Resources

Participatory techniques are being used to a greater or lesser degree and in a variety of ways by more and more evaluators. This case study is a description of the methodology used during the participatory evaluation the author facilitated of the World Neighbors programmes in West Africa (Burkina Faso, Togo and Mali). During the one-week evaluation process in each of three programme sites a variety of participatory techniques were used, including PRA with villagers, focus group discussions, interviews with community leaders, roundtable discussions with representatives of other agencies working in the local area etc. But, did this process meet the needs of all stakeholders? At the village level participants gained new perspectives on the effect of the programme on their lives. The programme staff learned how to improve monitoring, routine evaluation, analysis and reporting. At the Area-wide Strategic Planning Conference, ideas and recommendations from the evaluation process shaped new action plans. Hence, the author argues the effectiveness of a community development programme should be measured in terms of how it influences decision-making by all stake-holders with responsibility for future plans.

This report examines poverty in relation to community forestry and dairy development. The initial section discusses the background to the study and the methods used. The emphasis is on PRA, with checklists developed and lists of tools identified. The four different communities are described, and although the subsequent analysis is sectoral, the differences between the four communities are highlighted. There are numerous case studies interspersed in the text. Forestry and Dairy are two areas where there have been many active interventions in the past, and the aim of the study was to give people a voice in what they felt about these interventions. These subjects are therefore dealt with in great detail, including an analysis of recent changes related to the projects. Issues around education, democracy and gender are also explored in depth. The final section outlines proposed new indicators of poverty which the researchers feel to be more appropriate, and recommendations for the future measurement of poverty alleviating interventions.

This short paper illustrates how PRA can be one useful tool in assessing the hazards, vulnerabilities and capacities of disaster prone communities. After clarifying the terms used, field experiences from Tete, Mozambique are used as an example of how PRA can assist in understanding and incorporating disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness into ongoing programmes. The methods used are outlined, with the type of information discussed for each, stressing local priorities, knowledge and past disaster mitigation strategies. The conclusion is that this type of approach is powerful, and this information discussed critical for effective programme development.

The first of the two main sections to this report is a resume of the training programme and schedule. The main second section consists of a series of eight papers and annexes which are aimed at providing background theory to the subject of community development. The themes they cover are: peoples participation in rural development; community organisation - concepts and principles; women and rural development; community, change agents and their organisational strategies; formation, constitution and functioning of Mathar Sangams; initiating community action for development; panchayati Rai System; and participatory watershed management. This last focuses on a specific programme which used PRA to discuss issues relating to canals and identify a management committee who could take the process further.

This research into urban poverty in Zambia was conducted using 'participatory urban assessment', as part of a Copperbelt Urban Livelihoods Project. The rationale and the approach used are discussed in the first section, before looking in greater detail at the specific activities and tools. The bulk of the report is a presentation of the findings of participatory appraisals in two compounds. These are intended as case studies, and will be used as the basis for project proposals. The findings are given in detail, with many diagrams drawn by people from the compounds reproduced. Time lines examine the history of the compounds, seasonal calendars deal with agricultural production and there are mapping and matrices. The final part of each study is wealth ranking, which leads on to detailed case studies of members of the different community groupings identified and their different coping mechanisms and potential strategies.

This report includes an executive summary, and conclusion, of Phase One of the Scottish Rural Development Forestry Programme (SRDFP), which began in March 1994. The aim of the SRDFP is to work with local people and interested national and local organisations to examine current forestry situations in Scotland, and identify and assist locally based rural development forestry strategies and initiatives. The document includes short summaries of the results of PRAs conducted in four Scottish communities, a national seminar, and 2 local workshops. It also presents the limitations and opportunities that have emerged as a result of the process.

This case study, from Anivorano, a village in Madagascar, illustrates the use of RRA to study issues of land and tree tenure, and village resource management. It is one of a series of studies carried out during a year -long research programme intended to inform a policy debate on land use and tenure in Madagascar. The first part of the study discusses the emchanics of carying out a an RRA, while the second focuses on what the team learned during the field research. Deforestation is expolained as a twin process, the result of increasing pressure on existing production systems (mainly rice), as well as the disappearance of the environmnetally sound customary tenure sustem. Tentative policy recommendations to show the rate of deforestation are presented in a final section.