Developing capacity for participatory development in the context of decentralisation: Takalar district, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia

A case study prepared for the project ‘Capacity, Change and Performance’

This case study examines how one district in the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi - Takalar district – has taken up the challenge of tackling rural poverty through the use of participatory development and community empowerment methodologies. The case study looks at the capacity that was required of various local stakeholders to support a participatory development approach 1, traces the processes through which the district in partnership with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) undertook to develop the necessary capacity, and discusses the challenges that have been encountered in sustaining interest in and the capacity for participatory development since the completion of the pilot project. The case study takes account of the period of JICA support to Takalar, which began in 1997 and ended in 2002, as well as the period since 2002 when the district has continued to support the initiative on its own.