Resources

A game of juggling with oranges was used to demonstrate how PRA allows the roles of farmer and scientist to be reversed. This glimpse of the actual event at a livestock seminar in Indonesia shows how the role play "energised" the proceedings.

This report describes how RRA techniques were introduced to six fieldworkers, to enable them to assess the performance of a BRAC supported village tubewell group. RRA/PRA techniques are summarised on a chart, with particular attention to their sequence. Each technique is then described in terms of "applications and procedure", the latter given as numbered instructions. The field work explored issues such as implications for women, employment opportunities, seasonal effects of the deep tubewell project. Findings are also given in diagram form, with a list of equipment used and day-by-day summary of the study.

This training course in RRA techniques was held for heads of local government departments of several states in Northern Nigeria. The report does not describe the training sessions, but evaluates how various RRA techniques were carried out in the village context. Many of the problems identified relate to the idea of government officials using RRA : they were viewed with suspicion by the villagers (as tax collectors), and had a different perspective from NGO workers (one official asked, "Why are we trying to identify the poorest?") The report includes the visual results of activities and suggests how the training could link to project identification in local government.

Participatory modelling was organized by a team on a training course in North Omo. To avoid men dominating the activity, as is usual if only one group is formed, the group was divided into men, women and children. Each group created a model which showed their different perceptions and "a version of their area which begs certain emphases and areas for intervention."

"The gender equivalent to Chambers' poverty biases" is summarised as an ironic checklist of ways of "keeping women invisible in development planning" - eg treat the household as a homogenous and harmonious group of people. Concepts for gender training for development planners are discussed : i) The distinction between "biological" sex and "socially constructed" gender ii) The different processes that construct gender in different cultures iii) Focus on the gender division of labour iv) Rethink the meaning of production in the light of our analysis of the gender division of labour v) Shift from planning for practical needs to strategies for empowerment. Such training should help to get away from "aggregated concepts of development that planners have worked with in the past".

Details the activities of a 60 field orientated PRA training programme. The purpose of the training was to enable village resource management planning to become participatory. The recommendations from the training excercise include follow up to the PRA and the development of VRMPs; sharing of knowledge about PRA; study trip to India for project staff to see PRA in practice; encouragement of village level animators. The remainder of the report consists of details of the itinery of the consultant, schedules of the PRA training workshops and methods of evaluations of the courses

This provocative article reflects on the experience of conducting PRA exercises in Madhya Pradesh, India. The issues relate to Kulkarni's role as "development manager" in the context of villagers working directly with government officials. The ethical, political and methodological dimensions of PRA (specifically wealth ranking and social mapping) are all brought out in the discussion.