Guinea
Civil Society Strengthening Project

Project goal: To increase effective citizen participation in local governance.

Funding: U.S. Agency for International Development - $5 million (extension)

Time frame: Current Project: October 2000 - September 2005
Project inception: 1995

The Project
NCBA's CLUSA International Program project in Guinea was originally designed to assist cooperatives in the Guinea Maritime region to become sustainable, member-owned and member-managed business enterprises. The project has grown to help strengthen the capacity of elected local development councils to manage public services efficiently, mobilize resources, conduct transparent decision-making processes, and to develop greater dialogue with communities.

In 2001, the project expanded geographically from the maritime region to four prefectures in Upper Guinea, and programmatically, with the introduction of Credit Intermediation Services. Protocols have been signed with two local financial institutions for the facilitation of loans for rural businesses. We will also assist local national staff to establish an organization to continue training and technical assistance once the project ends.

• developing of a sense of ownership and control of the RGE by its members;
• helping RGE members assume decision-making and leadership of the RGE in a participatory, democratic manner;
• transforming RGEs into profitable, owner-managed businesses whose services respond to members' needs;
• developing profitable, market-driven economic activities;
• developing entrepreneurial skills (management, accounting, market analysis, cost-benefit analysis, etc.) by members, managers and employees;
• improve adult literacy and numeracy skills of RGE members; and
• securing direct relationships between the RGEs and reliable sources of credit, in particular, commercial banks.

At the local level, NCBA's CLUSA International Program seeks to increase transparency and accountability in locally elected government structures. Training local development councils to better understand their roles as managers of the public trust in delivering and managing public services is just one component of the "CLUSA Approach." We also help elected officials plan, mobilize and budgeting for the resources needed for development investments.

The Program also helps specialized advisory units of the local councils to become more responsive to the wishes of their constituents by facilitating the active participation of community members in the decision making process of the local councils and advisory units. This enables the advisory councils to serve as effective platforms for intersectoral consultations.

NCBA also trains government staff that deliver services to increase their awareness of the role they must play as service providers. By understanding the electorate's role in effective service delivery, the technical services personnel have increased the quality of service delivery.

Methods
The program uses a highly participative approach to training that NCBA's CLUSA International Program has developed and refined over the past 17 years in Africa. The methodology includes

• supplying a small technical assistance team;
• recruiting and training host country field staff (assistants);
• insisting on voluntary participation;
• establishing an intensive village-based training system;
• launching a variety of business activities;
• linking all training to the group's business activities;
• obtaining direct access for the organization to reliable sources of credit;
• Institutionalizing village organization development capability.

To implement this methodology, NCBA's CLUSA program locally hires and trains a cadre of appropriately skilled, highly motivated individuals committed to work in rural areas.

Results
The Program's first phase operated in the Guinea Maritime. The main beneficiaries are the rural group businesses served. They receive training in business and organizational skills, which help their entreprises become more competitive and reap increased economic benefits for them and their families. Approximately 12,222 business member-owners have been directly served by the program. Indirectly, 112,316 family members have benefited.

The mean net worth of the group businesses participating in the project increased by 159 percent during 1999 and remained stable during 2000 as rebel incursions along the Sierra Leone border with Guinea led to mass evacuations of rural populations, resulting in large production losses. In 2001 the mean net worth increased by 26%.

NCBA's CLUSA International Program staff have trained 36 Guinean staff who function as trainers preparing other local field staff and animators to implement training. To date, the project has trained

• 27 local development councils in eight 8 préfectures;
• 317 RGEs;
• 12 cooperative unions;
• 10 District Health Committees; and
• 2 local development council's Citizen Health Management Committee.
• 1 forest user management committee and 1 market management committee.

A positive dynamic has developed between the local development councils and rural group businesses that improved overall governance practices. The group businesses have increased their civic participation by electing their members to local councils, worked to remove ineffective council members, contributed labor and money to public projects, withheld taxes to the councils until promised actions are taken (construction of health clinics and schools), participated in resolution of local conflicts, and used their entrepreneurial training to help improve public services and increase public revenues. Today, 50 - 60 percent of the elected members of district councils and 40% of those serving on advisory councils to the local development councils are members of the group businesses.

The synergy of operations of the local councils and group businesses has resulted in improved public services and an increase in tax revenues collected, including:

• 66 percent increase in public market taxes collected;
• 166 percent increase in taxes from public transport stations;
• 93 percent increase in local development taxes; and
• 1005 percent increase in user taxes on forests/natural resources

An outside evaluation documented the effectiveness of the viable rural group businesses in causing the local councils to improve public service delivery, to operate transparently and to more effectively collect taxes owed to the local government.

• National income per capita (2000): $450
• Annual growth rate (2000): 1.8 percent
• Agriculture: rice, cassava, corn, fonio, millet, coffee, palm products, cocoa, pineapples, bananas, and livestock.
• Major imports: petroleum, machinery, equipment, and consumer goods.

• Population: 7.2 million
• Population annual growth rate (2001): 2.8 percent
• Languages: French (official), national languages
• Literacy rate: 36 percent

• Location: Atlantic Coast of West Africa
• Area: 95,000 square miles (about the size of Oregon)
• Capital: Conakry