ABSTRACT
Recently, and since the change in the perception of development in the 1950s and 1960s, the terms ‘participation’, ‘people or popular participation’ and ‘participating development’ have appeared in the centre stage of development thinking and policy choice. Yet, in addressing poverty issues, these terms have been rhetorically abused by eloquent politicians and some writers. How have these rhetorics and the partial understanding of rural poverty dynamics distorted policy design and programme evaluation? And, how can low-income developing countries follow the development path that reduces poverty as the major goal of development? To explore these possibilities is the major task of my address today. But let me first examine the nature of the change in development thinking.
