Participatory Learning and Community Capacity in Five Rural Communities: A 36-Month Multi-Site Programme Evaluation
Keywords:
participatory learning; community capacity; rural development; participatory action research; programme evaluation; collective actionAbstract
Community-development programmes are often judged by visible project outputs even when their longer-term value depends on whether residents acquire the practical and organisational capacity to identify priorities, coordinate action, manage resources, and assume responsibility for subsequent work. This study reports a 36-month participatory learning programme implemented in five rural communities in Southeast Asia. The programme was organised around four linked functions: entry and trust-building, diagnostic co-inquiry, capability accretion, and transitional ownership. Across three annual action-research cycles, programme records documented 74 participatory workshops, 46 key-informant interview encounters, three household survey waves (610, 578, and 561 completed questionnaires), and 128 recorded capability assessments among workshop participants. By Wave 3, recorded infrastructure activity ranged from two to five projects across communities, whereas recorded relative household-income change ranged from 19% to 41%. The ordering of communities differed across these indicators: Community C recorded the greatest number of infrastructure projects but the smallest reported income increase, while Community B recorded fewer projects and the largest reported income increase. Programme further contrasted manageable early achievements in Community B with an early stalled, high-complexity activity in Community C. The findings show that project volume, livelihood change, practical learning, and transfer of responsibility should be assessed as distinct dimensions of community capacity. The study supports a staged approach in which task demands increase as communities gain experience, while avoiding causal claims that cannot be supported by the available design and records.
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