D. Hounkonnou, Wageningen, 2001. Hunkonnou believes that one of the main causes of development failure is the tendency of national authorities to listen only to foreign ‘experts’. Despite the failure of many large-scale projects, a number of indigenous ones have been successful. The author looks for the key factors behind these local dynamics and reflects on issues such as how to build effective partnerships with local development actors and how to link these to different support systems.