Resources

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.

IWID (Initiatives for Women in Development) is a resource centre "which aims at fostering a gender perspective within NGOs in India through training, institutional development, research and documentation support". This paper describes the process of training at community level, showing how existing PRA methods have been used to help raise gender awareness (eg ranking according to oppression, not just wealth and social mapping to show gender based ownership). New methods have also been introduced : mapping of the gender division of labour, self reflection on gender stereotypes through pictures. Examples are given (including illustrations) of all the methods described.

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.

This provides an update on the particpatory project in water and sanitation undertaken in Karnataka by Actionaid and partners. It details the early development of the programme, the participatory training project staff underwent, and the PRA work carried out. There is an emphasis on mapping, and large group meetings. These provide predominantly extractive information, but also legitimation for the programme. Eight PRA techniques are used in each district, culminating in a planning excercise. The participants and their varying responses are also recorded. This process is then contrasted with the process used by another Actionaid partner, who take a longer term, less forceful approach which incorporates women, for example, more fully, but has other significant drawbacks.

This paper is the third in a three-part series examining participatory rural appraisal. It reviews some of the practical and theoretical questions which have been raised as the spread of PRA accelerates. PRA approaches and methods are analysed in terms of how they have spread, quality assurance, dangers, potentials and strategies, and paradigmatic significance. Rapid spread has made quality assurance a concern, with dangers from "instant fashion", rushing, formalism and ruts. Promising potentials include farmers' own farming systems research, alternatives to questionnaire surveys, monitoring, evaluation and lateral spread by local people, empowerment of the poorer and weaker, and policy review. Changes in personal behaviour and attitudes, and in organisational cultures, are implied. PRA parallels and resonates with paradigm shifts in the social and natural sciences, in business management and development thinking.

This chapter provides an overview of rapid appraisal methods, focusing on their nature, types, limitations, the rationale for their use, and appropriate roles. Five methods are identified as the core of rapid appraisal methodology: key informant interviews, focus group discussions, community/group interviews, structured direct observation, and informal surveys. Some of the limitations of rapid appraisal methods are discussed, such as reliability and validity, the difficulty of drawing larger-scale conclusions, and general credibility. These should be weighed against the advantages of the methods, such as the rapid generation of relevant information with relatively low investment of resources, and provision of in-depth information. The paper concludes that rapid appraisal methods should be used selectively, and situations are identified in which their application is particularly appropriate.

Describes a short exercise designed to explore the potential uses of RRA/PRA for Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee [BRAC]. Divided into two major sections, the first is a general introduction to some of the most commonly used RRA/PRA techniques, while the second presents the findings of an attempt to use RRA methods to evaluate the performance of a BRAC-supported village deep tube-well group. Section one is based around a summary chart of the range of techniques "currently [in 1991] employed by RRA/PRA practitioners". Notes on each of these techniques expand on this chart and provide some useful advice and information on the application and procedure characterising each technique. The case study, described in section 2, was carried out by a team of 6 BRAC staff (none of whom had previously performed RRA) and facilitated by Mick Howes from the IDS. Two and a half days were spent on preliminary orientation and a further two and a half days in the field. Although a complete evaluation study of the performance of the village deep tube well group was not carried out during this period, a "number of potentially significant insights were generated" and the potential for RRA/PRA in operational and research work (including evaluation) within BRAC was emphasised.