Critique of the workshop organised by GTZ about cross-fertilisation between the two methodologies.
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This article summarises the perceptions of staff of a rural development NGO in southern India, on the impacts of PRA on their project planning, implementation , management and evaluation.
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SPEECH (Society for Peoples' Education and Economic Change) conducted a series of workshops on PRA for NGO and Government officials in Tamil Nadu, Southern India. The workshop at Manavarayanenthal focused on health, "to evolve new strategies in planning specific health projects". The training programme began with a session on the principles of PRA, followed by learning various PRA techniques in the community. Descriptions are given of each activity, including materials used, and an evaluation of the training programme as a whole. Findings are analysed in terms of the different responses of the NGO group and women's group, showing clearly the value of PRA approach in revealing the different kinds of knowledge and attitudes to health care.
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Redd Barna Uganda is a non-governmental development organization which focuses on child-centred community development. It is looking to Participatory Rural Appraisal to achieve more participatory planning. This report describes a ten-day PRA training workshop which was organised by Redd Barna and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) for Redd Barna staff and trainees in March 1994. A detailed account is given of the classroom-based preparations. Five village profiles describe PRA activities and discussions with different groups of villagers - the children, the older women, the younger women, the older men and the younger men. The process of analysis is also discussed in some detail.
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.
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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.
"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".
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A postgraduate course for professional social workers, entitled "Social Research and Popular Participation", has been developed at the Central American University, Nicaragua. This paper describes the course in detail: diagnosis of practical experiences through "forum-like role play" led to defining a new model of participatory action research. Finally, a participatory research project was carried out by researchers and students in a fishing village in Masachapa. Greater emphasis is given to the theory sections of the course, including training methods used, than to the field work experiences.
A pilot course on project identification was run for 24 heads of local government departments in several states in Northern Nigeria. The first course was based on fieldwork and focussed on applying RRA techniques for the purpose of project identification. This report evaluates the training programme from a methodological perspective, pointing out mistakes that were made, such as using a questionnaire instead of a checklist. The analysis also shows the importance of working out participants' specific training needs and developing a model to meet these. PRA activities are not described, but some findings are given
This handbook goes through the stages of implementing PRA from "getting started" through visits to other projects, to "data gathering, problem analysis, mobilising external support and handling money". Each stage is broken down into suggested activities and illustrated with detailed case-studies. Several sections would make useful training material - for example, internal problems are explored through case-studies of "A Controversial Chief" and "Water and Posho Mills Don't Mix". PRA methods are not described as the emphasis is on PRA as a whole process.
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The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) works with village communities in Gujarat State, India. This paper describes how village analysts are trained in participatory appraisal and planning. Details are given on how the training programmes are designed at the village level, with defined stages in the training process. Training leads to a "local cadre of village analysts... who can take up the responsibility of initiating the development process". The constraints of such a process are highlighted. The case is argued for "investing more in training village analysts and trainers as opposed to the development of a body of external professionals who continue to dominate the decision-making process".
There is an important role for qualitative, low cost and quick techniques in the field of malnutrition. RRA appears to promise this. Five constant principles of RRA are given, while recognising that every RRA is different, namely triangulation, optimal ignorance, appropriate imprecision, rapid and progressive learning, and learning from local people. Data collection is discussed, including secondary sources and primary work in the field, particularly semi-structured interviews, group discussions,semi-structured interviews, group discussions, observations, key informants, community respondants is important. It is felt that there is not yet adequate recognition of the potential of RRA, with a lack of training in, and instutionalisation of, the methods being highlighted.
This is already abstracted in IDS annotated bibliography Famine Early Warning and Food Information Systems in the Sahel and Horn of Africa, Lambert et al, 1991, IDS Development Bibliographies 7.