FARMI's experience of wealth ranking in the Philippines: different farmers have different needs

This article starts from the thesis that farmers of different wealth even in the same areas will have different requirements and needs. This is illustrated by doing research on wealth and priority ranking with farmers in three villages in the Philippines - Pong-on, Barrack and Cogon. There are good descriptions of the free listing and card sorting methods of problem and need prioritisation. The project preparation phase is discussed in detail, and emphasized as a crucial part of PRA exercises. The paper concludes with the assertion that if agricultural research does not incorporate local priorities then interventions will be inaccurate and wasteful.