participatory rapid appraisal

Participatory Rapid Appraisal

Ronel D. CañaStudent

Joselito D. Tucit, M. Sc.Professor

A report inAgricultural Extension 220 – Farming

Systems Development

Introduction

Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA):• a growing combination of approaches and

methods that enable vulnerable people to share, enhance, and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and act and to monitor and evaluate.

Introduction

Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA):• first developed in India and Kenya during the

1980s; it has been mainly used by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on the grass-roots level.

Introduction

Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA):• emphasizes empowering local people to

assume an active role in analyzing their own living conditions, problems, and potentials in order to seek a change in their situation.

Introduction

Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA):• an important principle of PRA is to share the

results of the analysis between the PRA team and the community members by visualization, public presentations and discussions during meetings.

What is Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA)?

• Participatory Rapid Appraisal is an intensive, systematic but semi-structured learning experience carried out in a community by a multi-disciplinary team which includes community members.


The results of the PRA can be used for:

• Needs assessment;• Feasibility studies;• Identifying priorities for development activities;• Implementing development activities where new

information needs to be collected;• Monitoring or evaluating development activities.


The conduct o PRA will require the following:

• Participation;• Respect for community members;• Interest in what they know, say, show, and do;• Patience, without rushing and interrupting;• Listening, not lecturing;• Humility;• Methods which empower community members to

express, share, enhance and analyze their knowledge.

Main Features of PRA

Following are the main features of PRA:

• Triangulation;• Multidisciplinary team;• Mix of Techniques;• Flexibility and informality;• “In the community” approach;• On the spot analysis;• Self-criticism.

PRA ad versus Survey ResearchPRA Survey Research

• Short time Long time• Low cost High cost• Flexible Fixed• High participation Low participation• On-the-spot analysis Heavy statistical analysis• Semi-structured interviews Formal questionnaires and group discussions• Opportunity sample Random sample• Multi-disciplinary team Enumerators• Non-hierarchical Hierarchical • Best for learning and understanding Best for gathering representative,• rural peoples’ opinions, behaviors quantitative data and statistical

analysis• and attitudes

Dangers of PRA

Following are the potential causes for the failure of PRA:

• Difficulty of finding the right team;• Going too quickly may lead to superficiality;• Desire for statistics and quantitative data;• Desire for the security of a fixed questionnaire;• Difficulty of finding the right questions to ask;• Difficulty of finding the poorest and least educated, especially

women;;• Failure to involve community members;• Lack of rapport with the community;• Failure to listen and lack of humility and respect;

Dangers of PRA


• Seeing only a part of the situation and not getting the full picture;

• Making value judgment about others;• Being misled by myth and gossip;• Generalizing based on too little information or too

few informants;• Overlooking the invisible;

Dangers of PRA


• Lecturing instead of listening and learning;• Raising expectations in the community where

the PRA is carried out;• Imposing the idea of the PRA team in an issue;• All male and all-female teams;• If the approach is too little;

PRA and Other Community Development Initiatives

Figure 1. Diagram showing the Project Cycle.

Participation

(PRA)

Needs Assessment

Evaluation

Monitoring Implementation

Planning

Tools and Techniques of PRA

• Direct observation – is systematically observing objects, events, processes, relationships or people and recording these observations. Direct observation is a good way to cross-check respondent’s answers. Use a checklist to do observations systematically. The steps are:– Think about the objectives and broad topics of the

PRA;– Identify indicators which you can asses through direct

observation;– List down the indicators.


• Review of secondary data sources – secondary sources are sources of information that are relevant to the area or subject of the planned PRA and are available in published or unpublished form;


• Construction of diagrams – a diagram is any simple model which presents information in an easily understandable visual form. Diagrams are constructed to:– Greatly simplify complex information;– Show/picture an analytical procedure;– Facilitate communication;– Stimulate discussion;– Increase consensus among members;– Involve community members and to discover their views

and categories by encouraging them to draw diagrams of their own;

Tools of PRA: Diagrams

• Seasonal calendar – a calendar showing the main activities, problems and opportunities throughout the annual cycle in diagrammatic form (multi-layer diagrams in one sheet). It helps identify the events that have impact on the peoples’ lives. Information in the calendar include dates, events, cash flow and even input prices;


• Semi-structured interviews – is a guided interview where only some of the questions are predetermined and new questions come up during the interview. The interviewer prepares a list of topics and questions rather than a fixed questionnaire. The targets are individuals, key informants and focus groups;


• Time trends – are quantitative changes over time and can be used for many variables (those that have impact to the lives of the people on the area). Examples are input prices, rainfall, livestock population, etc.).


• Historical profile – chronological list of events in the community. This reveals important information for understanding the present situation in a community;

• Daily routine/daily activity profile – collection of day-to-day activities of community members;

• Flow diagram – this diagram shows cause, effects and relationships between key variables;

• Venn diagram – shows key institutions and individuals in a community and their relationships and importance for decision making;


• Drawing maps and taking photographs – drawn maps of the area are sources of spatial information in the area, and taking photos will show the features of the area. An ideal method for mapping is to conduct “participatory mapping”. While “transect mapping” is mapping of the main land use zones of the area (Includes Soil, land use, crops and vegetation, problems and opportunities – presented in linear distance along the transect path).


The maps drawn and photos taken may be done for topics such as:• Demography• Social and residential stratification;• Use of natural resources;• Fields and land use;• Spatial arrangement of houses and use of space;• Mobility;• Water;• Soils.


Analysis group discussion – also, the focus group discussion where, the participants are allowed to conduct a free discussion on important and related topics. Rules for analysis group discussion are:• Listen• Learn• Facilitate• Don’t dominate• Don’t lecture• Don’t interrupt• Respect people’s opinions


• Ranking – ranking or scoring is placing something in order. This complements semi-structured interviewing by generating basic information which leads to more direct questioning. o Preference ranking;o Pairwise ranking;o Direct matrix ranking; andoWealth ranking.


• Innovation assessment – helps to asses and prioritizes possible options for development activities. It also identifies the innovation (intervention) and its implementation. This activity is done after the analysis group discussion;


• Sustainability analysis – this is useful for the periodic review of development activities. Without collection of information, this sharpens the group’s analytical skills and brings out important issues. The questions to be answered are:o Activity;o Goals/Objectives;o Output indicators;o Impact indicators;o Strengths;o Weaknesses;o What should we continue doing?o What should we start doing?o What should we stop doing?

Writing the PRA Report

• As the final part of the PRA, the report should be prepared for later presentation. The report will contain the proceedings and results of the conducted activities. Also contained in the report are the recommendations and action plans.

Writing the PRA Report

Considerations in preparing and presenting the report are the following:o Who will read the report (community, government,

NGOs, donors)?o What will the report be used for?o What should the report contain?o How should the information be presented?o Who will write the report?

Writing the PRA report follows common technical writing principles, guidelines and formats.

With that, I would like to extend my deepest appreciation and recognition for your valuable attention to the rendition

of this report session.

Thank you!

Ronel D. Caña, MSA-to-beMud Creek (Sapang Putik), San Ildefonso, Bulacan

0927-210-1341 [email protected]

participatory rapid appraisal

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