Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA)

PARTICIPATORY RURAL APPRAISAL (PRA)

Participatory Rural Appraisal, on the other hand, is a family of approaches and methods, which enable the local people to analyze their situation to plan and act. It is a methodology for interacting with rural people, understanding and learning from them. Thus, PRA can be defined as an intensive and systematic learning experience carried out in a community by a multi-disciplinary team of researchers and / or, development personnel including local people. The method nets, in a relatively short time, people’s views about their world, along with their felt needs in addition to providing valuable insights in to the dynamics of rural life. PRA as a research development methodology has primarily been evolved to appraise the rural resources, problems and requirements by the rural people themselves under the facilitation of research and development workers.

PRA Techniques: PRA methodology offers a basketful of tools and techniques for one to choose a best combination depending on the purpose, objectives and resource availability for conducting development research. There are many PRA techniques, which can be employed for understanding and analyzing various facets of rural life. Further, before embarking on doing the PRA proper, it has to be ensured that an appointment for the purpose with the village key stakeholders such as village headman (Sarpanch / Pradhan), village accountant, village development officer, officials of other development departments posted in the village, a cross section of farmers, etc. is fixed and accordingly carried out. Freely and frankly share the objectives of the exercise to gain the confidence and willing cooperation of the stakeholders. Use these contacts to quickly build the rapport with the villagers at large. Then start the PRA using the following techniques in the same sequence as below.

1. Collection of basic information of the village: This technique enables to document in a relatively short time the basic data of a village such as demographic, socio-economic, agriculture and animal husbandry, pollution problems etc. In doing a PRA within a reasonable time frame, the PRA team has to collect the basic information of the village by referring to the records available in the village panchayat office and also by interacting with the Key Informants (Kls). For this, ideally select official members of panchayat / school and such organizations of the village as Key Informants.
2. Village transect: It is also known as general transect. Transect is making a long walk inside the village and locating the various items that are found therein like soil, crops, animals, problems, etc. To start with a transect walk, decide the route with varied features, take at least three routes, two along both the sides of village and one passing through the village. Ensure participation of villagers. Discuss while conducting transect walk. Identify topography (agro ecological niches) like upland, medium land, low land, road, residential area, field bunds, ponds, stream, hillock marshy land, common land, forest land, orchards, arable land, non-arable land, etc. Write down above transect lines in local language along with translation in English. Mention one niche once only, no matter how often it occurs. Transect is not an imaginary line passing through the village. General convention is to put uplands on left and lowlands on right. Put pictorials of niches on top. Now fill up the transect matrix with reference to following variables in each of the agro-ecological niches: soil type, water resources, crops, vegetables, trees, forests, agro forestry, forages, animals, interventions, problems and opportunities. While listing the species, also list species not available at present, but grown in other seasons.
3. Agro-ecology map: Agro -ecology map depicts the relation between agriculture and environment which includes average temperature, average rainfall, fragmentation of holdings, natural vegetation, drainage system, weeds, etc. Encourage farmers to draw this map. Identify major land marks. Identify systems (village) and sub systems (crop land, orchards, common land etc.) boundaries, show the neighbouring villages or other features like river, hillocks, government land, forests etc., where the boundary of village ends. Depict crops, animals, natural resources like soil type, water resources (wells, river, channel, ponds etc.), forest, common property resources (CPRs), use of locally available resources or whatever stake holders observe during the walk. Write in local language along with English translation. It differs from village map. 
4. Resource map: This indicates both the natural resources and manmade resources needed for development of agriculture. Ensure the participation of all stakeholders (male, female, old, young and children). Depict main crops, trees, animals, houses, schools, farm implements, luxury items, communication means, social resources like women groups, self-help groups (SHG), local self-government, etc.
5. Social map: This is a simple drawing or map drawn without scale to understand and simplify location and structure of houses and other social facilities. It depicts the various social issues of the village such as social structure, stratification, social facilities, conflicts, cooperation, value systems, leadership pattern, housing pattern, social evils, etc.
6. Mobility map: This indicates the mobility pattern of rural people in terms of the places visited, purpose, mode of transport, cost and time involved, etc. In a way, this technique helps us to analyze the cosmopolite behaviour of people.
7. Time line and time trend: Time line indicates the major remembered events in the history of a village life that have direct or indirect bearing on the rural life. Time trend, on the other hand, reveals the changes / fluctuations that have occurred over a period of time in the variables influencing village life. Time trend also hints at the coping behaviour of villagers during adversities.
8. Seasonal analysis: This indicates the month-wise abnormalities with regard to agriculture and animal husbandry.
9. Impact / consequence diagram: This indicates the changes that have occurred either for individual or for the society due to adoption of technology.
10. Wealth ranking: It refers to placing villagers along a wealth continuum described in terms of a set of criteria identified by the villagers themselves.
11. Livelihood analysis: It indicates the way in which villagers belonging to different wealth categories manage their livelihood in terms of income-expenditure dynamics including crisis management.
12. Farm household map: This map depicts the way in which the surroundings of a typical household appear without going in to the details of its inside structure.
13. Bio-resource flow diagram: This indicates the degree to which village household members utilize and recycle the various resources in and around their settings to suggest remedial measures.
14. Venn diagram: This is also known as chapatti diagram. It indicates the importance of various individuals and institutions in and outside the village with regard to a phenomenon related to rural life, e.g., getting loan for agricultural purposes. It reflects on the linkages and the stakeholders of the village with respect to the phenomenon studied.
15. Daily routine diagram: This diagram depicts the way in which rural people manage their daily time.
16. Indigenous technical know-how (ITK) map: This map depicts the pictorial instructions on the indigenous technologies found in village with reference to agriculture.
17. Technology map: The technology map indicates the technology decision behaviour of the farmers in terms of adoption, rejection and discontinuance with reference to the agricultural technologies.
18. Matrix ranking: Matrix ranking indicates the reasons for technology decision behaviour of the farmers.
19. Preference ranking: This technique helps to identify and prioritize various agricultural problems in a village.
20. Problem tree: The problem tree indicates various causes responsible for the specific problem related to agriculture. This also hints at possible intervention for the various causes which will help in problem identification related to a discipline.
21. Solution tree: It is a modification of the problem tree, wherein for each level of problem cause, solutions are indicated to solve that particular problem.
22. Action plan: It refers to the plan of action prepared in a participatory way taking the viewpoints of all the concerned stakeholders to solve the top most researchable problem. It tries to answer a few basic questions like what, how, when, where and by whom relating to course of action to solve the identified and prioritized problem.

Assignment: Use PRA Techniques for data collection in villages & finalise the problems, thrust areas and extension activities in a week time of placement and present them to the farmers through information centres.

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