Resources

The study analyses a research and development project targeting poor farmers that is being implemented in southern Vietnam. The paper is neither a summary of findings nor a report on project activities. Rather, the focus of the paper is to reflect on issues which emerged as relevant in poverty alleviation, but which are generally ignored or forgotten in reports on development projects. The study highlights how different actors speak subjectively about poverty, and how images of the poor farmer are generated in rural development discourse.

This report is based on a research study conducted in five communities in the Northern Province using PRA. Both the formal and informal interview methods were used for collecting additional information. A detailed account of the communities under study is provided. It contains an assessment of the needs and problems encountered in the villages as defined and perceived by the community themselves. A large section of the report is devoted to analysing the causes of poverty and identifying and prioritising community needs using PRA methods. Guidelines for drawing up a project proposal are also presented. An appendix (3) contains tables and diagrams prepared by the communities using PRA methods for each village.

This working draft traces the process by which the Bank has attempted to understand and make better use of methodologies, and also examines the current status of participatory efforts within the Bank, based on the Participation Action Plan endorsed by the Board of Directors in 1994. It gives a history of the use and trends in participatory methodologies in the Bank and is a good source to review the World BankÆs participatory experiences.

Based on research in poor village communities in West Bengal using participatory mapping and wealth grouping exercises, this paper analyses rural people's perceptions of poverty and suggests policy measures based on them.

This is a resource book designed primarily for development workers working within the field of the rural poor. It describes a range of first-hand experiences with participatory approaches in the context of projects funded by The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and governments in Asia and the Pacific. The book is divided into a number of sections. Part One examines poverty and participation and explains why the poor should be targeted and in what ways this is possible. Part Two describes in detail the actual participatory approaches. Part three concentrates on participation in the project planning and implementation stage. Part Four assesses the monitoring impact and Part Five examines issues in participation with regards to institutions, partnerships and governance.

This handbook is a result of the Views of the poor study, organised by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Tanzania, in late 2002, to assist in strengthening the poverty focus of the new Swiss country programme for Tanzania. The handbook focuses on a rapid and low cost approach used in the participatory rural study of household surveys of the poor. The intention of the study was to orient the SDC staff and partners directly in primary research and thus orient them in them current realities of rural poverty through a brief immersion experience, and gather first hand insights into experiences of poor households, contributing to policy design. The handbook goes through step by step thee design of the approach, looking at preparations such as: planning, training and orienting staff, site selection, piloting; and implementation of surveys. The authors also reflect on limitations and challenges in the approach.