Some words on NGO networks

Many people have asked us for more details of what our jobs are, and so this is the first of a series of posts which may fill in some of the details. This is a link to an article I wrote for an Asian publication concerned with sustainable rural livelihoods:

NGOs in NTT province in Indonesia face a number of significant barriers to development in the region. NTT is vulnerable to natural disasters, suffers from disproportionately high infant mortality rates, income levels are low, there is a high level of natural resource degradation and high levels of food insecurity. Furthermore, until recently government policies appeared to be exacerbating the problems, and the region was plagued by poor governance and corruption.

Ten years ago, in response to these challenges and with the support of Oxfam GB, a group of local NGOs established three key networks: FIRD (Flores Integrated Rural Development), TIRD (Timor Integrated Rural Development) and SID (Sumba Integrated Development); representing the three main islands that make up NTT province. This article will concentrate on FIRD.

FIRD consists of eight NGOs spread throughout the islands of Flores and Lembata, and also has a private trading company, PT Jamasatira, which was set up to offer farmers an alternative to the existing marketplace for their commodities. Each NGO comprises a number of groups of farmers, and it is estimated that the FIRD network represents 9,000 farmers in total. The key objectives of FIRD are local economic development (income generation, seed capital, credit scheme loans); advocacy on communal land rights and domestic violence against women; fisheries and coastal development; cattle breeding.

There are many benefits to the community of arranging a group of NGOs into one coherent network. The NGOs can pool certain activities into one body, and this should achieve certain economies of scale, particularly in respect of fund-raising. Furthermore, the network can lobby government with the self-confidence provided by having a powerful mandate, thus influencing government policy at a higher level then could be achieved by just one provincial NGO. The NGOs, through frequent meetings, can share best practice and formulate policy, and theoretically can help each other through lean periods by sharing resources or arranging soft loans.

For a network such as FIRD to be successful, it has to be stronger than the sum of its parts. However, FIRD faced certain obstacles, which may prove instructive for any other groups of NGOs that may be tempted to form a similar network. The network needs an extra layer of administration and management, which in turn calls for additional funds to cover this overhead. The personnel for the central management, and for subsidiary bodies such as PT Jamasatira, have tended to be recruited from within the network, which has led to an inward-looking organization and one that has not always found the most talented or experienced individuals for each role.

The political beliefs and needs of such a wide constituency may occasionally clash, for instance the needs of coastal fishing communities are different from forest communities. The political emancipation of Indonesia has been uneven at the kabupaten (region) level, so lobbying by a network may be inappropriate in one region but sorely needed in another. FIRD was set up at a time when all government policy was heavily centralised, but now there is more discretion vested in the Bupati (regional governor), the government policies in Flores can no longer be so easily generalised. The government itself sees the whole network as provocative, critical and negative, which can blight some member NGO’s good relationships with their local government.

The main problem with a network such as FIRD is that is has a tendency to become a self-perpetuating organisation that loses touch with its stakeholders. Fundraising is no longer designed to support innovative projects, but merely becomes an exercise in seeking ongoing working capital to maintain the edifice. For instance, profits from the trading company, PT Jamasatira, were used to prop up FIRD and its member organisations, and not reinvested into the company. This is an indicator of an institution drifting apart from its constituency, and outliving its usefulness.

Fortunately, FIRD saw that change was needed, and in September 2004 organised a workshop attended by two hundred farmers from all over Flores. The objective was to relaunch the network and through a participatory approach learn the needs and aspirations of the farmers, and incorporate this new learning into a revised mission for the network. It emerged that there was an asymmetry between the aspirations of the farmers and the priorities of the network. The needs of the farmers could most pithily be summarized as unfettered access to seeds, land, water and market. The farmers no longer had any confidence in the trading company, PT Jamasatira, and they were unimpressed by FIRD’s success in lobbying government. That said, they agreed that the solutions to their problems would be to lobby government to make regulations favour the farmer, create an umbrella organization that represents them, and to turn PT Jamasatira into a viable trading company.

In response to this, FIRD has now re-launched itself with a new name: Flores Institute for Regional Development, and altered its approach. Previously, it was a body that set itself above its member NGOs, but now it will become a parallel organisation that the member NGOs (and other NGOs outside the network) can use as they wish. FIRD has created five divisions: Facilitation, Research and Publicity; Trade; Law and Human Rights; Education and Training; Disaster Management and Environmental Sustainability. Meanwhile, PT Jamasatira will be re-launched as a stakeholder-owned co-operative, and is currently drawing up plans to encourage farmers to purchase a small stake in the company, thus creating a business that will serve the interests of the community rather than institutions.

In summary, FIRD serves as an example that networks have the potential to leverage the underlying resources of member NGOs to enhance their influence, and improve their advocacy on behalf of target communities. However, it also shows that a network will atrophy and become counter-productive if it does not constantly adapt. As times change, so must NGOs, and in Indonesia that means recognising that the political climate is substantially different from ten years ago. A confrontational approach may now need to segue into a collaborative, collegiate approach, as stronger aspects of civil society emerge. Networks should now be using their influence to encourage pluralism; set a high standard on anti-corruption, transparency and accountability; and continue to help target communities become more self-sufficient and empowered.

Ten years ago a network was a good method of coalescing like-minded organisations and through sheer size protecting them from the vested interests opposed to their aims. The challenge now is to help NGOs in Indonesia become more professional, effective and integrated with the emerging instruments of a modern social democratic state. It could be said that networks such as FIRD need to behave more like professional associations that represent NGOs, rather than a team of NGOs working collectively. Such an organisation may demand that its members adhere to a code of conduct, open themselves to external auditing and agree to work together on certain agreed objectives. In return, the member NGOs will enhance their credibility, find fund-raising considerably easier, and start the process of building a long-term sustainable social institution.

Comments

[Sita]

Hi, I am looking or local Environmental NGOs working in Palu'e island. It is quite hard to find any information on this island, and your diary from your trip there is the only one I could find. Do you have any information about this?

Sincerely Sita Verma