Resources

A comprehensive account of a large scale experimental PRA conducted for SCF in Vietnam. The approach taken and its justification (not agreed by all doners) is detailed. The methodology section is extensive, discussing the theory behind PRA, training, tools and fieldwork, as well as problems such as the external and timeconsuming production of the report. The final report gives details of the education system and educations problems encountered, in general terms and by specific commune. In some communes this is felt to be one of the most significant constraints, and potential solutions are discussed in detail.

This paper looks at two attempts by nutritional consultants to use a stress calendar to improve community nutrition. This technique involves plotting factors affecting nutrition on a monthly basis to see when there is likely to be a deterioration of nutritional status. Initially this was used to assist Save the Children Fund (Norway) establish the food, nutrition and health situation in their community development project area in East Palpa, Nepal. Using a diagrammatic nutritional calendar it was shown that months corresponding to the rainy season experienced a bunching of stress factors and consequent child mortality. There, the outcome was the decision to concentrate resources before the rainy season to familiarise villagers with the oral rehydration treatment of diarrhoea. Secondly it was used to examine at what time aquaculture could improve nutrition in villages on the Chipata Plateau, Zambia. Here the team noted the consumption of various foods throughout the year and they decided that the availability of fish could make a significant contribution to the diet and income of the poor. It is considered therefore that the way stress calendars portray information has a number of advantages, particularly the timing and nature of relevant interventions.

A comparison of two pieces of research for Save the Children, Norway which set out to compile "stress calendars" to improve community nutrition. There is a clear discussion of the research technique - plotting nutrition factors on a monthly basis, to establish when in the year nutritional status is most likely to be at risk. Case study areas were East Palpa, Nepal and Chipatu Plateau, Zambia. Although a smilar research technique was used, the object of the exercise was different in each case. In Nepal, the exercise determined that the greatest problems existed during the monsoon which fed into a decision to concentrate nutritional support in the period before monsoon. In Zambia the exercise determined when aquaculture could best be targetted to improve nutritional status in the villages.

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.

In Tanzania, a participatory approach was used to increase community capability to identify poor households and arrange assistance based on community resources. Community-based nutritional status data was used to identify households with severely malnourished children, and community leaders were used to identify poor households. Strengths and weaknesses of participatory methods are discussed with a proposition that their purpose should be community-enabling, rather than only to extract information from communities. The Triple-A cycle developed by UNICEF (Assessment, Analysis and Action) to improve conditions of women and children is adapted to include community assessment, analysis and action. Some case studies from Tanzania are presented with examples from conventional as well as participatory studies.

This report describes the work of two multi-disciplinary teams during June 1992 in Zambia who attempted to find solutions to malnutrition and vitamin A deficiency in the Luapula Valley. As well as identifying diet and food production patterns, the RRA exercise intended to find out more about the views of the local people and the constraints they faced. A variety of RRA techniques were used including semi-structured interviews and wealth ranking, and these showed that poorer groups, particularly female-headed households were more likely to experience food shortages during the year. It was also discovered that women tended to dominate subsistence farming activities, while men were more likely to be the providers of a cash income. A number of recommendations are made to improve household food security, and it is suggested that community-based nutritional surveillance would raise local awareness about malnutrition and its underlying causes.

Activitists for Social Alternatives, an Indian NGO, began to use PRA in order to reach the poorest villagers. This report describes their experiences since 1990, under the specific areas where PRA workshops were conducted: tank rehabilitation, watershed development, herbal medicine, women's issues, health and income generation (non agro based). The "process" section of the annexures describes in detail the PRA methods used and findings (including diagrams and pictures): village modelling, trend change, seasonality and linkage activities were used to explore women's perspectives on health and social issues. The Gender PRA training workshop was attended by women from 22 villages - sharing their personal problems "developed a strong bond and solidarity which later led to the formation of a women's coordination committee". They took up issues like "eve teasing, child marriage, dowry, wage and deserted women" and "feeling the need for educating the public about the problems of women, planned for an International Women's Day celebration this year".