Participatory Learning and Action 27:

The special section of this issue of PLA Notes draws on three workshops organised in 1996. The first two, held at the Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, explored how PRA can be used to influence policy and how participatory approaches can become part of an organisation’s culture. The third workshop, held in Bangalore, India, discussed the attitude and behaviour changes which underpin effective participatory processes. The articles explore the opportunities and the constraints to scaling up participatory processes and discuss how PRA can be linked to a wider and enabling policy environment.

Editorial

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1. Reflections from farmer-led trials in India
T. Barik, R.N. Mohapatra, P.L. Pradhan and B.P. Mohapatra

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Abstract
Four researchers from Krishi Vigyan Kendram (KVK) - a government organisation involved with agricultural transfer of technology - reflect on four years of participatory research in Orissa. Their paper highlights the learning experience for farmers and researchers involved in farmer-led field trials. It also demonstrates how the research agenda was focused and refined by farmer experimentation with two crops, groundnut and rice, in three successive trials.

2. Farmers' on-farm participatory research: experiences in Ethiopia
Ejigu Jonfa

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Abstract
A description of the experience of the NGO Farm Africa's experiences with Farmer Participatory Research (FPR) in Ethiopia. The paper demonstrates gender differences in cotton trial evaluation: men and women used different criteria to evaluate various cotton varieties. The importance of PRA in enabling farmers to develop a feeling of ownership of farm trials is identified.

3. And what about women? Promoting gender balanced participation
Wenny W. S. Ho

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Abstract
This paper provides practical tips on how to empower women to contribute to the planning process, through an analysis of experience from an agricultural development project in Nicaragua. Conflicts can arise because gender policies are more donor driven than locally demanded. A high or low profile gender approach should be adopted according to what is appropriate and sensitive to local context.

4. Child health calendars: a type of case history
Eleanor McGee

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Abstract
This article begins with a description of the use of child health calendars with women in Honduras. The author suggests that the pictorial approach is a practical way of keeping and monitoring child health records with rural women who are unable to read or write. It is also an entry point into indigenous perceptions of what is considered an illness and what causes an illness.

5. Assessing perceptions of 'basic minimum needs': a modified Venn diagram technique
Carin Duchscherer and Duke Duchscherer

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Abstract
This article considers an innovative approach to assessing Basic Minimum Needs (BMN). This approach uses a Venn diagram which enables communities to explore and prioritise village needs. This methodology can be used with different groups, such as women, extension workers and children, to contrast views on needs and priorities. Such an exercise serves to educate and increase awareness about differences in perceived needs.

SPECIAL ISSUE:

Participation, Policy and Institutionalisation

6. Participation, policy and institutionalisation: an overview
John Thompson, Jo Abbot and Fiona Hinchcliffe

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Abstract
A general account of the findings of two workshops at the Institute of Development Studies, UK, in May 1996. The article explores how PRA is used to inform policy, to explain policy to local people and to link local people to policy formulation. Furthermore, some of the difficulties in institutionalising participatory approaches are highlighted such as bureaucratic inertia, 'mechanisation' of the approach, the contradiction of scaling up when the focus has been on scaling down and the general problem that donors still set short term physical targets for projects, but also demand participatory approaches to projects.

7. The use of RRA to inform policy: observations from Madagascar and Guinea
Karen Schoonmaker Freudenberger

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Abstract
The author notes that information gained from RRA in Madagascar and Guinea helped to ground policy in real world issues. However, because the information analysed is only from a few communities, policymakers may choose to disregard the information. It is therefore important to choose sites for RRA carefully, and to explain the choice so as to defuse criticism. The tools of RRA are often seen as informal and so effort must be put into using them methodically and in conjunction with more recognised, formal tools (e.g. surveys) wherever possible.

8. 'The one who rides the donkey does not know the ground is hot.'
Tony Dogbe

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Abstract
PRA is a relatively new concept in Ghana. The benefits of South-South training for propagating PRA techniques, are highlighted. The article describes a Participatory Poverty Assessment (PPA). It is suggested that PPAs increase local capacity in participatory research. However in this case, they failed to build progressively on the information gained, to consolidate learning, and to follow-up sufficiently on the PRA findings. The need for further networking of PRA practitioners to share ideas and experiences is identified.

9. Village voices challenging wetland management policies: PRA experiences from Pakistan and India
Michel Pimbert, Biksham Gujja and Meera Shah

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Abstract
This article on human-wildlife interactions highlights the grim results of policy making uninformed by local people. In two protected areas in India and Pakistan, local people became excluded and deprived of their natural resource base necessary for survival. Through the over simplification of National Park policy making, local people were ignored and as a result there has been considerable local resistance to the parks. There is now an on-going process of joint management planning co-ordinated between government agencies, conservation agencies and local people.

10. Linking PRA to policy: the conflict analysis framework
M. Warner, C. Robb, A. Mackay, and M. Brocklesby

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Abstract
The article shows how information gathered using PRA can be presented in a form that is coherent to policy makers. Drawing on ideas from conflict resolution and environmental impact assessment, the authors describe the 'Conflict Analysis Framework'. It is a method of linking information gained from PRA with local people to the policy formulation process. It is essentially a question of facilitating a negotiation of internal community concerns and formulating them for presentation to external policy makers.

11. Challenges in influencing public policy: an NGO perspective
Anil Shah

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Abstract
The article describes the role that NGOs can play in influencing public policy. It is suggested that entering the public arena is important for NGOs as it enables them to encourage governments to streamline bureaucracy and facilitate bottom-up development processes. It is important to be strategic in the way that policy change is targeted. The article outlines the steps that must be followed.

12. Participatory shaping of institutional landscapes
Markus Steinich

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Abstract
This paper describes a PRA process used to initiate discussions concerning self-administration within villages of Mali. The emphasis was placed not just on initiating discussions, but carrying them through to action. The concept of 'subsidiarity' is used to refer to the organisational principles necessary for making decisions at the lowest possible levels, in terms of administrative structures. Local institutions must be shaped to these principles to allow for self-governance.

13. The rush to scale: lessons being learned in Indonesia
Nilanjana Mukherjee

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Abstract
The article deals with the process of institutionalisation of participatory approaches in the government machinery of Indonesia, as carried out in conjunction with UNICEF. The emphasis is on training, and promoting the discussion of participatory techniques. Bureaucratic forms of organisation are found to have structures which are not very conducive to promoting the forums necessary for this discursive sensitisation. It is important to recognise that it is a long term process and results will not be immediately discernible.

14. Scaling up or scaling down?
Kamal Kar and Sue Phillips

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Abstract
A description of the experiences of institutionalising participatory approaches in the Slum Improvements Projects (SIPs) in India. The article highlights the risks of standardisation that can occur when scaling up. It also demonstrates how follow-up activities can easily be neglected, so that PRA remains at the appraisal stage. This article suggests 'scaling down' to success stories where the PRA is not an end in itself but leads to project activities. The article also outlines experiences of innovative and experiential learning by allowing slum dwellers to describe directly their life to project staff.

15. Going to scale: community resource appraisal and planning in the Philippines
Larry P. Nacionales and Maxwell P. Wilkie

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Abstract
A description of the experiences of a European Union project in the Guimaras Province, in the Philippines. The authors outline the efforts made by the project to avoid the standardisation of PRA, in scaling up participatory approaches to the provincial level. There is an argument that PRA should not be conducted if there is no budget for follow-up actions. There is a need for development partnerships between communities and programmes.

16. ABC of PRA: attitude and behaviour change
Somesh Kumar

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Abstract
This is a review of a recent workshop in Bangalore, India. Suggested are ways in which training, institutionalisation and scaling-up of participatory approaches can ensure that appropriate behaviours and attitudes are prominent. There is a need for more than just training.

17. Sharing our experiences: an appeal to donors and governments
Abu Hena Mallik et al.

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18. Feedback:
Different perspectives, experiences with RRA in Zambezi District, Zambia
Bart Pijnenburg and Daniëlla de Winter, with a response by Bara Gueye

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Abstract
The article is concerned with some of the difficulties of the RRA approach. The general conclusions are that local communities can be disposed to give 'shopping list' responses to RRA. There is a tendency to demand more of the same (credit, fertiliser...) rather than to list specific problems. A response from Gueye argues that this RRA exercise in the Zambezi region of Zimbabwe was not participatory enough and that there is a need for local communities to be more involved in setting the objectives and agendas for RRA.

19. Extracts:
The price of rice: exploring the meaning behind the data
Cate Turton and Albert Aquino

Participatory project evaluation among dryland dwellers
Ute Reckers

Using names as a guide to past ecology and land-use practices
MTE Mbuvi

Insider and outsider voting: reflections from Scotland
Carolyn Jones

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20. A brief guide to preparing for training and facilitating

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21. Tips for Trainers:

For or against?
Irene Guijt

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