which is part of our identity.

Number of people who are aware increased. Customer need increased. Number of producers increased.

I want to make everyone in the community enthusiastic and improve our silk's quality

Our silk is made from locally raised silk and hand-woven. It is colorful and beautiful with 3 dimensions pattern.

I want to increase the number of customers and tourists to increase local income.

Thanpa Thongmoon It is interesting. It widen my perspective. I want other people know us.

It made organizations know us and how to take care of their health.

It keeps good health so people do not have to see doctors.

We mainly use herbs. We know how to take care of health.

I want everyone to join our activity, to bring more tourists from inside and outside of my network to my community, to increase number of customers and make our project more famous.



7. Conclusion

To conclude, participatory evaluation meetings were effective for participants in terms of knowledge sharing,

and most importantly, being inspired and having their dreams and hopes for the future in their hands. Holding

participatory evaluation workshops revealed and exposed people’s knowledge and experiences, as well as their

perspectives or thoughts on development issues. Sharing those accumulated experiences allows them to now

be used by them. The last question on goal setting encouraged individuals, as well as implementers, to form

ideas on how to find support or give assistance in the future. Participatory evaluation, specifically the exercise

on the best practice award, provided the opportunity to see who was doing well, and if the award was real,

could be an opportunity for motivating participants.

According to the implementers of the project, participants, especially program providers, wanted to have

the participatory evaluation workshop for knowledge sharing. At this point, the overall outcomes could be seen

as a success; however, for further studies, this research left a space for deepening narratives on their daily lives

and how the program has changed society. This can be studied by conducting this kind of participatory

workshop to better understand their development activities.

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Publications.



Systematic Value Addition

and Collective Activities

Yumiko Okabe, Naomi Stenning, Ana Puatu and Koichi Miyoshi

Institute for Community Design

1. Introduction

Rural and urban disparities are stark in the context of current development fields. It is almost impossible for

rural areas to compete with its urban counterparts in economic, political and social terms; however rural

areas are usually rich with natural resources that can be used to sustain human life such as through

agricultural activities. Adding value to agricultural products through processing is key for rural

communities to survive and compete with those from urban areas; however, many rural areas are faced

with constraints such as a lack of capital and human resources. Nevertheless, there are many cases where

rural Japanese communities have succeeded to overcome such issues through a new concept of value

addition as well as the successful management of collective activities.

Community capacity is a basic element that enables a community to function. It refers to the ability to

achieve the community’s shared goals as well as to promote and maintain the richness of the community.

This is done through the collective efforts of individuals and organizations within a community, utilizing

the human, organizational and social resources available.

Collective activities can have a multitude of favourable outcomes. For example, increased sense of

community and commitment, mitigation of risk to producers, knowledge sharing, human resource and

leadership development, increased access to resources, influence on national policies, markets, consumers

or other things otherwise generally unable to be controlled or influenced by the individual person or

organization.

It is important for a community to establish the ability to design and implement strategies as a group;

this equips them with the ability to design or re-design themselves. Systematic value addition is not only

about making processed products with higher added value. It is about raising the value of the town as a

whole by clarifying the roles of the individual and the group as well as by conducting cooperative activities

like collective marketing. For instance, agricultural production in Oyama has been successful not only due

to the development of high value-added products, but as a result of the creation of a system where

collective activities are systematically conducted by strong institutions.

This paper describes the concepts of systematic value addition and collective activities for community

development based on the community capacity development and community policy structure model using

existing cases from Oyama-machi. Many of the collective activities identified in Oyama-machi’s case

results from a strategy of systematic value addition where the community has continuously added to and

improved production-based collective activities to pursue their collective and individual goals. This led to

the strategic and systematic introduction of collective activities in Oyama-machi.

2. Community Capacity Development and Policy Structure Model

The community capacity development and community policy structure model outlined in Chapter 4 is a

dual function model aimed at the development of community capacity associated with its functions,

characteristics and the implementation of strategic components and higher value added policy structure,

11



including economic, social, environmental and political activities. Continuous community capacity

development and the introduction of collective activities stimulate each other ensuing changes in the target

group, and subsequently resulting in changes to society.

3. Collective Activities in Oyama-machi

Agricultural Cooperative and Local Government Administration

The foundational organizations in Oyama, the Local Government Administration and the Oyama

Agricultural Cooperative, did not grow naturally out of the community like many community organizations

around the world. Instead, both were established by an actor external to the community, the Japanese

government. Although established in Oyama-machi through outside/external influences, both of these

organizations can be considered internal actors – a part of the community. Both of these organizations

proved to be extremely important elements of the town’s community capacity. In particular, it served as

vehicles for community leaders to exercise their leadership, develop important human resources as well as

access resources from within and beyond Oyama-machi. For instance, the Agricultural Cooperative

Savings Facility demonstrated this when they turned the farmers’ savings into an asset that the community

could use in development and infrastructure projects as well as support to farmers in the form of soft loans.

Before establishment of the savings facility, Oyama residents would invest their savings in bank

accounts outside of Oyama-machi or in a postal savings account. Japan Post had a branch in Oyama-machi,

but it was still an outside entity that did not invest directly in the community. When the Agricultural

Cooperative was established, farmers were now able to save money in a community entity. The Nokyo then

used the farmers’ savings for loans to farmers or investments in village or agricultural development that

ultimately benefits the community. The difference in internal and external savings is depicted in Figure 1.

Figure 1: Nokyo savings facility and regular bank or post office savings

Source: created by author

Farmers

Bank /

Post Office

Nokyo

Outside

Oyama

Within

Oyama

Savings

Savings

Lending

Investment /

Investment Benefits

Benefits



Likewise, the establishment of Oyama’s cable radio station (OYHK) exemplifies how a drastic increase

in farmers’ savings by the Agricultural Cooperative resulted to investments in important village

infrastructure that is instrumental to the success of subsequent community development initiatives.

Specifically, accumulated capital in the Agricultural Cooperative boosted the capacity of the organization to

provide services and implement community development initiatives.

In terms of community capacity development and the introduction of higher value added policy

structures, one of the most important functions of these organizations was to facilitate collective activities.

They did this by providing backroom support to producer groups and establishing subsidiary organizations

that organized farmers. The following section describes some of the collective activities that were

implemented in Oyama-machi. These are the Konohana Garten direct sales outlet, enoki mushroom

production and the Oyama Yume Kobo Inc.

Konohana Garten – adding value to collective marketing through direct sales

The Nokyo established ‘Konohana Garten’ as a subsidiary organization in July 1990. The direct sales store

facility of the Kinhana Garten is located on Kokudo 212 by the Oyama River. In addition, since its

establishment, the cooperative has gradually increased the number of direct sales places called antennae

sthops in supermarket and department stores in urban areas. To date, there are seven Konohana Garten

direct sales antennae shopss which are located in Fukuoka, Oita and Beppu Cities.

This direct sales fresh produce market allows farmers to sell fresh vegetables and other value-added

products such as umeboshi directly to consumers. This innovation to the market, one that directly connects

the producers to their consumers, was rare in Japan during the time of its establishment. In fact, when

Konohana Garten was established, there was only one existing direct sales store in the country but it was

quite a small store in comparison.

Every morning before 8 am, a succession of farmers, mostly women, pull up to Konohana Garten in

Oyama in their miniature white farm trucks. They bring small quantities of a variety of fresh produce

stacked in crates as well as boxes or baskets of homemade processed goods such as umeboshi, yuzukosho,

pickled vegetables and konnyaku. They place some of the products on the shelves themselves as shown

in Image 1. They may also choose to send some of their products to one or more of the Konohana Garten

antennae shops in Fukuoka Oita and Beppu. The products are packaged, labeled and priced on the farms.

In the afternoon, these same farmers return to Konohana Garten to pick up any fresh produce that were not

sold.

Image 1: Oyama farmer stocking Konohana Garten shelves with processed products

Source: taken by author January 2010



Farmers are free to decide which products they will produce for the market, set product prices, and

determine the quantities (and quality) of produce they will put up for sale. Farmers receive 80 per cent of

the sales price, as opposed to the 40 per cent or less they would usually receive if they sold through

conventional agricultural cooperative channels, markets or retailers. Each product has a personalized

barcode, which when scanned during checkout automatically credits the sale to the corresponding

individual producer. The sales account of each farmer is adjusted once a week and their revenue is

transferred to their account every ten days.

This arrangement is illustrated in Figure 2. For instance, every 100 yen that the consumer spends on the

farmers’ products at Konohana Garten in Oyama or at any antenna store, 80 yen is deposited straight to the

producer’s bank account while the remaining 20 yen goes to the Nokyo for administration costs.

Figure 2: Konohana Garten sales process


NOKYO

AM

PM

¥80 ¥20

¥100

FARMING

HOUSEHOLD

CONSUMER

ANTENNAE

STORES

KONOHANA GARTEN

森食品



Konohana Garten does not set any concrete standards in terms of size, shape or general quality of the

produce. The criteria simply include “agricultural products that are produced by the famers themselves

with reduced amounts of agricultural chemicals and that are fresh and safe”. This provides famers with the

opportunity to sell otherwise unmarketable agricultural produce, including odd-shaped, blemished or

undersized vegetables.

Similarly, the absence of minimum quantity requirements for products sold through Konohana Garten

means that small scale producers can also benefit. Elderly farmers, wives in farming households who are

busy raising children or farmers who do not possess enough land for large scale production can sell the

smallest amounts of whatever products they produce. Many farming households also produce vegetables

and rice for self-consumption on top of their commercial crops. Sometimes there is excess production that

cannot be consumed by the family. Instead of being wasted or given away for free, these can also be sold

through Konohana Garten. Put simply, the direct sales shop at Konohana Garten provides a selling place

for farmers who cannot meet the requirements of systematic and standardized trade of agricultural

products.

Direct interaction with the market through the direct sales facility provides farmers with access to

information regarding consumer taste and demand, subsequently allowing them to respond appropriately.

For example, if the combination of quality and price of a certain product does not please the consumer,

they will not buy the product. The farmer can immediately observe when her products doesn’t sell well

when she returns to the direct sales facility to pick up unsold goods in the afternoon. She may then choose

to adjust the pricing of the product the next day or work to resolve quality issues. She may also decide to

process the fresh produce create a higher value added product.

The direct sales facility has created an alternative to the big and urban market; wherein farmers are able

to manage themselves. This innovation also resulted to producers having direct access to information on

consumer needs and tastes, and the opportunity to consider all these in order to respond accordingly in their

production activities.

The Konohana Garten direct sales system encourages farmers to innovate and produce a variety of new

products. The system allows farmers to sell their new products in small quantities before committing to

larger scale production. This effectively limits the risk involved in manufacturing new products and

encourages innovation. Moreover, it fostered entrepreneurialism amongst farmers because it allowed them

be become more bold and creative when it came to their agricultural endeavors since they were able to

market test their products in Konohana Garten before they were distributed to other market sectors such as

supermarkets. This has resulted to farmers engaging in higher value added production activities, thereby

making the community policy structure more complex and sophisticated.

Konohana Garten’s membership is not limited to just the members of the Oyama’s agricultural

cooperative. In fact, its membership also includes small producers from neighboring towns. Also,

membership to Konohana Garten is on an individual basis in contrast to the Nokyo’s one membership per

household policy. Thus, one household in Oyama could have as many Konohana Garten members. For

example, the head of the household, his wife, their son and/or his young wife, and an elderly household

member could all be members of the Konohana Garten depending on their engagement in production

activities. Meanwhile, membership of the Nokyo has been decreasing due to the shrinking population of

Oyama. This is in contrast to Konohana Garten’s steady growth in membership.

Traditionally, all sales profit from the Nokyo would be deposited to the account of the male head of the

household. This means that other household members who also contributed to production process do not

have control over their earnings. However, since Konohana Garten’s membership is on an individual basis,

each individual producer, including women and the elderly, would have their own bank accounts to which



Table 1: Comparison of different distribution channels

Distribution

channel Description

Price set

by

Bargaining

power of

farmer

Quantity Quality Branding

Profit

to

farmer

Conventional Each farm sells to

middle men

independently

Middle

men

Very low Large Standard No brand <40%

Agricultural

Cooperative

Collective

through

cooperative

Market

(auction)

Medium Large Standard Nokyo /

town brand

40%

Konohana

Garten

Collective direct

sales outlet

Farmer High Small Decided

by

producer

Individual

producer

80%


their revenues will be automatically credited. The introduction of this system has resulted to the

empowerment of non-household head producers who now have more control over their finances.

The creation of Konohana Garten fundamentally changed the agricultural approach in Oyama-machi.

Farmers who previously could not participate effectively in the economy such as the elderly now produce

small quantities of a large variety of products. There is also higher incentive for the farmers and their

households to try new things and innovate the processing of products. Table 1 illustrate the differences

among conventional, agricultural cooperative and Konohana Garten distribution channels.

Enoki Mushroom Production – clarifying individual and collective functions

The cultivation of enoki mushrooms is complicated and requires special skills. It is difficult for individual

small-scale farmers to do the whole process and the investment cost for its full-scale operation is also high.

Enoki mushroom production is done in two distinct phases. The first stage is very technical and would

expose farmers to a greater risk of failure while the second stage is less complicated. To take the risk away

from small-scale farmers, the Oyama Agricultural Cooperative established a central mushroom facility to

conduct the more technically complicated aspects of enoki production. Under this system, farmers

purchase pots of activated mushroom spores from the Agricultural Cooperative’s central mushroom facility.

Farmers then continue to cultivate these in their own small-scale facilities, where they also harvent and

package before they are delivered back to the cooperative for distribution to the markets. This production

system was dubbed the “Oyama method.”

The Oyama Method clearly demonstrates a division of roles between individuals and organizations.

Through this, producers with no experience growing enoki mushrooms were able to easily do so with very

little investment. Previously, only those with specialized skills and a significant amount of capital to invest

were able to grow them (as shown in Figure 3). The secret behind Oyama’s success lies in this kind of

systematic value addition.

In addition, Oyama focused on producing high quality mushrooms because they believed that they

would be unable to compete on a purely quantitative basis. Research conducted in Oyama led to the

development of the Silk Mushroom variety of enoki. The Oyama enoki is patented and marketed as

“Mashiruku”, which is a combination of the words “mushroom” and “silk”, but also conjures up

“masshiro”, which means “completely white” in Japanese. Since then, Oyama has become renowned for



Figure 3. Enoki Mushroom Production


Mashiruku, which is longer, has a smaller head and a silkier texture than the usual enoki mushrooms

produced in other regions. Produced by many of the community’s farmers, the Oyama’s brand of enoki, the

“Mashiruku”, has been distributed widely in the Kyushu market.

Oyama Yume Kobo and OYKC – preserving identity and industry and exchanges with the outside

The burst of Japan’s bubble economy in the early 1990s harked the beginning of the “Lost Decade” and a

period of economic recession in Japan. In addition, the signing of the Uruguay Round in April 1994

resulted to trade liberalization and an influx of cheaper agricultural imports from China and South Korea to

Japanese markets that had previously been closed to them. These events impacted negatively to the

agriculture industry of the country as the prices of agricultural goods dropped sharply.

In line with these events, Oyama’s farmers saw the price of raw ume drop to less than 100 yen per

kilogram. Ume could no longer be considered the “Green Diamonds” of the market because they could not

longer be sold at peak price of 850 – 1000 yen per kilogram. This situation led to the rapid migration of

young people from Oyama to urban cities, consequently resulting to labour shortages and an increasing

amount of abandoned farm lands.

In response, the agricultural cooperative established antenna direct sales facilities in urban areas. But,

according to Ogata, this initiative barely helped them maintain the status quo; its impact was not enough to

improve the situation (2012). At that time, there were two opposing groups in Oyama. One group were the

reformists who wanted to implement drastic changes in order to secure the town’s future. The Mayor was

part of this faction. The other group were the conservatives, whose members included most of the town

assembly and opposition. This group preferred to maintain the status quo and was unwilling to embrace

change.

For three or four years, the reformists and the conservatives were locked in a stalemate and could not

agree on a way forward for Oyama. There was so much arguing in local assembly meetings; these heated

debates were broadcast by OYT for all the local people to see. Community members started to realize that

if this situation continued, nothing would happen for the development of the community. This could put



their town’s future in jeopardy. Thus, an assembly of concerned citizens formed a group to discuss and

come up with ideas for development in Oyama. They called themselves the Dream Making Committee.

The Committee came up with a number of visions, ideas, policies and plans for community

development in Oyama. But because the ultimate the decision-making powers lay with the town assembly,

each and every idea that were presented, even if it had the mayor’s support, were voted down by the

conservative majority. This caused much frustration for the Committee members and the local people.

They realised that political change was necessary and in order to do so, fourteen members of the Dream

Making decided to run for assembly seats in the next local election. Of the ten seats in the assembly, eight

were won by Committee members. Only two of the incumbent councillors were re-elected. Now with a

clear majority in the town assembly, the reformists’ development plans that were finally introduced and

progressed, heralding a new stage in the development of Oyama.

Mitoma Zenpachiro, the newly appointed mayor of Oyama, and current President of OYKC said, “For

community development, we should not focus on negative aspects and instead concentrate on how to

expand the potential of the region” (Ogata 2012, p.141). He had adopted three strategies in order to do this:

First, was to create a new industry that enhanced the raw materials industry. In order to achieve this, it

was necessary to construct and manage visitor facilities, promote product development, and establish a

system to increase the amount of visitors to the community and to boost the local consumption of locally

produced goods.

Second, was to preserve precious environmental assets for future generations. This involves increasing

the volume of water in the Oyama River, which had dropped as a result of the construction of dams and

hydropower plants upstream, as well as the restoration of mountain forests and forests that had been

damaged by typhoons.

Third, would be to establish an organization capable of appropriately managing these projects. The

establishment of a new organization, the Oyama Yume Kobo Corporation Inc. (OYKC), in 1998 resulted

from high levels of community capacity including the linking of social capital and networks. The

establishment of the OYKC also had other important community capacity effects in Oyama. These include,

the introduction of more advanced and new policy structures and the strengthening of exiting, new and

more sophisticated networks. OYKC has a unique public-private partnership model. The local government,

the private sector, big industry players, and individual community members collaborate to foster effective

access to capital. The organization also benefited in terms of human resource when highly skilled

administrators, many of whom were graduates of the “Yahata University”, were absorbed by the local

government administration after Oyama’s amalgamation with Hita City. Likewise, with the establishment

of this organization allowed them to continue to harness the talents of the staff for community development

efforts inspite the loss of Oyama’s local government entity.

OYKC now employs over seventy staff members including around thirty part-time staff. The

organization is currently valued at over 730 million yen. The venture was set up as a public-private

partnership between the municipal government and private companies including Nikka Whiskey Distilling

Co Ltd as well as other individual shareholders. In essence, this company was established to function as a

community development corporation in addition to the local government administration, the Agricultural

Cooperative and the Chamber of Commerce. This collaboration demonstrates that successful future

development would require cooperation and partnership beyond the traditional boundaries of industrial

categories, between public and private sectors, and among municipal or prefectural jurisdictions, as well as

transcending national borders.

When the ume farmers faced rather difficult times due to the reduction in value of fresh plums in the

market during the 1990s, some farmers talked about the possibility of finding a new product to focus on



that had a higher value in the market. However, because of the notoriety of the NPC movement in Oyama,

the town was already well known throughout Kyushu and Japan more as a plum producing area. “If ume

were taken away from Oyama, what would be left?” posited Ogata Hideo, the General Manager of Oyama

Yume Kobo, during a lecture given to JICA trainees from Africa on May 2012 at Hibiki no Sato in

Oyama.

Thus, OYKC went about discovering ways that would both preserve the plum growing tradition in

Oyama and ensure that farmers had enough income to prosper. They asked farmers at what price per kilo

should they sell their fresh plums to continue growing them. Farmers responded that they would need to

earn between 300 and 350 yen per kilogram. OYKC offered to buy fresh plums at 330 yen per kilogram.

The idea was that the production of high quality and highly priced value added products could support this

above-market pricing. This included, for example, the production of such as high-class plum liqueurs.

Farmers were also encouraged to produce high quality plums that were grown and processed using fewer

chemicals to justify this higher than market value price.

The mission and purpose of OYKC as presented on their website states:

The purpose of our organisation is to create a place that facilitates a melding of the hearts and

minds of visitors to Oyama and of those who greet them here.

Our role is to promote awareness and empathy among those visitors and love and pride among the

people of Oyama.

From the perspective that in this era, rural areas and urban areas are increasingly linked, we are

painting a future in this brand conscious and individual-oriented mature society where

environmental awareness is re-awakened.

We are building on Oyama’s independent and unique development history and strengthening this

further by making efforts to develop new agricultural industries whilst maintaining our

commitment to the farming village and agriculture.

Moreover, we aim to be a leader in the fields of “food agriculture”, “environmental agriculture”,

“educational agriculture”, and “tourism agriculture”.1

OYKC also decided that instead of just producing and sending these products to far away markets, their

strategy would focus on bringing outside people to Oyama, to purchase and consume products within the

town. To do this, they nurtured a strong relationship with Fukuoka City, which is about an hour’s drive

away from Oyama, and invited its population of around 2.5 million people to come and visit their town.

In order to satisfy the demands that had carefully cultivated in Fukuoka City and to facilitate the growth

of new local industries, OYKC opened the Bungo Oyama Hibiki no Sato in November 2002. OYKC along

with the local residents of Oyama, designed and planned the construction of the facility. This promoted

local ownership, affection and pride for this new initiative. OYKC felt that it was essential to enable local

residents to be proud of Hibiki no Sato (Ogata 2012). Participants in the project planning activities enjoyed

the process so much they did not want to stop with just the construction of the facility. They also wanted

1 www.hibikinosato.co.jp/info/company.html

http://www.hibikinosato.co.jp/info/company.html



Image 2: Omiyage Corner at Hibiki no Sato

Source: taken by author July 2007

to be involved in its management and operations. They were only able to do this by becoming shareholders

in the company.

Hibiki no Sato is a rather large complex, which includes the following facilities:

Ushuku – a liqueur factory for producing high quality plum liqueur and other types of liqueur

using ingredients produced in Oyama;

Asamoya – high mid-range accommodation facilities offering Japanese-Western and Western

style rooms priced at between 11,700 and 14,200 yen per person per night;

Hibiki – restaurant offering country style cuisine with a set dinner menu for 4,500 yen per person;

Nagori no yu – plum scented hot spring facility including both indoor and open air baths, a high

temperature sauna and a bedrock sauna. Entry to the onsen is 600 yen plus an extra 500 yen for

the bedrock sauna;

Seseragi – an onsen bistro offering light meals and snacks;

Yumehotaru – training room/meeting facility which can be rented out at 2000 yen per hour;

Kokoromi – a studio where visitors can participate in hands-on workshops;

Omiyage Corner – specialty products store where products produced by OYKC and other local

products can be purchased (see Image 2); and

The facility also has a spacious camp ground/sporting field and plenty of parking.

OYKC’s plan to bring consumers to the agricultural village succeeded. Annually, 650,000 people visit

Oyama and directly spend around 750 million yen. The economic ramifications of these visitors is

estimated at up to 1,800 million yen after taking into consideration labour and other peripheral industries

related to distribution channels, such as retailers, wholesalers, manufacturers, raw material dealers and

producers (Ogata 2012).

4. Implementation Organizations and Division of Functions

Formal collective activities for rural community development introduced in Oyama-machi, and described

in this chapter such as the Konohana Garten and the Oyama method for enoki production were

implemented by the local government, the Agricultural Cooperative or Oyama Yume Kobo, and their

created affiliated organizations, such as the local implementing organizations. These local implementing



organizations did not only formulate approaches and guidelines for each of the collective activities but also

established affiliated organizations when appropriate. The local government administration or Agricultural

Cooperative then provided these organizations with various kinds of support so that they could effectively

carry out the collective activity. At the producer level, existing or potential producers were targeted and

included just internal (community members) or both internal and external (community members and

outsiders – for example in the case of OYKC’s exchange activities with Fukuoka City or the example of

Konohana Garten, whose membership extends beyond the membership base of the Agricultural

Cooperative).

The most important and interesting point of the organization of collective activities in Oyama-machi is

the division of labor or functions between the implementing organization and the producers or participants.

In collective production-related activities, this distribution of functions resulted to a number of positive

outcomes for producers in Oyama-machi. These include benefits such as the reduction of risk to producers

(as in the case of the Oyama method for enoki mushroom production) and reduction of the barriers and

disincentives for product innovation for small producers, as in the case of the direct sales outlet. The

existence of an implementing organization also means that individual producers can reap the benefits of

collective activities without the extra burden of organizing or administering the activity themselves. Thus,

in order to ensure the participants maximum benefit, collective activities should be structured as a strategic

approach for rural development. Collaborative endeavors, for example between public and

non-government organizations, should also focus on the promotion of collective activities rather than

specific individual-oriented activities. Central and prefectural or provincial governments can also be active

organizations in collective activities by supporting or initiating programs that encourages or requires the

establishment of implementing organizations as well as the organizing of collective activities.

Three distinct levels of different roles can be identified in this arrangement: the policy level, the

community/implementing organization level and producer/service provider level. Figure 4 illustrates this

division.

Figure 4 Policy, Implementation and Participant levels in collective activities




The policy level often includes decision-makers responsible for the implementation of policies,

programs or projects on a wider scope such as government organizations or institutions at higher levels.

This level is generally responsible for designing, budgeting and promoting collective activities. However,

they are not considered the main actor in the implementation of such activities.

Meanwhile, the community/implementing organization is considered the main actor since they are

familiar with the community, closer to the community, and, most of all are a part of the community as a

strategic component. This means they also benefit from the implementation of collective activities. It is no

exaggeration to say that the community/implementing organization holds the key to success in the

implementation of collective activities for rural development.

The participant level is made up of producers and/or service providers that implement direct activities

such as production, processing, marketing and other related agricultural activities. However, it is important

that the division of labor between the collective and individual is clarified in order to support the efficient

management of agricultural activities.

5. Oyama’s ‘Multi-Dimensional Agriculture’

The people of Oyama call their style of agriculture ‘Multi-Dimensional Agriculture.’ It is an agricultural

approach that is centered on small-scale farmers and industries producing and selling smaller quantities of a

different produce through high value added production, processing and marketing. These high value added

activities are underpinned by an emphasis on collective production, collective processing and collective

marketing see Figure 5.

Many farmers in Oyama-machi are also engaged in making their own higher value added products

from their farm produce. The National Umeboshi Contest, the establishment of the Konohana Garten direct

sales outlets, as well as Hibiki no Sato and Oyama’s Michi no Eki, Mizobe no Sato, and associated satellite

stores have all contributed to the growing amount of manufacturing operations in Oyama.

Figure 5. Collective Sales and OVOP Approach Model




In addition to the secondary sector of processing agricultural products, Oyama has also forayed well

into the tertiary, and arguably the quaternary and quinary, sector. The Organic Restaurants attached to

Konohana Garten go one step further from simply processing the produce by turning them into meals and

serving customers in a restaurant setting. The Ogirihata Green Tourism Association ventures into the

tourism industry by providing both entertainment and education to consumers. The Nokyo’s mushroom

research facility is undertaking advanced biotechnology research.

All of these activities surpass the usual domain of the primary industry, of agricultural production, by

indicating that Oyama has steadily built up a robust and ever sophisticated and complex community policy

structure. Some have used the term ‘Sixth Industry’ to describe this kind of diversification of economic

activities. As shown below, a Sixth Industry is the result of multiplying the primary, secondary and tertiary

industries and is perhaps an appropriate description of what has occurred in Oyama-machi.

Sixth Industry = Primary Industry x Secondary Industry x Tertiary Industry

6. Conclusion

The cases from Oyama demonstrate that there is more than one way to implement value addition for rural

development. Farmers can add value to agricultural produce through processing and packaging.

Meanwhile, as a group, they can also introduce systemic changes that add value to the entire agriculture

system. By adding value in both ways and continuously introducing new ways to do so, Oyama has been

successful in rural development.

It is important for a community to establish the ability to design and implement strategies as a

community; this equips the community with the ability to design and re-invent itself. Systematic value

addition is not only about making processed products with a high added value. It is about raising the value

of the town as a whole by clarifying the roles of the individual and the collective and by conducting

collective activities like collective marketing. Agriculture in Oyama has been successful not only due to the

development of high value-added products, but as a result of the creation of a system whereby collective

activities are systematically conducted by strong institutions.

Community Capacity and Rural Development -2-.pdf

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Transcript of Community Capacity and Rural Development -2-.pdf