Participatory rural appraisal
Encyclopedia
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International development
International development or global development is a concept that lacks a universally accepted definition, but it is most used in a holistic and multi-disciplinary context of human development — the development of greater quality of life for humans...
. The approach aims to incorporate the knowledge and opinions of rural people in the planning and management of development projects and programmes.
Origins of participatory rural appraisal
The roots of PRA techniques can be traced to the activist adult education methods of Paulo FreirePaulo Freire
Paulo Reglus Neves Freire was a Brazilian educator and influential theorist of critical pedagogy.-Biography:...
and the study clubs of the Antigonish Movement
Antigonish Movement
The Antigonish Movement blended adult education, co-operatives, microfinance and rural community development to help small, resource-based communities around Canada’s Maritimes improve their economic and social circumstances. A group of priests and educators, including Father Jimmy Tompkins, Father...
. In this view, an actively involved and empowered local population is essential to successful rural community development. Robert Chambers
Robert Chambers (development scholar)
- His approach:Since the 1980s, he has been one of the leading advocates for putting the poor, destitute and marginalised at the centre of the processes of development policy. In particular he argues they should be taken into account when the development problem is identified, policy formulated and...
, a key exponent of PRA, argues that the approach owes much to "the Freirian theme, that poor and exploited people can and should be enabled to analyze their own reality."
By the early 1980s, there was growing dissatisfaction among development experts with both the reductionism of formal surveys, and the biases of typical field visits. In 1983, Robert Chambers, a Fellow at the Institute of Development Studies (UK), used the term Rapid Rural Appraisal to describe techniques that could bring about a 'reversal of learning' . Two years later, the first international conference to share experiences relating to RRA was held in Thailand . This was followed by a rapid growth in the development of methods that involved rural people in examining their own problems, setting their own goals, and monitoring their own achievements. By the mid 1990’s, the term RRA had been replaced by a number of other terms including ‘Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)’ and ‘Participatory Learning and Action’ (PLA).
Chambers acknowledges that the significant breakthroughs and innovations that informed the methodology were not his, but that development practitioners in India, Africa and elsewhere were responsible for this. Practitioners such as James Mascarenhas, Parmesh Shah, Meera Kaul, John Devavaram and others in India collaborated with Chambers to explore emerging techniques and tools. These early pioneers were responsible for the spread of PRA to Africa and elsewhere. In Africa, the methodology found enthusiastic advocates in Kenya (Charity Kabutha, Daniel Mwayaya), South Africa (Kamal Laldas Singh
Kamal Laldas Singh
Kamal Laldas Singh is a South African development activist who has become known internationally for his work on participatory methodologies.-Early life:...
and others), Zimbabwe (Sam Chimbuya, Saiti Makuku), Ghana (Tony Dogbe). Chambers raised funding for South-South Exchanges which were seminal to the internationalisation of the PRA community of practice. Kamal Laldas Singh
Kamal Laldas Singh
Kamal Laldas Singh is a South African development activist who has become known internationally for his work on participatory methodologies.-Early life:...
who joined Chambers at the IDS, helped catalyse the South-South and in-country networking that attempted to encourage reflection and learning amongst practitioners. The rapid spread and adoption of the methodology led to issues of abuse and quality.
Overview of PRA techniques
Hundreds of participatory techniques and tools have been described in a variety of books and newsletters, or taught at training courses around the world. These techniques can be divided into four categories:- Group dynamics, e.g. learning contracts, role reversals, feedback sessions
- Sampling, e.g. transect walks, wealth ranking, social mapping
- Interviewing, e.g. focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, triangulation
- Visualization e.g. venn diagrams, matrix scoring, timelines
To ensure that people are not excluded from participation, these techniques avoid writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
wherever possible, relying instead on the tools of oral communication
Orality
Orality is thought and verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy are unfamiliar to most of the population. The study of orality is closely allied to the study of oral tradition...
like pictures, symbols, physical objects and group memory. Efforts are made in many projects, however, to build a bridge to formal literacy
Literacy
Literacy has traditionally been described as the ability to read for knowledge, write coherently and think critically about printed material.Literacy represents the lifelong, intellectual process of gaining meaning from print...
; for example by teaching people how to sign their names or recognize their signatures.
A 'new professionalism' for development
A key idea that has accompanied the development of PRA techniques is that of a new professionalism. Robert ChambersRobert Chambers (development scholar)
- His approach:Since the 1980s, he has been one of the leading advocates for putting the poor, destitute and marginalised at the centre of the processes of development policy. In particular he argues they should be taken into account when the development problem is identified, policy formulated and...
has explained this as follows:
“The central thrusts of the [new] paradigm … are decentralization and empowerment. Decentralization means that resources and discretion are devolved, turning back the inward and upward flows of resources and people. Empowerment means that people, especially poorer people, are enabled to take more control over their lives, and secure a better livelihood with ownership and control of productive assets as one key element. Decentralization and empowerment enable local people to exploit the diverse complexities of their own conditions, and to adapt to rapid change”.
To be an external agent of change within this discipline implies two-way learning. Development agents learn to both appreciate and lever the power of oral culture and the transformations that are possible within it. Walter J. Ong
Walter J. Ong
Father Walter Jackson Ong, Ph.D. , was an American Jesuit priest, professor of English literature, cultural and religious historian and philosopher. His major interest was in exploring how the transition from orality to literacy influenced culture and changed human consciousness...
has argued that “many of the contrasts often made between ‘western’ and other views seem reducible to contrasts between deeply interiorized literacy and more or less residually oral states of consciousness.”
The limits of PRA
There are those who see limits to PRA. This is on a range of grounds - for example that it doesn't work, that it reveals the secrets of rural communities to be managed by development agencies, or that it is a tool of cooptation into neo-liberal development agendas. These were summarized in Participation: The New Tyranny?See also
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- Participation (decision making)Participation (decision making)Participation in social science refers to different mechanisms for the public to express opinions - and ideally exert influence - regarding political, economic, management or other social decisions. Participatory decision making can take place along any realm of human social activity, including...
- Wikipedia:WikiProject International development
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- OralityOralityOrality is thought and verbal expression in societies where the technologies of literacy are unfamiliar to most of the population. The study of orality is closely allied to the study of oral tradition...
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- Participatory information and communication technology development
External links
- Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA): Analysis of Experience, an article by Robert Chambers, 1994
- Rapid Rural Appraisal, from the FAO manual on Market Research and Information Systems
- Participatory Learning and Action, journal with many articles available for downloading, maintained by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)
- Participation Manuals and Toolkits, an online collection, part of the ELDIS Gateway to Development Information
- International Institute for Sustainable Development at Colorado State University
- Integrated Approaches to Participatory Development (IAPAD) - Provides information and case studies on Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling (P3DM) practice
- Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action (PCHP)Progress in Community Health PartnershipsProgress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action is a peer-reviewed medical journal published quarterly by the Johns Hopkins University Press. In each issue, one article is selected for a “Beyond the Manuscript” podcast....
- PCHP Website
- Author Guidelines
- A Vision for Progress in Community Health Partnerships
- Inagural Issue Sample Reader
- Guidelines for Writing Manuscripts About Community-based Participatory Research in Peer- Reviewed Journals
- Beyond the Manuscript Podcasts
- Community Policy Briefs
- Editorial Board
- Kamal SinghKamal Laldas SinghKamal Laldas Singh is a South African development activist who has become known internationally for his work on participatory methodologies.-Early life:...
- Access PCHP at Project MUSEProject MUSEProject MUSE is an online database of current and back issues of peer-reviewed humanities and social sciences journals. It was founded in 1993 by Todd Kelley and Susan Lewis and is a project of the Johns Hopkins University Press and the Milton S. Eisenhower Library. It had support from the Mellon...