Resources

This short paper reports on the use of browse ranking in southern Zimbabwe. Two types of ranking were conducted. First, a simple scoring of a list of all available trees in the area was carried out. The results showed that the livestock owners' rankings tallied closely with quality assessments based on chemical analysis. Next, a more focused matrix ranking explored a few key species against a range of criteria. In terms of overall preference, early shooting was the most important criterion, followed by the importance of dry leaves as fodder. The paper concludes that ranking exercises can provide high quality information quickly and effectively, and can therefore be useful planning tools for helping to design fodder improvement programmes with herd owners.

Pwani is a resettlement community located in a difficult environment adjacent to Lake Nakuru National Park in Kenya. This case study describes how a PRA-derived village level plan of action has helped to mobilise the community to solve its own problems of water access and related forestry and vegetation problems. The report outlines the process and methods used in the PRA, and discusses some of the lessons learned.

This is a follow-up report on the work done by ActionAid to develop Community Based Food Security Monitoring Systems (CBMS) to assist in the timely predictions of impending food shortages. It is envisaged that CBMS's will not only prevent famine but also help build up livelihoods and strengthen long term development processes. This report looks at attempts in Malawi and Kenya to understand more about ways to use the community in the management of their own relief. Field staff were asked to speak to the community and come up with a list of alternative indicators that were particularly meaningful to them. An attempt was made to see if the the unique and detailed ways communities have of understanding and expressing situations of food insecurity could also have predictive value.

The methodology recommended by this document builds on rapid rural appraisal techniques. The author develops a framework for more effective analysis and design of community forestry activities. First, the framework analyses tenure issues within three broad tenure types: the holding, the commons, and the forest reserve. Second it examines, from the point of view of the household, the opportunities for tree planting and use under each of these three tenure systems. While it is recognised that there are obvious limits to the use of the rapid appraisal methodology, it should be possible to significantly reduce related design problems in projects through the procedures suggested in the publication. The author's knowledge of a forestry project in the Arusha region of Tanzania provides examples.

Rinderpest is a severe viral disease of cattle and wildlife. It was introduced to Africa in the 19th century through colonial imported Asian cattle. It had catastrophic consequences killing as much as 90% of cattle in the decade proceeding its introduction. This paper traces the evolution of ideas and reviews some of the key lessons learnt from the Global Rinderpest Eradication Programme which was established to coordinate and promote rinderpest eradication worldwide. The strategy focuses on vaccination and epidemiological surveillance. It has progressed from top-down institutional design to grass-roots empowerment where dialogue has mobilised communities and professionals to meet local and international goals.|It concludes that community-based animal health approaches have made a considerable contribution to the global eradication of rinderpest, combining appropriate technology, community participation, and international support to give programmes a broad-based appeal. The process has resulted in a significant exchange of ideas and an increased understanding of the need for alternative methods to meet a common goal.

This manual "is designed to provide ideas on how to learn from and with rural women (and men!)". Its aim is to convince the readers of the need to consider gender and environmental issues in the planning, implementation and M&E of any development activity. The introduction reviews the general issues. Section 2 is a set of guide-lines on communication, learning and analysis of techniques for use in investigating local natural resources issues with rural women. These techniques are largely drawn from the RRA repertoire but their specific application to gender and the environment makes this volume more than 'just another RRA manual'. There are useful boxed examples of the use of various techniques and a list of books and organisations which offer more information on the subject. Section 3 comprises a number of illustrative case studies by groups of rural women. Section 4 describes some simple techniques which have been applied in conservation projects and case studies of how groups of rural women have used these ideas.