The transformative nature of community-led transitions

For the past 5 years, the three of us (Pauline, Tala, and Grace) have been in relationship with one another as we grapple with the complex idea of what shifting power in development and peacebuilding practice really looks like. We have been connected through the Stopping As Success program since 2017, when Tala and Pauline’s organizations were case studies¹ that examined their transition process from an international to a local organization. Since then, we’ve continued to learn together over numerous in-person and virtual events and engagements over the last few years. Most recently, we had the opportunity to share together in IDEAL’s Knowledge Sharing Series: Supporting Successful Transitions to Local Actors, which gave us space to grapple not only with the lessons and challenges from the transitions itself, but also the difficulties and opportunities that exist in relinquishing power and control in order to work in communities in transformational ways. This blog highlights the role of community-led transition processes and will be followed by another blog about the importance of internal healing amidst external transitions, both drawn from our conversation during the Knowledge Sharing Series.

At the beginning of our conversation, Tala keenly pointed out, “Transition is being talked about in terms of localization, but what do we mean by ‘local’ and what do we mean by ‘localization’? That’s how we will define transition…”. At her organizations, Coffee for Peace (C4P) and PeaceBuilders’ Community Inc. (PBCI), “we look at it in relation to power dynamics…whoever has lesser power is local. When we’re meeting with donors, we’re local…when we’re relating with the communities we’re journeying with, the communities are local. This helps us be sensitive to the power we hold.” We encourage all reading this blog to reflect on the power they hold in the various contexts they live and work in.

“Transition is not a phase in the program…”: The impact of planning a transition from the start

For both C4P and PBCI, and Nuru Kenya, their transitions were planned from the beginning. This approach is rare in the development and peacebuilding sectors and holds unique lessons for all organizations who are grappling with starting new programs or local country offices planning to transition out of an activity or context.

As Tala reflected on her organizations’ transition, she shared, “transition is not a phase in the program, because it has been from the very start locally-led.” PBCI did not ask to fund a program, but rather asked the donor if they believed in the vision. This vision-led way of working also translates to how they work with communities. They do not start their work with logframes or Theories of Change, but by being invited into communities and listening deeply to answers to questions like, “How do you define peace? What’s your dream for your community? What’s your dream for yourself and your community? What do you have?”

“We are a part of them…”: Opportunities and challenges that come from transitions to a locally-led organization 

Being a part of the community helped Nuru Kenya build trust with community members as the international organization was leaving. “We are a part of them…we are natives of Kenya, we understand the issues that the community members are facing,” Pauline reflected.

Nuru International and Nuru Kenya made great effort to communicate the departure of the expatriate team early. However, challenges happened along the way, such as communication breakdown and loss of trust by the community that led to resource losses and technological knowledge gaps. The local Nuru team in Kenya had to work hard to regain the trust of the community members and change the mindset that the departure of the expatriate team would lead to project failure. The local team also had to quickly mitigate the financial losses incurred by establishing cashless systems that promoted transparency and efficiency of transactions. This response instilled confidence in the donors that the investments made over the years would not go to waste. Donors had to be flexible to allow the local team to implement the solutions themselves. For instance, Nuru International relented on the use of the technology they left behind when the local team indicated they were not able to use it competently; the local team adopted a more convenient software in collaboration with the local bank, and this continues to support the smallholder cooperatives to this day. It is important for donors and international partners to gradually relinquish their control over resources and decision making, as this paves the way for the local community to customize and innovate solutions that benefit them.

Nuru Kenya’s transition was phased, going from a heavy touch to a light touch. Pauline explained, “This ensured that the local team had all the support they needed as they took over. It also made accountability and negotiations for change easier so that we could have room for innovation and creativity.” Inculcating a functional relationship based on trust supports the growth of the local organization. Nuru Kenya’s reporting requirements continued to decrease in frequency, and the relationship gradually evolved from the initial donor-recipient to a more collaborative one. This evolution was demonstrated recently when Nuru Kenya won an award by USAID and Nuru International was a sub-awardee of Nuru Kenya.

Similarly, C4P and PBCI are intentional about who they accept funding from and always explore funding relationships by asking, “Why do you want to partner with us? Do you believe in our vision?” They don’t take resources because they are there, but rather ensure they are vision-based, which is difficult, especially if funds are low. “The challenge is to always remember that we are working for a vision, not funds,” Tala reflects.

“The communities’ stories are proof of concept…”: The transformative nature of community-led transitions 

In transition processes, the donor and international organization have to actively acknowledge and practice shifting power to the local entity and community and trust the community to succeed in their own way. In the case of Nuru, the Nuru Kenya team acquired a lot of lessons from the transition they underwent. The local team is applying these lessons in their approach, where they build the capacity of smallholder farmers to form sustainable farmer-led organizations (cooperatives). The team is gradually weaning these cooperatives away from dependency on the local NGO for funding and related support. This process has enabled the cooperatives to learn and own the responsibility of developing and implementing solutions to the challenges they are facing. The cooperatives have learned how to build competitive profiles and are now attracting investors who are directly supporting them financially and in kind. Nuru’s work is evidence that it is possible to successfully replicate and scale good practices of transition and locally-led development—or, in Tala’s words, “the communities’ stories are proof of concept.”

In our next blog, we will reflect on the importance of both internal and external transitions. We will reflect on the importance of reclaiming identity and healing as to not “copy the colonizers,” as Tala wisely shares, in addition to more reflections on the transformative outcomes of responsible transitions. We’ll see you back here soon and look forward to hearing from you in the meantime.

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¹ See Tala’s organizations’ case study: Coffee for Peace and PeaceBuilders Community Incorporated and Pauline’s organizations’ case study: Nuru Kenya