Resources

This paper discusses the importance of indigenous irrigation systems that have operated sustainably on indigenous technical knowledge that has ensured their longevity. Modern techniques have often ignored the importance of this knowledge and the role of such knowledge needs to be enhanced in the future.

A participatory rural appraisal approach is presented in which a multidisciplinary team works with the community to assess its problems and opportunities relating to resource management. Water supply and distribution are one aspect of the approach. It takes a holistic perspective of the factors that impinge on a community's progress and seeks to help the local people to identify their problems and select strategies to help mitigate the situation.

A two-year project investigated modes of conflict management in a pastoral society in north-western Kenya, and tried to find causes for successful or non-successful (that is, non-violent or violent) conflict behaviour. PRA methods were used in an effort to speed up the normally lengthy process of obtaining data on conflict management. The study found that internal conflict was managed fairly successfully despite being thoroughly informal. This stood in sharp contrast to violent inter-ethnic conflicts. The reasons for these differences were many and complex. The paper concludes that although an appreciable amount of descriptive data may be gathered by using PRA methods, they are more limited when it comes to identifying the causes of conflict behaviour.

The paper discusses an experiment with a method of participatory research which was carried out during two research projects in Kenya Maasailand in the period 1976-1979. One project concerned the impact of drought on the people of Kajiado District; the other was an evaluation of Kenya's Foot and Mouth Disease Control Programme. The study shows that under a particularly favourable set of circumstances, significant interaction between the research team and the rural community was possible. However, an attempt to replicate the research approach in a different area under different circumstances proved an abject failure.

The Policy Alternatives for Livestock Development (PALD) project was established to research and make policy recommendations on the liberalisation of the Mongolian pastoral economy and its impact within the household. The paper discusses the organisation of pastoral production at the household level from a gender perspective. The paper describes and explains the use of matrices and mobility mapping as participatory methods for gathering information on seasonal labour allocation, time use and mobility. It was found that a clear division of labour exists within the household, based on gender and age. Women are significantly involved in livestock care, but socially constructed ideas about men and women means that men are associated with overall reproduction of the herd and women with the production of goods.

The study describes a mid-term evaluation of a community-based dairy buffalo project in Tamil Nadu. The project assists families drawn from the socially and economically deprived sectors of society, mostly landless, to purchase a dairy buffalo. The aim of the evaluation was to provide a clear socio-economic-cultural perception of the project from the beneficiaries' perspective. A number of techniques were used: trend change and linkage, semi-structured interviews, seasonal calendars, livelihood analyses and resource mapping/modelling. It was found that the project had failed to achieve a number of its objectives. This was mainly because an in-depth consultation with its intended beneficiaries had not been carried out before the project was implemented. Reliance on key informants and social and economic indicators to identify needs meant that important constraints which had implications for the proposed project were overlooked.

This paper outlines the main steps in carrying out a rapid appraisal (RA) to provide a quick, systematic and cost-effective picture of livestock conditions and veterinary problems, especially in agro-pastoral communities. It is concluded that rapid assessment methods are a good complement to, although not a substitute for, more quantitative methods.