Neil Webster is a senior research fellow at the Centre for Development Research and Co-ordinator for the programme Local Organizations and Rural Poverty Alleviation. He has undertaken research on rural development in India for more than 20 years. His publications include: Do the Poor Matter? A Comparative Study of European Aid for Poverty Reduction in India.Lars Engberg-Pedersen is head of the International Department in the Danish Association of International Cooperation (MS). He has carried out fieldwork in Burkina Faso, Nicaragua, Indonesia and Karnataka, India. His publications include work on institutional change, rural development and natural resource management.