Resources

This brief article describes a modelling exercise which was carried out with different groups of villagers during a PRA training in North Omo, Ethiopia. Different perceptions and concerns were revealed when models of the village were made by separate groups of women, men, and children. The exercise illustrated how the issues brought up by the women and children would have been submerged if only one model had been created. A wealth of interesting information was gained, both through the exercise itself and through the contrast between the models.

This draft section of a paper, which includes the use of formal survey methods including questionnaires, discusses the use of participatory methods in urban research. The introductory section highlights the need for urban based research, with a focus on urban poverty. The aims are: to measure the nature and causes of urban poverty, understand household survival and coping mechanisms, and design policy and programmes. The increase in use of participatory techniques, with their emphasis on communication, a holistic analysis, visual techniques and triangulation could apply equally to urban situations as to rural ones. The process of participatory research, the nature of the information collected and the involvement of communites are outlined. It is argued that conducting "PRA" in urban area may have logistical advantages, and is applicable beyond the scope of poverty analysis. The dangers in application are mentioned, and the paper concludes with a list of tools, such as SSIs, ranking, maps, transects, calanders, timelines and livelihood analysis which are discussed in detail.

This article describes a recent innovation in the use of venn diagrams called a farmer's flow diagram. The flow diagram is used to illustrate the farmer's strategic choices about inputs that he can make to the farming process. Gounder describes how a farmer analyses the farming cycle diagrammatically, showing 1) inputs (such as fertiliser) and the comparative costs of different fertilisers, 2) the institutions (department of agriculture, the co-operative bank) that form the context of his decisions, 3) labour needed on the farm with the difference between family and hired labour illustrated.

This paper is particularly interesting because of its context and because it describes the first time that wealth ranking has been used in this type of society. Income was ranked on the basis of data collected from 38 households in a rural Indian village in one cropping year. Assets included in the ranking were: livestock, poultry, land, and number of people in the household in paid employment. The paper concludes that this is a useful way of analysing community wealth differentials in the area where it was tested and assumes therefore that the method could be translated to other areas of India.

A set of papers presented at a seminar on wealth and well-being ranking. Comments and questions during the workshop included discussion on whether wealth and well-being ranking would be appropriate, definitions of wealth ranking and exercising sensitivity when doing wealth ranking. A point made here is that no-one likes to talk about the money that they are earning, and therefore it is potentially very intrusive to ask questions about money.

Excellent description of a seasonal disease calendar compiled with herders in Somaliland (Sanaag Region). There is an interesting description of the application of the research which was fed into a Primary Veterinary Assistant Training Programme.

This chapter describes the application of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methodology to a community development initiative in Mbusyani sublocation, Kenya in 1988. The purpose of the study was to learn whether a multi-disciplinery team consisting of government officers, researchers, technical officers and community leaders could gather data, define problems, rank solutions and devise an integrated village plan for natural resources management in a relatively short time period, with substantial community participation. The authors conclude that the PRA process offers possibilities for restructuring the way rural planning and resources management takes place, although should be regarded as a supplementary methodology rather than a substitute for other methods of gathering information and planning.