Resources

The purpose of this book is to outline the role of sociological analysis in the design of agricultural investment projects. The paper deals with a wide-range of disciplinary approaches including rural sociology, anthropology, farming systems diagnosis, "reserche/developpement", poverty alleviation, people's participation, gender analysis, common property resources, rapid rural appraisal and social soundness analysis. The paper is intended to assist managers to make informed choices between different types of sociological surveys and data-gathering methods. [Abstract based on mimeo version]

In October 1992, IIED conducted a PRA Training session for PATECORE and its partners, whose approach to land use management is widely known for its innovation and success. They operate in the Bam Province, Burkina Faso. This paper is a brief note, concerning the introduction of certain elements of PRA into their activities, notably network mapping and venn diagrams.

The key theme of the paper is the inherent capacity of farmers for analysis and the problems encountered as a result of ignoring this characteristic. This lack of acknowledgement has undermined and impinged upon the effectiveness of many rural development programme. Drawing on experience gained from a Watershed Management Programme run by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme, this paper aims to set the record straight. Its particular concern is the generation of suitable technologies, through participation, which benefit farmers and rural communities. It portrays farmers as analysts, and describes various methods which have evolved with regard to rainfall analysis and crop planning and impact studies. Participatory mapping-types and applications are discussed: resource maps, watershed maps, thematic maps, social maps, base line maps, and monitoring and impact maps.

As part of the UNICEF relief programme to Angola, a technical team carried out a ranking exercise upon which this paper reports. It took place between December 1991 and June 1992. Ranking is defined here as a process of priority ordering, in this case administrative areas in relation to the need for assistance. It used the knowledge that informants possessed from the country, at a national level, as well as from the provinces. No quantitative data were used. The ranking technique was expected to provide a rational framework to deal with time and resource constraints. The paper looks at the ranking process at a central and provincial level, as well as looking at the limitations and potential of the approach. It concludes that ranking was useful with regards to outlining the humanitarian issues in Angola; however, its efficiency depends very much on the choice of information source.

Planning for Real is a set of community-building tools which has been developed over the last 20 years, first in the UK, then in various parts of Europe and the US, and currently on trial in parts of Africa, India, South-East Asia and Latin America. The article focuses on the use of the method in urban areas where all sense of community has been lost, and where there is profound mutual distrust between the residents and the local officials. Planning for Real allows people to explore possibilities, sort out options, rank priorities, share out responsibilities and set out a plan of action. It is also a strategy designed to establish common ground between 'Us' and 'Them' as a basis for a combined operation to create a working neighbourhood.

This paper discusses the methods of collecting information in a field study carried out in Salvador da Bahia (Brazil) a suburb of Salvador. The study was part of a training exercise for students of the "International Course for Primary Health Care Managers at District Level in Developing Countries" based in Italy. The study also aimed to explore the potential for Primary Environmental Care and identify ways by which the local health district could support squatter communities. A rapid appraisal was carried out in three squatter communities. Secondary data was analysed, life history interviews were conducted, a "risk map" was drawn in which local participants geographically located problems, focus groups and ranking, key informant interviews, ten institutions with an interest in environmental issues were interviewed, and a feed-back meeting was held for all community members. It is concluded that RRA is well suited to study fast-changing environments, a potential danger of the exercise is taken to be undue expectation-raising of the local community. Finally "microplans" are introduced as a possible means of making RRA action oriented. Five pages are devoted to illustrations arising from the exercises.

This manual is intended as an introduction to VIPP (Visualisation in Participatory Planning), a system whereby groups plan together using colour coded cards to brainstorm and prioritise options. VIPP is described as more democratic than ZOPP but, unlike PRA, is intended for use by literate planners rather than villagers themselves. Some of the VIPP techniques are similar to PRA, such as 'single or multi-dot questions' as a form of ranking. Drawing is used as a technique to discuss what development means. The manual includes detailed instructions on 'icebreakers' as well as information on equipment and training methods used within VIPP.