The challenges of participatory development suggest an explicit role for community development practitioners as 'translation agents' across different institutional contexts. This paper illustrates this role in three case studies of rural community development projects in post-war Ethiopia. The case studies highlight the value of local community knowledge and institutions in tackling key development issues: from small-farm productivity, to water access, to animal health. They also demonstrate the frequent need for translation and mediation between community knowledges and institutions and those of outside organizations and professionals. This paper analyses the case studies to show how community development practitioners working in the field can play a central role in creating truly participatory development spaces.