*These five principles will ensure best results if applied jointly and in sequence. If not possible to apply all 5 principles, project teams are advised to use the World Bank Social Inclusion Assessment Tool (SiAT) to address social inclusion and gender equality issues
Design actions in a way that breaks down possible barriers and maximizes the chances of those previously excluded to benefit.
As mainstreaming of gender and inclusion in development interventions evolves, it is now clear that for a truly transformative change whereby harmful social norms are transformed into more inclusive and equitable ones, there is need to design interventions that address existing inequalities and work towards repairing past mistakes. In the context of agriculture and livestock interventions, this means that after completing the analysis — in step 1 and 2 — which will help teams' identity who gets excluded and why, the next step is to design inclusive interventions.
The agenda 2030, with its mission of leaving no one behind, includes the principle of a participatory approach to development. Addressing inequality and improving the lives of the poor and vulnerable should be done with their involvement and consent. This is the meaning behind the expression ‘nothing about us without us’. To design inclusive and equitable interventions in the area of livestock investment, the beneficiaries of the projects need to be treated not as beneficiaries, but as key stakeholder who have agency and access to decision making on topic that directly affect them.
Applying the step
Participatory methods have a long history in development projects and are well documented. They include a range of activities with the aim of enabling ordinary people to play an active and influential part in decisions which affect their lives. In practical terms this means that the stakeholder engagement ensures equal and inclusive treatment of all the stakeholders and addresses any traditional forms of exclusion that past consultations may have been tainted by.
As stated in Guidance Note ESS10, ‘Stakeholder Engagement and Information Disclosure’, the World Bank recognizes the importance of open and transparent engagement between the Borrower and project stakeholders as an essential element of good international practice. Effective stakeholder engagement can improve the environmental and social sustainability of projects, enhance project acceptance, and make a significant contribution to successful project design and implementation.
Project teams are advised to select a participatory approach that is best suited for their project. There are several existing guidelines to help design participatory stakeholder consultation and project intervention design.
Trade-offs
With any of the 5 five steps for promoting social inclusion in SIL, the main trade off is the resource cost of the activity. The resource cost includes allocation of qualified staff, time to carry out the exercises at the right moment in the project cycle, and material resources needed for completing the activities in each of the 5 steps.
While there may be a pushback about the cost of this work, it is important to remember that the cost of not doing this work - that is - the cost of inequality and social exclusion for broader society is much more substantial, encompassing economic, social, and psychological dimensions. Economically, it results in reduced workforce participation, lower tax revenues, and increased public expenditure on welfare and healthcare. Socially, it leads to higher crime rates, health inequities, and educational disparities, undermining social cohesion and trust. Psychologically, it exacerbates mental health issues and erodes social capital, perpetuating cycles of poverty and inequality across generations. Ultimately, this hampers societal stability, equity, and overall prosperity.