manual for participatory rural appraisal (pra) in villages of tigray
TRANSCRIPT
TIGRAY LIVELIHOOD PAPERS No. 1
Manual for Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in
Villages of Tigray
Zaid Negash, Fredu Nega, Kidanemariam Gebregziabher, Abebe Ejigu, Mihret Berhanu, J. Nyssen, Bedru Babulo, J. Deckers and E. Tollens
September 2006
VLIR – Mekelle University IUC Programme
About the authors Zaid Negash, Fredu Nega, Kidanemariam Gebregziabher, Abebe Ejigu, Mihret Berhanu and Bedru Babulo are at the Faculty of Business and Economics of Mekelle University, Ethiopia. Jan Nyssen has a Ph.D. in physical geography from K.U.Leuven, Belgium and is at K.U.Leuven, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, with standing place Mekelle University. Jozef Deckers has a Ph.D. in soil science from K.U.Leuven, Belgium. Eric Tollens has a Ph.D. in agricultural economics from Michigan State University, U.S.A. Both are professor at K.U.Leuven, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering. All are members of the Mekelle University IUC Programme, particularly of the Socio-Economic Project.
About the Mekelle University IUC Programme The Drylands of Tigray in Northern Ethiopia have been the scene of war and recurrent famine over the last decades. During the famous 1984/85 famine, the mass media alerted the world of the seriousness of the problem. Since the last 10 years Mekelle University trains students from all over Ethiopia to solve problems which typically occur in semi-arid areas. Starting with a Faculty of Dryland Agriculture, Mekelle University took on the challenge to work with the farmers of the Tigray hinterland for a better future. The idea was to conduct, in a participatory manner, practical field research aiming at solving farmer’s problems. The University has now 7 faculties, all aiming to work in this spirit. The Flemish Inter-University Council (VLIR, Belgium) has been supporting this laudable evolution through a number of research projects in the field of soil conservation and rehabilitation of dryland forest. Since 2003 VLIR has committed itself to a more comprehensive support to Mekelle University through its Institutional University Cooperation Programme (IUC). This is a long-term partnership with a 10-year perspective fostering scientific collaboration between Flemish universities and Mekelle University. The ultimate objective of this partnership is to contribute to sustainable livelihood in Tigray. This multidisciplinary project is demand-driven with a major focus on rural communities. It starts from indigenous knowledge and combines this with formal scientific knowledge systems.
Contact us Dr. Jan Nyssen, MU IUC Research Coordinator and Editor of the Tigray Livelihood Papers – [email protected] Dr. Mulu Bayray, Ethiopian MU IUC Programme Coordinator and member of the Editorial Team – [email protected] Prof. Jozef Deckers, Belgian MU IUC Programme Coordinator and member of the Editorial Team – [email protected] Dr. Nurhussen Taha, MU IUC Programme Manager – [email protected] Prof. Eric Tollens, Belgian Team Leader of the Socio-Economic Project of MU IUC - [email protected] Ato Fredu Nega, Ethiopian Team Leader of the Socio-Economic Project of MU IUC - [email protected] Mekelle University IUC Programme POBox 231 Mekelle Ethiopia Tel. ++251 (0)34 441 09 71 Fax ++251 (0)34 441 09 69
TIGRAY LIVELIHOOD PAPERS No. 1
Manual for Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in Villages of Tigray
Zaid Negash, Fredu Nega, Kidanemariam Gebregziabher, Abebe Ejigu, Mihret Berhanu, J. Nyssen, Bedru Babulo, J.Deckers and E. Tollens
September 2006
VLIR – Mekelle University IUC Programme
Tigray Livelihood Papers - Aims and scope The working papers are edited by the MU IUC programme to publish results of research carried out in the broader framework of the MU-IUC programme, within its spin-off research projects, or unpublished work from other VLIR projects at Mekelle University. The WP series seeks to promote rational study of the characterisation, monitoring, causes, effects and remediation of all phenomena affecting the livelihood of the people in Tigray and Northern Ethiopia. In a first phase, the WP will present mostly (but not exclusively) work carried out in the Geba catchment and concern the following subject matters: AQUATIC ECOLOGY FARM TECHNOLOGY SOCIO-ECONOMIC STUDIES HYDROGEOLOGY LAND DEGRADATION AND LAND MANAGEMENT CROP MANAGEMENT Papers integrating aspects from different disciplines, or concerning sustainable livelihood in general are strongly encouraged. Notes to contributors Submit three hard copies of the manuscript (including good quality copies of tables and illustrations) to the Editor. Language The official language of the working papers (WP) is English. Preparation of the text (a) The manuscript should be prepared on a word processor. (b) The abstract should consist of not more than 300 words. (c) The title page should include the name(s) of the author(s), their affiliations, fax and e-mail numbers. Unless otherwise indicated, the first author will be considered corresponding author. Keywords Authors should provide 4 to 6 keywords. References (a) References should be quoted in the text as name and year within brackets and listed at the end of the paper alphabetically. Quotations are as follows: "…as discussed by Collins (1998)", or "statement (Collins, 1998). Where reference is made to more than one work by the same author published in the same year, identify each citation in the text as follows: (Collins, 1998a), (Collins, 1998b). Publications with two authors are referred to as follows (Collins and Quine, 1999). Where three or more authors are listed in the reference list, please cite in the text as (Collins et al., 1998). Secondary referencing is
not allowed (such as: Collins, 1998, quoted by Jameson, 2001). (b) The reference list should be in alphabetical order. All references must be complete and accurate. Online citations should include date of access. References should be listed in the following style: Blaikie, P., 1985. The political economy of soil
erosion in developing countries. London, New York, Longman, 186 p.
Fiedler, H. J., Gebeyehu Belay, 1999. Forests and their importance for soil conservation in Ethiopia. Archiv für Naturschutz und Landschaftsforschung, 28: 161-175.
Hurni, H., 1989. Late Quaternary of Simen and other mountains in Ethiopia. In: Mahaney, W., (ed.), Quaternary and environmental research on East African mountains. Balkema, Rotterdam, pp. 105-120.
(c) Ethiopian names are presented as name and father’s name, in that order. The first name is the correct short form. Abbreviations with initials are not used. Long names are written fully (Gebremedhin and not G/medhin). A paper by Genet Gebremeskel, is quoted in the text as (Genet, 2004), and in the reference list as Genet Gebremeskel, 2004. Title of the paper… Tables Tables should be numbered according to their sequence in the text. Individual cells in a table are not bordered. Number of lines in a table shall be kept minimal, horizontal lines are preferred. Tables shall be prepared in a classic way (no fancy effects). Illustrations (a) All illustrations should be numbered consecutively and referred to in the text. (b) Drawings should be lettered throughout, the size of the lettering being appropriate to that of the drawings, but taking into account the possible need for reduction in size. The page format of the WP should be considered in designing the drawings. (c) Photographs must be of good quality. Submission of final document After approval of the editorial committee, the authors shall prepare as quickly as possible a lay out of the document according to instructions provided by the editor. Hard and soft copies of the final document shall be provided.
Manual for Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in Selected
Villages of Tigray
Prepared by the Socio Economic Research Team of the IUC-MU
Collaboration Project
Project Leader
Professor Eric Tollens
Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,
Belgium
Mekelle University
Mekelle
June 2006
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Manual for Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in Selected Manual for Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in Selected Manual for Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in Selected Manual for Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in Selected
Villages of TigrayVillages of TigrayVillages of TigrayVillages of Tigray
Prepared by the Socio Economic Research Team of the IUC-
MU Collaboration Project
Project Leader:
Professor Eric Tollens,
KU Leuven,
Belgium
Team Members:
Zaid Negash,
Fredu Nega,
Kidanemariam Gebregziabher,
Abebe Ejigu,
Mihret Berhanu,
Bedru Babulo.
Mekelle UniversityMekelle UniversityMekelle UniversityMekelle University
Faculty of Business and EconomicsFaculty of Business and EconomicsFaculty of Business and EconomicsFaculty of Business and Economics
MekelleMekelleMekelleMekelle
June 2006June 2006June 2006June 2006
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents Page
Glossary and Acronyms
Part I: Introduction
4
5
Part II. Preparations Before the PRA
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Part III. Steps During the PRA 15
3.1. Introduction 15
3.2. Data Collection 15
3.3. Sessions of the PRA 17
3.4. Summary of Activities and their Duration
23
Part IV. Activities After the PRA 24
4.1. PRA Team Evaluation 24
4.2. PRA Report Preparation and Distribution 24
4.3. Follow Up
25
Part V. Participants, Methods, and Issues for Discussion 26
5.1. Activity One – Introductory Meeting 26
5.2. Activity Two – Community Mapping 27
5.3. Activity Three – Village (kushet) History 29
5.4. Activity Four – Seasonal/Daily Calendar 33
5.5. Activity Five – Transect Walk 38
5.6. Activity Six – Trend Lines 40
5.7. Activity Seven – Focus Group on Health 44
5.8. Activity Eight – Focus Group on Agriculture 46
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5.9. Activity Nine – Focus Group on Education 48
5.10. Activity Ten – Focus Group on Market, Credit,
Cooperatives, and Non-Farm Activities
50
5.11. Activity Eleven – Village Institutions Diagram 52
5.12. Activity Twelve – Participatory Wealth Ranking 55
5.13. Activity Thirteen – Community Problem Analysis 55
5.14. Activity Fourteen – Community Problem Ranking 56
5.15. Activity Fifteen – Community Action Plan 58
5.16. Activity Sixteen – PRA Evaluation and Close Up 62
5.17. Activity Seventeen – Report Writing 62
REFERENCES 63
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Glossary
Bayto: Local council of representatives
Gott: A smaller settlement unit, a subdivision of kushet. Horeye: Small pond Kushet: A sub division of a tabia which may contain many settlement units (gotts). Tabia: The lowest administrative hierarchy of roughly about 5000 people. Woreda: (The second administrative unit above the Tabia) An administrative hierarchy or
district accountable to the regional administration and subdivided into smaller administrative units known as tabias.
Acronyms
CAP: Community Action Plan
CPR: Community Problem Ranking
DECSI: Dedebit Credit and Savings Institution S. Co. (a microfinance institution operating in Tigray)
KPC: Kushet PRA Committee PLA: Participatory Learning and Action
PRA: Participatory Rural Appraisal PWR: Participatory Wealth Ranking
RRA: Rapid Rural Appraisal
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PART I. INTRODUCTION
There exist different methods of data collection and analysis, each with its own strengths and weaknesses. Through time, more appropriate and refined methods have been developed. In the context of rural development, information regarding the communities, their livelihoods, their beliefs, the physical environment in which they live, and their resource endowments need to be gathered and interpreted in a manner that identifies their priorities with a view of developing better understanding of their status and designing appropriate intervention projects directed at resolving their problems. The different ways of data collection and interpretation can be seen under two perspectives: qualitative versus quantitative, and participatory versus top down. While the quantitative methods generate information that can be captured numerically, the qualitative methods generally do not generate specific numbers. Qualitative methods are concerned with exploring meanings, processes, reasons, and explanations.
Top-down methods are those in which most of the essential decisions about what issues will be addressed and how the information will be used are made by specialists as opposed to community members. In the case of participatory methods, local people play a greater and more active role in the information gathering as well as analysis and implementation. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) as a method falls under the qualitative and participatory group of research methods. PRA evolved from Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA). In recognition of the fact that the community to which development projects are supposed to serve is not involved in the process and the subsequent flaws implicit in designing and implementing such projects, development practitioners and thinkers started to investigate ways for effective community participation in the overall process. This led to a series of information collection techniques used to collect and analyze data in rural areas, known as Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA), which was developed in the 1970s and 1980s. RRA was criticized for being extractive and highly dependent on expert interpretation. It was thus found useful to replace it with PRA which involves a process of learning from, with and by rural people about rural conditions. PRA shares much with its parent, RRA, but is distinguished from it in practice by correcting two common errors: roles of investigation are reversed; and rushing is replaced by relaxation and rapport. At the
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heart of all these developments was Robert Chambers, although Paulo Friere has also had strong influence especially in similar developments in education circles (Provention Concertium). Robert Chambers (2004) describes PRA as “a growing family of approaches, methods, attitudes and behaviours to enable and empower people to share, analyze and enhance their
knowledge of life and conditions, and to plan, act, monitor, evaluate and reflect". While RRA focuses on data collection or extraction, PRA focuses on empowerment. It needs to be noted that although RRA and PRA carry the term ‘rural’, they can both be and have been applied in urban settings. To make it more inclusive and to emphasize the empowerment aspect, the term Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) is used interchangeably with PRA. PRA emphasizes on local knowledge and enables local people to make their own appraisal, analysis, and plans. In PRA, data collection and analysis are undertaken by local people, with outsiders facilitating rather than controlling. It is an approach for shared learning between local people and outsiders. It is based on participation (local people’s input into PRA activities is essential to its value as a research and planning method and as a means for diffusing the participatory approach to development) and teamwork (it is best done by a team work that includes local people and others with a complementary mix of disciplinary background and experience because information is gathered through informal interactions and brainstorming).
The World Bank Participatory Sourcebook (1996) puts the key tenets of PRA as follows:
• Participation. Local people's input into PRA activities is essential to its value as a research and planning method and as a means for diffusing the participatory approach to development.
• Teamwork. To the extent that the validity of PRA data relies on informal interaction and brainstorming among those involved, it is best done by a team that includes local people with perspective and knowledge of the area's conditions, traditions, and social structure and either nationals or expatriates with a complementary mix of disciplinary backgrounds and experience. A well balanced team will represent the diversity of socioeconomic, cultural, gender, and generational perspectives.
• Flexibility. PRA does not provide blueprints for its practitioners. The combination of techniques that is appropriate in a particular development context will be determined by such variables as the size
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and skill mix of the PRA team, the time and resources available, and the topic and location of the work.
• Optimal ignorance. To be efficient in terms of both time and money, PRA work intends to gather just enough information to make the necessary recommendations and decisions.
• Triangulation. PRA works with qualitative data. To ensure that information is valid and reliable, PRA teams follow the rule of thumb that at least three sources must be consulted or techniques must be used to investigate the same topics.
This manual is prepared to conduct PRA in selected villages of Tigray within the Geba Catchment as part of the IUC-MU collaboration program. The major reference used for the manual is the manual prepared by Partners for Development. With significant modifications and adaptations, the manual is prepared in a manner that suits the local conditions and the purpose it is designed to serve within the context of the overall objectives of the IUC-MU collaboration program. The conduct of PRA represents the first phase of the activities of the Socioeconomic Research Team as part of its project work entitled ‘Socioeconomic Research for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods’. The PRA is to be followed with a more quantitative and structured socioeconomic survey, which will then be followed by specialized researches in specifically selected areas; notably, poverty and coping mechanisms, microfinance, marketing, utilization and management of natural resources, and gender. This manual serves as a kind of blueprint for the PRA activities to be conducted in different villages. By the time this manual is published, PRAs have already been conducted in four villages of Tigray. In fact the manual is now enriched with some
examples of the results obtained during the PRAs. The manual is used to ensure
uniformity of purpose and focus such that similar exercises will be conducted in different areas. More significantly, the manual consists of the necessary details on how to undertake each of the tools to make the conduct of the PRA productive and in line with the principles laid down above. The main objectives of the current PRA are:
1. empowerment of rural communities by assisting them to systematically utilize their local knowledge to identify problems and strengths, develop skills of analysis, and design appropriate mechanisms for intervention by themselves and/or by development agents;
2. advancement of understanding by academicians/researchers of local knowledge and acknowledgement of the capacity of communities to gather data, conduct analysis, and identify as well as prioritize problems and solutions;
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3. utilization of the research questions/problems identified during the PRAs for further investigation;
4. documenting and presenting the outcomes of the PRAs to development agents (governmental and non-governmental) and other stakeholders so that they could undertake interventions in line with the findings.
PRA consists of a series of participatory exercises which help community members better assess their history, resources, and overall situation as concerns agriculture, health, marketing, credit, coping mechanisms, education, and other important areas. During the conduct of the PRAs, rural communities in the selected villages will gather information on the resources they already possess; organize their knowledge; share experience among themselves; learn from each other; identify and prioritize local development needs; and develop action plans which respond to these needs. As a result of the PRAs, the communities are expected to attain many benefits including:
• Expressing their own ideas and concerns; • Organizing their knowledge about the past and present; • Identifying as a community their problems, the causes of these problems and
possible solutions;
• Developing a common plan to address these problems; • Developing the ability to use their own resources more effectively and attract
more resources from the outside. The academicians/researchers involved in the PRAs are expected to get the following benefits:
• Developing better understanding of rural environments and social as well as economic dynamism taking place there;
• Appreciating the fact that communities are capable of analyzing their problems and outlining possible solutions to their problems;
• Participating in designing possible solutions to community problems; • Utilizing the results of the PRA work as a research output for publications and
presentations;
• Building their research and problem investigation capabilities; • Supporting their classroom discussions to students with practical examples from
the PRA findings.
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PART II. PREPARATIONS BEFORE THE PRA Proper preparations determine the success of PRA for it involves learning-by-doing and depends on team contributions. In addition to selecting the site (note that the current PRA will be conducted in four villages or ‘kushets’ within the Geba Catchment; namely, Agewo [in Atsbi Wonberta woreda of the eastern zone], Awulo [in Kilte Belesa woreda of the eastern zone], Shiguala [in the Enderta woreda of the southern zone], and Hidmo [in the Tanqua Abergele woreda of the central zone]) where PRA is to be conducted and collecting secondary information regarding the specific sites and their neighborhoods, it is necessary to:
i. Establish a PRA Team; ii. Establish a Kushet PRA Committee; iii. Conduct Preliminary Visits to the Community; iv. Developing PRA Schedule.
The villages are selected from different socioeconomic systems to capture the varieties in socio economic activities. Moreover, because of the need to share data and information with the other projects of the IUC-MU program, the selection was done in consultation with the project coordinators.
1. The PRA Team: The PRA Team consists five faculty members of the faculty of
business and economics. Note that other member(s) already involved in development activities in or near the specified areas shall be included if found necessary, for in PRA, the Team is expected to have the necessary technical know how in different areas (agriculture, health, education, infrastructure, credit, marketing, culture, etc.). It also needs to have a fair gender composition. Although every team member should be familiar with all aspects of the PRA, each team member is also designated for specific tasks which are described as follows: a. PRA team leader: One of the PRA Team members will be designated as a leader in
each of the four PRAs. That is one team leader will be assigned for each of the four villages. The team leader will be selected in such a way that four members will
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alternatively serve as team leaders for each of the four PRAs. The role of the team leader is to:
• Play the leading role in the formation of the village PRA committee; • Ensure that all preparatory work has been done; • Make sure that the objectives of each session are achieved;
• Coordinate preparation of the PRA report; • Resolve any problems which may arise; • Assign facilitators and note-takers for each session; • Organize the reports from the note-taker/s into a coherent whole; • Work as the principal editor of that particular PRA report.
Importantly, the PRA team leader is also responsible for ensuring that all technical areas are appropriately covered. Though not intended to do so, many PRA exercises may reflect the technical bias of the facilitators or note-takers as opposed to community needs and interests. This should be avoided at all costs, and the PRA team leader should ensure that. b. Facilitator: For each PRA session, one individual should be designated as the lead
facilitator (note that the team leader may also serve as a facilitator in some of the sessions). As a key objective of the PRA is to promote active community participation, the role of the facilitator is very important and includes:
Before the Session
• Knowing the contents of their session very well in order that they rarely have to look at the manual for guidance
• Ensuring that the site is well prepared – that there are enough places to sit, that there is not too much noise close by, that the area is well shaded, etc.
• Ensuring that the seating arrangement is good – and that participants can be seated in a circle so that they can see the facilitator, other participants, as well as any flipchart or blackboard which may be used. Important: if participants are not properly seated, have everyone get up and rearrange the meeting place.
During the Session
• Ensuring that all participants understand and contribute to the discussions.
o If one participant is talking too much, thank him/her for his/her comments and ask another opinion;
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o If some participants are not contributing at all, ask them directly what they think;
o Do not let only one person or a small group of participants dominate the discussions;
o Pay special attention to women and the poor who may not feel comfortable contributing.
• Ensuring that team members share their ideas only after the community members have provided their own, and that the team members avoid influencing the community’s decisions.
• Managing the time available for the session to ensure that all objectives are achieved.
• At the end of the session, thank participants for their contributions and explain to them the next activity.
c. Note taker: Because much information is generated throughout the PRA, the task
of taking notes is very important to the program’s success. One person shall be assigned as a note-taker for each session. The role of the note taker includes:
• Sitting among participants and take notes (it may preferably be done in such a way that the participants are not so aware that someone is taking notes);
• Noting all main discussion points, and paying special attention to the comments of participants concerns:
o What they feel are problems; o What they believe are the causes of these problems; o Possible solutions, and especially how the community has solved
these problems in the past; o Special beliefs, customs and religious practices.
• Asking participants to repeat comments if they are not well understood; • Assisting the facilitator by reminding if some important things are left
out or not properly taken care of;
• Copying information presented on big paper into a notebook; • Reviewing the notes with the facilitator to make sure that they are
complete and correct;
• Copy the notes to a laptop at the end of each day’s work. d. Technical Resource Persons: Specific team members should be designated to serve
as resource persons for key technical areas. If appropriate technical persons are not available with the team, the support of government bureaus or NGOs will be sought.
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These individuals may serve as facilitators for sessions related to their technical area, or may simply assist the PRA team, the PRA committee or other participants in identifying community problems, causes and possible solutions. Note that even though Technical Resource Persons may have much expertise, they should share their ideas only after community members have discussed their own, and avoid influencing the community’s decisions. In addition to focus group discussions, technical persons could be used during transect walk.
2. Preliminary Visits to the Community: After selecting the specific areas where PRA is to be conducted, the PRA Team (all members need preferably attend) needs to conduct a visit to the selected ‘kushet’’, ‘tabia’’ and ‘woreda’’ to meet ‘bayto’’ members (local leaders), development workers in the area, government workers, health workers, teachers, and religious leaders with the following duties:
• Introducing the PRA approach to local administrators and community leaders and explaining the objectives of the PRA;
• Explaining the contents and schedule of the PRA program; • Requesting that a Village PRA Committee be established; • Deciding on the dates for the PRA; • Making necessary logistical arrangements, including:
o Identifying sites to conduct large and small group meetings; o Discussing lodging arrangements for the PRA Team (if the PRA team
decides to stay in the area during the PRA work). 3. The Kushet PRA Committee (KPC): Because the success of a PRA depends on strong community participation, a KPC (also called Village PRA committee – VPC) is established. Among others, the KPC is used as an important means to win the trust of the community. The following describe its major characteristics: 1. Composition of the KPC: To ensure the committee is well-suited for its tasks, it should be composed of:
• Six members with an equal number of men and women; • One of the six members need to be a member of the ‘kushet’ ‘bayto’
leadership to facilitate the success of the PRA;
• One of the female members need to be selected from the ‘kushet’ women’s association;
• One member of the committee should come from the church (orthodox) leadership;
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• Most appropriately the other members (apart from the representative from the tabia or kushet administration and the representative from the women’s association) should be elected by the kushet community during a meeting of the community members. If found difficult, another mechanism may be thought;
• Representatives of different areas of the village (kushet); different economic groups; and different religious groups in the case of more than one religion;
• Members who have the time to not only help in preparing the community for PRA, but also to help during the PRA, as well as after PRA with the follow-up activities.
2. Roles and Responsibilities of the KPC: The major tasks of the committee include:
• Explaining to other community members the objectives, schedule and importance of the PRA;
• Arranging the place where meetings take place; • Encouraging all community members to actively participate throughout the
PRA;
• If possible, note-taking and similar tasks; • Meeting with the PRA Team at the end of each day to discuss issues, team
findings, problems, etc.; • Assist participants in the different sessions of the PRA;
• Assisting in PRA follow up activities. 4. Developing the PRA Schedule: About two weeks before the PRA, the PRA Team should meet to review activities already undertaken and develop the actual schedule for the PRA. Important activities include:
• Fixing the dates for the different PRA sessions in consultation with the PRA committee;
• Indicate the particular sessions and their specific dates including the results expected of each session;
• Specify the roles of each member (facilitator, note taker, etc.) • Material preparation; • Logistics (transport, lodging, food preparation); • Indicate the specific date when the preliminary report should be produced; • Others.
The PRA team leader is responsible for developing the schedule and makes follow up.
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5. Activities upon arrival in the Community: As final preparatory activities, and once the PRA Team has arrived in the community and has settled lodging and meal arrangements, they should undertake to:
• Meet with the KPC and ‘tabia’’ or ‘kushet’’ leaders to review o The purpose of the PRA; o The PRA Schedule; o The role of the PRA Committee and village leaders; o Preparatory activities the village has undertaken; and o Other important issues (e.g. PRA Team lodging, if applicable)
• Visit PRA Meeting Sites: With the PRA Committee, the Team should visit sites designated by the village for general meetings and small discussion and working groups.
• Plan Transect Walk: The PRA Team should take some time to walk through and around the village – both to familiarize them with the village and to allow villagers to familiarize themselves with PRA Team members. During this time, the PRA Team should also decide what areas they will walk through when they conduct the Transect Walk exercise.
• Review of the Schedule and Roles: Finally the PRA Team should meet to review all of the above, and make any final preparations and review the roles of Facilitators and Note Takers.
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PART III. STEPS DURING THE PRA This section provides information and guidance on the steps involved in conducting an actual PRA, including:
A. Introduction; B. Data Collection; C. Activities (Sessions) of the PRA.
Importantly, the actual PRA is divided into many separate activities which together make-up the PRA activities or sessions. 3.1. Introduction The facilitator of this activity should take special care to ensure that participants understand:
• That a major focus of the PRA is to identify areas that the community itself can address with little or no outside assistance, that at least the kushet community specifies what it can contribute and what it cannot;
• That the success of the PRA depends on the active participation of all community members.
The facilitator should also describe the agenda for the PRA in detail and make sure that the times scheduled for PRA discussions are convenient for all community members. PRA activities can be scheduled in the morning, afternoon or evening – what ever is best for the community. 3.2. Data Collection Much of the PRA involves data collection. Because PRA recognizes that there is not only one source or type of data which can provide all of the information necessary for identifying and developing solutions to community problems, the PRA team collects many different kinds of data in line with the PRA activities outlined under. To verify the validity of the data, triangulation (i.e., checking the correctness through different groups or similar mechanisms) may need to be used. The major factor however is to develop the kind of trust that enables community members to honestly reflect on their feelings and beliefs.
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In order for the process of data collection to go well, the following are some important suggestions to PRA Team members:
a. Review and understand the points for discussion for each session: Most PRA activities are based on discussions with community members, and each of these discussions is guided by a list of questions which all PRA Team members should become familiar with. These questions not only help to guide the discussions, but they also ensure that the information gathered is similar for each PRA conducted, and which may be used in program planning, monitoring and evaluation if the PRA is followed with some intervention. The familiarity the PRA team members have with these questions, and the regularity with which they ask these questions, can determine the effectiveness of a PRA exercise.
b. Meet Often and Share Information: As discussed above, specific PRA Team
members will be designated to serve as resource persons for key technical areas (i.e. health, agriculture, etc.) – and they will be responsible for keeping track of all of the data collected by the PRA Team for that area. However, because data will be collected during many different activities, PRA Team members need to work together very closely; all of the information collected on a given topic is shared with the Team member responsible for that area.
To help in the above, the PRA Team should plan to meet at least once a day during the PRA week and exchange information collected during the day’s activities. During these meetings, Team members should:
• Review the data they have collected on each topic; • Identify data that is missing or unclear, and how to get it; • Evaluate how the PRA is going, and whether or not there should be
modifications to the overall schedule or specific activities. c. Pay Attention to Non-Focus Areas: Although PRA Team members may be
responsible for specific technical areas, they should also recognize the importance of other information which may not relate directly to their area of responsibility – but which directly impacts household and village-level decision making. This may include information on social and community relations, ecological systems, geography, economy, etc. Though such information may not seem directly relevant to a Team member’s technical area, the community is likely to take this into account when discussing solutions to that area’s problems.
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d. Involve the Community in Verifying the Accuracy of Data Collected: At the end of each PRA session, ask participants if information collected (in notes, on flip chart paper, etc.) is accurate. During PRA Team meetings, if some of the information collected by different team members seems to conflict, ask PRA Committee members to help clarify. e. Materials: Make sure that the necessary materials are ready. Most of the time,
the materials needed are flipchart papers, markers of different colors and sizes, chalks, blackboards, and local materials. Laptops, which do not need to be used during PRA session, are used to convert the handwritten notes into a soft copy preferably at the end of each days work in the evenings.
3.3. Sessions (Activities) of the PRA Each of the PRA shall have the following activities which are briefly described: 1. Introductory Meeting: This is the first session, which is a brief meeting with all community (kushet or tabia) members to introduce the PRA Team, the KPC, and to discuss the purpose and schedule of the PRA. It is useful for providing community members with a clear idea of what they may expect from the PRA, and to encourage their full participation. For it might be difficult to arrange a meeting of the kushet or tabia community, the PRA team will try to use meetings already arranged by the local administration. This introductory meeting will also be used to elect most members of the KPC. The introductory meeting is expected to be done on a separate day. 2. Community Mapping: Following the introductory meeting, two groups of community members (one of women and one of men) draw a map of their village which shows where resources are located, and they later share their work in a general meeting. Mapping is a good technique to start PRA because it involves several people, stimulates much discussion and enthusiasm, provide the PRA Team with an overview of the area, and deals with non controversial information. This exercise helps every one understand the scope of issues to be investigated, see where resources are, and understand the community’s perceptions of important sites. Conducting the exercise in two groups also helps to understand how women and men view things differently.
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3. Kushet (village) History: In this session, a group of community elders and leaders are asked to identify important events in the history of their community. The ksuhet history exercise helps the community to review and the PRA team to identify local, national and international events people feel are important in their history; to identify past successes and crises; and importantly, the actions they took to deal with past problems and changes. Often, many of the villagers will be hearing of important past events for the first time. One day is reserved for Sessions 2 and 3. 4. Seasonal/Daily Calendar: Separate groups of men and women are asked to explain their yearly patterns of work, health and food availability, as well as their daily activity schedule over this period. This helps the community and PRA Team to better understand local patterns of labour, food availability, health, etc. – and how these patterns may influence each other. It also helps to understand differences in people’s daily work and their areas of responsibility. Finally, this activity helps to identify periods when the community is especially busy and may not be able to participate in outside activities. This session is expected to take half a day. The men and women group shall do this session in different places simultaneously. 5. Transect Walk A group of community and PRA Team members walk through different areas of the village to examine how land is used, and discuss problems and opportunities. This activity allows the community and PRA Team to understand first-hand how the community is organized, what resources are available, community problems in utilizing these resources, and opportunities for development. This session lasts for half a day, preferably in the afternoon so as to meet as many people along the way as possible.
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6. Trend Lines Two groups are formed to discuss changes in areas of importance to village life over the past forty years. One group examines changes in health, education and population; the other group changes in food production, animal health and natural resources. Analyzing changes in key areas of village life helps community members and the PRA Team better understand the present situation. It also helps to identify particular problem areas; what has been done in the past to address those areas; and what new opportunities may exist for the community to consider. Duration: Half a day 7. Focus Group Discussions 7.1. Health Group Women and formal and non-formal health workers are asked to discuss in detail
health, hygiene and nutrition issues. This is useful for community members to share their ideas on areas of concern to them, and for the PRA Team to better understand local problems, knowledge, and beliefs related to these areas. These discussions are also important for developing the Problem Analysis Chart.
7.2. Agriculture Group Community members are asked to discuss in detail agricultural, family gardening
and livestock/animal health issues. Useful for villagers to share their ideas on areas of special concern to them, and for the PRA Team to better understand local problems, knowledge, and beliefs related to these areas. These discussions are very important for developing the Problem Analysis Chart.
7.3. Marketing, Credit, and Cooperatives, and Non-farm activities Group This focus discussion shall involve those members who do some kind of
marketing, and/or who take credit from different sources, and/or who are members of a cooperative, and/or who engage in some kind of non-farm activities as a means of supporting their income. Different issues on marketing, credit, cooperatives, and non-farm daily labour will be raised for discussion.
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7.4 Education Group Community members are asked to discuss in detail primary, adult literacy, and
non-formal education. This is useful for villagers to share their ideas on areas of special concern to them, and for the PRA Team to better understand local problems, knowledge, and beliefs related to these areas. These discussions are very important for developing the Problem Analysis Chart.
The focus group discussions will be conducted in one day such that in the morning the women group will discuss on health related issues, and the men group will discuss on agriculture related issues. The same afternoon, two groups comprising of men and women members will be established in line with their degree of involvement particularly in marketing, credit, and cooperatives; so that one group discusses on education and the other on marketing and allied activities. 8. Kushet (Village) Institutions Diagram The village institutions diagram is a simple way of recording all of the key organizations which exist inside the village, as well as outside organizations which periodically work in the community. This exercise allows the community and PRA Team to understand what local, national and international institutions are important to the community; to identify past and current sources of assistance and their impacts; and the community’s ways for dealing with them. Duration: A quarter of a day 9. Participatory Wealth Ranking This session tries to rank the community into different categories of wealth using the criteria developed by the community. In this activity, participants rank the community into ‘poor’, ‘medium’, and ‘rich’; or ‘very poor’, ‘poor’, ‘medium’, ‘better’, and ‘rich’ depending on the community’s way of ranking the levels of poverty. After participants categorize their village using a technique called ‘bead ranking’, discussions will be conducted in the group as to how the ranking is done with a view to developing an acceptable explanation on wealth ranking. Duration: A quarter of a day. Thus ‘kushet’ (village) institutions and Participatory wealth ranking shall be completed in half a day’s time.
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10. Community Problem Analysis The completed Problem Analysis Chart, which is prepared by the PRA Team and the Kushet PRA Committee, is presented and discussed in detail during a general meeting of all community members. This activity is key to community motivation because it is at this point where many people are gathered and see for the first time how the information collected from them has been organized. Data Synthesis and Analysis: Though data synthesis by the PRA Team should be an ongoing activity, once all data collection activities have been completed, the PRA Team and KPC meet formally to examine all of the data they have collected, verify its accuracy and make sure it is well organized by key technical areas. The group then begins to prepare the Problem Analysis Chart for the later meeting with all community members. This includes reviewing information collected, and listing in the:
• First Column: All key problems identified by the community; • Second Column: The causes of each problem mentioned by the community; • Third Column: All of the community’s previous solutions, new community
ideas, and any suggestions by the PRA team. Once the chart is prepared, the PRA Team and Village PRA Committee should also try to examine the connections between the topics to understand how some of these problems may be related. This chart is presented for discussion in a general meeting. Duration: Half a day 11. Community Problem Ranking The community is asked, during a large group discussion, to prioritize or rank the problems identified so far during the PRA so that the community and PRA Team understand what the community perceives as its development priorities. This exercise also provides the basis for development of the Community Action Plan. Duration: Half a day 12. Community Action Plan (CAP) During a large group discussion, community members are asked to develop a Community Action Plan (CAP) to help them, as well as outside agencies, address the problems they have identified. The CAP is a key output of the entire PRA exercise. It is
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a record of local development priorities – and is used by the community and outside agencies for designing and monitoring a wide range of local development activities. It is important to emphasize that this plan must be the community’s plan – and that to ensure this the PRA Team must:
• Take enough time to allow community members to fully discuss how best to deal with the problems it has identified, and reach agreement on how to organize the solutions it wants to pursue;
• Be careful not to influence the community’s decision-making by imposing its own ideas.
The CAP makes good sense when there is a possibility for intervention by development agencies. Clearly this does not rule out the possibility of preparing CAP because projects could be undertaken by the society. But given the fact that the focus of this current PRA is not necessarily intervention, the PRA Team is expected to look for interventions from existing and new development agents. It may also be said that the involvement of potential funding organizations in the process of the PRA may persuade them to participate in intervention schemes. It is thus important to ensure that the plan is reasonable in the light of limited resources. Duration: Half a day (along with the PRA evaluation shown below) 13. PRA Evaluation and Close up The final stage of the actual PRA involves the community’s evaluation of the various activities and of the overall effort. The evaluation will not only help the PRA Team in improving its performance in conducting future PRAs, but it also helps community members understand that their ideas and opinions are highly valued. Participants will largely be selected by the KPC under close follow-up by the PRA team leader. One group of participants (generally ten men and ten women plus the KPC) will be used for the first two days. Another group (of the same number) will be used for the next two days (the KPC will continue to be there with the second group). For the remaining activities five participants from the first group, five from the second group, and ten new faces will be used (with the KPC intact).
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3.4. Summary of Activities and their Duration The PRA activities and their duration of time is summarized in the following table:
S.No. Activity Sub Activities (if
any)
Participants Duration
1 Introductory Meeting Kushet or tabia
community members
1-2 Hours
2 Community Mapping Women and men
groups perform
separately
Half a day
3 Kushet History All participants Half a day
4 Seasonal Calendar Women and men
groups perform
separately
Half a day
5 Transect Walk PRA Team and KPC Half a day
6 Trend Lines All participants Half a day
7 Focus Group Discussions One day
On Agriculture Men group Half a day
On Health Women Group Half a day
On Education Nearly half of the
participants (Men and
women)
Half a day
On Marketing,
Credit and
Cooperatives
Nearly half of the
participants (men and
women)
Half a day
8 Kushet Institutions Diagram All participants Quarter of a day
9 Participatory Wealth Ranking All participants Quarter of a day
10 Community Problem Analysis (CPA) All participants Half a day
11 Community Problem Ranking All participants Half a day
12 Community Action Plan (CAP) All participants Half a day
13 Evaluation and Close up All Participants
The whole PRA exercise will thus be covered in six days. This does not include the preliminary visits to the community during which the KPC will be established and discussions with the local administrations take place.
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PART IV. ACTIVITIES AFTER THE PRA This part describes key activities to undertake following a PRA. These are:
a. PRA Team Evaluation; b. Report Preparation; c. Follow-up.
4.1. PRA Team evaluation Though the community will have provided a brief evaluation of the PRA upon its completion, the PRA Team should also provide its own evaluation – and in particular examine:
• The PRA Schedule: Was there enough time to do all activities properly? Were all the key technical areas covered? Could community members both participate in the PRA and do their regular chores? Does the Community Action Plan adequately address all of the identified problems or were some omitted?
• Community Participation: Did all community members (rich and poor, minority groups, etc.) participate? Were discussions dominated by a few or did all contribute equally? What was the level of participation of women as compared to men? Did young people have an opportunity to contribute?
• Logistics: How were overall arrangements for community meetings, team lodging, transport, food and food preparation? How was support of the Village PRA Committee?
4.2. PRA Report Preparation and Distribution The PRA report provides basic data on the village (background), the methodology used, as well as the findings of the process and a summary of the results of each of the PRA activities. If the PRA Team wants, the preparation of the report can begin the first day of the PRA and finished soon after the PRA has been completed. Importantly, preparation of the PRA Report should be a shared responsibility, and each PRA Team member should be responsible for a different section. In addition to completing the PRA report form, the PRA Team may also choose to develop a summary of the key findings by each technical areas as defined in earlier sections, problems encountered during the PRA, suggestions, special recommendations for follow-up, etc. As concerns report distribution, at a minimum copies must be given to:
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• The community (via the ksuhet and/or tabia leader or PRA committee); • The woreda administration; • Bureau of Rural Development (or Tigray Region); • Mekelle University (different faculties); • Flemish Universities; • IUC-MU Project coordination; and
• Local and international donors. In addition, however, any other concerned agencies (governmental or non governmental) should also receive a copy – especially if the community has made a specific request for their assistance. 4.3. Follow Up This involves a wide array of activities which can be roughly outlined as follows:
• Report distribution • Meeting with concerned agencies (governmental and non-governmental) to
review: o Key findings and results of the PRA o Community requests for assistance
• Organize meetings/workshops with governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as other stakeholders to discuss PRA results and findings with a view to arousing and facilitating intervention in line with the results and findings.
• Plan to conduct specialized researches in different areas (poverty and local institutions, microfinance, marketing, natural resources, and others) in the next four years.
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PART V: PARTICIPANTS, METHODS, AND ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION 5.1. Activity One- Introductory Meeting 1. Participants:
PRA Team - all members (with one or two members explaining about the purpose of the PRA); and Community - as many community members as possible.
2. Methods: Step1. Ask PRA Team members to introduce themselves and give the name of the
organization they work for. This session will be used to select and elect KPC members.
Step2. Explain that this is the first session of the PRA, and that the purpose of the PRA is to assist community members in:
• Gathering information on the village – its history, culture, problems and resources;
• Organizing this knowledge; • Identifying and prioritizing local development needs;
• Developing a Community Action Plan which responds to these needs. Step3. Explain that, although the organizations of PRA Team members may be able to assist with some of the needs identified by the community, a major goal of the PRA is to identify ways in which the community can address these needs on their own. Step4. Explain that for the PRA to be successful, it is necessary for as many community members as possible to participate – and that, if only the PRA Team and a few villagers are involved, many may not agree with the needs identified of the plans developed. Step5. Describe the PRA schedule, and ask if people have any questions or problems with this. Step6. Respond to what ever questions they have and thank community members for their interest.
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5.2. Activity Two - Community Mapping 1. Participants: Women’s Group: One facilitator, one note-taker, 10 women (and women members of the KPC); Men’s Group: One facilitator, one note-taker, and 10 men (and men members of the KPC). 2. Methods Step1. Organize each group in separate area. Step2. Ask each group to draw a map of their village (on paper or on the ground using
common materials). Help the group to start the drawing after identifying one direction (more properly the East). Ask each group to note important features and discuss why they are important, including:
• Boundaries of the community; • Roads, paths, bridges, and mountains; • Houses, schools, churches, health posts, grinding mills; • Water sources (rivers, springs, ponds, dams, wells, etc.); • Farm fields, gardens, fruit trees, forested areas.
Step3. Using the questions listed under 3 ‘points for discussion’ below, have participants discuss areas with particular problems or potential (and take careful notes). Step4. Once each group has finished their map, bring them together for a general
meeting. Have a representative of each group present the map developed by that group, noting the features listed in step two above – and responding to questions from other participants. Note the differences and similarities which are discussed. If the maps are very different and time permits, both groups should work together on developing one common map. This is the final community map. If the maps done by the groups are similar, this is not necessary.
3. Points for discussion: A. General Access:
i. Are there any areas in or near the village where you cannot go because of area closure/security/other reasons? Where? Who cannot go there? Why?
ii. Where do people go for health services outside of the community? How far is that? Who goes and for what reasons? How often?
iii. Where is the nearest market? How far? How does one get there?
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iv. Do people consider access to the village to be a problem? If so why? What can or is being done about it?
B. Crops Produced and soil fertility
i. What are the major types of crops grown in the area? How much of each on average in percentage terms?
ii. What is the average yield per hectare during: good rains, bad rains, average performance?
iii. How many days does it rain on average in the summer during good rainy season, drought, most frequent phenomenon?
iv. Do you have more than one rainy/harvest season? How do you weigh their relative importance?
v. What major problems are there related to agricultural activities? Below are maps drawn by the community during the PRAs - village map prepared by the women group at Awulo, Tsenkaniet tabia (a few kilometers on the way from Sinkata to Hawzen); and a map produced by the men group at Hidmo, Siye tabia (near the Tekezze Hydro Power Plant)
Figure 1: Village Map of Awulo drawn by women group
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Figure 2: Village Map of Hidmo drawn by men group
5.3 Activity Three - Kushet (Village) History 1. Participants: PRA Team: one facilitator (and one note taker); Community: a group of 10 men and 10 women, including elders, long-time residents, teachers, priests, etc., plus the KPC members. 2. Methods: The facilitator asks participants to recall important events as far back as people can remember or have records. Importantly, the community defines what an “important” event is, but for example, this may include floods, famines, development projects, road building, pest outbreaks, wars, migrations, etc. The facilitator can also use the list of Village History Questions below to guide these discussions. The facilitator or note taker writes on big paper (or blackboard) the events and dates of the events that the group has identified as important. These are listed in chronological order so that everyone can see and agree.
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In addition to simply identifying the events of importance to the community, the facilitator should have participants discuss how they responded to major changes and problems in the past – and how such responses could be used for solving current problems.
3. Points for Discussion General History:
i. When was this village settled? Where did the first families come from? Why did they leave where they were before?
ii. Why does the village have this name? Did it have a different name in the past? If so, why did it change?
iii. What important events have occurred in this kushet since it was settled? During the time of Emperor Tewodros (General Napier’s Expedition)? During the time of Emperor Yohannes IV (War with Egypt, War with the Mahdi)? During the time of Emperror Menelik II (Battle of Adwa)? During the Italian Aggression (Tembien, Maichew, etc.). During ‘Zeben Ambeta’? The 1985 famine? During the War for Independence from Italian Occupation? During the Woyane Uprising? During the war with the Derg? In 1992 (Accession of EPRDF) to power? etc.
iv. When has security been bad? Good? Why? v. When were some of the happiest times? Saddest times? Why?
Population and Culture:
i. When has the village population increased or decreased? What were the reasons for people coming here or leaving?
i. Has the ethnic or religious composition of the community always been the same or has it changed? If it has changed, how and why?
ii. Have there been important religious events in the village? Agriculture and Natural Resources:
i. Have local farmers always grown the same type of crops? What kinds? What has changed? Why?
ii. Have farming methods or equipment changed? How and why? iii. What were the forests, rivers and wildlife like in the past? If different from
today, how have they changed? iv. When were years of the worst flooding? Drought? Animal Disease? What
effect did these have? How did the community respond?
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v. Have flood control or irrigation systems ever been built in the community? If so, when? Are they still working? Why or why not?
Health and Water Supply:
• When were times of outbreaks of disease? How many died? Why? • Has anything been done to prevent these outbreaks from happening again?
Why? By who? • Are there any new diseases that were not a problems in the past? When did
they start? What has been done to manage them?
• Are there diseases that were a problem in before, but not now? • Have health services in the village always been the same, or have they
changed? If so, how have they changed?
• Have any wells or other water supply systems ever been built in the area? If so, when? Do they or did they work well? For how long? If they are no longer working, why?
Education:
i. Has the educational system in the village always been the same, or has it changed? If so, how has it changed? How has the traditional education (nay keshi timhirti) been like? How does the current situation of the traditional education look like?
ii. Has the level of literacy in the community always been the same? If not, how has it changed and why? iii. Have the educated left the area or remained here? Do they work nearby or
far away? What was their contribution to the village? A village history could be presented in the form of a table as shown below which is produced during the PRA conducted at Hidmo.
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Table 1: History of Village Hidmo Year (E.C.) Important Historical Events
1350 The building of St. Mary’s Monastery in the village and the establishment of the village. This was during the period of emperor
Seife Aried
1959 – 43 Ahmed Gragn (locally known as ‘gray nigus’) destroyed the monastery of St. Mary
1889 Combatants from Achna Watsa, one of the sub-villages (‘gotts’) of
Hidmo, took part in the battle of Metemma
1906 Many combatants from the village participated in the battle of Gidara
(near Adwa), a battle waged between Dejat Gereselassie and Rasie
Seyoum. They fought along with the forces of the Rasie
1928 Many persons from the village fought against the invading Italian
forces along with the forces of Dejat Libon. The war was concluded with the victory of the Italian forces. There are also many warriors
from the village who participated in the battles of Alaje, and Maichew
in the same year.
1935 (Weyane
Uprising)
Villagers gathered in river (‘gereb’) Embiwa, found in the village, to
protest against the oppressive government, and went to river (‘gereb’)
Gakela, found in the same district, to join forces with others. Having joined forces with others the warriors went to Alaje and fought
against the forces of Emperor Haileselassie. The fighting ended in defeat of the warriors.
1936 Dejat Gebrihet (nick named ‘wedi hazo bayru’) invaded the village and
snatched rifles and other items from the village community
1951 (Locust
invasion)
Because of the locust invasion many people starved, and some even
migrated. Similar locust invasion was also experienced in 1953
1952 Hailstones (sleet) caused serious damage. Many people migrated in its aftermath.
1955-59 Period of extended drought
1975-77 Catastrophic drought and famine. Drought and famine accompanied by disease (cholera) brought about serious damage to the community.
About 100 people, and 70% of the livestock population died as a
result. Majority of people migrated mainly to the Sudan.
1982-83 Elementary school and health center built in a nearby rural town
called Jijique.
1990 Eritrean invasion; many youngsters joined the Ethiopian defense
forces to defend their country.
1992 Elementary school (named Filik) built in the village; Aqushela dam completed; the community made active involvement in both
1995 Health post, Store, and Training center constructed with contribution
from the public.
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5.4. Activity Four - Seasonal/daily Calendar 1. Participants: PRA Team: one facilitator and one note taker for each group. Women’s group: 10-15 women of all ages and background. Men’s group: 10 – 15 men of all ages and background. 2. Methods: Step 1: Organize each group in a separate area. Have a blank daily/Seasonal Calendar
Prepared, and explain how it is completed. Step 2: Using questions such as those on the following page, ask each group to describe
the work they do each month or seasonal period during the year. For each period, ask them if they consider their workload to be low, medium or high. Mark their response on the chart so everyone can see and agree. Continue in the same manner for Food Availability and Health – taking note of the types of food available in different seasons, the types of illnesses, etc.
Step 3: Using the hourly schedule at the bottom of the chart (a sample of which will be
produced later), continue in the same manner for the Daily Calendar. Make sure to include year-round activities, such as collecting water and cooking.
Step 4: Have participants identify and discuss periods of particular difficulty (i.e., when
health and food availability are at their lowest) – and the relationships between these different areas.
Important: If community members are engaged in very different types of activities (i.e., some farming and some logging), it is best to have separate lines to describe their workloads. Also, for communities located far from year-round water sources, add a section on water availability to show its impact on local labour.
3: Points for Discussion Agriculture/Gardening:
i. What are the main agricultural activities during each season? Are these activities done close to the village or far? Who does each of the tasks required – Men, Women, Children?
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ii. When do people go to the farm fields? How long do they stay? Do some people come back at night during the harvest (threshing) season?
iii. Do some people migrate to other areas with their cattle in search of water and grass? Where do they go?
iv. What other activities take place during the dry season? Do people do off-farm activities? When? Why?
v. Do some families plant vegetable gardens? During what time of the year? Who usually does this? Men? Women? Children?
vi. How long does it take to get water for gardens? Who does this? vii. Do some people sell crops at the market? When do they do this? Where do
they sell? How long does it take? Who does this?
Forests/Wood Use i. Do people go to the forest to collect things like fire wood, construction
poles, etc.? When? For how long do they go? ii. Do people collect cow dung for cooking? Where? When? Who does this? iii. Do people hunt? What kind of animals? When? Why (e.g., for food)? For
how long do they do? iv. Do people go to the forest to gather wood or medicinal plants? When? v. Do some people cut trees for selling?
Water Sources and Supply:
i. How long does it take to collect water for cooking and drinking in the dry season? In the rainy season?
ii. How much water is used by the family during each season? Who collects the water?
iii. Who takes animals to get water? How long does that take? iv. What would people do with the extra time it did not take so long to collect
water?
Cattle, Sheep, and Goats i. Do people herd their animals? How long does it take? Who does that? ii. Are grazing fields sufficiently available? How long do animals graze? When?
Where?
Disease/Hygiene i. What times of the year are women/men most healthy? Why? ii. What times of the year are they least healthy? Why? iii. What kinds of illness do they have at the least healthy times?
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iv. Comparing healthy and unhealthy periods, what differences are there in food availability, water, etc.?
Education/Literacy
i. When do children go to school? Do most children stay in the village during rainy season or go to school?
ii. At what age do children go to school? Why? Livelihood:
i. How much time do women spend on each kind of work they do in a day? Men? Older children? How does this change during the year?
ii. What are the primary income-generating/subsistence activities here? iii. When do men have the freest time? Women? Children? iv. What time do you get up every morning? What is the first thing you do? The
second? Etc.? v. What time do you go to sleep? How much time do you spend in the fields?
Gardens? House? Other places? How much time do you rest? vi. What other things you do if you had more time? How could you make more
time to do other things? vii. When do men meet? Where do they meet? What do they talk about? viii. When do women meet? Where do they meet? What do they talk about? ix. How many holidays (be’alat) are there in a month, or year? Religious and
local holidays? What do people do and do not do during holidays? Why? Why not?
A typical seasonal calendar would look like the following which is produced during the PRA done at a village called Shiguala of tabia Arato located to the east of Quiha, and produced by the men group.
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Table 2: Seasonal Calendar of Men group in Shiguala Village
Major Activities Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April May June July August
- - - - X X X - X X - -
- - - - - - - - - - X -
X - - - - - - - - - - X
- X X X - - - - - - - -
- X X X - - - - - - - -
- X X X - - - - - - - -
I. Agriculture
• Plowing
• Sowing
• Weeding
• Mowing
• Harvesting
• Collection of
straw
• Fencing
- - - - X - - - - - - -
II. Water and soil
conservation
- - - - X X - - - - - -
III. Daily Labour - - - X X X X X - - - -
IV. Petty trade X X X X X X X X X X - -
High
Medium
Food
Availability
Low
High
Medium
Health
Low
And a typical daily calendar would look like the following, which is produced by the women group of Agewo, of Rubafeleg tabia located to the north-west of the town of Atsbi.
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Table 3: Daily Calendar of Women Group in Agewo Village
Daily
Activities
Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. March April May June July August
6:00am House
cleaning, water
fetching and
breakfast
5:00am
House
cleaning,
water
fetching
and
breakfast
6:00am
House
cleaning,
water
fetching and
breakfast
8:00am Cattle
herding and
fire wood
collection
8:00am
-
12:00am
Mowing
8:00am –
2:00pm Soil
and water
conservation
8:00am
Cattle
herding and
fire wood
collection
8:00am –
2:00pm food
for work
8:00am –
2:00pm
community
development
work for one
week
8:00 –
12:00am
cattle herding
and fire wood
collection for
3 weeks
8:00am – 2:00pm
community
development work
for one week,
8:00 – 12:00am
weeding and
collection of local
lettuce from the field
for 3 weeks
8:00 – 12:00am
weeding
12:00 –
2:00pm Lunch
and coffee
2:00 –
4:00pm lunch
and coffee
1:00 –
3:00pm
lunch and
coffee
82:00 –
4:00pm
lunch and
coffee
2:00 –
4:00pm lunch
for one week,
12:00 –
2:00pm lunch
and coffee
12:00 – 2:00pm
Lunch and coffee
2:00 - 6:00pm
Cattle herding
and fire wood
collection
8:00 -
12:00
Mowing
3:00 –
6:00pm
preparing
animal
fodder such
as chopping
beles
(cactus
plant)
5:00 –
6:00pm
preparing
animal
fodder such
as chopping
beles (cactus
plant)
5:00 –
6:00pm
preparing
animal fodder
such as
chopping
beles (cactus
plant)
2:00 – 6:00pm
weeding
6:00 – 8:00pm
Dinner
preparation
Daily
Activities
9:00pm
Sleeping time
38
5.5. Activity Five - Transect Walk 1: Participants: PRA Team, KPC members: At least two from each of the two constituting two separate groups; Community: residents found along the way. 2. Methods: Step 1: Before this activity, the PRA Team and PRA Committee should select two routes through diverse sections of the village – one route going from one boundary to the opposite boundary, and the other route going in a perpendicular direction, like a cross. Depending on the distances involved, the PRA Team may decide to have two groups conduct this activity – one for each route. Step 2: Each group walks along their chosen route, taking time for brief and informal talks with residents, farmers and others they meet along the way. In each area which has a different land use or ecology, the group discusses how the land is currently used, how it was used in the past, problems and potential opportunities. Key land uses and features to note include:
• Agriculture: crop farms, gardening, animal raising • Forest: forest products, wild life, types of trees, area closures • Grazing lands: Type and size of grazing areas, cattle in the area • Water: Rivers, ponds, microdams and their use • Housing: Types of housing, materials used to construct houses • Community: Schools, clinic or health posts, roads, bridges, wells,
paths, churches, settlement pattern.
Important: The PRA Team should take special note of any issues regarding land ownership, or areas which may be inaccessible due to closures or being religious sites, etc. Step 3: Upon their return, PRA Team members prepare the Transect Walk graphic. Though usually only the graphic is completed to represent the community, the PRA Team may decide to do one for each route taken. 3. Points for Discussion/Semi Structured Interview for Transect Walk Agriculture/Gardens:
i. Where is agricultural land located in the village? What percentage of the land does it cover? Is there enough land for farming (how many ‘tsimdi’ or hectares on average)?
ii. What kinds of crops do people plant? iii. Are there any gardens? What vegetables and fruits do people grow? Are
there plants used for medicine? iv. Where do people get water for crops and gardens? Are there traditional and
modern irrigation schemes? How do people share water for drinking and irrigation?
v. What type of soil is there? Is the soil good or getting less productive? Do the farmers use any manure, compost, or chemical fertilizers? Pesticides?
39
vi. What types of fruit trees are grown in the village? vii. Where do people get seeds? How do they find out how to grow new
vegetable or other crops? viii. Are some of the crops sold? What crops and what percentage of the harvest?
If sold in the market, where and how are they transported? ix. What have they planned to do for the next year? What are some of the
problems which might be encountered in doing this? Forest/Wood Use:
i. Where is forest land/trees located in/around the village? What percentage of the land does it cover? What percentage is in “big trees”?
ii. Is it important to live near or be able to go to the forest? What do people get from the forest? Do they collect food? Resin?
iii. What problems will people have if this resource disappears? iv. Do they sell firewood or charcoal? v. When do they sell wood or other things from the forest, where do they sell?
What percentage of their income comes from that? Water Supply and Sanitation:
i. Where do people get water for drinking or cooking (rain water, river, stream, ponds, wells, springs, canals)? Where are they located? Who fetches water for drinking and cooking?
ii. Where do people wash clothes and bathe? iii. Where do animals get water in the rainy season? In the dry season? iv. Are there drilled wells? Hand-dug wells? Springs? Ponds? Where? Do they
provide enough good water? Who uses them? Why, Why not? v. How long does it take to collect water every day at this time of the year? In
the rainy season? Dry season? vi. When is the rainy season? How long does it last? When it dries up, where do
people go? vii. How do people keep drinking water? How does the water taste when kept in
covered containers? Do they treat it or boil it before drinking? viii. What sicknesses do people get from drinking unclean water? Do people in
the community think their water is clean or unclean? ix. Are there any latrines, what kind are they? Who built them? Who can use
them? Do people like them? If not, why? Society and Culture:
i. How does the settlement look like, scattered or nucleated? How far from or how close to the farm fields?
ii. Is settlement based on income or level of poverty or based on blood ties? iii. Are there inaccessible areas?
Transport/Infrastructure:
i. Are there roads connecting the village to other areas/villages? How far is the village from main roads? What kind of roads and means of transport are used within the village or to other areas?
40
ii. If there are roads, what is the condition of the roads in/around the village? How do they maintain the roads? What kind of problems do they have?
iii. What are the means of transport used to the market place? iv. Are there any plans to construct new roads or improve existing roads?
Community Infrastructure:
i. What kind of public buildings do they have in the village? School? Church? Bayto office? Health center?
ii. If someone wants to organize a meeting, where would it be held? iii. If the community wanted another public building, who would organize its
construction? Who would work? Who would pay for the materials and labour? iv. What institutions are there inside and outside the village that helped/can help
with this issue? How can the village request their assistance? v. Are there any plans for improving community buildings? What plans? vi. Where does the community meet? Are there recreation or sport centers?
Iron Smith/Wood Work
i. Are there any metal or wood works in the area? ii. If these services are not available where do people go for wood-work and
iron works? 5.6. Activity Six - Trend Lines 1. Participants: Team members, KPC members, 10 women, and 10 men 2. Methods: Step 1: Prepare flipcharts for trend lines such that on the x-axis the time period is
indicated and on the y-axis ‘high’, ‘middle’, and ‘low’ are shown so that it would be easy for participants to show the trends pertaining different variables
Step 2: The following variables will be used for drawing trend lines: population, Human health, rainfall pattern, food production, animal population, Forestry, and poverty. Use the questions that follow as a guide. It would be preferable if villagers can draw the Trend Lines themselves. Trend lines can be drawn beginning from the time participants well remember. Important: If there are other important areas which have changed significantly in the village (i.e. access, water quality, etc.), the groups may also wish to develop Tend Lines for these. Step 3: Using the completed Trend Line charts, the facilitator asks for explanations of
the changes – to identify underlying problems; solutions tried in the past; and how well these solutions worked.
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3. Issues for questions/discussions Group 1: Health, Population and Education Questions Health:
i. Was there a time in the past 40 years when many people in the community died? When? Who was mainly affected (children, women, men)? Why did this happen? What were some of your coping methods? Could this have been prevented? How?
ii. How has the general health of the population changed over time? When was it particularly good or bad? Why were some years better than other years? What did you do when health was generally poor? Can this be prevented? How?
iii. Were there any significant events in the past years that have had an impact on community health? What were they and when did they happen? Did these campaigns or other events mainly affect the health of children, women, men or all the community? How?
Population:
i. How has the community’s population changed over the past 40 years? Was there a time when it increased or decreased rapidly? Why? How did this affect the community? Why?
ii. Has there been a time when there was much population movement into or out of your village? When and why? Was this good or not? Where do these people come from or where do they go to? Why?
iii. Has there been a time when there were many births in one year? When? Why do you think that happened? Was there a time when there were many deaths? When and why?
Education:
i. How has education for children changed over the years? Are more children going to school now or did more children go to school in the past? Why? Is it better or worse? Why?
ii. Are more adults able to read and write now or in the past? Are there institutions that are helping with adult literacy? When did they become operational? How has this had an impact on the community?
Group 2: Food Production, Animal Health and Natural Resources Food Production:
i. Can you describe a time when crop production was good? Was not very good? Why do you think production was good or bad for that particular year? What did farmers do when harvest was poor? Did the methods used work? Why, Why not?
ii. Did you use fertilizer or pesticides in the past? What were they? How have they had an impact on crop production?
iii. Was there a time when your community began to try new crop method? When? What were they? Did they work? Why, why not?
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iv. Has the quality of the soil in your community remained the same over the past 40 years? How has it changed? Has it gotten better or worse? Why do you think that is the case? Can you do something about it? What?
v. How has the amount of land cultivated changed over the years? What was the reason for the changes? What would you like to see in the future?
vi. When did people begin growing vegetable gardens in you community? Are there some years that were better for vegetable production that other years? Why/not? What are the changes and explanations for changes in production? What were some of the solutions to poor production? How well did these work? How can this be improved?
Animal Health:
i. Was there a time when many animals died? When and why did this happen? What did your community do in this event? How well did it work? How can such deaths be prevented in the future?
ii. Were there outbreaks of diseases in certain animals? When? What kinds of diseases were these and which animals were affected? Could such deaths be prevented? Is your community prepared to prevent these diseases if they can be prevented?
iii. Is there a time when animal health was particularly good? When? Why do you think it was good?
iv. Was there a time when you did not have enough food to feed your animals? When was that? How did you solve this problem? Do you think it can be prevented? How? Is there a plan to prevent this from happening in the future?
v. How has the availability of domestic animals changed over the years? What were the reasons for the changes?
Natural Resources:
i. Was there a time when production/Collection of forest products was particularly good or bad? When? Why was it a good or bad year?
ii. Are there some items from the forest that are easier or harder to collect now than in the past? What are they? Why?
iii. What do people do if they cannot find items that they used to collect from the forest? How can the situation be improved?
Here are some of the trend lines generated during the PRA conducted at the villages:
43
1. Rainfall (Hidmo Village)
High -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medium ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1958 1968 1978 1984 1988 1998 2003
Year
2. Forest Cover (Awulo Village)
High
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medium
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Low --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1957/58 63 68 73 78 83 88 93 98 2003
Year
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3. Human Health (Shiguala Village)
High
Medium
Low
1966 68 78 84 88 93 98 2003
Year
5.7. Activity Seven - Focus Group on Health 1. Participants: Team (a female facilitator, one note-taker); Community (At least 10 women of preferably child bearing age, traditional birth attendants, traditional healers and medicine sellers) 2. Methods: Prior to this exercise, the facilitator and note-taker should study the questions below carefully. They should also prepare the meeting site, including preparing it so that participants can sit in a circle, and the facilitator and note taker can sit opposite each other. Step 1: Introduce yourself and the note taker and explain the purpose of the focus group discussion. Step 2: Begin discussion by asking questions like those below Important Reminder:
• The facilitator must not read the questions, but be familiar enough with them to ensure that all of the issues raised by these questions are addressed during group discussions;
• The facilitator must ensure that everyone participates actively, and that some members do not dominate the discussion
45
• The note taker must listen carefully and ensure that all issues are covered, and remind the facilitator if they are not.
• The not taker must record all identified problems, causes and solutions – especially noting unique practices or beliefs.
Step 3: Once all issues and areas are covered, thank the group for their ideas and remind them when the next PRA session will be. Important: If there was not enough time to cover all areas, arrange with some group members to continue discussions later.
3. Focus Group Discussion Points (questions) for discussion (Health, Hygiene and Nutrition) General Health:
i. What are the most common illnesses for women? Pregnant Women? Children? Men? What kind of symptoms does each illness have?
ii. What are the causes of the most common illnesses? (malaria, diarrhea, fever, respiratory problems, etc.)
iii. Have you heard about a pandemic named HIV/Aids. How has it affected you community?
iv. What do people do to protect themselves against disease? Do people give their children vaccinations? Where? How? Who helps them?
v. Which diseases can be treated in the village? How are they treated? Who treats?
vi. How many traditional healers and birth attendants live and work here? How did they learn their skills? How were they chosen to be a healer? Do they treat everyone or just some people? Do people from other villages come here to be treated? Do people from this village go to other villages to be treated? Where? How effective?
vii. For each major disease, what does it cost to be healed? What happens if someone is too poor to pay?
viii. How do the cures work? Are there other ways to treat them? ix. Which diseases cannot be treated in the village? How are they treated?
Where and how far do patients go for treatment? x. Where is how far is the nearest government health facility? How far? How
do people go? Any incidence of death on the way?
Maternal Health: i. Do women see a health person for prenatal care? Why? Why not? What
kind of services do they seek for prenatal care? ii. Who assists women when they give birth? iii. Have women been vaccinated? Children? iv. How many women have died after giving birth in the past few (three)
years? Why? Can this be prevented? How? v. How many women have had miscarriages in the past year? Why? Can this
be prevented? How?
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vi. How many women have had babies died within ten days after birth? How many women have died within ten days after giving birth? Why?
vii. How many babies were born in the last year? viii. How do women talk about their health, their baby’s health or their
children’s health? Are there problems related to this? What are they? What happened in the past? When do fathers get involved? Why?
Water use and Hygiene:
i. Where do people get drinking water? ii. Do people try to improve the quality of their drinking water? If yes, what
methods do they use? iii. Which source of water in your village is considered better for drinking?
Why? iv. Do animals and humans use the same kind and place of drinking water? v. How often do people wash their clothes? Do they wash hands before and
after eating? How often do they bathe? Do people use soaps? For what purposes?
vi. Do parents teach their children about health and hygiene? If so, do most children remember these messages? Do they practice them?
vii. How do people store food items (crops, meat, vegetables, etc.)? Does this work well? Do they ever get sick from eating food that tastes bad? Why?
Sanitation:
i. Where do people dispose of human waste? Are there families with latrines? If so, their type and location?
ii. Where do people keep domestic animals? What happens to their waste? Nutrition:
i. What do people feed themselves and their children to stay healthy? What is more preferable to eat? Do people get their preference?
ii. How many meals per day? What kinds of food are eaten at each meal? What differences are there in the type of food that men, women, children and infants eat? Are different types of foods used in different periods/season? If yes specify?
iii. What would people like to see happen to improve the quality and quantity of food available? How can this be done?
iv. What special foods do women eat during pregnancy? During lactation? What foods do they avoid? Why?
v. Do women breastfeed their babies? When? For how long? Why? vi. At what age do infants start to get supplementary foods other than breast
milk? What kinds of food do they avoid? Why? Birth Spacing:
i. How many children do most families have? Is this a good number? Is it better to have more or fewer than that? Why?
ii. What do women do to stop or postpone birth if they want? Where do they learn about it? Is it important? Why or why not? Are men interested in limiting family size or birth spacing? Why?
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5.8. Activity Eight - Focus Group on Agriculture 1. Participants: Team: One facilitator, one note taker; Community: Group of at least 10 men and members of the KPC. 2. Methods: Prior to this exercise, the facilitator and note taker should study the questions below carefully. They should also prepare the meeting site so that people can sit in a circle, and the facilitator and note taker can sit opposite each other. Step 1: Introduce yourself and the note taker and explain the purpose of the focus
discussion. Step 2: Begin discussion by asking questions like those below. Important Reminder:
• The facilitator must not read the questions, but be familiar enough with them to ensure that all of the issues raised by these questions are addressed during group discussions;
• The facilitator must ensure that everyone participates actively, and that some members do not dominate discussions;
• The note taker must listen carefully and ensure that all questions are covered, and remind the facilitator if they are not;
• The note taker must record all identified problems, causes and solutions – especially noting unique practices or beliefs.
Step 3: Once all issues and areas are covered, thank the group for their ideas and remind them when the next PRA session will be. Important: If there was not enough time to cover all areas, arrange with some group members to continue discussion later. 3. Points (questions) for discussion on Focus Group for Agriculture, Gardens and Livestock. General Agriculture:
i. What is the average number of hectares (or in Tsimad) per family? What part of the farm land is used on average for ‘Teff’, ‘Wheat’, ‘Maize’, ‘Barley’, etc.
ii. Does every family in the village have land? How is land distributed to residents? When was the last time land was distributed? Is the existing land sufficient for the population? If not, why not?
iii. Is there any irrigation done in the community? Was there any irrigation during the Derg period, during the Imperial period? If yes, does any of them still exist or continue to function? What problems are encountered in the irrigational activities? Why?
48
iv. Are there family and community ponds in the village? How many of each? When were they made? How have they been made? How acceptable are they? How useful have they been so far?
v. Are there any plans for irrigation projects in the future? Where and when? vi. Where do people get water for their crops? In case of irrigation, how do they
transport the water to the field? vii. Have people used High Yielding Varieties? Their type and specific names?
How were they obtained? How much? How useful have they been? viii. Are villagers using traditional manure, how big and how useful? Have people
been using chemical fertilizers? What type? How useful have they been? ix. Do people use pesticides? What kind? Where is it obtained? x. How much of the agricultural production is for home use? How much is sold?
Where is it sold? Do people make money or lose money when they sell their produce? Are there some crops which are specifically grown for sale? What are they?
xi. Are more people growing crops than before or have some/many people changed to other types of work like cutting wood?
xii. What are the biggest problems faced by farmers? Have they talked about how to solve the problems within the community? Do people think they need outside assistance? If so, who do they expect from?
Family Gardens:
i. Do many families grow vegetables and/or fruit crops at their homes? What are the types of vegetables or fruits grown in the village?
ii. Who does most of the work in the family gardens? Who helps? iii. What percentage do they keep and what percentage do they sell? For how
much? iv. Where do people buy seeds for gardens? v. What are the hardest problems about growing vegetables? (At home or in
the field?) vi. Do people use fertilizer? What kind? How is it applied and how much is
used? vii. Do people use pesticides? viii. Are people interested in growing different types of fruits and vegetables?
Are people in the village used to eating vegetables and fruits? What kind? ix. Do people use special equipment (like sprayers, sprinklers, etc.) to grow
vegetables? Livestock/Animals
i. What kind of animals do people in the village raise? What are they used for – work, food, selling them or their products?
ii. What is the average possession of animals in the village? Cow, ox, sheep, goat, chicken, etc.?
iii. Is there a village veterinarian or someone who knows much about animal health? Have they been specially trained? By whom?
iv. Have there been problems with animal diseases in the past? How about last year and this year?
49
v. Are the problems with the big animals or with the small animals or all the animals?
vi. Do people vaccinate their animals every year? Some years? Never? Does anyone from outside the village help with animal vaccinations? From inside the village?
vii. How many animals (cattle for instance) die on average in a year? Why? viii. What do people think are the biggest problems with their animals? What
can they do about these problems? Did they do things in the past that they do not do now? If so, why don’t they do them?
ix. Who do the people think should solve these problems, the people in the village? The bureau of agriculture? Someone else?
5.9. Activity Nine - Focus Group on Education 1. Participants: PRA Team (one facilitator, one note taker); Community (5 men and 5 women), plus members of the KPC. It is good to include the school director (if applicable), and members of the educational committee. 2. Methods: Prior to this exercise, the facilitator and note taker should study the questions below carefully. They should also prepare the meeting site, including preparing it so that participants can sit in a circle, and the facilitator and note taker can sit opposite each other. Step 1: Introduce yourself and the note taker and explain the purpose of the focus
group discussion. Step 2: Begin discussions by asking questions like those below:
Important Reminder:
• The facilitator must not read the questions, but be familiar enough with them to ensure that all of the issues raised by these questions are addressed during group discussions.
• The facilitator must ensure that everyone participates actively, and that some members do not dominate discussions
• The note taker must listen carefully and ensure that all questions are covered, and remind the facilitator if they are not
• The note taker must record all identified problems, causes and solutions – especially noting unique practices or beliefs.
Step 3: Once all issues and areas are covered, thank the group for their ideas and remind them when the next PRA session will be. Important: If there was not enough time to cover all areas, arrange with some group members to continue discussion later.
50
3. Points for discussion, Focus Group on Education Primary Education:
i. Is primary education available to the children in the community? Where is the school located? What grades are taught at the school? When does it start and end?
ii. Is the school found within the ‘Kushet’ or Tabia? If not found in the Tabia or Kushet, where is the nearest school located? How many hours does it take for children from this village to get there?
iii. If located in the ‘kushet’ or ‘Tabia’, is the school building in good condition? If not, are there plans to fix it? How many classrooms are there? Are there enough for all the students?
iv. How many students are there? Girls? Boys? Do parents accept the participation of girls?
v. Do most of the school age children attend school regularly? If not, why not?
vi. How many teachers are there? Do they come to teach everyday? How many of the teachers live in the village (at least during the school year)? About how many days a month is the school open?
vii. If the nearest school only provides classes through the first few grades, where do they go after that? How long does it take to get there? How do they get there?
viii. How many children finish primary school? Secondary? Tertiary/college/university?
ix. Do the students think the teachers are helpful? Do the parents think teachers are well trained and dedicated?
x. Does the community do anything to help teachers? xi. What are the main problems regarding education? What could the
community do to minimize the impact of the major problems? Adult Education:
i. Can some or most of the adults in the village sign their names? How many adult women read and write? Adult men? How did they acquire the skill? What do they use these skills for? Would more adults like to learn to read and write?
ii. Is there some kind of class available in the community for adults who want to learn? Can children who may not go to school during the day go to these classes?
iii. Are there volunteer teachers or student teachers or priest teachers who can teach adults to read and write?
iv. Are there agencies from outside the village helping educational activities in the village? If so, could they help adults that want to learn to read and write?
Non-Formal Education:
i. How do people learn new things in this village? Do they share information in meetings? During church prayers? Other gatherings like ‘edir’, ‘ekub’, ‘tsebel’, mourning, etc? How is this done?
51
ii. Are there outside groups who come to the community to help people learn new things? If so, what kind of things do they help with?
iii. Would many people in the village be interested in learning new things by working together in groups with someone from outside the village? Learn by doing things instead of just listening to someone just talk?
iv. What kind of things would women be interested in learning? How about men?
v. Do people realize that this PRA is a kind of non-formal education and a chance for the community to decide what other things they would learn and how to organize a request for training?
vi. What do people think is the best way to learn new things? When is the best time to do this?
5.10. Activity Ten - Focus group on Market, Credit, Cooperatives and non-farm
Activities. 1. Participants: PRA Team (one note taker and one facilitator), community (10-15 members of both sexes), KPC members. Participants from the community and KPC need to be involved in at least one of the activities (marketing, borrowing, lending, cooperative membership, non-farm activities). 2. Method: Step 1. discuss on issues related to marketing; Step 2. discuss on issues related to credit; Step 3. discuss on issues related to Cooperatives; Step 4. discuss on issues related to non-farm activities (refer to the following points for
discussion of each of the issues). 3. Issues for Discussion Market:
i. What are the places (areas) that you use for selling your products and buying your necessities?
ii. Which of the markets do you often use? Why? iii. How far are the market places? iv. How many days do you go to the market place in a week, month, year?
What for do you go to the market place? v. What kind of transportation do you use? Most often? Occasionally? vi. What items do you sell? The most? Second most? Etc.? Why? vii. What are the items you buy? The most? Second most? Etc.? Why viii. What problems have you encountered in the market pertaining location,
price, quality, security, etc.? ix. How should these problems be resolved?
Credit: i. Have you ever taken credit? What are the sources of credit that you use? ii. Are credit services available in your kushet? If not how far do you have to
go to obtain credit? iii. Which of the sources of credit do you like most? Why? Why not?
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iv. Have you ever taken credit from DECSI? For how long? v. What do you use the money you borrowed from DECSI? The most,
second most, etc.? From others? Do you use the entire money for the purpose you told your lenders?
vi. How do you evaluate the group lending approach used by DECSI? Why? Why not? Have you ever paid money because your group members failed to repay? How frequent? How much?
vii. Is the interest rate charged by the lenders ok? Why, why not? viii. What benefits did you get from borrowing, or what problems have you
faced? ix. What problems are there in the process of borrowing and repaying? x. What solutions do you propose for the problems?
Cooperatives: i. Do you have any cooperative in the kushet? When was it established?
How was it established? ii. What activities is the cooperative involved in? What items does it sell to
the community? Does it purchase some items from the community? In what specific areas has the cooperative been helpful, strong, or weak? Why?
iii. What benefits did you get from the cooperative? What problems have you faced as a result of the cooperative?
iv. What is your overall evaluation of the cooperative? Problems and possible solutions?
Non-farm Activities i. Do you do non farm activities? What are these activities? ii. When do you do the non farm activities (like daily labour)? Why? iii. Do you feel that there are plenty of opportunities for non farm works?
Like what? iv. What do you use these activities for? Coping mechanism? Consumption
smoothing? Etc. v. How much income do you derive from these activities, say per year? vi. Who participates in these activities? The young? The elderly? Women? vii. How helpful or problematic has it been? viii. Problems and possible solutions?
5.11. Activity Eleven -Village Institutions Diagram 1. Participants: PRA Team (one facilitator and one note taker); Community (a group of 15-20 men and women long time residents) 2. Methods: Step 1: Draw one large circle on a big paper and explain that this represents the
community. Using questions such as those listed in the following section, engage participants in a discussion about organizations or groups which exist in the village (e.g. women’s associations, village development committees, parent
53
associations, ‘Edir’, etc.). Ask participants to describe the work of each – its composition, and its importance to the community. For each organization or group, draw one circle within the larger ‘community circle’.
Note: Show groups considered more important by making their circle a larger
size. If some groups work together, these can be shown to overlap. The facilitator can use other techniques to show other differences among these groups (i.e., a dotted line to show a group that doesn’t function, a box to indicate a private enterprise, or a double line to indicate a government agency).
Step 2: Also using the questions below, ask participants to list organizations or groups
from outside the village which periodically work in or near the community. Such groups include government agencies, NGOs, or private sector entities. Ask participants to briefly describe the work of these groups, with whom they work in the community, and their degree of importance. Represent each outside organization or group by drawing a circle outside the larger ‘community circle’. Show ones considered more important by making them a large size. If some groups work together, these can also be shown to overlap.
3. Points for discussion on village institutions Village Groups:
i. What groups or organizations exist in the village for each of the following areas?
• Civil administration (i.e., village administration, village court, etc.) • Religious organization/association • General village development (i.e., village development committee) • Agriculture (e.g., water administrator or ‘abo may’) • Women affairs (e.g., women’s association) • Cultural activities (e.g., singers group, dancers group) • Education (e.g., parents education committee, adult literacy
committee)
• Others (e.g., village militia) ii. How long has each group been in existence? iii. Who belongs to each group? How many women and men? Can any one
join? If not, why not? iv. What does each group do? How often do they meet? v. How well does each group function? vi. Do these groups ever work together? Why? Why not? vii. Which group is most important? Why? Which is the next most important?
Why? viii. What other groups of importance to the community existed in the past?
Why do they no longer exist? ix. If the village wants to undertake a development project (e.g., repair of
school) who organizes this work? x. If there is a conflict or disagreement within community members how is it
solved or handled?
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Outside Organization: i. What governmental agencies regularly work in the community? Now? In
the past? What did they do, or what are they currently doing? ii. What NGOs (local or international) organizations work or have worked
within the community? What did or have they done? iii. Did the outside groups work with groups or people in the village? Which
ones? Why, why not? iv. Do you know of any plans that the above or other agencies have to work in
the community? What do they plan to do? With whom? A typical village institutions diagram would look like the one shown below which is produced during the PRA work conducted at Awulo.
Figure 3: Village institutions of Awulo
5.12. Activity Twelve - Participatory Wealth Ranking 1 Participants: PRA Team (all members), KPC (all members), community members (15 to 20 equally from both sexes and from different income groups)
Kushet Administration
Tabia Administration
Kushet Social Court
Agricultural Cadre/Peasant Assistant
Development Agent Irrigation
service Promotion Committee
Education
Guidance
Committee
Service Cooperatives
Youth/Women Ass.
Health Fana/TBA
Parish Council
Edir Committeee
Security Committee
Wereda agriculture Police
Veterinary Clinic
wereda health REST/DECSI
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2. Method: Step 1. Distribute beads (pieces of stones) to all participants (using some proportion so that one bead represents say 10 families) and let them individually divide the community into ‘poor’, ‘middle’, and ‘rich’ (or many more groups depending on the preference of the participants) by casting their beads in separate areas prepared for the purpose. Step 2. Those who cast their beads should be kept in another place so that they could not influence each other. Step 3. Summarize the result and announce them to the participants in group. Step 4. Allow the community members to discuss if the result obtained reflects their feelings. If there are serious misrepresentations or biases, find a different mechanism (like repeating the process with another group) Step 5. Let the community members discuss and determine what criteria they have used to divide the community into ‘poor’, ‘middle’, or ‘rich. 5.13. Activity Thirteen - Community Problem Analysis 1. Participants: PRA Team (all team members, including facilitator and note-taker); KPC
(all members); Community (at least 30 villagers from all social groups, including key leaders such as religious leaders and local chiefs)
2. Methods: Step 1: Before this activity, the PRA Team and the Village PRA Committee prepares the
Problems Analysis Chart as discussed earlier. This chart and all other tables, maps and graphics done on big paper are put up around the meeting areas.
Step 2: Explain that based on all of the previous discussions and activities, the PRA
Team and KPC have organized the data collected on the PRA Analysis Chart. This chart shows the major problems, causes and solutions for each key technical area. As discussed above, these technical areas may vary depending on results of data collection, but generally include: health; agriculture; water supply; environment; culture and religion; and infrastructure.
Step 3: For each technical area, the PRA Team member responsible for that area
presents the key problems, causes and solutions identified. In this presentation, it is important to:
• Make the presentation slowly and clearly. This may be the first time many have seen all of this information;
• Make the link between the Problem Analysis Chart and the data collected during all of the previous activities.
• Encourage community members to add other problems, causes or possible solutions. Try to have the community reach a consensus that those presented are appropriate.
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NOTE: The Problem Analysis Chart and all other maps, tables and other graphics developed earlier should be made available. The Problem Analysis Chart has to be presented in the following manner using the information gathered during the PRA exercise:
Problems (different problem areas by sub topic)
Causes (indicate the causes as indicated in the course of the PRA)
Possible Solutions
5.14. Activity Fourteen - Community Problem Ranking 1. Participants: PRA Team (one facilitator and one note taker); Community (the KPC and at least 30
other participants) 2. Methods: Step 1: Prior to this exercise, the PRA team meets with the KPC to list the major
problems identified by the community, and again discusses them during the Problem Analysis session. Based on these discussions, prepare the Problem Ranking Chart by listing the major problems twice – once in the left-hand column and once on the top row (see table below). This may be called the problem matrix.
Step 2: Explain why this exercise is being done, how the chart was developed, and how
it will be completed. Ask participants if they agree with the problems listed – or if they think some should be deleted or others added.
Step 3: Read out the first problem on the first row and compare it with the problems on
the columns one by one (of course, no need to compare a problem with itself) by asking participants which problem is more important to solve first and why. Write this problems in the space provided (note majority rule if everyone does not agree). Continue this procedure for each problem listed on the chart.
Step 4: Once all of the spaces have been filled, ask participants to count the number of
times each problem is prioritized compared to the others row wise. Write this number in the ‘count’ column, and repeat this procedure for each problem listed.
Step 5: Once counting is finalized for each problem, complete the ‘rank’ column by
writing ‘1’ for the problem(s) with the highest count, ‘2’ for the problem(s) with the next highest count, etc.
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Note: it is possible that some problems will have the same count and, consequently the same rank. Also, if a problem has a count of ‘0’, it is still a priority – just lower than other problems.
Example of Community Problem Ranking
Problem A B C D E Count Rank
A
B
C
D
E
The following table summarizes the community problem ranking exercise done by the community during the PRA done at Hidmo.
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Water
Shortage
Animal
Health
Feed
Shortag
e
Market
Distance
Transport
Problem
Unit of
Meas.
Thievery Cooperative
Leadership
Credit
Problem
Medicine
Shortage
Over 10
Children
Akushela
Dam
Count Rank
Water Shortage *** R R R R R R R R R R R 11 1st
Animal Health C *** R R R R R R R C R R 9 3rd
Feed Shortage C C *** R R R R R R C C R 7 4th
Market
Distance
C C C *** C R R R R C C R 5 7th
Transport
Problem
C C C R *** R R R R C R R 7 4th
Unit of
Measurement
C C C C C *** C C C C C C 0 12th
Thievery in
Market Place
C C C C C R *** R C C C R 3 9th
Cooperative
Leadership
C C C C C R C *** C C C C 1 11th
Credit Problem C C C C C R R R *** C R C 4 8th
Medicine
Shortage
C R R R R R R R R *** R R 10 2nd
Over 10
Children
C C R R C R R R C C *** R 6 6th
Akushela Dam
not giving the
required result
C C C C C R C R R C C *** 3 9th
R indicates that the problem indicated in the row is considered more pressing than the one shown in the column.
C shows that the problem in the column is more pressing than its counterpart in the row
Table 4: Problem Ranking – Awulo Village
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5.15. Activity Fifteen - Community Action Plan 1. Participants: Team (all team members including two note takers); KPC, and and at least 30 other participants. 2. Methods: Prior to this session, PRA Team members prepare a Community Action Plan (CAP) chart which lists the problems, causes and solutions identified by the community during previous exercises (see sample below). Step 1: Read out each problem, its causes and solutions, and ask community members
if these are accurate. Step 2: Ask participants to rank the solutions in order of what the community would like
to work first, second, etc. Note the rank of each solution by adding a number to the left.
Step 3: Beginning with the first solution, ask participants who in the community will be responsible for its implementation. Then ask if they feel outside assitance is needed to implement that solution (i.e., from the government or an NGO). Note each of their responses in the appropriate ‘who will do what’ column. Step 4: For each solution, ask participants to discuss and agree on a time for its implementation and write it in the ‘when’ column. Step 5: Continue in a similar manner for each identified solution. Step 6: Upon completion of the above, ask participants to confirm their agreement with the final CAP especially concerning activities which do not require outside assistance. Format of Community Action Plan
Who will do what Problem Cause Solution
Community Government NGO Others
When
Xx
Yy
Zz
Bb
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Here is a CAP produced by the community at Hidmo for the most pressing problems
Table 5: Community Action Plan of Hidmo Village
Who should do what S. No. Problem Causes of the problem Possible Solutions Community Government NGOs and others
When
Conservation of
forest resource
• Conserve trees
• Cooperate with the
‘Trees Chairperson’ [‘abo gereb’]
• Not to cut trees
• Educate the
community
• Follow up • Assign forest guards
• Educate the community
• Financial Support
2004/05
Harvest any
drop of water: • Water banker
• Ponds
(‘horeye’) • Water
diversion
• Prevent
evaporation through
shades
Preparation of bankers,
and ponds; divert water for better use; making
shades above ponds, etc.
• Supplying plastic for
ponds • Supplying cement
• Professional Advice
and follow up
• Implement food for work
• Professional Advice
2004/05
Cementing
Aqushela microdam so
that it could hold water
• Free Labour
• Financial contribution
• Professional support
• Financial and
material support
• Professional support
• Financial and material
support
2004/05
1 Shortage
of Water
• Lack of rain
water and its being
erratic • Lack of
mountains (location
being low land) • Lack of forest
cover
Lifting water from Tekeze
River and make use of Lift
irrigation
• Making canals
• Financial contribution
• Lobbying Tekeze Hydropower Project to
extend assistance
• Professional support
• Financial and
material support
• Professional support
• Financial and material
support • Generator and other
materials support (from
the Project)
2004/05
2 Lack of
Medicine
The health post does
not get enough amount and type of
medicine
Increasing
supply of medicine
(particularly on
Request the health post
and relevant bodies to increase supply
Supply medicine to the
health post
Medicine support 2004/05
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Tuberculosis,
and Malaria)
3 Lack of
Animal Health
Services
• Unavailability of
Animal Health
Service giving unit in the village
vicinity (the existing service
given once a month is
insufficient) • Animal Health
service is not
provided if the number of animals
is less that 50
Establishing
Animal health center in the
village
Design
mechanism where service is
given for individual
animals
Training
selected community
member on animal health
Preparing the area for
animal health service
Selecting trainees
Professional support
Medicine
Medical materials
Provision of animal health service on
individual basis
Provision of training
Professional support
Medicine
Medical materials
Provision of training
2004/05
4 Shortage of Animal
feed
Large number of livestock
Conversion of grass
land into farm land
Decrease number of
livestock
Depend on
lesser number and better
quality livestock
Acknowledge the need to have smaller number and
better quality livestock
Decrease possessions of
livestock
Education on the need to focus on quality
Training on better use
of livestock
Education on the need to focus on quality
Training on better use of
livestock
2004/05
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5.16. Activity Sixteen - PRA Evaluation and Close up
1. Participants: PRA Team (all members with one facilitator and one note taker), KPC (all members);
Community (as many community members as possible) 2. Methods: Step 1: Explain that as the final activity, the PRA Team would like to have the
community’s suggestions on how to improve the PRA process. As a part of this activity, the facilitator may wish to restate the objectives of the PRA; i.e.,
• To organize information on the village;
• To organize this knowledge; • To identify and prioritize local development needs; • To develop a CAP which responds to these needs.
Step 2: The following questions may guide discussion:
• Do people feel PRA objectives were met? Why? Why not? • Was there enough time for the community members to both participate
in the PRA as well as do their regular duties.
• Was there enough time to do all the activities properly • Does the CAP adequately address all the main problems or were some
omitted?
• Did everyone feel as though they could contribute freely and equally? • Was the PRA schedule clearly presented? • Were the meeting sites well prepared?
Step 3: Thank community members for their participation 5.17 Activity Seventeen – Report Writing The PRA report must be fully written within 20 days of the completion of the PRA. The charts prepared and the notes taken will be used to make the final PRA report.
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REFERENCES
Huysman, S., Crommelynck, A., Vanoost, K. and Tollens E. (1999), Food Security in
Kagara Region: Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) Results, KAFOSEC – Research
Project, Report Nr2;
Instituto de Permacultura Cerrado-Pantanal, Participatory Rural Appraisal.
http://www.tortuga.com/permacultura/Participation/pra.htm.
Nevin S. Scrimshaw and Gary R. Gleason (1992), Rapid Assessment Procedures –
Qualitative Methodologies for Planning and Evaluation of Health Related Programmes, at
http://www.unu.edu/Unupress/food2/UIN08e00.htm;
Partners for Development, Field Manual for Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA).
Provention Concertium, CRA Toolkit Participation Resources, at
www.proventionconcertium.org/?pageid=48
Chambers Robert (2004), Notes for Participants in PRA/PLA Familiarization Workshop in
2004, at www.ids.ac.uk/ids/paricip/research/pra/pranotes04.pdf
Socioeconomic Research Team (2006), PRA Report of Selected Villages in Tigray,
Mimeo.
World Bank (1996), The World Bank Participatory Sourcebook, the World Bank,
Washington D.C.