Tuvalu, the fourth smallest country in the world, with an estimated population of 10,440, is an isolated and resource-poor country that relies mainly on royalties received for access to its exclusive economic zone and remittances as its main sources of foreign exchange. This case study describes how the Falekaupule Trust Fund (FTF) was established in the 1990s, with support from the Asian Development Bank, as a mechanism to help build capacity for outer island development, relying on participatory methods to “put power in the hands of community members.”
