Resources

This video explores numerous issues surrounding participatory poverty assessments (PPAs), using the example of a PPA in Tanzania. A key issue is the identification of the poor, about which appropriate information is needed to inform government policy. In contrast to traditional surveys of income-poverty, the PPA provides a way to understand poverty from the perspective of the poor and to enable this perspective to influence policy. The importance of the involvement of policy makers in the PPA is stressed at several points in the video. This involvement contributed to chantes in attitudes to the poor within government and a recognition of the need for a corresponding change in government development tactics. The findings of the PPA were presented at policy workshops and contributed to changes in thinking about the nature and characteristics of poverty in Tanzania, as well as more specific policy reforms. The PPA primarily used PRA methods and visual materials developed by local artists in the PPA. The methods shown include, mapping, discussion of well-being, wealth ranking with villagers and district officials, 'story with a gap' and seasonality analysis. Among the highlighted findings of the PPA are that: indicators of poverty are location specific; intangible indicators of deprivation are important; strong gender differences exist in the prioritisation of problems; the poor adapt to seasonality through complex coping strategies. The PPA also revealed that participatory methods could be used to construct time series price data for rural Tanzania, which had not previously existed. The links between the PPA's findings regarding the causes of poverty and the implications for policy are highlighted, including access to land, agricultural policy, lack of production inputs, environmental degradation and access to credit and savings.

This document discusses the importance of æparticipationÆ by all stakeholders in natural resource management in SSA. It reviews various approaches to participation within development discourse, the value of participation for development and the difficulties and costs associated with greater stakeholder participation. The institutional mechanisms through which participation becomes possible, in particular donor support and local civil society are described. Policy implications for donors include the need to be realistic, to open up their own decision-making processes, and to provide support to stakeholders through organisational skills training, education, and support for democratising reform.

This document examines the evolution of extension practice and the key conflicting notions of extension which exist, with particular reference to Australia.

This paper reports on a participative research process, in which farmer knowledge was integrated with standard research techniques, to develop a method for irrigation farmers to estimate paddock water use efficiency (WUE) and accessions to the watertable. Facilitating farmer trust and involvement in the research process was seen to be particularly important given the sensitive nature of the issue of WUE.