The current combination of food shortages in Southern Africa, HIV/AIDs and a general concern about international terrorism is generating pressure for new initiatives to tackle poverty, supported by new financial commitments. However, experience has shown that even if there is a commitment, reaching the poorest within a community is difficult. Those with economic resources and social standing are in a better position to access and benefit from outside interventions. Specific strategies are required to make projects both attractive and accessible to the poor. This paper describes strategies used by TEAM to encourage participation by clients, and in particular by the poorest households. The paper reviews how successful the project has been firstly at involving clients in project design and implementation and secondly in encouraging the poor to join project activities.

TEAM strategies included village gatherings (known as pitsos) to publicise the project and to identify the poor; PLAs to assess knowledge and opinions; training modules oriented to the needs of the poor; informal household visits to non-participants; use of case studies to illustrate project benefits; and facilitation of linkages with service providers, including traders. The report finds that the most effective strategy for the Agricultural Training component was informal household visits to non-participants to identify misconceptions and constraints on their participation. The Institutional Strengthening component found case studies to be effective for encouraging the poor to join CBOs. The report includes data from project evaluations to assess participation by poor people.