Appreciative Inquiry for successful drylands development /from reliance to resilience

Session: A best practice to improve nutrition in drylands is to focus on what is working, what is right, what gifts, methods and resources exist that have in the past worked in favor of good nutrition for humans and also for livestock in these dry areas. Focusing on people’s assets instead of needs (what is not working) affirms their dignity and contributes to overcoming nutrition challenges in drylands. By consistently focusing on what is working in communities, enables the people to move from reliance on outsiders, on outside help, on outside assets to resilience using an empowered worldview. Empowered worldview (EWV) is an enabling approach for individual and community transformation of beliefs, mindset, and behaviors which affirm their identity, dignity, and agency to participate effectively in sustainable transformative change. The purpose is for mobilizing, organizing and empowering individuals, households, farmer groups and communities (gifts, talents, knowledge, resources, and capacities (spiritual, social, physical and economic)) to break dependence and enable them become active agents of their own change. Some of the noticed benefits for this approach in communities are holistic change, appropriate local resources/Assets utilization, local actors/participation in changing prevailing situations, breaking dependence syndrome and mobilization for the agents of change.

Biographical information: Dr. Serone Ole Sena Sarone has served as a teacher, mentor, development worker and researcher for 50 years in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Canada, USA, UK, New Zealand, Ghana, Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi, South Africa, India, Philippines, Ecuador, Peru and Guatemala. He has written articles and books on the use of appreciative inquiry approach to community-based development. He is an adjunct professor of Cultural Anthropology with Associated Colleges of Mid-West, USA. He holds a B.Ed (University of Nairobi, Kenya), an M.Phil (University of Cambridge, UK), an MSc (McMaster University, Canada) and a PhD (McGill University, Canada). Currently, he is on sabbatical leave from MS TCDC, Usa River-Tanzania where he teaches in order to write a book on Life in Blocks: From Dependency to Independence then to Interdependence. He has a Christian family with a wife and three grown up children./ Rev. Joseph Mayala Mitinje is currently serving with World Vision Tanzania as a Team Leader for Advocacy, Child Protection and Faith & Development. Between 1997-2017 he served with Standard Chartered Bank (T) Ltd (SCBT), Compassion International (CI) and Farm Concern International (FCI) holding different capacities including a Corporate Manager (SCBT), Country Director (CITZ), Senior Director - Advocacy (CI Africa) and Consulting Expert - Strategic Partnerships (FCI). He is a pastor with Africa Inland Church (AICT), Governing Council - Africa International University (AIU Kenya) and Board Member for a number of organizations within & outside of Tanzania.