Community Empowerment and Scaling-up in Urban Areas: The Evolution of Push/Prospect in Zambia

The paper examines the scaling-up experience of two projects - the "Peri-Urban Self-Help Project" (PUSH II) and the "Program of Support for Poverty Elimination and Community Transformation" (PROSPECT), looking especially at the mechanisms of community-driven development (CDD) and the area-based organizations (ABOs).

It provides the following details:

• PROSPECT aims to reduce poverty in the peri-urban areas of Lusaka;
• It employs a community-based approach to carry out the activities of:
  • Social empowerment (institution-building at the local level),
  • Personal empowerment (microfinance),
  • Infrastructure improvement (mostly water-supply schemes).
• It supports ABOs that are part of the city government;
• Both projects develop CDD mechanisms and strengthen community capacities to respond to community needs.

The study finds that:

• PROSPECT has developed and changed over time;
• It has redirected and energized the ABOs and assisted their incorporation into the social and institutional fabric of municipal governance;
• It scales up processes as well as infrastructure;
• The ABOs consist of the zone development committees (ZDCs) and the residents' development committees (RDCs) who take responsibility for mobilizing residents and implementing projects.

The study concludes that:

• Successful scaling-up requires project staff and management to adapt their approaches to local conditions;
• It is important to scale-up processes, not simply replicate the mechanics;
• Staff must be well-trained;
• Scaling-up requires communities to be able to make demands, and authorities to be able to respond.