Resources

Matrix ranking was used to evaluate rice varieties, which had been grown on trial plots. The first ranking compared 50 varieties, with several criteria, using fixed scoring with beans. The second only ranked 13 varieties, this time using pieces of coloured card. This worked better, mainly because there were fewer varieties. A great deal of discussion was generated, consensus was often reached, and the potential of ranking as a tool for monitoring and evaluation was confirmed.

This is a abbreviated section of a full report of a field based training workshop. It includes key findings and methods which together cover most of the main issues and illustrate the PRA approach that was taken. There was a strong fieldwork component to the training, which focused on the issues and constraints faced by potato farmers in Aroop - Punjab province. A specific analysis for the constraints and potentials for a range of farmers was developed. The first section is an overview of the training workshop and its main objective, including several methodological innovations. Details of field work are given, such as how the team dealt with children, with gender and with the tools. A brief evaluation is given, from both the facilitators and the participants, who concluded that the aims of the workshop had been rather ambitious, but pointed to numerous lessons. The second section of the report comprises three case studies conducted by the participants on the course. Details of the methods used are given, with diagrams.

The author identifies the key problem of agricultural research and extension in the Peruvian Andes as the result of a clash of two incompatible knowlege systems: one based on Western science, hegemonic in Peru since the Conquest and actively propagated in the practices of top-down agricultural research institutions, the other based on an Andean world-view in which cosmology, metaphor, and ritual still largely determine the semantic categories used by Andean peasants to explain their agricultural practises. Taking the potato as an example, she contrasts peasant discourse with the Greeen Revolution approach still dominant in potato research and advocated by the International Potato Centre (CIP). Improving the communication skills of researchers by understanding the Andean world-view is posited as the only way agricultural and extension in the Andean region can begin better to address the real needs of Andean peasants. She registers some positive developments in this direction: the emergence of bilingual education programmes, the workshopping boom in which peasant and other experts are increasingly sharing and exchanging knowledge, and the postgraduate course in Andean peasant agriculture at the University of Ayacucho in which professionals learn how to perceive reality in Andean categories with courses such as : Holistic conceptions in Andean agriculture, agrocentric culture, the endogenous vision of Andean culture, the organisation of the peasant community, Andean agro -astronomy, and Andean cosmology and religion.

A case study using RRA to examine the land tenure situation in Anivorano, a village in the central hilly area of Madagascar, as part of a year long research programme intended to inform policy debate on land tenure and use in relation to biological diversity and conservation. There is a dichotomy between incentives to conserve resources at the village level and other factors that constrain or undermine villagers efforts. The report is split into two district sections. The first examines the methodology used, including detail about preparation as well as actual field activities. There is a focus on the approach and the behaviour and attitudes of the team. For each method used, there is a description of the method and the key findings. The second section of the report expands on these findings and presents a case study of the village, and its land use situation. Finally, the applicability of RRA is queried, with a critical analysis of both the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology.

The Forestry Cooperation Programme in Vietnam initiated a training process to develop an approach to gender analysis and implementing gender-sensitive programmes at the village level. The report describes a training programme which included two days classroom session on gender concepts and a period of fieldwork using PRA methods for gender analysis. The fieldwork focused on resources, activities, decision-making, social relations (between individuals and institutions) and the impact of project components. PRA methods were used to explore the gender dimension of all these areas. The transect walk revealed insights about women's workload that contradicted verbal discussions with women and revealed issues around what is considered 'difficult' or 'light' work. Another issue that arose was around 'inside' and 'outside' work. The analysis revealed the reasons why women were not fully involved in project activities and suggested ways of institutionalising gender-sensitive project planning. There was particular need for separate PRA activities within women's groups and gender disaggregated monitoring and evaluation. The appendix includes an impact diagram of planting orange trees by a women's group and seasonal analysis done by women-only, men-only and a mixed group.

The paper reviews experiences of participatory planning with pastoralists. It looks at the specific needs of pastoral planning and discusses how planning with pastoralists differs from that in agricultural settings. The paper also discusses some of the problems and limitations of participatory planning, and some of the ethical issues raised in the process. It concludes that most RRA/PRA methods can be useful in planning with pastoralists if applied in a flexible way. However, some concepts used in planning with settled farmers are not suited to mobile herders. Planning with pastoralists requires an approach oriented to social rather than territorial units.

This report provides an assessment of the extent of and changes in poverty in Kenya during the '80s and early '90s. It uses data from different sources and of different kinds, including was a Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA) and a Welfare Monitoring Survey (WMS). Interestingly, in three out of five districts the results yielded by the two approaches were almost identical. The PPA provided critical insights on a number of issues - people's perceptions of the extent and causes of poverty, the status of women, the extent of and reasons for low school enrolment, the reasons for not using public health facilities and the ways in which poor people cope with food insecurity and drought. Methods used included social mapping and wealth ranking, interviews and focus groups discussions. The different chapters present the findings of the study, focusing on economic development and poverty; revitalising the rural economy; structural transformation in agriculture; social sector spending (education and health); food security and nutrition; and targeted programmes and institutional factors. A strategy of programmes and policies for poverty reduction is suggested.