Capacity Development in Practice

SNV is committed to supporting people’s efforts to create their own futures in
their own ways. In line with such an ambition, this book is about capacity and its
development. Not in abstract concepts or policy prescriptions, but rooted in what
people across the world do every day to improve living standards, to strengthen
performance in sectors of work and to change their societies.
The creation of this book reflects a strategic choice. Some 10 years ago, SNV
decided to pay increased attention to capacity development as a professional
discipline. We saw that conventional project implementation methods were not
doing enough to foster local capacities, ownership and sustainability. So we began
to focus on providing advice, support and facilitation for changes led by local
actors.
This proved to be an enriching journey. Meaningful lessons emerged from both
good and difficult experiences. For example, we found ourselves focusing overly
on demand, reacting to local ‘needs’ without sufficient understanding of wider
problems and policy challenges in the sector concerned. We looked thoroughly
into the internal workings and capabilities of clients, but at the cost of adequate
concern for their external performance and collaboration. We struggled to combine
change expertise with sector knowledge.