Participatory Rural Appraisal

RWSSP-LIS Training for SPMU Officials

20-22 March, 2014 UP Academy of Administration, Lucknow

Participatory Rural Appraisal

RRA •Rapid Rural Appraisal •1970s – 80s PRA •Participatory Rural Appraisal •1980s – 90s PLA •Participatory Learning & Action •1990s – 00s

From where did these come

Farming System research – recognition of diversity & complexity Soc22ial Anthropology – recognized richness of indigenous knowledge

VISUAL

Core aspects of PRA

Methods (timeline, wealth ranking, etc) Behaviour & Attitudes (mindset, cultural/social compulsions, etc) Sharing (knowledge, ideas, insights, etc)

What is PRA

PRA is intended to enable local communities to conduct their own analysis and to plan and take action. PRA involves project staff learning together with villagers about the village. The aim of PRA is to help strengthen the capacity of villagers to plan, make decisions, and to take action towards improving their own situationwell-being.

PRA : Principles, Methods and Benefits

Principles and methods From ‘they learn from us’ to ‘we learn from them’.

From ‘we’ve done a PRA’ to ‘we admit being corrected by people’.

. From ‘we let them participate’ to ‘they take command of their own process’.

Benefits

Empowering the poor and weak to assert their priorities, make demands and act.

From ‘we use instruments from our toolbox’ to ‘they can map, model, estimate, score, analyse, plan themselves’.

Expression and harnessing of local diversity.

From ‘we share our knowledge analysis with them’ to ‘we enable them to learn from each other and conduct their own analysis’.

Offsetting biases: spatial, project, gender/elite, seasonal calendar.

Community participatory appraisal, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

Rapid progressive learning, which is flexible, exploratory, interactive and inventive.

Triangulation: using different methods, sources and disciplines, and a range of informants in a Identification of research priorities; experts more receptive to the ability of rural poor to design, range of places and cross checking to get closer to implement and evaluate.

the truth through successive approximations.

Facilitation: to enable people to do more or all of the investigation themselves and own the outcome.

Sharing: a culture of sharing information, methods, field experiences among NGOs, government and villagers.

Insights gained from PRA leading to policy change.

Behaviour and attitudes: critical self-awareness in external facilitators, learning from errors.

A culture of open learning among stakeholders.

Eight Stages in Problem Solving with PRA

Ending & Consolidation Implementation – Plan development Evaluation & adjustment Solution searching Solution p[lanning & commitment development Reframing Understanding Rapport formation Sustained ownership of process, input, output and outcome (Results)

PRA - Tools INTERVIEWS – semi structured; key informant Maps – Social Maps; Resource Maps Calendars / Schedules •Seasonal Calendar •Labour Scgedules •Daily Routines Wealth Ranking Problem Ranking Wenn Diagram on Institutions Standard Direct Observation

Geographical Transect of a village

I Village Social Mapping S

PRI

H III II IV

Pond Village Resource Mapping Field Houses Houses

WENN / Chapati Diagram : Institutional Mapping Primary Health Centre PHED NBA – IHHL / SLWM GPWSC/VWSC Gram Panchayat Village Education Committee Village Police Station

Seasonal Calendar

Item CROP Tomato Rice Economy Daily earning WINTER

1 2 3 4

SUMMER

5 6 7 8

MONSOON

9 10 11 12

Drinking Water Availability

WEALTH RANKING Wealth Ranking isd a PRA method that determines economic attributes of households in a village – against indicators determined by the villagers themselves.

Rich Household Average Household Poor Household Pucca House Land ownership : 5 acres + Cattle : 10 cows +

Semi Pucca House Land ownership: 1-5 acres Cattle: 5-10 cows Katcha House Landless Cattle : Nil

TIME CHART

A C V I T Y I T

AGRICULTURE WEAVING TRADING Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec