Participatory

Rural Appraisal
D R . C . K A RT H I K E YA N
PROFESSOR AND HEAD
D E P T. O F A G R I C U LT U R A L E X T E N S I O N A N D R U R A L S O C I O L O G Y
Two girls are born to the
same mother at same time
on same day, same year yet
they are not twins.
Why?
What month of the year has 28
days?
What comes next in the
sequence?

OTTFFSS
 M Velanmai: AI-Based
Extension advisory System
Artificial Intelligence - based Paddy pest Identification
and Advisory
 PARTICIPATORY EXTENSION

 Participation means that the people themselves are involved in

 identifying the problems they face, determining ways to
overcome them

 designing realistic plans to achieve these goals and carrying them

out.

 The role of the extension agent is to facilitate this process.

 Participatory Rural Appraisal
(PRA)

Robert Chambers -1992

 PRA is a way of enabling local (rural and urban) people to analyze

their living conditions, to share the outcomes and to plan their
activities.

 It’s a “handing over the stick to the insider” in methods and action.

 The outsider’s role is that of a catalyzer, a facilitator and convener

of processes within a community, which is prepared to alter their
situation.
PRA applied for……….
 Management of natural resources (soil and water conservation,
integrated agro-forestry, fishery, wildlife conservation, etc.)
 Agriculture (field crops and animal husbandry, irrigation, markets,
etc.)
 Programs dealing with poverty alleviation and emancipation
(women, credit needs, identification of the poorest, additional
income-generating measures, etc.)
 Health and nutrition (basic health-care and food-security programs,
drinking water supply).
 Village level (“bottom up”) and district planning
Principles of Participatory Rural Appraisal
(PRA)
 Listening and Learning

 Offsetting Biases

 Utilization of precious Community Time

 Seeking Diversity

 Triangulation /Cross checking

 Optimal ignorance and appropriate imprecision

 Multi-disciplinary Team
A. Space related PRA methods

1. Transect

2. Social map

3. Resource map

4. Mobility map
 A.1.Transect walk
 It provides a cross-sectional representation of the different
agro-ecological zones including
• land type, land usage, ownership, access, soil-type, soil fertility,
vegetation, crops, problems, opportunities and solutions.

 Resource map provides a bird’s- eye view whereas transect

gives a cross- sectional view of the locality

Application:

Appraisal of natural resources in terms of status, problems and

potential.
Process of Transect walk
Two sets of Processes:
1. Transect walk and discussion

2. Production of diagram

Types of Transect path:

◦ High point across to a low point

◦ Straight line walk

◦ S- shaped transect
Process of Transect walk

 Locate the people who are willing & with knowledge about the area.

 Explain the purpose

 Observe the surrounding and make mental notes

 Clarify with the local people with things you are not clear.

 Listen what they say and also the discussion among them.

 After returning draw a transect using local people.

Transect walk
Transect walk
A.2. Social Map

 Social mapping is the most popular method in PRA.

 The focus here is on the depiction of habitation patterns and
the nature of housing and social infrastructure: roads, drainage,
schools, drinking-water facilities, etc.
Social Map
 Process of Social Mapping

 Material required – Leaves, twigs, stones, matchboxes,

seeds, color soils and powders, utensils, thread, etc.

 Fix the location and time and gather the local people.

 Explain the purpose. Request them to start drawing the

prominent physical features – materials as their wish.

 Watch alertly , take notes, intervene only when necessary.

 Hand over the stick to them.

 Process of Social Mapping
 Note active participant and know his section.

 Take proactive steps to involve the left out section.

 Cross check the map.

 Number the items.

 Ask household wise details.

 Interview the map.

 Copy the map on a larger sheet of paper.

 Triangulate the information generated with others in the locality.

Applications of Social Map
 Developing understanding about physical and social
aspects of village life.

 Collecting demographic and other required information

household wise.

 Serve as a guiding instrument during the process of

planning interventions.
 A.3. Resource Map
 Resource map is one of the most commonly used PRA
methods next to social map.
 Resource map focuses on the natural resources in the
locality and depicts land, hills, rivers, fields, vegetation,
etc.,
 It is not done by experts but by the local people.

 It reflects how people view their own locality in terms of

natural resources.
 Effective in planning for natural resources mgt.
Process of Resource Mapping
Material Required:

• Different Seeds, soil, chalks, colored powders, stones, pebbles, twigs,

leaves, paper and cardboard.

 Choose a place and fix time in consultation with the local people.

 Explain the purpose

 Ask them to start showing the major resources and use locally available
material.
Process of Resource Mapping
 Ask them to use various symbols and colors

 Ask them to discuss about the problems and

opportunities regarding the objective.

 Make everyone involve.

 Copy the map onto a large sheet.

 Triangulate what is on in the map.

 Acknowledge everyone.
Resource map
A.4. Mobility Map

 To explore the movement pattern of an individual, a

group, or the community.

 The focus is on where people go and for what.

 Other aspects, like the frequency of visits,

distance, and the importance of the place visited,
may also be studied and depicted.
Application of Mobility Map

 Understand mobility pattern of the local people

 Gender issues related to mobility pattern

 Evaluation of impacts in some interventions

 Planning interventions
Process of Mobility Map
 Select people/ group/ community of interest to study

 Explain the purpose and initiate the discussion

 List down the places

 Mark the village and ask the people to locate the places
they mentioned

 Similar process has to be followed through out the

process eg: thick line indicates frequency of visit.
 B. Time related PRA Methods

1. Time line

2. Trend analysis

3. Seasonal diagram

4. Daily activity schedule

B.1. Time Line
 Time Line represents important moments as perceived and
recalled by the people involved.

 Time line captures the chronology of events as recalled by local

people.

 It provides the historical landmarks of a community individual

or institution.

APPLICATION

 Generate a discussion about how different aspects of their lives

have transformed over time; i.e. education, health, food
security, gender relations, etc.
 Process of Time Line

 Identify elderly members of the village, determine convenient time

and place.

 Begin a discussion like,

Q)When was the village established?

Q) What are the important events in the history of the village?
Q) What are some of the major changes that have taken place?

 Go over the events in the order from top to bottom.

 Add dates to the left side of the events listed.

 B.2. Trend Analysis

 It provides a good idea of the quantitative changes over time in

different aspects of village life, such as yields, population,
livestock population, the number of trees, area under cultivation,
rainfall, etc.,

 A trend analysis captures changes and trends related to certain

variables over different spans of time.

 APPLICATION

 Discuss development interventions that have taken place in the

past, and analyse the changes they have triggered.
Process of Trend Analysis
 Select a group of interested people.

 Initiate the discussion on present situation and focus on

interested areas.

 Allow participants to do brainstorming

 Ask them to select time landmark

 Ask participants to draw a table on the ground.

 Triangulate the information.

Trend Analysis
 B.3. Seasonal Diagram

 Seasonal diagram helps to identify heavy workload periods,

periods of relative ease, times of debt, diseases, labour
availability etc.

 Useful in project planning, i.e., when to implement various

activities.

 It is used to identify periods of stress and to plan for when

intervention is most required.

 It is possible and analyses the livelihood patterns across the year.

Process of Seasonal Diagram

 Explain the objective of the exercise to the participants.

 Inquire about the work that the participants are involved with at
the moment.

 Ask them to identify other relevant months or time periods in the

year.

 For each identified month or period of time, ask the participants

to identify a unique characteristic of that period.
Process of Seasonal Diagram
 Draw a grid with chalk on the floor.

 Ask the participants to show the period(s) of time during

which the activity is taking place.

 Ask them to represent the magnitude of the activity

using different numbers of seeds or sticks of different
sizes.

 Go through the analysis with each indicator during each

time period.

 Triangulate the data and acknowledge the participants.

Seasonal Diagram
 B.4. Daily Activity Schedule
 A representation of people's daily activities from the time they get up
until the time they go to bed.

 Hours are generally the unit of analysis.

 Used to explore the activities of an individual, group or community, on

a daily basis.

APPLICATION

 Finalise timing of interventions and activities organized in the village,

e.g., training classes, literacy classes, non-formal education, etc. for
the target group based on their convenience and availability of leisure.

 Compare differences between men, women, children's daily schedule

(e.g. gender differences in workload).
Process of Daily Activity Schedule
 Explain the objectives of the exercise to the participants.

 Try to keep the group homogenous and relatively small.

 Initiate a discussion about the activities that they perform in a normal

day.

 Ask them to list the tasks or activities they perform from the time they
wake up until the time they go to bed.

 Ask them to either write or preferably depict the activities by using

visuals or symbols, and ask them to organize the activities in such a way
that it indicates the duration of the activities.
 C. Relational PRA Methods

1. Cause and Effect Diagram

2. Pair wise matrix ranking

3. Venn Diagram
C.1. Cause Effect Diagram (Problem Tree)

 Also known as a Fishbone or Ishikawa diagram, it focuses on

the causal factors of a phenomenon, activity, or problem, and
the resulting effects.

APPLICATION

 Cause-effect diagrams have been used for the study and the
analysis of a wide range of issues like illiteracy, alcoholism,
the status of women, migration, drought etc.
Process of Problem Tree
 Decide the topic, invite people, and explain the topic to them.

 Ask the participants to describe the causes.

 Once the causes have been sufficiently explored, move on to discussing

the related effects.

 Place the causes on one side of the paper and the effects on the other
side.

 Ask the participants to link the cards with chalk to illustrate their
linkages and connectivity.

 Copy down the diagram on a sheet of paper with details.

 Ask the participants to explain the diagram to others in the community.

 Triangulate the diagram.

PROBLEM TREE
C. 2. Pair wise matrix ranking
 Pair wise ranking uses two items or attributes at a time for
ranking to explore people’s criteria for choosing one
alternative over another.

 Group of villagers compare one pair at a time and give

reasons for the choice made.

 At the end, the most favored choice is identified if it is a

question of choice or, the major problem is identified in case
of problems being ranked.
Pair wise matrix ranking
C. 3. Venn Diagram

 Venn diagrams provide a visual representation of the

relationships and linkages between people and
institutions.

 Circles of different sizes are allocated to different

institutions, groups, departments, or programmes,
based on their importance.

 Size – importance of the institution or individual.

 Distance between circles – degree of Influence.

Application of Venn Diagram

Venn diagrams are particularly useful when analysing:

 Various institutions and individuals and their
influence on local people
 The influence of various groups and individuals in the
locality
 The relative importance and usefulness of services
and programmes
 Social hierarchy in a locality etc.
Process of Venn Diagram
 Explain the purpose of the exercise to the
participants.

 Ask them to list local institutions, individuals, groups

etc. related to the research topic.

 Ask them to write the things indicated on small cards.

 Ask the participants to place the cards in a descending

order according to the perceived importance of the
institution.

 Ask them to cut and kept ready circles of various sizes

to the institutions or individuals
Venn diagram
S. No. Combinations Uses
1 Social map & Resource map Depict natural and social
realities of the people.

2 Transect & Resource map Resource map is constructed and

clarified in transect.

3 Mobility map & Resource map Understand the spatial location

of the resources and mobility
pattern of the villagers.

4 Mobility map & Venn diagram Size of the circle indicates the
importance and the distance
show the distance from the
village
THANK YOU