the sooner they are aware that their community has been selected as a
programme site, the sooner the community members can help shape specific
programme objectives and strategies. If the programme objectives and
strategies are kept relatively general at this early stage, community members
can be given an opportunity to provide input into further programme design
and planning and gain a sense of ownership of the project. Programme
sustainability has been shown to improve when community members are
given the opportunity to participate early in the programme design and
planning stages and have an incentive to want to participate (Pollnac et al.,
2003).
Once a community is identified, an externally initiated programme may
assist community members in problem identification, consensus building,
accessing information and initial action planning. In some cases, an externally
initiated programme, due to funding or donor demands, may immediately
initiate implementation activities such as community organizer integration or
education and capacity building (Box 5.5).