NGO - Producer Partnerships: Mediating Sustainability in Innovative Local Development Initiatives in Rural El Salvador, Central America

The thesis analyses key aspects of the relationships between rural producer families and their organizations on the one hand, and public and private support service "providers" on the other, involved in the creation and strengthening of different types of local development initiatives. These issues will be studied using an intensive case study methodology. I will do a comparative analysis of the partnerships formed between an NGO service provider, CORDES and specific groups of producer families and their co-management of different innovative initiatives in local development in several rural contexts, territories of El Salvador, within the Central American and global contexts. PhD project in cooperation with FUNDE, El Salvador. (Andrew Cummings)