Resources

This paper discusses the development of a participative approach to watershed management in PIDOW, a collaborative programme involving the NGO MYRADA in India. It notes that an areas surveyed by RRA was ecologically degraded and weak in institutions and skills. This led to calls for assisting in design and building of local institutions to manage watershed resources. Effective participation in watershed management requires that the area considered is neither too large nor too small, and that management is decentralised to village groups. PIDOW also emphasises integration of forestry programmes, animal husbandry practices, and credit programmes with soil and water management at the watershed level. This paper explores and explains the rationale for the development of the PIDOW approach.

This paper discusses the impact of adopting PRA on the PIDOW (Participative Integrated Development of Watersheds) project by the NGO MYRADA in India. Initial experience of PRA fieldwork applied to watershed management projects led to the adoption of participatory planning and to sharing of experiences between government teams in local watershed areas. Attempts to further this approach encountered the limitations of government norms, but efforts continued to expand PRA approaches to project planning. The major applications of PRA have been as an entry point in villages and in analysing group problems.

This chapter from a guide to participatory land and water resource management, designed for community leaders and extension officers in Australia, discusses participatory planning for community action. Its main points are: the planning process consists of situational analysis, goal-setting, selection of solutions, development of implementation plans and monitoring and evaluation; seven steps are given to provide understanding of institutional planning undertaken by various agencies in the district; eight steps work through community planning by developing managerial skills; and eight techniques for improving participatory planning are described in detail. The chapter is written in a comprehensible and interactive style.

This extract discusses ways in which outsiders can change the ways they learn about rural conditions. These include improving development tourism and using RRA techniques. The principles and methods underlying reversals in learning are examined, including sitting, asking, listening; learning from the poorest, learning indigenous technical knowledge through compiling glossaries of local terms and employing games, quantification and ranking methods. Learning can be supported by the way organisations are managed, so reversals in management are important. Styles of communication, staff transfer policies and practice, and enabling and empowering poor clients are discussed. The final section emphasises the primacy of personal action in changing practices in rural development.

These materials were prepared to support a simulation exercise on village resource management planning and implementation in Machakos, Kenya. They report the results of group discussions regarding institutions, identifying problems, solutions, achievements, current activities and future plans. Institutions were also ranked in order of importance to the community, but the word 'importance' turned out to be fluid and ill-defined. Methodological comments note that women thought men's views to be unrepresentative, so it was suggested to have separate group discussions with women.

This report concerns the use of PRA methods in participatory natural resources management in Kenya. The aim of the study was to learn whether a team consisting of national level staff, a foreign representative, and community leaders could gather data, define problems, rank solutions and devise an integrated village plan for natural resources management with substantial community participation. The bulk of the report consists of discussion of the PRA process, and descriptions of the use of various PRA methods and the results. These include: mapping, transects, time lines, trends, seasonal calendars, interviews and institutional analysis. The problem analysis and solution ranking processes are also described, leading to the adoption and implementation of the village plan. Key findings concerning data collection, participation, the roles of village leaders, technical officers and donor/NGO assistance, and sustainability are discussed. The final sections present general reflections on the use of PRA: raising expectations, majority will/minority sensitivities, and PRA as a flexible approach and as one possible approach among others. This paper is identical to Kabutha, Thomas-Slayter and Ford (1990).

This paper introduces a Government of Sudan project to restore agricultural production and rehabilitate drought affected areas in western Sudan. This is to be done by (i) collecting information on tree and vegetation cover, and (ii) providing assistance to support institutions and communities in forest resource management and conservation. The project's main thrust is a farmer/client -oriented, participatory approach to forestry and research. The organisation of the project and the PRA methods used are outlined, and the activities involved are described in detail. The project involved collaboration between researchers, NGOs and clients (resource users). The advantages and constraints of these linkages are discussed in depth.