This paper provides an analytical description of the planning process used by the Indo-British Rainfed Farming Project (KRIBP) and illustrates some of the issues, problems and points of learning which arose.
This paper argues that for rainfed and watershed development programmes to be sustainable it is not sufficient for participatory research and planning methods to be adopted alone. A structured planning process is also essential in which local institutions are identified and supported to take responsibility for implementatiom and the long term management .
The article focuses on the generation of knowledge about social relationships within participatory rural development projects. In the Kribhco Indo-British Rainfed Farming Project (KRIBP) in India significant constraints were experienced in using PRA techniques for social analysis. Although they were successful at generating agro-ecological information, they were less helpful in revealing the structures of power and influence within a village or in helping project workers identify the social relations which shaped 'public' opinion.
This article explores constraints encountered when using PRA on an ODA-funded natural resources project in a tribal area of Western India. It was particularly evident that women's participation in the PRAs was minimal.