Reluctant Partners? combines comprehensive empirical insights into NGOs' work in agriculture with wider considerations of their relations with the State and their contribution to democratic pluralism. This overview volume for the Non-Governmental Organizations series contextualizes and synthesizes the case study material in the three regional volumes on Africa, Asia and Latin America, where over sixty specially commissioned case studies of farmer-participatory approaches to agricultural innovation are presented.

Specific questions are raised. How good/bad are NGOs at promoting technological innovation and addressing contraints to change in peasant culture? How effective are NGOs at strengthening local organizations? How do/will donor pressures influence NGOs and their links to the State?