Resources

Considers the changes that are afoot with regard to learning, research and extension within agriculture in developing countries. Decentralization, participatory approaches and such methods are gradually becoming less marginalized, with the professional rewards of their adoption rising compared with the risks. For change to be rapid and sustainable requires the mutual reinforcement of participatory methods, new learning environments, and institutional support. The paper contains sections on the following: changing phases in agricultural research, extension and development; a vision for the future; the role of governments and state institutions; non governmental organizations; international agricultural research and the CGIAR; local institutions; education and learning organizations; and institutional and policy implications for the new professionalism. It is concluded that a sound strategy is steady lateral spread through alliances, mutual support, networking, training and sharing, stressing not only methods and learning environments, but also personal behaviour and attitudes. This paper begins with the perspective that "the dominant positivist and modernist frameworks have singularly failed to help poor people and reduce inequity." It proceeds to consider the options and alternatives to the dominant paradigm considering common uniting themes. Some of these themes are: the affirmation of individuals and their perspectives, the importance of context and therefore limitations on the whole notion of transferability and replicability and the importance of participation.

Case-studies of basic education programmes in El Salvador, Bangladesh, India and Uganda illustrate how NGOs can operate in relation to Government. ActionAid, a British NGO, is now piloting the use of PRA and visual "symbol cards" within literacy programmes. The Bundibugyo project in Uganda is described in detail to show how a literacy curriculum can be developed through PRA techniques, introducing key words through activities such as construction of a health calendar. NGOs can thus have a role in the field of education if they produce "well-documented and systematised action-research", rather than the "uncomfortable role of service delivery".

This training workshop was designed to introduce participants to appraisal techniques suitable for use in a Participatory Poverty Assessment study being conducted in Ghana by the World Bank. Written by one of two trainers, the report covers only the rural appraisal methods. The Darko field work section describes in detail the PRA methods, including sequencing, materials used and findings. Gender issues underlie the lively analysis: eg the wealth and well-being ranking shows how differently men and women tackled the activity. The report includes a list of topics covered in the theoretical sessions, comments on logistical problems on the course, and finally highlights the methodological innovations made (well-being ranking being superimposed on wealth ranking and the frequency distribution health matrix).

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.