This article describes research carried out using PRA methods to examine how and why farmers use different markets to sell their products and to investigate how their profits can be maximised.
Main findings of a participatory impact assessment in which people's own perceptions and indicators of change are compared with conventional monitoring indicators. The report also includes information on the impact of the project on the lives of women and children and raises issues of sustainability, equity and degree of participation in activities and outcomes.
The paper analyses the experience of institutionalising participatory approaches in the design and implementation of slum improvement projects in India, focusing on the case of Calcutta. The authors highlight the excessively compartmentalised structure of the project institutions (strictly divided between Engineering, Health, and Community Development sections) as the most significant obstacle to the effective adoption of participatory approaches. Despite staff enthusiasm for PRA techniques, these were considered useful primarily to extract information rather than for planning.