Participative Rural Appraisal and Participatory Learning Methods: Recent Experiences from MYRADA and South India

This report presents the participatory methodologies and methods used by MYRADA, an NGO working in South India. Avoiding the terms 'rapid' and 'appraisal', it prefers to use the term Participatory Learning Method (PALM). The key principles and applications of PALM are outlined, and a typical PALM training exercise introduced. This involves village camps, during which a series of interactions occur between villagers and outsiders which lead to an enhanced and shared understanding of complex rural situations. The process of a village camp and the conduct of PALM are described, and a range of PALM/PRA methods listed. the final section discusses potential extensions of PALM. These include the applications of PALM/PRA methods to new topics, development of new methods, removing outsiders from the exercises, learning how to handle dominant participants, and sequencing interactions. The key lesson emphasised is that villagers have much more knowledge and are better able to express it than they are normally given credit for. Villagers are increasingly becoming PALM resource persons.