Resources

This paper raises issues around PRA as an empowering process. For the poor, product matters more than process and "it is the functional, material gain which is the entry point, not the empowerment". PRA can be seen as "Orwellian manipulation" from the point of view of "elaborate processes imposed to secure participation". In practice, those "least familiar with Western cultural processes will be the most excluded and manipulated" - usually the women of a community. Any approach or technique has "differing meanings in differing geographical, cultural and temporal contexts", so PRA should also be seen as "context limited and context enhanced".

Examples are given of situations where PRA activities have shown how "environmental and economic pressures tend to have a negative impact upon women". Discussions with groups of women and how seasonal calendars were constructed are briefly described.

Ten focus group sessions were held in Imo State Nigeria to explain the under-utilization of public sector health services. Groups consisted of village women, village men, elementary school teachers, traditional medical practitioners, male civil servants, female civil servants and nursing staff. Rural and urban sites were selected in major sub-cultural zones. Focus groups revealed under-utilization had several causes: limited accessibility of services; high user costs; lack of supplies; uncaring attitudes of staff; nepotism and financial misappropriation. Implications for government action are suggested: strategies for reducing costs; making health care more accessible; improving the quality of services and educating the consumer. The role of the state in health care may need clarification to ensure it complements non-state health care provision. Suggestions are made for further research in which focus group studies can be used throughout.

Two RRAs were carried out by interdisciplinary teams over a period of five weeks in two areas of Benin where malnutrition was considered a problem "this mixture proved effective, permitting not only a comprehensive analysis of the problem, but also comprehensive remedial action". Chapter 1 describes RRA techniques in nutrition and health, Chapter 2 is focused on the methodology employed, Chapter 3 discusses the findings, Chapter 4 compares the RRA results with those obtained from three quantitative studies. In Chapter 5, the methodology used in the two RRAs is reassessed and recommendations are made to researchers and development workers who want to follow a similar approach.

This paper describes experiences in applying RRA techniques and principles to identify rehabilitation requirements of small irrigation systems in Zimbabwe. The authors conclude that the methodology was appropiate given that the schemes were small. Valuable aspects of using a RRA methodology were judged to be self-imposed discipline, the use of checklists, careful organisation and the use of existing information before visiting the schemes.

A two-year project investigated modes of conflict management in a pastoral society in north-western Kenya, and tried to find causes for successful or non-successful (that is, non-violent or violent) conflict behaviour. PRA methods were used in an effort to speed up the normally lengthy process of obtaining data on conflict management. The study found that internal conflict was managed fairly successfully despite being thoroughly informal. This stood in sharp contrast to violent inter-ethnic conflicts. The reasons for these differences were many and complex. The paper concludes that although an appreciable amount of descriptive data may be gathered by using PRA methods, they are more limited when it comes to identifying the causes of conflict behaviour.

The article focuses on the collection and use of ethnoveterinary data in the context of community-based animal health care training programmes in Kenya. The programmes ranged from pastoral areas such as Samburu and Pokot to settled farming in Meru and Machakos and were carried out by the Kenya Livestock Programme (KLP) of the Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) in collaboration with various community-based NGOs. The lessons learned in the programme and directions for the future are also discussed.