Participatory Rural Appraisal

Suchint Simaraks 15-20 February 2010 Khon Kaen

If you want to successfully implement a project “ eco -village” why should you apply “participatory approach”?

Failure to take poor into accountFailure to get long term adoptionCreating conflictWidening rich-poor gap, individualFailure to create ownershipDependencyOutsider dominationIgnore local wisdomMono-policyEtc.

Methods and tools development history

Researcher

centered

Learning from

people

Participatory learning

People centered

70-80Before 70

80-90 90-present

+ProductivitySustainabilityRRAAAFSR

FamineProductivityGreen revolutionSocio-economic survey

+EnvironmentPollutionGlobalizationNew diseasesInformationParticipationF to F

EmpowermentPAR and others

+Competition/sufficiencGlobal warmingEcology and harmonyEthicDiversityFood securityCommunity planningKnowledge and learningFacilitationMicrocredit, accountingModeling and DSS

Concepts Related to PRA

• Bottle up – to down• People

center/ownership/management/participation

• Civil society• Leaning/interactive• Sustainability (society, ecology,

economic)• Local-global (identity and cultural

systems)• Vertical-Horizontal Relationship

- Empowerment/self reliance- Facilitation/Process tools- Behavioral change (Insider - outsider)- Information gathering-knowledge reaction- Action/planning (PAR)

Concepts Related to PRA (Con.,)

What is RRA or PRA?Why it is important in terms of development ?How it is carried out?

Information

PRA

Communication tool

Site/size

Structure

Function

Process

Event

Organization

Decision making

Talking Tool (Conceptual) Assessment Homestay

Individual Group Time

Diagram Picture

Conceptual frame work Eclectic

(What, Where, When, Who) (How, How much)

System thinking(Why, How, If)

(Main helpers) S. Simaraks, FSR-KKU,1998

Observation Measurement

Map Table

Emergence

From RRA with more emphasis on participatory approach by rural people

Methodology for learning together with local people their environment potentialand limitations

Principles

Triangulation , flexibility and facilitation

PRA emphasizes on working with local, rural people

Employing secondarydata, semi-structured interview, direct observation, tools, system conceptNo fixed questionnairefor the interview Interactive, iterative Indigenous technical knowledge (ITK)

Giving more roles torural people, peoplecenter, for

developmen Rural people also learn Facilitation , awareness, self-critical and responsibility Empowerment of the local people for sustainable development

Behavioral changes of the users and localpeople Increase capability ofthe rural people such as, organization, management, decision making

Sustainable organization and management of the rural community

Topic of Interest System Thinking

Brain storming Participation

Conceptual Framework

Eight HelpersSubtopic or interview guide

SSI

Listening and questioning power Knowing background of members Objective clarification Respect everybody’s opinion Clarification of agreements Setting the processes Awareness of opportunities to development Stimulating discussion Building creative and positive attitude

Skill to be developed for facilitation

Try to get everybody involved Ability to create commitment and responsibility Ability to differentiate processes and outputs Holistic and hierarchical perception Teamwork ability Monitoring and learning