Resources

Participatory Rural Appraisal was conducted in two villages in Southern India in order to supplement formal survey information. One of the objectives was to develop a procedure for determining emic indicators of health and nutrition security. Four types of PRA were employed: i) participatory mapping (conducted separately by women and men) - to identify 'high' and 'low' risk households; ii) food charts - participants use beans to indicate the relative importance of foods consumed; iii) women's activity chart - beans are used to indicate the relative time spent on daily activities. iv) seasonality chart - this method was conducted with small groups (differentiated by gender and caste) to understand the yearly changes in rainfall, harvest of staples, food consumption, labour demand, childhood illness and women's illness. An ethnographer used in-depth interviews, key informant interviews, focus group and participant observation to conduct six household case studies in the two survey villages. The PRA techniques generated emic indicators of food-security which could be compared with the etic indicators of the formal survey.

This long and detailed study describes how the mandal (administrative area) of Devikere in Jagalar, Karnataka State was selected as the appropriate site for an Action Aid anti-poverty project. A socio-economic survey was conducted by a multi-disciplinary team using mainly RRA techniques. The methodology employed appears to have much in common with farming systems research. A section of the report is devoted to health issues. This includes: nutrition and food availability; mother and child wellbeing, health practices and beliefs; the environment; housing; occupation and health services. The anthropological/ethnographic technique of using case studies of individuals adds a strong human dimension to the study. Separate sections are devoted to women, infrastructure and sanitation, and socio-economic conditions.

This pamphlet summarises the results of a study conducted by the National Development Service on Nepal and Unicef. Teams of data-collectors went to nine different parts of Nepal showing illiterate villagers a wide variety of pictures in various colours and shadings. The results showed that most of the visual aids used by the health service were not recognised or misinterpreted by local people. Suggestions are made as to how visuals might be improved in response to feedback from villagers.

A rapid assessment survey of a representative sample of tanks was conducted to provide an overview of the irrigation component of the Anuradhapura Dry Zone Agriculture Project (ADZAP). The study traced the development of each sample tank from the pre-project situation to head works construction and later downstream development and work. The questionnaire used was based on rapid assessment questionnaires and covered four general topics : i) Tank construction, ii) The settlement process, iii) The agricultural economy, iv) Irrigation operation and management The questionnaire was compiled through field observations and group interviews normally comprising 5-10 farmers. Farmer input was considerable and the tank selection was in the majority of cases (74%) came from rural development societies. A key policy implication arising from the study was the need for greater farmer participation at the implementation stage i.e settlement and involvement of farmers prior to or while investments are made in the system. A participatory approach to such system development may outpace and outproduce a construction-oriented approach.

This paper describes problems prior to rehabiltiation and associated irrigation management innovations in the Kimbumlyana Oya Irrigation Scheme in 1979. Included in the new developments was a simplified form of technical guidance for farmers. Organized farmer participation was used in the operation and maintenance of the system through a water issue board. The explicit role given to farmers increased their confidence and as a result it was possible to introduce systematic rotational water distribution, advance the cultivation calendar, and increase cropping intensity.

This paper documents the rapid rural training carried out for project workers in the rainfed farming project for Eastern India in 1988. The primary objective of the project was to enhance production in a region where without irrigation only one crop can be cultivated each year. Village motivators were assigned to villages with the aim of animating communities in order to faciltate the potential for sustainability on completion of the project. The training introduced several new participatory methods of RRA to the project workers which it was hoped would lead to a better insight into problems and potential solutions. The training focused on developing skills to ensure that information collection and analysis was partcipatory and iterative. Emphasis was placed on developing a satisfactory model to faciltate this process, RRA was the key research principle and methodology. Included in the training were field visits using RRA tools, diagram drawing, participatory games, and the evolution of a model work plan for the village teams. These are well documented with examples from the discussions and presentations.

This paper a) identifies classifiers of economic status used by rural communities in the area studied - Tamil Nadu, India, b) attempts to determine why local communitites and development professionals have used 'incorrect' criteria for this classification and c)compares standard economic household rankings with rankings using PRA methods.