Resources

This paper describes the use of wealth ranking as part of rapid nutritional assessments undertaken between 1988 and 1989 in Darfur, Sudan by an Oxfam nutrition team. The assessments combined two techniques; wealth ranking, a technique to show people's own perceptions of differences in wealth, and conventional weight-for-height measurements of child malnutrition. The objective was to establish whether it was the poorer families who were more likely to have malnourished children. Contrary to expectations, poor nutritional status did not correspond with low wealth status as percieved by the people themselves. It was found that malnourished children were present in both rich and poor families in the three communities surveyed. This suggests that targetting food to households on the basis of socio-economic data may in some cases be inaccurate and wasteful. Wealth ranking was considered by the survey team to be far quicker than household interviews in previous surveys.

This report was presented during the UNU/WHO/UNICEF International Conference on Rapid Assessment Methodologies for Planning and Evaluation of Health Related Programmes. It is asserted that development institutions should integrate rapid assessment methodologies into the the normal diagnostic, monitoring, and evaluation activities of implementing agencies. This article highlights four types of constraint likely to impede the process of institutionalisation: 1) the constraints of mistrust as efforts are made to encourage a flow of information between hierchical layers of an organisation. 2) the constraints faced by the effort to faclitate participatory development 3) planning and implementation mechanisms 4) personnel supervision and reward systems. Particular reference is made to World Bank experience.

Staff of the Nepal Health Development Project have designed a method of examining the relationship between the project's human resource development initiatives and the concrete outputs and outcomes that result. The method ('Process Evaluation') is a participatory method which focuses on the capacity building experience itself. PE allows the researchers to analyse the strengths and weaknesses inherent in a project/activity's design, and to analyse the external constraints and enablers that influence progress towards goals. To the extent that project beneficiaries and implementors design and carry out PE, the methodology is itself a tool for capacity building. The methodology has 4 characteristics: (i) use of a conceptual model around which to examine capacity building; (ii) reliance on participatory strategies; (iii) use of participatory appraisal techniques; (iv) a qualitative approach to indicator development and investigation. PE is described and explained in 4 sections, one devoted to each of the above characteristics. It is recognised that where there is participation, there is potential for conflict. The conceptual model provides a common reference point, and can be used to enhance participation in a diverse group. The evaluation exercise was used to help 'bridge the gap' between a number of distinct components of the organisation's work. The model was applied to each of these components and the results for each are presented. The final section presents lessons regarding the methodology learned through the evaluation process.

This report is a review of the different participatory methodologies used in development throughout Africa. It includes overviews of the literature on participatory development, and participation in agriculture and natural resource management, forestry, health, credit, literacy, water, and urban programming. Numerous methodologies are outlined (e.g. animation rurale, auto-evaluation, GRAAP, Theatre for Development, RRA etc.). ACORD's experience with participatory methodologies in Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda and Sudan are discussed in detail. There are annotated bibliographies on ACORD and key general publications relating to participatory methodologies, and lists of key institutions.

This describes a Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) undertaken by the Government of Kenya and the World Bank during Febuary-April 1994. It had three primary objectives; to understand poverty from the perspective of the poor, to start a process of dialogue between policy makers, district level providers and the poor and to address the issue of the 'value added' of the PPA approach to understanding poverty. Methods used included mapping, wealth ranking, seasonal analysis, trend and price analysis, focus group discussions, key informant interviews; visual card methods, gender analysis, understanding health seeking behaviour; and incomplete sentences. Statistically the findings of the PPA and the Welfare Monitoring Survey based on an established poverty line were strikingly similar. The study also found a gap in the perception of poverty between the poor themselves and district officials. Separate chapters look at poverty in urban Nairobi and Mandera district.

A report of the process and findings of a PRA carried out as part of a World Bank funded project to prevent STD and AIDS infection in several communities of Nigeria's Plateau State.
Issues explored with community members using PRA techniques are documented including, perceptions of health needs, community knowledge, behaviours and practices related to STD/AIDS and sources of health information available to communities and their impact. The report describes how dissemination meetings of findings provided opportunities for communities to be actively involved in deciding priorities for action and how they should be implemented.
The article outlines how the PRA process was useful not only in terms of improving program design but also in that it led to new partnerships among various stakeholder institutions.