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In October 1992, IIED conducted a PRA Training session for PATECORE and its partners, whose approach to land use management is widely known for its innovation and success. They operate in the Bam Province, Burkina Faso. This paper is a brief note, concerning the introduction of certain elements of PRA into their activities, notably network mapping and venn diagrams.
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As part of the UNICEF relief programme to Angola, a technical team carried out a ranking exercise upon which this paper reports. It took place between December 1991 and June 1992. Ranking is defined here as a process of priority ordering, in this case administrative areas in relation to the need for assistance. It used the knowledge that informants possessed from the country, at a national level, as well as from the provinces. No quantitative data were used. The ranking technique was expected to provide a rational framework to deal with time and resource constraints. The paper looks at the ranking process at a central and provincial level, as well as looking at the limitations and potential of the approach. It concludes that ranking was useful with regards to outlining the humanitarian issues in Angola; however, its efficiency depends very much on the choice of information source.
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This article summarises the perceptions of staff of a rural development NGO in southern India, on the impacts of PRA on their project planning, implementation , management and evaluation.
This report describes how RRA techniques were introduced to six fieldworkers, to enable them to assess the performance of a BRAC supported village tubewell group. RRA/PRA techniques are summarised on a chart, with particular attention to their sequence. Each technique is then described in terms of "applications and procedure", the latter given as numbered instructions. The field work explored issues such as implications for women, employment opportunities, seasonal effects of the deep tubewell project. Findings are also given in diagram form, with a list of equipment used and day-by-day summary of the study.
This book examines 'the ways in which people form images of other places and how these images influence many decisions'. Examples are given of how people's mental maps reveal their perceptions and beliefs about the world. Planners asked people in Birmingham, UK, for 'the maps that they had in their heads and which they used in moving around the centre of the city'. The response was very large because 'people seemed to like the idea of helping planners and being involved in some small way with the planning process going on in their town'. As in PRA mapping activities, the maps drawn reflected people's experiences. In another example, a black school boy in Boston drew five educational institutions in the area, 'indicative of his perception of education as an escape route from the segregated life he leads'. Our mental maps are influenced and shaped by information, such as that provided by the media and school text books. School leavers ranked the places where they preferred to live, revealing 'local domes of desirability and a shared national viewpoint' regarding images of certain towns. The book ends by looking at how to change people's mental maps : 'the maps and models of the world we carry around with us need larger and much more relevant information inputs'.
This study illustrates the planning of an Implementation Strategy for the revitalisation of Jones Town. The study was requested by the Kingston Restoration Company (KRC) in collaboration with the ODA. The study identified the main issues in the area, undertaking an assessment of poverty, the institutional arrangements that would be needed to improve conditions, a review of community based action, a more detailed consideration of economic and employment conditions alongside a reconsideration of the development potential within the area. Based on this analysis, an Implementation Strategy was developed. The investigation and planning processes involved the use of participatory methods particularly mapping, ranking and group discussions.
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 brief report is based on the author's hands-on experience in participatory planning with disaster victims in India. The paper illustrates the ability of local people to influence the design of the rehabilitation and reconstruction programme using PRA methods. The reconstruction plan designed by technical experts without any consultation with and consideration to the needs of the actual users failed to work. The paper provides an example of using PRA in planning rehabilitation and reconstruction programmes with the victims of natural disasters such as earthquakes. A brief note on PRA and its use in a refugee situation is included.
The Lesotho Primary Schools Sanitation Project, undertaken in 1976-9, had limited success. When a follow-up project was proposed, it was decided to hold workshops to find out the communities' views on how the follow-up should be designed. Workshop participants included school and community representatives, ministerial and donor agency representatives. This paper describes the results of those workshops held in March 1981. Most of the report discusses technical implications of the workshop discussions. A final section discusses the role of community based workshops in development planning.
This document is a guide to conducting village appraisals, aimed at communities in the UK. It introduces what village appraisals are about, what they can be used for and what the expected benefits may be. How to decide what to do and how to go about it are discussed, with a sample timetable of activities, and sample documents for informing the community about the appraisal, sample questionnaires, lists of funding options and documentary sources.
This report presents the results of a village appraisal questionnaire conducted in three parishes in northern England. The questionnaire addressed education, transport, housing, recreation, services and general issues in the communities. The tabulated responses to the questions on local peopleÆs opinions on these issues are presented. There are also short discussions of particular issues such as road safety, litter etc., and of what should be done.
This paper presents a micro-planning methodology developed for use in Ford Foundation social forestry programmes in India. The methodology is presented in six steps: (i) team preparation (preparation of maps and materials, initial site visit, community profile, planning data collection strategy); (ii) community orientation (introduction, review forest management problems with foresters and villagers, explain facilitator's approach, mapping and planning methods); (iii) sketch mapping exercises at a fixed strategic location and (iv) transect, (v) preparation of map; (vi) community meeting to discuss problems and how they might be solved (discussing options from a pre prepared menu).
This brochure describes how to do village appraisals in twelve sequenced steps. The methodology and material is aimed at rural communities in the UK. Such appraisals are aimed at describing local resources and facilities, assessing the options for achieving resources currently not possessed, and planning for the future. Village appraisals can involve parish councils and other local organisations such as schools, Women's Institutes etc. Everyone's opinion can be taken into account through this simple survey technique. A computer programme helps users choose questions from a menu, print a questionnaire and analyse replies.
This paper considers an initiative in Kenya to use PRA to integrate local level participation into division, district and provincial data sets in order to scale up from village to regional participatory plans. PRA is used to provide a village plan, a village based data sets and a list of village based actions. The scaling up approach seeks a methodology to integrate the village information into a regional data set, and through analysis based on geographic information systems, to determine the feasibility and scale for different options which villagers have proposed. This paper describes the methodology and presents findings from the first six months of trials, discussing potential difficulties. Appended are eight pages of comments by Robert Chambers.