Local Economic Development

Introduction to LED

Key Publications

Introduction to LED

SDC has been working in many countries and for many years on Local Economic Development (LED). It is a broad topic and there exist many definitions and many ways to do it. SDC uses the following definition of LED:

"LED is a process that seeks to transform the way economic and political decisions are taken at the local level. The objective is to improve the living conditions of the local society in an inclusive manner. It takes place through organized negotiation processes, between local actors from the civil society and the public and private sectors that address the different challenges faced by the territory. Through consultation, LED tries to make a more efficient and sustainable use of existing and potentially available resources, aspires to build socio-economic opportunities (such as the creation of employment and income) and works to strengthen good local governance.”

For a documentation and analysis of  existing LED experiences at SDC have a look at the executive summary, there is also an interesting and comprehensive argumentation paper defining LED and summarizing the points for and against undertaking strategically planned LED and an information note on LED and poverty reduction, and the relevance of Monitoring and Evaluation for LED.

While the above mentioned documents refer to SDC's activities in the field, you can find a few selected publications at the end of this text. For relevant links giving examples of projects, platforms, ressource centers, and more, please refer to LED in the Links section.

The topic being very vast, the E+I network is not the only SDC network that has stakes in LED. You might therefore want to consult the website of the Decentralisation and Local Governance Network and the Political Economics & Development Network (under construction).

Key Publications