Case Study on International Development Partnerships and Diffusion of Renewable Energy Tec

Description
International development or global development[1] is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans. It therefore encompasses foreign aid, governance, healthcare, education, poverty reduction, gender equality, disaster preparedness, infrastructure, economics, human rights, environment and issues associated with these

Case Study on International Development Partnerships and Diffusion of Renewable Energy Technologies in OffGrid Communities in Developing Countries: Talamanca, Costa Rica
Abstract
Worldwide, 1.4 billion people virtually live in darkness after sunset. New lighting technologies, such as light emitting diodes, powered by renewable energy allow non-electrified communities to access for the first time in their lives clean, durable, affordable and higher quality lighting service. The international NGOs play an important intermediary role in diffusion of these technologies to off-grid communities and commonly operate via development partnerships. With the goal of providing insights into the nature of these partnerships and factors that influence their effectiveness, the exploratory case study was conducted which examined and compared development partnerships driven by international NGOs involved in diffusion of renewable energy technologies in off-grid indigenous communities in Talamanca, Costa Rica. The study acknowledged the catalytic role of the international NGOs and emphasized the centrality of local organizations and their capacities in successful implementation of development interventions. It developed a set of propositions which identified the factors that contribute to the effectiveness of the development partnership in renewable energy in off-grid communities.

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The field work was completed as part of the Research Internship 2010 at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Ottawa. The author wants to acknowledge IDRC for this opportunity and her mentor during the Internship, Dr. Veena Ravichandran who helped to design and implement the case study, as well as Dr. Fernando Santiago who guided further analysis of the study under the Professional Development Award (PDA) 2011. The author further acknowledges the Innovation, Technology and Society program of the IDRC for hosting her during the Internship and PDA and providing continuous support and encouragement. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author alone.

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1. Introduction
Sustainable energy services are central to economic development and poverty alleviation (Modi et al, 2006). Yet 1.4 billion of the world population do not have access to electricity (EIA, 2010b). Majority of people without electricity live in remote rural areas far from a national grid (EIA, 2010a). Off-grid renewable energy technologies2 can be particularly suitable for these areas given the prohibitive costs of expanding grid into remote and rural areas, growing environmental concerns over conventional energy, the abundance of renewable energy resources in most of developing countries, reduced costs of renewable energy technologies and their improved efficiency and reliability (EIA, 2010a; World Bank, 2008). Off-grid renewable energy appears to be most relevant for lighting, refrigeration, telecommunications, applications in agro-processing, water pumping and other productive uses with lighting being the most common application. Among the poorest of the poor, lighting is frequently the most expensive energy item they have to acquire, amounting up to 30% of disposable income (Lighting Africa, n.d.). Despite the expenditures, many households receive little value in return. Fuel-based lighting sources they rely upon, such as kerosene, are inefficient, provide limited and poor quality light, pose significant health and fire hazards. Furthermore, fuel-based lighting is responsible for about 190 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to one-third the total emissions from the United Kingdom (Mills, 2005). New lighting technologies, such as light emitting diodes (LED), powered by renewable energy allow non-electrified communities to access for the first time in their lives clean, durable, affordable and higher quality lighting service (Adkins et al, 2010; Peon et al, 2005). The benefits of adequate and reliable lighting can be profound. Ability for children to study after dark enables education and literacy. Replacement of unhealthy and unsafe fuel-based lighting sources improves indoor air quality and health. Ability to extend work hours after sunset allows to increase scarce disposable income. Avoiding burning kerosene for lighting also can positively impact environment through reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and less deforestation (Schultz et al, 2008). These are some of the benefits new lighting technologies powered by renewable energy can offer to the off-grid communities.

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Renewable energy refers to modern technologies based on solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, and small hydropower. This definition excludes traditional biomass and large hydropower (Martinot et al, 2002).

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So far, renewable energy powered lighting solutions have been introduced in a number of developing countries around the world. Without being exhaustive, I note few examples of these efforts. Light Up The World, an international NGO, pioneered the use of LED lighting powered by renewable energy in developing countries. For the past decade, together with partners and supported by donors the organization has introduced its technology and approach in over 50 countries in the developing world (Schultz et al, 2008). LED technology has been also successfully introduced as part of the Millennium Development Project in Malawi (Adkins, 2010). IFC and World Bank launched a program which supports development and deployment of affordable, clean, and efficient modern lighting and energy solutions for Sub-Saharan Africans who are currently denied access to the electricity grid (Lighting Africa, n.d.). The international development non-governmental organizations (NGOs)3 have been playing an increasingly important role in the diffusion of the renewable energy technologies in developing countries (Biagini and Sagar, 2004). These NGOs facilitate the provision of technologies that address basic energy needs, provide funding, apply innovative delivery mechanisms and commonly operate via partnerships with other actors. This research paper deals with the partnership aspect of this work partly because development partnerships are increasingly promoted as vehicles to deliver development goals (Caplan et al., 2007). In fact, working in partnerships has become a common practice for organizations in addressing various development challenges and it is a common mode for the international development NGOs working in developing countries (Horton et al, 2009). The notion of partnership has received wide attention from the academics and practitioners in various disciplines and professional domains, such as management and organizational development, public policy and public management, international development, social policy, science, technology and innovation, to name a few. Nevertheless, a lack of empirical analysis of partnership remains a knowledge gap in this area. For instance, Horton et al, 2009 indicate knowledge gaps at the level of individual partnerships, at the organizational and domain levels. Available studies are often rooted in particular disciplines that influence their perspectives and lack cross-referencing and crossfertilization that is needed to enrich our understanding of the phenomenon of partnerships (Horton et al, 2009). Furthermore, compared to other development issues, NGOs have received far less
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International NGOs who are defined as organizations, which are typically headquartered in developed countries and carry out operations in more than one developing country (World Bank, n.d.). It must be noted that we see a rise of international NGOs based in developing countries. For this research I will focus on international development operational NGOs only, which are defined by the World Bank (n.d.) as organizations, whose primary purpose is the design and implementation of development-related projects.

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systematic research attention and available literature is often too normative in nature. Therefore, some argue that this topic is under-researched. The questions on effectiveness, accountability and scalability of NGO activities remain largely unanswered (Mitlin et al, 2007). To address some of these gaps, an exploratory case study was conducted to examine and compare two development partnerships driven by international NGOs in off-grid indigenous communities of Talamanca, Costa Rica. The goal of the study was to shed light on the nature of the development partnerships driven by NGOs in diffusion of renewable energy technologies in off-grid communities in developing countries and identify factors that impact the effectiveness of these partnerships. The paper first discusses existing development partnership approaches emphasizing their strengths and weaknesses in capturing the complexity of development partnerships and addressing the question of effectiveness. Then, the partnerships in Talamanca are described and compared and the effectiveness factors are identified through a set of propositions. In conclusion, research and practice implications are discussed.

2. Development partnership approaches
Development partnerships are commonplace in the context of international development policy and practice (Lewis and Kanji, 2009). While the notion of partnership is widely utilized by scholars and practitioners in a variety of ways and meanings, development partnerships can be generally understood as "an agreed relationship based on a set of linkages between two or more agencies within a development project, involving a division of roles and responsibilities, a sharing of risks, and the pursuit of joint objectives [...]" (Lewis, 2007, p. 96). These partnerships are widely promoted by international donors and development agencies and are espoused by the state, private sector and civil society. There are a number of reasons why such partnerships are desired. First and foremost, the partners are driven by the desire to improve the results of development interventions (Morse and McNamara, 2006). The nature of the development challenges is often very complex making it impossible to address them in isolation (Brinkerhoff, 2002a). From an international NGO perspective, partnerships can help leverage donor funding, increase organizational accountability, gain credibility and legitimacy, build capacity and capabilities, reduce information and transaction costs and access scarce resources. Partnerships depend on and foster trust among stakeholders which

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enhances the ownership of the development processes which in turn improves their effectiveness and sustainability (Fowler, 1998). Without being exhaustive, several approaches can be distinguished in the development partnerships literature with specific reference to development NGOs. One such approach is the normative perspective on North-South partnerships (Fowler, 1998). The power dimensions, accountability, trust and mutuality are at the core of this understanding of the development partnerships (Lister, 2000; Fowler, 1998). One of key themes is the criticism of North-based NGOs for failing to form equitable or "authentic" partnerships with their counterparts in the South (Ahmad, 2006; Fowler, 1998). Some of the most common factors for failure relate to matters of power imbalance, lack of accountability and inequality (Fowler, 1998). This approach focuses on partnership as an end in itself and is criticized for being difficult to operationalize, having little practical value and being subjective and values-based (Brinkerhoff, 2002b). The social issues cross-sector partnership literature presents a more pragmatic approach towards development partnerships and views them as means to achieving specific objectives (Brinkerhoff, 2002b). It examines partnerships between NGOs and government, government and business (public-private partnerships), NGOs and business, and tri-sector partnerships that address social issues, such as poverty alleviation, education, health, and other (Selsky and Parker, 2005). Selsky and Parker, 2005 consolidate the vast multidisciplinary literature that addresses this type of partnership through the lens of resource dependence, social issues and societal sector conceptual "platforms" which have strong instrumental focus. While these platforms help identify "functionally useful dimensions" and success factors affecting partnerships outcomes, the authors conclude that the partnerships are often approached in a linear way through the input-output systems models, which "neglect the embeddedness of social processes within the larger institutional structures studied in institutional theory, as well as processes of nonlinear emergence as studied in complexity theory" (Selsky and Parker, 2005, p. 865). Another approach is the Base of the Pyramid (BoP)4 and subsistence markets partnerships (RiveraSantos and Ruffin, 2010)5. This literature, which focuses on development partnerships driven by
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C.K. Prahald (2005) introduced the notion of the bottom (base) of the (economic) pyramid (BoP) which consists of 4 billion people living on less than $2 dollars per day. He argued that multinational enterprises can help these people out of poverty by making profits from the poor. 5 This type of partnership may be viewed by some as the variation of cross-sector partnerships. However, for the purpose of this research, it is important to distinquish it as it specifically targets partnerships in the context of poverty and discusses impact of the BoP markets? specificities on partnership functionings.

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businesses that target pro-poor market, suggests that serving the BoP requires cooperation between large corporations and small firms, civil society organizations, development agencies, governments and the poor themselves (Prahalad, 2005). Such partnerships are largely to be affected by the institutional environment of the pro-poor markets (Riviera-Santos and Ruffin, 2010). For example, lack of formal market institutions at these markets is likely to be compensated by greater involvement of government and civil society. We are likely to observe a greater diversity of organizations, in particular, non-market agencies (such as NGOs), involved to fill the gaps in the governance structures of pro-poor markets. The partnerships are to rely on informal trust-based governance mechanisms (Riviera-Santos and Ruffin, 2010). The existing development partnerships approaches (Chart 1) are useful in expanding our understanding of the development partnerships, their rationale, dynamics, and success factors, however they often focus on process of partnering rather explaining and evaluating how the partnership lead to specific development outcomes. Their liner trajectory also ignores the complexity of the interactions within the partnerships and their broader settings, goals and interactions. To address these concerns, the question on the nature of partnerships is addressed through the lens of innovation system approach and the question of effectiveness brings together the process and outcome views. Chart 1: Development Partnerships Approaches
Partnership Category Type Development partnerships approaches North-South partnerships Base of Pyramid partnerships (e.g. Rivera-Santos and Ruffin, 2010) Business firms, often multinational enterprises Impact of distinct BoP institutional environment, need for intermediaries Business and management Social issues crosssector partnerships (e.g. Selsky and Parker, 2005 Government, business, NGOs Functional dimensions, success factors Multidisciplinary NGO development partnerships in diffusion of technologies (Author) International NGOs or local actors Partnership dynamics and partnership outcomes Interdisciplinary

(e.g. Fowler, 1998)
Common Initiator Common conceptual constructs Main disciplinary focus North agency: either donor or operational NGO Power and equality, authenticity

Development studies

Source: Author?s compilation based on literature review and own research.

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3. Innovation perspective
The partnerships that are the focus of this research are part of the technology diffusion processes that involve a myriad of actors and linkages. At first, we understood technology diffusion as a linear innovation model according to which a straightforward path from basic research and development to technology commercialization and adoption can be followed (Schumpeter, 1911; English edition, 1959). Today, technology diffusion is broadly viewed as a complex process involving a broad range of private and public actors which constitute national innovation systems (OECD, 1997). National innovation systems (NIS) can be defined as "[?] a set of interrelated institutions; its core is made up of those institutions that produce, diffuse and adapt new technical knowledge, be they industrial firms, universities, or government agencies. The links between these institutions consist of flows: knowledge, financial, human (people being the bearers of tacit knowledge and know-how), regulatory, and commercial" (Niosi, 2002, p. 291). The relationships between the NIS agents are viewed as carriers of knowledge and through the interaction among them new knowledge is produced and learnt (Johnson and Lundvall, 2003). Regulatory, policy, international, infrastructure and market conditions have major impacts on innovation and therefore are integral part of the NIS (Gu and Lundvall, 2006). The NIS concept has expanded to include industrial, local, regional and even international systems of innovations (Gu and Lundvall, 2006; Niosi, 2002). Since its beginnings in the late 1980s, the innovation system (IS) approach has become influential in academia, international and policy arenas (Sharif, 2006). Though the notion of NIS originated in developed countries, it has been expanding to include developing countries (Lundvall et al, 2009; Muchie et al, 2003). The NIS approach challenges the limitations of the traditional approach, which views developing countries as „technology users? and focuses on North-South technology transfer with learning being imitative as opposed to innovative (Mytelka, 2003). NIS emphasizes the importance of building capabilities in developing countries to absorb technology, adopt them to local conditions and innovate (Dolun, 2005). Building upon indigenous knowledge and local governance strengths is essential (Johnson and Lundvall, 2003). The IS framework can prove useful in understanding the diffusion process involving international NGOs and their partnerships and see these partnerships in a larger system of actors and interactions and how these impact the process and outcomes of the partnerships. It is used in this study as an

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analytical tool which looks at a partnership in terms of its actors, the roles they play, linkages and interactions taking place, capacities and learning. The idea of using the IS framework for the analysis of partnerships in developing countries is not new, for example, Thorsteinsdóttir et al (2010) examined the South-South research partnerships in health biotechnology and Hall (2006) worked on public-private partnerships in agricultural innovation in developing countries. However, they look at partnerships within the innovation systems rather than apply IS as analytical tool to partnerships themselves. In general, application of IS framework in the context of developing countries remains untested and the role of NGOs in innovation systems is not well understood (Hall et al, 2001).

4. Partnership Effectiveness
While there is an underlying logic that the partnerships lead to the development outcomes, these partnerships are often analysed in their own right rather than in terms of how they are actually achieving the development outcomes (ICT4D Collective, 2011). A recent study on the ICT4D partnerships concluded that the partnership literature mostly ignored the development outcome angle of the partnerships (ICT4D Collective, 2011). Similarly, Dowling et al (2004) conducted research on partnerships involved in provision of health and social services and found that research was mainly focused on the process issues or on functioning of partnership in terms of addressing shared goals, rather than outcome issues, e.g. changes in service delivery, and impact on service users. They acknowledge this discrepancy as a major knowledge gap. In light of this research, my argument is that if we want to improve the outcomes of the partnershipbased development interventions, we need to be concerned with both process issues and outcomes issues. Therefore, I propose an approach to the analysis of the effectiveness of the international NGO-driven development partnerships involved in diffusion of off-grid renewable energy technologies in developing countries which brings together the process view and the development outcome view. I introduce respectively the notions of the partnership dynamics (process issues) and partnership outcomes (outcome issue) as constructs that can explain the effectiveness of partnerships in a more comprehensive way (Chart 1). The partnership dynamics focuses on the relationship between the partners, the management of the partnership, decision making process, communication. The partnership dynamics can be measured in terms of partner satisfaction with the goal achievements and relationship (Ashman, 2001a), and benefits to partners (Brinkerhoff, 2002),
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financial, reputational benefits and other. The partnership outcomes, on another hand, can be understood in terms of goal achievement (Ashman, 2001a), project sustainability (Ashman, 2001b), scalability of the initial efforts (Ashman, 2001b)6 and impacts on beneficiaries. The measures and their application will be further explained later in the paper.

5. Methodology
The case study was chosen as a preferred method for the research, because: a) the research raises the
"why" question (why are some partnership more effective?); b) the research focuses on contemporary

phenomenon within a real-life context; and c) the researcher has little influence over events (Yin, 2009). The research included an exploratory multiple case study in Talamanca, Costa Rica.7 This type of case study was chosen because the research topic is not well understood and there is a need for an exploratory work to provide the base for further investigation. Furthermore, this approach helps address the complexity of the phenomenon which may not be approached by other forms of research, e.g. experimental research. At the same time, choosing multiple cases enables the researcher to investigate the differences within and between cases with the goal of replication of findings across cases (Yin, 2009). Such approach is also considered as robust and reliable (Baxter and Jack, 2008). Furthermore, case studies have been a frequent choice for the research in the pertinent fields. Recent examples include: a case study of service learning partnerships in New England (Dorado et al, 2009), a study of business and NGO partnerships in Lebanon (Jamali and Keshishian, 2009), a study of Dutch development partnerships (Kolk et al, 2008), and a study on cross-sector partnerships in South Africa and Zambia (Rein and Stott, 2008). To do my exploratory case study I travelled to Costa Rica for five weeks in summer 2010. The case study goal was to explore the characteristics of international development NGO driven partnerships serving off-grid communities, when and why they are formed and what makes them effective. I examined and compared two development partnerships driven by the same international NGOs that are implementing off-grid solar energy lighting programs with the indigenous communities in the Talamanca canton, the Limón province, Costa Rica. The reason I chose to compare these partnerships is because while seemingly having comparable chances for success and having similar
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Ashman, 2001b (p.1101) uses the term "development reach" which refers to "the numbers of people or institutions that benefited from the project". The reach can be understood also as an ability of the project to expand/scale up beyond the pilot stage and reach users in other communities. 7 This research has been granted the ethics approval from the Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board for the University of Calgary. All research activities have carefully followed the approved research protocol, including informed consent process.

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context and actors involved, the initiatives unfolded differently and achieved varying degrees of success. During my field work I also participated in micro-finance and technical trainings and joined installations of solar lighting systems in the remote community called Los Cocos as part of one of the initiatives in Talamanca. These activities allowed me to gain first-hand insights into the development work and observe interactions between the partners. It also helped to build rapport with my research participants. I started with the review of documents and archival records of the partnerships. Documentation sources included partners? agreements, studies, project proposals, and project reports. Archival records included baseline surveys, impact assessments, maps and charts. Documentation and archival records analysis aimed at building a detailed account of studied partnerships and projects, identifying key participants of each project, understanding the context for each case, determining progress of each partnership and factors responsible for their successes or failures. However, I quickly realized that other methods were needed to obtain the detailed data for my case study. These data were gathered during the key informant semi-structured interviews with the representatives of the respective organizations where they were asked to comment on the project goals, choices for partners, partnership goals, the progress of partners in achieving these goals, what works and does not work, what contributes to successes, and what poses challenges. I also conducted semi-structured interviews with beneficiaries to help understand partnerships? benefits for the communities and the relationship between beneficiaries and implementing partners. I also met with other organizations and individuals in Costa Rica working in the off-grid renewable energy area. Key informant interviews were conducted with these organizations and individuals asking about their experience with off-grid energy projects and partnerships in Costa Rica. These interviews helped understand the broader context in which the partnerships in question are taking place. The interviews were transcribed and then coded. Descriptive codes were applied to organize responses. These codes included categories and subcategories based on research questions, literature review and theoretical framework (precoding) and were revised based on interviews (postcoding). It must be noted that this research is a part of the larger PhD research which investigates the development partnerships in diffusion of renewable energy technologies in off-grid communities in developing countries. The conclusions in this case study reflect the specific context of partnerships
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in Talamanca and may not be generalized to other partnerships in other contexts. However, the value of this study is that it provides insights into the nature and effectiveness of these partnerships as perceived by both international development NGOs and their local partners8 that can be further explored though qualitative and quantitative research. It also provides preliminary guidance for the international development NGOs and their local organizations partners in their collaborative effort to bring renewable energy technologies to off-grid communities.

6. Exploratory Case Study in Talamanca, Costa Rica
a. Background
Talamanca is the poorest canton in Costa Rica located in the Limón province south of the country. It scored 9.75 in the Social Development Index in the last national census with score of 10 signifying least development (APPTA, n.d.). Similarly to the rest of Costa Rica, poverty in Talamanca is concentrated among the indigenous and Afro-Caribbean populations. The municipality of Talamanca (2003) reports that Talamanca is the poorest canton in Costa Rica, with about half of the population (49.7%) living in poverty (Whelan, 2005). Total population of Talamanca is 33,569 with indigenous population (primarily Bribri and Cabécar indigenous people) accounting for 12,118 (INEC, n.d.). The district of Bratsi in the canton, where the Bribri and Cabécar indigenous territories are located, has the highest concentration of poverty within Talamanca. The Bribri and Cabécar indigenous territories lack access to basic services, including access to health care, education, transportation and energy. Infant mortality and malnutrition in the area is much higher than the national average (Whelan, 2005). The education levels are very low with the average grade level achieved is the fourth grade. Only 14% of the population complete secondary education. Illiteracy rates are as high as 30% among the Bribri and 50% among the Cabécar (Whelan, 2005). Indigenous people are primarily involved in agriculture producing cacao, banana, plantain, and an increasing number of producers are raising animals for consumption and sales: pork, hens, bovine cattle and fish (APPTA, n.d.). The income levels are among the lowest in Costa Rica. The average monthly income of a family of four in Talamanca is approximately $100 making it difficult to meet their basic needs (Whelan, 2005). Until very recently the communication and

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Often empirical studies focus on one side of partnerships, for example the view of North-based NGOs or South-based NGOs.

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transportation infrastructure was practically non-existent in the area. Even though the infrastructure conditions have improved since then, the issues of poor socio-economic conditions remain. While country-wide electrification rates are high (over 90%), many households in Talamanca have no access to electricity. One of the reasons is their remote locations and low population density which make grid extension difficult. However, even when the grid is being expanded, connecting to this grid is prohibitively expensive. One can spend over CAD $200 for a connection kit and CAD $10 for each meter of wiring. Somebody who lives 50 meters from the grid would have to spend about CAD $700-800 for connecting. In words of one of the beneficiaries and also a coordinator of the educational project with the indigenous communities in Talamanca: "Some people might be moving closer to the road where grid will be, but there will be still bunch of people who will not move. There will be demand for solar and less centralized technologies. I am not going to move closer to where the grid will be." Off-grid households are relying on kerosene and candles to meet their lighting needs. In addition, people use flashlights that are running off dry-cell batteries. Recycling for these batteries is nonexistent in the area and many of them are being disposed around the homes and into the rainforest which is a concern. Often a kerosene lamp will be used in the kitchen and candles - for studying. People will use light for few hours in the evening before going to bed at around 7-8 pm and in the morning after waking up at around 3 am. Lighting expenditures for a family of four can be as high as CAD $30 per month - up to one third of their annual income. Using kerosene and candles is not only expensive, but these are sources that are inefficient, have negative health, safety and environmental impacts. To address the issue of access to sustainable energy, international NGOs facilitated provision of solar based LED lighting in remote communities in Talamanca through ACEM and APPTA Solar Energy Lighting Initiatives described below.

b. ACEM Solar Energy Lighting Initiative
The first program is led by a local NGO called Association for Science and Moral Education (ACEM) which has been running an educational program for development called Preparation for Social Action (PSA) in Talamanca since 2001. PSA is a two year tutor-delivered programme for youth to improve their knowledge in areas such as math, science and technology, language and communication, and community service. Its tutors and learners throughout the Talamanca form a natural network of people from the communities. The solar energy lighting initiative commenced in
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2008. ACEM saw a natural fit between solar lighting and education. As Luis Dumani, Executive Director notes: "We know we are in indigenous community. We were estimating that if we bring better light, they have better light for studying, they could study more, the study will be more meaningful, deeper, their spaces of cultural interaction will be improved, better environment to communicate, to do things." The organization recruited and trained technicians, most of whom are the PSA tutors who are trusted by the recipient communities. The PSA tutors/technicians became the technical backbone for the project. The initiative adopted a microfinance approach, with families redirect payments previously used for candles and kerosene toward the solar lighting system for their home. The microfinance approach is an important aspect of the project sustainability. The monthly payments clearly show people?s interest in the equipment and their capacity to maintain the systems in the long-term. As systems are repaid in full, household disposable income increases which improves the economic situation of families. The payback period for the systems in this project has been so far less than two years. Other important outcomes include children spending more time after sunset doing their homework and reading books and families having extended hours for productive and social uses. ACEM established a formal contract system where a beneficiary signs the contract which specifies responsibilities of the implementing agency - ACEM and beneficiary. There are also receipts used and issued for each purchase. A local coordinator hired by ACEM is fully responsible for administration and management of this project on ground. As of the end of September 2010, ACEM installed 378 systems in 15 communities in Talamanca.

c. APPTA Solar Energy Lighting Initiative
The other program is implemented by APPTA, an organic producers? cooperative founded in 1987. Currently the association consists of 1067 producers of which 80% is indigenous Bribri or Cabécar. Women constitute 38% of the members of the association. The cooperative has been involved with solar energy since 2004. APPTA also saw a good match between this project and its main mission. As Walter Rodriguez, Director of Marketing and Development of APPTA indicates: "APPTA has two big objectives: 1) improve the standards of our members and, at the same time 2) protecting the natural environment. Through lighting project we meet both objectives." There is no paid staff dedicated to this initiative. All activities have been performed on a volunteer basis. The organization is fully consumed by the matters related to their main operations as a cooperative and complexities of this business have not allowed to prioritize the solar program so
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far. There is a full realization on the part of the organization that for this project to move forward it should be integrated into its strategic priorities. Most recent development is that a group of technicians has been trained and the project is now overseen by the Executive Director of the cooperative. New installations started after I completed my field work. The visit to the homes where systems were installed showed that people are satisfied with the system and note positive educational and social benefits of having solar lighting. However some households had also the ACEM system and the APPTA system was running of the battery from the ACEM system. If there was no such system in place, the APPTA systems would not work as the batteries needed a replacement. Therefore, it is fair to suggest in the absence of the ACEM project, the beneficiaries of the APPTA project would not be able to continue using their lighting systems. As of August 9, 2010 the organization has installed 117 systems.

d. International NGOs as partners
Important aspect of both initiatives is the partnership driven by two international NGOs: Light Up The World and Y Service Club. Light Up The World (LUTW) has pioneered the use of solid state lighting solutions powered by renewable energy for the world?s poor who do not have access to the electric grid and rely on kerosene, candles and biomass for their lighting needs. Since its inception a decade ago, LUTW has been involved in numerous projects that resulted in installations of thousands of lighting systems in 50 countries throughout the developing world. At the core of LUTW approach is the partnerships with major manufactures, NGOs, local communities and academia. LUTW as an intermediary bridges the gaps in the technological supply chain which fails to reach the poorest of the poor. On ground, LUTW is working with local grassroots organizations which understand the local environment for technological and social innovations, connected to and trusted by the community members. LUTW contributes to planning and project design, helps to identify and procure necessary equipment, facilitates shipping of the equipment from overseas and logistics of component procurement locally. It equips the local partners and stimulates local social innovations in distribution and servicing that are essential in the sustainable energy service delivery in the context of poverty. Y Service Clubs are community service clubs working towards developing global citizens, building culture and peace internationally, promoting cross-cultural, cross-border international relationships, building a web of relationships and knowledge about other places and other cultures through connections with clubs all over the world. The club that is involved in this project is the Owen
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Sound Y Service Club based in Ontario, Canada. Its role is to provide training on solar system concepts and applications as well as infrastructure development for the projects. The organization is also actively involved in fundraising and conducting training and monitoring visits to Costa Rica since March 2007. In case of APPTA, there is one more partner, an individual David Wiwchar, Vice Principal of Vision Lively District Secondary School based in Ontario, Canada. Mr. Wiwchar is the founder of the Light Up Costa Rica program. He runs an educational program where he brings Canadian high school students to Costa Rica during March break to be involved in solar lighting projects. Through this work and his previous experiences and contacts in Costa Rica, Mr. Wiwchar introduced the idea of solar lighting to areas of need and facilitated linkages with the potential implementation partners.

7. Nature of partnerships
e. Actors & Linkages
At first glance, there is a myriad of actors involved in the presented partnerships in variety of ways, the IS framework helps to map out actors within these partnerships, and highlight their linkages, and interactions. The framework also helps position these partnerships within a larger system of actors and interactions that are part of the technological diffusion process. Chart 2 draws out a map of actors, their linkages and interactions in the studied partnerships which are explained below. Chart 2: Mapping System of Actors and Linkages in Development Partnerships in Talamanca
National Govern. Business

Int. NGOs

Local Community Organization s

Community

Donors Local Govern.

Development Partnership Domain

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The development partnership domain constitutes actors that are the focus of this research. They can be called "the boundary partners" - organizations that are directly interacting within the development project and whose behaviour the partnership can have opportunities to influence (Earl et al, 2001). The boundary partners have close linkages and frequent interactions. Stronger linkages are manifested through regular and open communication, regular exchange of knowledge about project progress and sharing of learning from the field, open discussion of challenges and the ways to overcome them. The international NGOs in the studied partnerships play an important catalytic role, while local NGOs play a central role in the solar lighting projects and are closely linked with the beneficiaries. Participating international NGOs facilitate access to financial, management and technical resources and help build capacities that are needed by local organizations to implement the projects and ensure their sustainability. Local implementing organizations, an NGO and an organic producers? cooperative, which have presence in the community, are central to the project since they understand local environment for technological innovation and its diffusion. They are closely connected with the community and trusted by the users. They are leading the planning and implementation of the projects, and are fully responsible for monitoring and evaluation activities. Local organizations provide feedback to the international NGOs on the project progress and engage in the exchanges that help move projects ahead, deal with the challenges and nurture successes. LUTW as a supply chain intermediary allows organizations like ACEM and APPTA to access best in class solar and LED technology at a lower cost. This is possible due to LUTW?s established relationships with the manufacturers of components (indicated as business in Chart 2) and funding from donors. These are contractual relationships between an NGO that acts as a distributor and a manufacture that plays a role of a supplier. Using the language of Earl et al, 2001, these are strategic partners that provide resources to the initiatives but whose behaviour the initiatives do not aim to change. In return business partners gain corporate social responsibility benefits and opportunity of their products to be introduced to new markets. Other strategic partners include donors which provide needed funding for the international NGOs and the local NGO. The linkages between these actors include financial flows to the NGOs and reporting from NGOs to donors. The map also highlights both national and local government as participating actors in the larger system. The local partners have linkages with the local authorities which play a facilitating role in the projects. As Luis Dumani of ACEM notes: "Also important our local relations with the
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institutions, with local government in Talamanca, with some local institutions. It allows us to move quickly in the region. They trust us, they believe us, they can count on us and we can count on them too. This has been also important to development of the project." However, the linkages with the national government were noted as weak. The government policies did impact some aspects of the projects, for example, in case of shipping through customs regulations. However, the national authorities were largely unaware of these partnerships and initiatives. The boundary partners indicated that it would be important to coordinate with the government, in particular, ICE, Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad - a Costa Rican publicly owned energy utility responsible for electrification and be aware of the government plans for grid extension into the area. Local organizations could benefit from accessing certain funds and/or technical expertise from ICE. In turn, the government could rely on these actors to cover Talamanca communities which will not be reached by the grid and expand its own capacities in the off-grid rural electrification by learning from these projects. ICE already collaborates with an NGO in renewable energy electrification of remote communities in other areas. There are unrealized opportunities for central government involvement with the studied initiatives which can be a winwin scenario for energy regulators and providers, local NGOs and communities.

f. Drivers
The case study showed that community service was the key driver for the partnering organizations. While responding to specific community needs, an NGO activity is often related to market or government failures. In case of the NGO-driven initiatives in Talamanca, it is a response to the government not being able to extend the grid to these communities to each home, which is primarily due to economic reasons. It is also about market failure where the market has not acknowledged that there is a demand for certain services. The international operational NGOs in studied partnerships play the role of "hands-on donors"9 where they do not only fund development projects but also help local organizations build capacities necessary to sustain these projects. Among local NGOs and community-based organizations in developing countries, there is a certain level of resource dependencies in technology, capacity and financing which necessitate involvement of the organizations that can provide such resources. In the case of the partnerships in question, international NGOs bring project management and technical

9

The North-South partnerships literature often views North-based NGOs donors of their South partners.

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expertise, access to technology at low cost, and funding - resources that are required for a local organization to be successful in implementing a project. International NGOs, on the other hand, need to work with the local organizations in order to ensure the necessary closeness to the communities, understand the communities? needs and realities, and gain trust of the communities? members. It is costly in terms of time, human and financial resources for an international NGO without a local base or presence to build strong community relationships within a short period of time.

g. Challenges
Both international NGOs and their local implementation partners are often vulnerable due to financial constraints and reliance on external funding. The funding availability is limited in terms of its amount and duration. Most frequently one to two year grants are available. Every year the NGOs in question are searching for funding, which distracts from their main development operations. This situation is exacerbated by financial crises and economic slowdowns where governments are more likely to cut foreign aid spending that particularly affects international development NGOs. Private donors mainly in developed countries are also turning their support towards their domestic communities. Securing funding for international development projects is becoming more difficult. The international NGOs and the local NGO I interviewed emphasized lack of financial sustainability as a key constraint to their operations. Another set of barriers is related to logistics and infrastructure. The climate in Talamanca is challenging and devastating rains often shut down the communications and flood the communities which make community access impossible. Even basic roads were non-existent until a year ago. Currently, some communities are accessible by gravel roads, however access remains difficult in many cases. These constraints present major challenges for local organizations to reach these communities and for international NGO to conduct monitoring and evaluation visits and as well capacity building activities on ground. Cross-cultural communication and lack of communication capacities can be challenging as well. Brian Minielly, President of Owen Sound Y Service Club explains: "ACEM was a group I could communicate with, having primary people who were bilingual in English and Spanish so that I could communicate effectively with them and because they had willingness and resources (office, computer that worked, telephone) that they were able to communicate with me to do effectively
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planning from a distance. I could not do planning on a distance with the other project members [refers to other lighting initiatives in Costa Rica led by other local organizations and individuals]."

8. Partnership effectiveness
The effectiveness of studied partnerships was measured in terms of partnership dynamics and outcomes as low, moderate or high. The partnership dynamics was measured in terms of to what extent the partners were satisfied with the goal achievement and with the relationship and benefits to partners, including financial, reputational and technological. Financial benefits included ability of the partnership to draw funding for the project, reputational benefits were about whether the partnership increased the profile and status of the partnering organizations, technological referred to ability to access technical expertise and technology. The partnership outcomes were measured in terms of how sustainable the project is: if there is a viable distribution system in place to reach remote off-grid communities, and weather there are necessary human, financial and technological capacities to sustain the benefits of the initial projects to the users. Scalability was referred to the number of users and communities reached. Scalability is high when more than 1000 beneficiaries have been reached. Moderate - from 500 to 1000 beneficiaries impacted, and low- under 500 beneficiaries reached. The benefits to beneficiaries included economic, social and environmental benefits. Economic benefits were associated with savings from not using kerosene and candles - those can be observed after the systems are paid off. Social benefits included educational benefits, and ability to socialize in the evening. Environmental benefits were about improved indoor air quality, and using less fuelbased sources for lighting (such as kerosene). Chart 3 compares two studied partnerships using these effectiveness measures. Clearly ACEM Solar Lighting Infinitive emerged as a more effective partnership overall, however it must be noted that the key differences were noted primarily in the partnerships outcomes. As far as partnership dynamics, both partnerships scored similar. This evidence confirms the need to go beyond the process view as it did not explain in this case study why one partnership led to the desired outcomes more than the other one. It is important to note that the analysis focused on partnerships? dynamics and outcomes throughout partnerships duration and up to the time of field work, first week of August, 2010. There were several key changes made in APPTA right before my field work that had potential to change the trajectory of the outcomes. As Walter Rodriguez, Director of Marketing and Development of
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APPTA explains: "Now, that it [solar lighting initiative] is being institutionalized, it became more professional contract. Today somebody is going to collect the payments. There is a team of local inspectors who check on certification. Some of them have been trained to go out, install, maintain [systems] and we pay them for this work. [?] They [APPTA] institutionalize it [solar lighting initiative] for the first time this year. [?] Now it is different, because there are different people trained, they have been going out and giving follow-ups." Since these were very recent changes, for example, the technical training was delivered to the group of inspectors 4 weeks before the interviews, it was hard to assess at that point how this new organizational system would work and what the outcomes would be. However, these changes are important developments that can have direct impact on effectiveness of the partnership involving this local partner. The following sections explain the factors that came out of this study that contributed to the partnership effectiveness in terms of its dynamics and outcomes. Chart 3: Comparing Effectiveness of Development Partnerships in Talamanca. Effectiveness Measures PARTNERSHIP DYNAMICS Partner satisfaction with the goal achievement Partner satisfaction with the relationship Financial benefits Reputational benefits Technological benefits PARTNERSHIP OUTCOMES Goal achievement Project sustainability Scalability Impact on beneficiaries +++ High ++ Moderate + Low ACEM Solar Lighting Initiative (2008-08/2010) +++ +++ +++ ++ +++ +++ +++ +++ +++ APPTA Solar Lighting Initiative (2004-08/2010) ++ +++ ++ ++ +++ ++ ++ ++

h. Partnership dynamics
The analysis of partnerships dynamics in Talamanca identified the following factors that contribute to an effective partnership: shared values and goals; complementary expertise and capacities; confidence and trust; clear roles and responsibilities; regular and open communication; personality match and continuity of staff. Thus, Christoph Schultz, Projects Director of LUTW talks about dynamics success factors: "Because we understand the objectives, we share same objectives - that
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is where it starts. [...] the partnership makes sense because we are trying to achieve the same things and they [partners] have certain skills and capacities to do things that we can't do and we have certain skills, capacities. We complement each other. We have regular communication. [?]Functional partnerships are result of essentially communication. [...] You can have common objectives with the organization, but culturally you work quite different. Commonalities of business or communication cultures [are important]. [?] clear understanding of roles and responsibilities. I think shared goals first and from there you know who can provide what and who is responsible so there are no questions in terms of this program [?]." He continues: "It [ACEM Initiative] is successful because there was a good partnership based on good communication. Sharing ideas on different things, having e-mails go around - there is a lot of communication, which again takes time - a lot of time organizations do not spend enough time because it takes a lot of time, but it pays off." These views were widely shared by all partners. The organizations also emphasized the importance of personalities. For example, Walter Rodriguez from APPTA talked about partnership from the dynamics point of you:" I feel like it always functioned. We have always clicked." Luis Dumani from ACEM points: "In my experience, institutional relationships depend a lot of individuals, personalities." He also raises a question about what happens if either of the individuals from partnering organizations leaves. Clearly a continuation of staff is important as relationships take time to build. It takes time and effort to build trust and confidence. Furthermore, individuals involved in these partnerships also retain tacit knowledge about their work which cannot be easily transferred to a new comer. These findings confirm much of the general understanding of what makes a partnership successful coming from the partnership management literature and also development studies. International development research also emphasizes equality, trust, shared commitment, agreed division of tasks and responsibilities, compatible objectives, mutual agreement, transparency, shared contributions, shared rewards, win-win benefits, accountability, flexibility as some of the success factors (ClarkeOkah, 2004; Ashman, 2001; Lewis, 1998). Partnership management studies highlight as success criteria: mutual trust, resource dependency, commitment symmetry, shared common goals, converging cultures, leadership, resource exchange, schedule, communication, transparency, accountability, representation, and participation (Dorado et al, 2009; Jamali and Keshishian, 2009; Kolk et al, 2008; Morse and McNamara, 2006; Tennyson, 2003; Brinkerhoff, 2002; and Austin, 2000). These factors largely coincide with those identified through the case study. Though, the importance of some criteria differed possibly due to differentiation in the organizational type and
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context. The partnerships in question were influenced a lot by individual dynamics rather than organizational, therefore, the personality match and continuity staffs were identified as important factors. Human factors often receive less attention in the partnership literature. To explain the role of human factors in the dynamics of partnerships, partnership literature can benefit from insights on these aspects from the personal and organizational psychology. Based on this analysis, a set of propositions affecting partnership dynamics was put forward. Proposition 1a: Shared values and goals are associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Proposition 1b: Complementary expertise and capacities among partners are associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Proposition 1c: Confidence and trust among partners are associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Proposition 1d. Clear roles and responsibilities are associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Proposition 1e. Regular and open communication is associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Proposition 1f. Personality match is associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Proposition 1g. Continuity of staff is associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships.

i. Partnership outcomes
The analysis of the partnerships showed that their ability to achieve development outcomes was dependent on three sets of factors related to partnership outcomes: local champion, community, and technology. It was critical to have an established and committed local partner that had experience with the community members and their trust; developed effective network in the community; was able to institutionalize learning and build on it. ACEM was such champion for the partnership. The organization was able to identify the beneficiaries, secure financial resources, hire local staff, train technicians and establish the system of payment collection and address the lighting needs of 10% of target population within relatively
22

short period of time. This was possible primarily because of the initial capacities of ACEM developed through the successful education program that the organization has been running in the area for almost a decade, through their full commitment to the solar energy initiative and ability to prioritize it and allocate resources and staff. The network of tutors as part of the educational program of ACEM has effectively become a solar energy network and was the key asset for the solar lighting project. The tutors/technicians are from the community and enjoy a great degree of trust from the beneficiaries. Furthermore, ACEM developed administrative procedures for this project through contract and receipt system as well as built fundraising capacities. It had committed leadership and staff fully responsible for coordination and management of the project. Accountability and transparency were noted as key in having trust of beneficiaries, partners and donors. Most importantly, ACEM approached solar lighting systems not as the gadget, but as a knowledge which can be taught, learnt, shared, modified and improved. This conceptualization allowed integration of this project into their main educational activities in the region. In words of the ACEM Executive Director: "Our mission is to develop capacity. We use education as a tool for development. I did not want just to bring the equipment to a community and that is it. I was thinking how we could combine both things." On the contrary, APPTA, while having effective network as part of its operations as a cooperative was not able to fully benefit from it. It had difficulty integrating the project into the main activities and prioritizing it. As Walter Rodriguez from APPTA explains: "The most difficult thing APPTA has as an organization is to survive. [?] It has been very difficult to sustain organization because banana price has fallen and there was a lack of market. For many years I tried to get the project through, but it has not been possible to prioritize it." The organization enjoys a great degree of the community trust and is much respected among community members. However, there was no paid staff dedicated to engage community in this initiative. As Walter Rodriguez from APPTA shares: "There was nobody in charge going out to collect the payments. Those who had the desire to repay arrived at the office and made repayments themselves and those that did not want, never came, did not deliver the repayments." There are some developments highlighted before that indicate that the project is being institutionalized, the group of technicians is being trained and a general manager taking on a role of a leader for this project. The following propositions are suggested based on the evidence from this case study:

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Proposition 2a: Partnering with a local organization that has existing financial, human and technological capacities is associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Proposition 2b: Partnering with a local organization with the existing community network is associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Furthermore, ACEM was particularly successful in institutionalizing its learning processes. As Luis Dumani of ACEM notes: "We have a good, identified and proven methodology based on reflection, action and consultation study that we have been implementing for couple of years already." ACEM is able to learn from what happens and acts based on this learning. ACEM has different spaces and methodology for learning. During bi-weekly meetings the local coordinator and tutors discuss day- to day matters and reflect upon their work. Every month or two there is a meeting among all tutors and the Executive Director to reflect and consult about more strategic issues related to advancement of the program. The tutors use "the reflection book" as a tool for learning and tutoring. Every three months they write a report on their learning and reflections. One example of their learning methodology in practice is the pilot project that ACEM started with. They initially installed 60 solar powered lighting systems without charge controller10 trying to keep the cost of a system down. The batteries started failing as people would drain the batteries by using extensively the lights, even when they did not need them. The technicians communicated this problem to the coordinator and the discussion started on how to improve the design of system. A charge controller was added to the system and users were trained on how to use it. Since this improvement there has not been a single problem reported with the batteries. If there was no mechanism in place to learn from mistakes and act upon, the organization would keep installing inferior systems. Proposition 2c: Partnering with a local organization that institutionalized the learning was associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Another interesting finding is related to the number and diversity of actors. The more organizations were involved, the harder it was to coordinate the interactions. As Christoph Schultz notes: "Ideally you are not dealing with too many different organizations and/or individuals."

10

A charge controller limits the rate at which electric current is added to or drawn from electric batteries.

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Proposition 2d. More effective partnerships are likely to include fewer actors and less diversity in actors. This proposition contradicts assumptions from the BOP literature suggesting that the BoP partnerships are likely to involve a greater diversity and number of actors and sectors in order to address the complexities of the BoP and subsistence marketplaces (Rivera-Santos and Ruffin, 2010). These assumptions are developed for the private sector led partnerships and may not hold true in the case of international operational NGO driven partnerships. While partnerships will always involve transaction costs associated with the coordination of interactions among partners, for small and medium international operational NGOs which are continuously struggling due to lack of stable financing for their operations discussed under challenges, coordination costs will have to be kept to a minimum which may necessitate much more focused project partnerships with smaller number of actors involved. Greater diversity of actors in a partnership is also often associated with the higher transaction costs since organizations have to align their diverse strategies, approaches, processes, and goals. As for community aspects, what was important is that community members embraced the projects; they were actively involved in them and had strong sense of ownership. Community trust in local implementing organization and the project was crucial. Proposition 2e: Having community trust in project is associated with the improved effectiveness of the partnerships. Understanding natural environment (climate, terrain, natural resources) of the communities, opportunities and constraints it may present was important in terms of developing project delivery strategy and choosing suitable technological solutions. As for technology, the key characteristics that impact the adoption of technologies were as follows: solar lighting systems provided significant advantages in terms of quality of light in comparison to kerosene lamps and candles; they were easy to use; potential users could observe the benefits from using the new technology; the payback period was one-two years after which the system was nearly maintenance free. The system design has been changing as the project progressed which directly accounted for the user specific needs.

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9. Conclusion & research implications
The exploratory multiple case study in Talamanca, Costa Rica has shed light on NGO-driven development partnerships in the diffusion of renewable energy powered technologies in off-grid communities in developing countries. The theoretical framework brought together insights from the NGO partnerships literature, development studies and innovation literature. Based on this literature existing development partnerships approaches were highlighted and an approach to address the complexity of studied partnerships within their broader settings, goals and interactions was proposed. The approach included elements of the innovation system framework to explain the nature of these partnerships and introduced the dichotomy of partnership dynamics and partnership outcomes to address the effectiveness question. Shared values and goals; complementary expertise and capacities; confidence and trust; clear roles and responsibilities; effective communication; personality match and continuity of staff were identified as a key dynamics effectiveness criteria confirming much of the previous research on partnerships while highlighting specifics of this type of partnerships. The research emphasized the importance of human factors in the dynamics of partnerships and called for the exchange between partnership literature and personal and organizational psychology that can provide further insights into these aspects. The research acknowledged the catalytic role of the international operational NGOs facilitating access for a local organization to technical, financial, human and management resources necessary for the diffusion of the technologies in off-grid communities. The study emphasized the centrality of local NGOs and other community-based organizations in successful implementation of development interventions. Partnering with a local organization that had existing financial, human and technological capacities as well as a strong relationship with the target communities was viewed as a faster and more effective approach. The development outcomes of the partnerships improved when local organization was capable to institutionalize its learning processes. The research findings contribute to the literature that provided theoretical underpinnings for the study. The research adds to the innovation literature by understanding better the role of innovation actors that are largely ignored, such as NGOs. Furthermore, it looks at the role of these actors in technological diffusion in the off-grid communities in developing countries - the context which is also not well understood. The research also shows the usefulness of the innovation system
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framework in analyzing the development partnerships. As for the partnership and development literature, the research expands our understanding of NGO-driven development partnership in technological diffusion in the context of poverty. Further research in this area can enrich our understanding of development partnerships and their roles in addressing development challenges. Mixed methodology combining qualitative and quantitative research can help test the propositions in other contexts in light of energy poverty and other development challenges, for example, access to clean water, health services and other. The insights from this research can have important practical implications. The research signals the importance of international NGOs as intermediaries in the technological supply chains and local organizations as the intermediaries with the community. For international operational NGOs it is essential to partner with reputable local organizations that are close to the community, have and are able to enhance their capacities for delivering renewable energy projects. For local partners the key is building local capacities, thinking, designing and implementing for sustainability, institutionalizing their learning. Both international NGOs and local community-based organizations should focus on securing stable sources of financing for their operations.

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