Donors and target groups alike measure the success of integrated rural development on the extent to which household incomes are raised or food security improved. Such results can only be sustainable when investments cover not just technical extension work and assistance but also promotion of the target groups. Only if participative help towards self-help in meeting the given challenges brings about changes in people's (especially women's) lives, and they are not viewed as objects of development cooperation but as self-confident, emancipated and active shapers of their own development will it be possible to achieve relevant and sustainable results, as illustrated by the example from Jharkhand in India.
 
Dr. Michael Holländer
Development Coordinator
Karl Kübel Stiftung für Kind und Familie
Bensheim, Germany
m.hollaender@kkstiftung.de