| Abstract: | When the Togo village water project was first conceived, it was intended to provide potable water and improve the health and sanitation practices at village level. However, a subsequent socio-economic survey found that the village often lacked the financial resources needed to maintain and repair the water works which were to be installed. It was decided therefore to expand the programme to include assistance to the village for the establishment of community development enterprises, the profit of which would provide the funds needed to maintain the village water works. On the implementation of this programme, women became the major participants in the community development enterprises. This paper discusses the institutional structure of those community development enterprises (called 'Lucrative Micro-Projects') and the role that women have played in them. The 'Lucrative Micro-Projects' have been so successful that they have become a means of furthering social and economic development at the village level. |
