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Poverty unperceived: traps, biases and agenda

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Authors: 
Robert Chambers
2006

Abstract

With the priority of poverty reduction and with accelerating change in many dimensions, up-to-date and realistically informed perceptions of the lives and conditions of people living in poverty have come to matter more than ever. At the same time, new pressures and incentives increasingly trap decision-makers in headquarters and capital cities, reinforcing earlier (1983) analysis of the attraction of urban 'cores' and the neglect of rural 'peripheries'. These trends make decision-makers' learning about poverty and from people living in poverty rarer and ever more important. One common means has been rural development tourism, the phenomenon of the brief rural visit from an urban centre. In 1983, six biases of such visits - spatial, project, person, seasonal, diplomatic and professional - against seeing, meeting and learning from the poorer people, were identified and described. Security can now be added as a seventh. Much can be done to offset the biases. The solution is to make more visits, not fewer, and to enjoy doing them better.

In addition, new and promising approaches have been pioneered for experiential, direct learning, face-to-face with poor and marginalised people. Examples are: UNHCR's annual participatory assessments by staff; SDC's 'views of the poor' participatory research in Tanzania; and various forms of immersion, most recently those being convened and organised by ActionAid International. In many immersions, outsiders become guests for a few days and nights, and live, experience and learn in a community. The question now is not how an organisation can afford the time and other resources for immersions for its staff. It is how, if it is seriously pro-poor, it can possibly not do so. This paper is a challenge to development actors to practice a responsible pro-poor professionalism; to be pioneers and champions, seizing and making space for themselves and others to offset the biases and traps of headquarters and capital cities; and to have the vision and guts to seek out direct experiential learning and so to be in touch and up-to-date with the realities of the people living in poverty whom they seek to serve.

From Vulnerability to Resilience: A handbook for programming design based on field experience in Nepal

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Authors: 
Maggie Ibrahim and Nicola Ward
2012

Abstract

This handbook is aimed at practitioners who seek examples of how the V2R framework can be used in practice, based on examples from Nepal. It offers a step process, workbooks and tools.  It includes guidance on how to include long-term trends in programming with a focus on climate change. 

It is essential that organisations working on poverty reduction take into account the impact of climate change on the communities and sectors where they are working. In so doing, they will be better able to support community members and government officials to adapt to the adverse effects and take advantage of any opportunities presented. This requires a detailed analysis of the impacts of climate change at the local level in order to build adaptive capacity to withstand both sudden shocks and incremental changes in the climate. Participatory tools have been updated for use of uncovering community perceptions of changes, alongside identifying historical climate data.

Indonesia Reality Check Main Study Findings: listening to poor people's realities about basic education

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Authors: 
Dee Jupp et al
2010

Abstract

This report presents the main findings arising from an evaluation of basic education in Indonesia carried out by GRM International.  It uses reality check methodology whose purpose is “listening to, trying to understand and convey poor people’s reality”.  It provides insights into how activities under the Australian Government funded Indonesia Basic Education Program (BEP) which ran from 2006-2010 has translated into the experienced reality of people living in poverty.

Knowledge from the Margins: An Anthology from a Global Network on Participatory Practice and Policy Influence

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Authors: 
Thea Shahrokh and Joanna Wheeler (eds)
2014

Abstract

The Participate initiative involves 18 organisations, who work with diverse marginalised people in over 30 countries, coming together to make their voices count on development policy.  This anthology is an account of the activities carried out by the Participatory Research Group (PRG) within the Participate initiative between 2012 and 2014, and also a reflection on the methods and processes created and utilised during that time.  It aims to share the insights and lessons learnt to help promote thought and discussion about how to use participatory approaches to influence policy at a variety of levels.  These experiences include: applying, adapting and innovating participatory methods to promote the voices of participants in all stages of the research process; creating opportunities and spaces for including the perspectives articulated through the research where possible in the policymaking processes; and embedding participatory approaches in local-to global policymaking processes.

Local Societies and Rural Development: Self-organization and participatory development in Asia

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Authors: 
Shinichi Shigetomi
Ikuko Okamoto (Eds)
2014

Abstract

The importance of community-based and participatory approaches to rural development in developing countries has long been emphasized.  This book demonstrates how rural people can best participate in development projects when they are collectively organized.  With the input of collaborators in the field, this book identifies the local social mechanisms that motivate and control people’s self-organizing activities.

Wellbeing Ranking: Developments in applied community-level poverty research

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Authors: 
John Rowley (Ed)
2014

Abstract

Wealth-ranking is a participatory tool enabling people to group others in their community into wealth bands, and thus identify the very poor.  The method has been developed to include the broader aspects of well-being – such as social standing and health – that people value as much as material wealth.  It tells the story of the development of these assessment methods since the rise of wealth ranking in the 1980s and looks at the results of well-being ranking exercises and how they help identify important differences within communities and monitor changes in well-being over time.  Exploring strengths and weaknesses of methods it suggests that understanding differences within communities is essential for good development aid work.  The book goes on to describe the successful use of ranking tools over large populations and the value of using multi-dimensional models of well-being, and briefly explores the ideas used to make assessments of well-being at national levels.

Achieving Meaningful Accountability for People Living in Poverty and Marginalisation

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Authors: 
Thea Shahrokh and Erika Lopez-Franco
2015

Abstract

Meaningful accountability can shift power imbalances that prevent sustainable development for people living in poverty and marginalisation. Accountability consists of both the rights of citizens to make claims and demand a response, and the involvement of citizens in ensuring that related action is taken.

However, for the poorest and most marginalised people accountability is often unattainable. This briefing draws on research by the Participate initiative to highlight the key components necessary for processes of accountability to be meaningful for all.

Experiences and Perspectives of Direct Beneficiaries: Reality Check Approach Study

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Authors: 
Reality Check Approach
2015

Abstract

This Reality Check was undertaken by a team of Nepali researchers, and carried out as a contribution to the mixed methods approach to monitoring, evaluation and learning commissioned by DFID Nepal to complement and assist the routine monitoring and evaluation of the Rural Access Programme 3 in Mid and Far West Nepal. It complements a ‘baseline’ RCA that was undertaken for RAP in May 2014.

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