This paper draws preliminary findings from a study (2) across Africa, Asia and Latin America
of the potential for closer links between NGOs and government agricultural research and
extension services in the development and dissemination of agriculture-related technologies
and management practices. Whilst at a practical level concerned with the functions that the
respective organizations might jointly or separately undertake, the study also sought to locate
potential actions in the wider political and economic context in order to prevent attempts to
generalise 'success stories' into inappropriate contexts. The central methodology of the study
was to generate a substantial number (over 70) of case studies prepared in collaboration with
the NGO or government practitioners who had been involved in them. These were
supplemented by country or area-based overviews of wider NGO-state relations.


 Features of the NGOs Studied

Our concern is mainly with the stronger of the South-based NGOs that provide services either
directly to the rural poor or to grassroots membership organizations, although examples are
also drawn from some North-based NGOs, and from some of their offices located in the South
which operate with varying degrees of autonomy. Most of the NGOs considered pursue
livelihood enhancement in a participatory fashion and in the context of wider value-driven
objectives including group formation and conscientisation. However, a wide range of NGO
philosophies and approaches do exist, including some that are 'top-down' and those which
have become narrowly tied to government contracts for service delivery.

Our particular interest in the more empowering approaches has been in their objective of
setting up local institutions and mechanisms capable of sustaining processes of innovation -
either within communities themselves, or through a capacity for 'demand-pull' on govern-
ment services. In addition, the potential of these approaches within and beyond the context
of agriculture for generating institutional pluralism and so strengthening democratic process-
es has not gone unnoticed (Clark, 1991; Lehmann, 1990).

The origins of NGOs vary widely, and are likely to have a strong bearing on the type and extent
of potential NGO-GO collaboration. Some were formed in opposition to governments which
discriminated against the rural poor, others as a reaction to government support for, or
indifference to, prevailing patterns of corruption, patronage or authoritarianism.

Many NGOs were formed by left-leaning professionals formerly employed in universities or
in the public sector. Their intellectual calibre has generally been high, but they were often
socially and ethnically distinct from the rural poor. In the early stages of their formation,
almost all NGOs were characterized by small size, institutional flexibility, horizontal
structure and short lines of communication. Many have found these characteristics conducive
to a quick response to clients' needs and to changing circumstances and a work ethic conducive
to generating sustainable processes and impacts, and so have sought to retain them well
beyond the initial establishment period. But the smallness and the political origins and
orientation of NGOs are also their 'Achilles' heel' since:


GATEKEEPER SERIES NO. SA43