Participatory Rural Appraisal

Global climate action plans risk resulting to climate maladaptation and shocks when prudent measures are inapt. Adaptation strategies require multidisciplinary approach from all sectors with periodic monitoring and evaluation which are carefully planned, locally adaptable and results-oriented. For decades, various governments, development practitioners and international organizations have made concerted efforts in tackling large scale climate events. These stern initiatives forms part of Millennium Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 13 meant to combat climate change. The increasing demand for frameworks that effectively monitor and examine the outcomes of these huge investments made by policy-makers across regions have enhanced the evaluation and monitoring of various climate change adaptation strategies. This study sought to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of initiated adaptation strategies. The study used descriptive statistics based on informants’ ...

The inequalities in the spatial distribution of infrastructural facilities have led to exclusion, poverty and lopsidedness in sustainable development. This is worsened by lack of reliable spatial and local data to plan for development issues. This paper employs the benefits of Participatory Geographical Information System to data collection and analysis for decision making in Community Driven Development at Upperland community, Ado- Ekiti in Nigeria. The data used for the study were collected through Participatory Rural Appraisal - Stakeholders' Analysis, Focus Group Discussion, Transect Walk and Voting- while ArcGIS 10.2.2 software was used for analysis such buffering. The results showed that the community people have indigenous spatial knowledge that development planners can rely upon. The study concludes that to have a sustainable community development, planners should tap into motivation, desire, knowledge and networks of local communities.

A participatory rural appraisal inthree West African countries examined thepossibility for replacing chemical pesticidesto control locusts and grasshoppers with abiological control method based on anindigenous fungal pathogen. The fungus iscurrently being tested at different sites inthe Sahel and in the humid tropics of WestAfrica. Structured group interviews, individualdiscussions, and field visits, were used toobtain farmers' perceptions of locust andgrasshoppers as

Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) describes a growing family of approaches and methods to enable local people to share, enhance and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and to act. PRA has sources in activist participatory research, agroecosystem analysis, applied anthropology, field research on farming systems, and rapid rural appraisal (RRA). In RRA information is more elicited and extracted by outsiders; in PRA it is more shared and owned by local people. Participatory methods include mapping and modeling, transect walks, matrix scoring, seasonal calendars, trend and change analysis, well-being and wealth ranking and grouping, and analytical diagramming. PRA applications include natural resources management, agriculture, poverty and social programs, and health and food security. Dominant behavior by outsiders may explain why it has taken until the 1990s for the analytical capabilities of local people to be better recognized and for PRA to emerge, grow and spread.

A study was conducted in four selected upazilas under four coastal districts through participatory rural appraisal (PRA), household survey and monitoring, sampling, focal group discussions, personal interview, onfarm field visits, institutional consultations, and secondary information. The investigation revealed that the valuable natural resources of the whole region are at the verge of serious degradation. Various causes have been identified, which are responsible for degradation of both resources and production environments. These causes include human population growth, coastal embankment, upstream withdrawal of Ganges water, brackish water shrimp farming, salt production, use of agro-chemicals, industrial activities, commercial activities, over-exploitation, etc. The study also showed that the degradation of natural resources is the reason behind the squeezing of historically dominant livelihood opportunities of the coastal communities. The current scenarios of the coastal ecosystem urge necessary steps to be taken for sustainable management of valuable resources and to create alternative livelihood opportunities for the coastal communities.

The basic concepts underlying human rights offer little that is new to the social work profession. Social work profession indeed historically advocates for education, equality, health care, housing and fairness, all of which fit neatly under the umbrella of human rights. The social work profession, therefore, has a commonality with human rights that should guide the profession in both policy and practice. Human rights provide the social work profession with a global and contemporary set of guidelines. Human rights can elicit discussion of common issues by people from all walks of life and every corner of the world. One example where worldwide attention to a common human rights issue has led to effective action involves violence against women. It, however, does not mean that the other human beings or the social groups are not affected by the injustices committed against them. This paper attempts to address the concept of human rights and social work in detail and presenting the methods of social work intervention to address the challenges of human rights in the present century.

Wetlands are a vital link between land and water in Bangladesh. A majority of the people of Bangladesh are critically dependent on wetlands. In this paper, the values of wetlands, causes and effects of wetlands degradation, as well as the present wetlands management approach, are analyzed and recommendations for wetlands management are suggested based on participatory rural appraisal (PRA), field visit, personal experience, and existing literature and information. Wetlands play a crucial role in maintaining the ecological balance of ecosystems, but wetlands habitat of Bangladesh is under constant threat due to increase of population, intensive agriculture, overfishing, siltation, pollution, ill-planned infrastructures, lack of institutional coordination, lack of awareness, etc. As a result biodiversity is reducing, many species of flora and fauna are threatened, wetlands-based ecosystem is degenerating, and the living conditions of local people are deteriorating as livelihoods, socioeconomic institutions, and cultural values are affected. Wetlands management is not addressed separately in water management activities of Bangladesh. In order to balance human needs and wetlands conservation, a mainly community-based wetlands management approach has been taken in Bangladesh, but this is not enough to prevent the degradation of wetlands. Therefore, Bangladesh now needs a comprehensive strategy combining political, economic, social, and technological approaches to stop further degradation of wetlands. Therefore, wetlands management should be incorporated into a system of integrated land and water use and, indeed, into the socioeconomic system of the country. Policies, strategies, and management plans for sustainable use and conservation of wetlands of Bangladesh must be based on solid knowledge and understanding of their ecological and socioeconomic functions and processes.

Rangelands represent one of the most important natural resources in mountainous regions of northern Nepal. However, a poor understanding of the social dimensions of rangeland use has limited their proper management and sustainable development, which represent major challenges for Nepal's resource managers. Institutional development is thought to be a viable solution to this problem and may ultimately lead to improved rangeland management in Nepal. Based on this hypothesis, a study was conduced in the Rasuwa district of northern Nepal to examine the effectiveness of institutional development at the local and national levels in mitigating the problems facing sustainable rangeland management by using an institutional analysis and development (IAD) framework. The information and data were mainly collected from different stakeholders, farmers, professionals and practitioners using a toolkit of participatory rural appraisal (PRA), workshops and literature review. It can be concluded from this case study that a number of institutional development efforts are needed to promote sustainable rangeland management in this region. First, local herders represent a repository of rich indigenous knowledge essential to sustaining sound rangeland management practices; hence, indigenous practices need to be integrated into modern technologies. Second, public services and technical support are currently unavailable or inaccessible to local herders; hence, research, development and extension interventions need to be initiated for marginalized pastoral communities. Third, rangeland institutions are incomplete and illorganized, so institutional development of various organizations is necessary for promoting sustainable rangeland management. Fourth, the policies and governance necessary for promoting rangeland management are not well-designed; hence, governance reform and policy development need to be formulated through internal and external agencies and organizations.

Apartheid left a legacy that is spatially skewed. This is reflected in the present patterns of poverty and inequality in South Africa. While a number of global and national initiatives are in place to reduce the levels of poverty and inequality in rural South Africa, this research aimed at the development of a tool that would be able to assist communities themselves in reducing their own levels of poverty and inequality. This research was undertaken in collaboration with the Greater Rustenburg Community Foundation and a variety of rural communities in South Africa. The Community Asset Mapping Programme (CAMP) has as its purpose the achievement of sustainable and responsible high impact social change within communities. CAMP enables community members to map their own assets and empowers them to use these assets sustainably to create a better life for themselves. Communities are empowered to identify their own entrepreneurship and livelihood strategies and opportunities in an attempt to generate their own wealth. Unlike many existing asset mapping applications, CAMP advocates that the success of any roots-driven change depends on the inclusion of processes that will provide a cognitive shift in terms of a variety of processes such as wishes, fears, trust, self-worth, and power mapping, all providing different components that ensure a process of sustainable change within communities. The research presents an argument that if communities are to achieve effective roots-driven change they would require partnerships with Non Profit Organisations, government, civil society, business, and institutes of higher learning, who are willing to stand aside and allow communities to decide their own priorities in their journey to achieve their own wealth, but who would be willing to provide funding, mentorship, skills, and a continuous monitoring process over the medium to long term.
Key Terms:
Community Asset Mapping Programme; post development theory; Participatory Rural Appraisal; CAMP; Poverty; Appreciative Inquiry; Capacity Inventory; Transect Walk; Power Mapping; Roots-driven Rural Change.

Much of the spread of participatory rural appraisal (PRA) as an emerging family of approaches and methods has been lateral, South-South, through experiential learning and changes in behavior, with different local applications. Rapid spread has made quality assurance a concern, with dangers from "instant fashion", rushing, formalism and ruts. Promising potentials include farmers' own farming systems research, alternatives to questionnaire surveys, monitoring, evaluation and lateral spread by local people, empowerment of the poorer and weaker, and policy review. Changes in personal behavior and attitudes, and in organizational cultures, are implied. PRA parallels and resonates with paradigm shifts in the social and natural sciences, business management, and development thinking, supporting decentralization, local diversity, and personal responsibility.

This research aims a socioeconomic feasibility study on establishment a watershed management cooperative in Talandasht watershed basin located in Kermanshah, which may result in improvement of people's lifestyle quality through increasing their selfknowledge and empowering them to perform teamwork and integrated watershed management. The study is based on using a qualitative measure of Participatory Appraisal of Natural Resources (PANR), which used Was a major tool to fulfill the investigation. Firstorder field data gathering has been done using participatory assessment technique through a practical participation of rural people. Data analysis has been done using permanent data comparison based on descriptive statistics and PANR techniques. The results of study showed that pasture destruction, replacing pastures with dryfarming poor fields , shortage of animal husbandry products, reduction of water resources and shortage of life facilities all caused reduction of economic activities and people's income, so forced them to maroon their village and migrate to nearby townships. In order to resolve the crisis, local government is developing watershed management activities with the participation of people. As many of the residents don't live all the seasons in the village, permanent residents, who are commonly poor, are not able to acquire their participation to resolve present problems. Generally speaking, needs and interests of different groups of residents are not the same. In one sidepresent basin problems in the area threats people's life and in the other side without resolving these problems, there would be no motivation for establishing local participatory groups like watershed cooperative. As a result, acquiring participation of all residents in establishing local organizations needs a transitional stage. It means that establishment of watershed cooperative requires creation of medium or transitional group foundations such as "selfhelp groups" formation for proper management to use resources and attraction of people participation in exploitation and conservation of performed attempts, attention to local groups and restoration of traditional assistance methods and recognition and creation of self help rural groups and finally creation of formations which belong to basin such as cooperative, is a suitable approach.

The more significant principles of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) concern the behavior and attitudes of outsider facilitators, including not rushing, "handing over the stick," and being self-critically aware. The power and popularity of PRA are partly explained by the unexpected analytical abilities of local people when catalyzed by relaxed rapport, and expressed through sequences of participatory and especially visual methods. Evidence to date shows high validity and reliability of information shared by local people through PRA compared with data from more traditional methods. Explanations include reversals and shifts of emphasis: from etic to emit, closed to open, individual to group, verbal to visual, and measuring to comparing; and from extracting information to empowering local analysts. et al.,

Canarium indicum is an indigenous tree of the lowland forests of Melanesia (Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu) and parts of Indonesia producing edible nuts, commercial timber and some minor products. For thousands of years the nuts have been culturally important and a traditional food. Since the early 1990s there have been a number of projects aimed at the wider commercialization of the species, with mixed success. This review evaluates the biophysical and socio-economic literature and suggests how the domestication and commercialization processes could be taken forwards to improve the livelihoods of rural households in Melanesia. Many of the issues facing the domestication and commercialization of C. indicum nuts as an Agroforestry Tree Product (AFTP) are similar to those that will be important for the development of other AFTPs. Thus there are lessons that can be learnt from this species which make it a model for other agroforestry tree species.

African lion (Panthera leo) populations are in decline throughout most of Africa, but the problem is particularly acute in southern Kenya, where Maasai people are spearing and poisoning lions at a rate that will ensure near term local extinction. Lion killing is shaped by Maasai perception of livestock depredation, socio-economic factors, and the complex relationship between Maasai and conservation. These all affect tolerance for lions and consequently Maasai behavior towards conservation initiatives and carnivores in general. We used an in-depth quantitative questionnaire and participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) to identify the social and ecological predictors of lion killing and to investigate the effect of a compensation scheme on individual tolerance. Individuals who lose a greater proportion of their livestock to predators relative to their overall livestock loss, those affiliated with an evangelical church, and those who mainly sell rather than accumulate livestock all reported a higher propensity to kill carnivores. The future of carnivore conservation in this region depends on a better understanding of the nuances of human-carnivore conflict and a concerted effort to address appropriate cultural and community-level institutions, chiefly by providing economic benefits to local people who engage in positive conservation activities.

... Université d'Auvergne, Clermont Ferrand, France. Bayemi, PH, Bryant, MJ, Perera, BMAO, Mbanya, NJ, Cavestany, D. and Webb, EC, 2005a. Milk production in Cameroon: A Review. ... Participatory Rural Appraisal of Dairy Farms in the North West Province of Cameroon. ...

We assessed resources, challenges and prospects of the dairy industries in four districts of Bangladesh (Mymensingh, Satkhira, Chittagong and Sirajganj) with the participation of 8 to 12 dairy farm families in each district. We used ten participatory rural appraisal (PRA) tools, namely social mapping, semi-structured interview, activity profiles, seasonal calendar, pie charts, mobility diagram, matrix ranking, preference ranking and scoring, system analysis diagram and focus group discussion in 57 PRA sessions from September through October 2002. Dairying contributed more to family income (63 to 74%) and utilized a smaller portion of land than did crops. Twenty seven to 49% of cattle feed is rice straw. Only Sirajganj and Chittagong had limited, periodic grazing facilities. Fodder (Napier; Pennisetum purpureum) cultivation was practiced in Sirajganj and Satkhira. Fodder availability increased milk production and decreased disease occurrence. Friesian crossbred cows were ranked best as dairy cattle. The present utilization of veterinary and AI services was ranked highly. Farmers outside the milk union desired milk purchasing centres as the most required service in the future. They identified veterinary and AI services as inadequate and desired significant improvements. The PRA tools effectively identified resources, constraints, opportunities and farmers’ perspectives related to the dairy industries in Bangladesh.

The overview article explains the background of the programme, it explores what community management of water means, outlines the research process and principles of the approach known as Participatory Action Development (PAD) and present the results and lessons learned from the PAR-Manage programme.

Than in the next article follows with a brief explanatory note on the concept of Participatory Action Development (PAD), its epistemological origins, its use in the field and its relevance to the community water management programme. The authors also discuss the uses for a PAD approach and draw out the ways it can be implemented in the different phases of projects.
Participatory Action Development (PAD) draws on the best practices, principles, tools and techniques developed by practitioners of Participatory Action Research, Participatory Technology Development and Participatory Rural Appraisal
The next article – Detailed look at the PAD approach – sets down the features of the PAD approach, and then takes the reader through the different phases – diagnosing, experimenting and sustaining – and outlines the steps involved with locating communities, identifying their problems and exploring solutions. Some examples are provided.

The rest of the articles provide examples of diverse experiences and draw on emerging trends and patterns in community water management which is the thematic focus for this issue of PLA Notes. In teasing out the outcomes and progress of the research project the authors challenge readers to think of water management in terms of participation, governance and democracy.

This study investigates the role of mango (Manifera indica L.) within agroforestry systems in Mangwende, Zimbabwe. Eighty two percent of households had mango trees. Neither the degree of natural woodland depletion nor the wealth status of a household had an influence on mango planting. Most mango trees were planted in the homefields. Mango trees provide fruit, firewood, poles, organic matter for soil amendment, living fence post, shade, soil conservation and cattle feed (the rotting fruits). Wealthy and poor households managed mango trees in the same way. Trees were pruned primarily to increase fruit yields and to reduce competition with crops, although prunings were utilised for firewood and poles. The relative importance of different uses of mango trees did not differ among households with different numbers of mango trees or with different wealth status, with fruits universally acknowledged as the most important product. Ninety four percent of households sold mangoes from their farms, but mangoes earned farmers the least income, in comparison with the four most important crops grown in Mangwende. Two thirds of households intercropped mangoes with herbaceous crops. The mangocrop associations were managed to optimise the yields of both crops and mangoes. Mango trees on croplands were widely perceived as having a positive effect on soil fertility and soil moisture and a negative effect on crop yield. About one third of the households used mango litter for soil amelioration, while litter from indigenous woodland was used by most households, especially in gardens.

iii Hussain, I. (Ed.) 2004. Pro-poor intervention strategies in irrigated agriculture in Asia: Poverty in irrigated agriculture -Issues and Options, Bangladesh. Colombo, Sri Lanka: IWMI. 166p. (Country report Bangladesh). 92 90 90 546 8 poverty / productivity / irrigation management / participatory management / performance evaluation / water resources development / institutions / organizations / social participation / participatory rural appraisal / cost recovery / irrigation canals / irrigation programs / irrigation systems / land ownership / landlessness / irrigated farming / economic aspects / households / income / expenditure / non-governmental organizations / private sector / public sector / water distribution / cooperatives / water delivery / water rates / Bangladesh iv Contents Charts, Maps, Figures and Tables iv Acknowledgement vi Summary, Conclusions, and Pro-poor Interventions 130 Report on National Workshop, Dhaka, Bangladesh 150

Study was undertaken to evaluate the performance of watershed management programme on natural resource conservation in North -Western India. The watershed planning was based on Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and the technologies are being executed for development of watershed in participatory mode through watershed committee. Out of 682.5 ha watershed area, about 460 ha has been treated with silt retention masonry check dams, water storage check dams, masonry spillways, masonry gully plugs, graded bunds with loose boulder waste weirs, leveling and small farm pond. A total of 538 ha cm surface runoff was harvested by constructing two small farm ponds on community land, and three small earthen and two masonry check dams on private waste lands to recharge ground water/drinking water otherwise going waste. It was observed that silt retention behind stone masonry check dams in upper, middle and lower reaches of the watershed was 59.6, 16.7 and 9.9 t/(ha yr) respectively and 618.27, 23.49 and 1,775.81 kg of available nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) were arrested. It was found that soil moisture at 0cm-15cm, 15cm-30cm and 30cm-60cm depth was 27.66,32.23 and 38.11% higher respectively as compared to gullies without check dams. Nearly 2.65ha gullied land was reclaimed for cultivation due to nine small check dams. The average yield of mustard and chickpea in reclaimed gullies was 48.82 and 58.82% higher respectively than normal yield of these crops in the region.

A PPGIS (Public Participatory Geographical Information System) has recently been developed in combination with PRA (Participatory Rural Appraisal) and GIS (Geographical Information Systems) methodologies to utilise GIS in the context of the needs of communities that are involved with, and affected by development programmes. The impact of arsenic poisoning in Bangladesh is 'tragic and painful' on patients' health and their social life what was described as the 'worse mass poisoning in human history' in a WHO report. Deep tubewell is said to be a source of arsenic-free safe drinking water and people are mainly interested in deep tubewell water rather than rainwater harvesting, dug-wells, and pond-sand-filters (PSF) approved by the BAMWSP (Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project).

This paper has its primary focus on the analysis of perceptions and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for composted municipal solid and faecal waste among urban and peri-urban farmers and other potential compost users in Ghana. Participatory rural appraisal and contingent valuation methods (CVM) were used for the demand analysis. Most respondents were clear and firm in their responses to the principal question about WTP for compost, as well as in giving their views and perceptions about issues involved in demand for compost. The probit analysis proved valuable in highlighting variables, which explain variations in the WTP. The WTP analysis allowed the quantification of the compost demand under different scenarios of subsidized and non-subsidized compost production, with due allowance for a local reference price to cover compost station operating costs. The analysis revealed that the effective demand for compost for agricultural purposes is marginal and limited by farmersÕ transport costs. Only through the additional consideration of the demand of the construction sector can about 25% of the organic waste produced in GhanaÕs capital, Accra, be transformed and utilized. Public subsidies appear necessary and could be generated through savings in transport and disposal. Without subsidies, the challenge for an increased agricultural use is how to produce a low-cost but nutrient-rich compost, which can compete with abundant and cheap poultry manure and still achieve the price to maintain a compost station. The experience in Ghana shows that this is hardly possible except through private-public partnerships.

The program on Livelihood Support and Partnership (DZLiSPP) has been implemented in four districts in the Dry Zone namely Anuradhapura, Kurunegala, Badulla, and Moneragala. The DZLiSPP is partly funded by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and co-financed by several other donor agencies. The total program period is seven years and is executed under the overall responsibility of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and Agrarian Services. Its objective is to improve the incomes and living standards of poor households. Components include upland farm development through participatory extension by the Farmer Field Schools; improved marketing modalities through the promotion of forward sales contracts and export of organic products; the support to micro-enterprises; the rehabilitation of micro-tanks, the provision of micro-finance and support to income generating activities and the provision of priority community infrastructure including rehabilitation of village roads, water supply, electricity using renewable energy.
The program has the expectation that the household income will increase by directly productive investments in income-generating activities, through improved marketing, through increased productivity of upland cropping, and by improved marketing opportunities and access to organic niche markets for export.
The main objective of this PRA assignment is a village needs assessment, identifying problems hindering the overall development process in a village; resource mapping; prioritization of village development needs, evaluating options for developing the village; preparing a village development plan (VDP) and a budget. The Consultants would only act as facilitators of the need identification and planning process, providing necessary mobilization efforts and providing technical information.

Participatory rural appraisal techniques were used to identify poor crop establishment as a major constraint on rainfed crop production by farmers in India and Zimbabwe. Some farmers in both countries reported experience of soaking seeds in water before sowing in an attempt to improve establishment but the practice was neither widespread nor regularly followed. Armed with knowledge of safe limits for soaking, almost 1250 on-farm trials were implemented by farmers in India for maize, upland rice and chickpea between 1995 and 1998 and 91 trials for maize and sorghum in Zimbabwe in 1997-1998. In each trial, farmers were asked to soak seed overnight, surface-dry it then sow it in the normal way in a plot next to a plot with dry seed. The farmers in each village evaluated the trials during farm walks and group discussions. These group methods allowed farmers to assess the effect of seed priming over a wide range of soils and levels of management. Direct benefits in all crops included: faster emergence; better, more uniform stands; less need to re-sow; more vigorous plants; better drought tolerance; earlier flowering; earlier harvest; and higher grain yield. In India, where a post-rainy season crop is often grown on residual soil moisture or using supplementary irrigation, indirect benefits reported were: earlier sowing of following crops; earlier harvesting of those crops, which allowed earlier seasonal migration from the area in search of work for cash; increased willingness to use fertilisers because of reduced risk of crop failure; and use of time saved to grow a third crop (mung bean) instead of migrating. Subsequent uptake of on-farm seed priming by participants in the trials has been almost universal and spread from farmer to farmer exhibits characteristics similar to those of the spread of seed of desirable new varieties. On-farm seed priming is a 'key' technology -low cost 0308-521X/01/$ -see front matter # 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. P I I : S 0 3 0 8 -5 2 1 X ( 0 1 ) 0 0 0 2 3 -3 Agricultural Systems 69 151-164 (D. Harris).

This article examined the role of socioeconomic factors that acts as a centrifugal and centripetal force of migration in Maheswarpara village of Khulna district. Therefore, net migration rate are computed based on data from Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Data are also collected from Focus Group Discussion and Participatory Rural Appraisal to determine the score of push and pull factors of migration. The rank of the combined score shows that unemployment and job opportunity in the surrounding magnet city is the main driving force of migration that affects rural economy. Effective urban management policy, agro-based industry, decentralization of urban economy etc. are recommended for planned urbanization and sustainable rural development. Copyright©2017, Jannat Ara Ferdousi et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Global climate action plans risk resulting to climate maladaptation and shocks when prudent measures are inapt. Adaptation strategies require multidisciplinary approach from all sectors with periodic monitoring and evaluation which are carefully planned, locally adaptable and results-oriented. For decades, various governments, development practitioners and international organizations have made concerted efforts in tackling large scale climate events. These stern initiatives forms part of Millennium Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), specifically SDG 13 meant to combat climate change. The increasing demand for frameworks that effectively monitor and examine the outcomes of these huge investments made by policy-makers across regions have enhanced the evaluation and monitoring of various climate change adaptation strategies. This study sought to assess the effectiveness and sustainability of initiated adaptation strategies. The study used descriptive statistics based on informants' knowledge and experience to assess the Original Research Article Sarfo et al.; CJAST, 35(6): 1-12, 2019; Article no.CJAST.45658 2 effectiveness of adaptation strategies in Dansoman and compare the results with the case of Nador-Berkane coastal community in north eastern part of Morocco where the "no-regret strategy" concept was adopted. Assessing the effectiveness of strategies is one of the key components of monitoring and evaluation process of climate change and is often overlooked, hence, the need for this study. Results from this study based on the informants' experience and assessment show that climate change adaptation strategies in the study area are not effective and sustainable. This study serves as a baseline information for relevant stakeholders on critical areas, which ought to be prioritized to reduce the locals' vulnerability to climate hazards. Assessing the effectiveness of adaptation strategies aid in ensuring efficiency and efficacy of planned and already initiated projects. Further research could be conducted on the cost of adaptation mechanisms and willingness to pay for sea defense systems in the area.

The signature and ratification of the convention on biological diversity by the Lebanese government has boosted the declaration of nature reserves. Cedar forests formed the pilot ecosystems, using international funds, for the implementation of a conservation programme and development of management plans. Although different in their attributes, all recent nature reserves have the same basic management objectives and goals but they ignore the idea of taking into account the difference in specific site features and assets that could boost the success of any management plans. Twelve cedar forests flourish in the Mount Lebanon chain. These forests are either protected by the forestry law or are declared as nature reserves by the Ministry of Environment. The results reveal, through Participatory Rural Appraisals and Rapid Rural Appraisals, that religion, geographical location and land ownership play, to a certain extent, a role in adopting successful management practices of cedar forests. The RRAs and PRAs spell out the origins of woodcraft, old stories memorized by elderly people and ethnobotanical knowledge. The 4Rs tools method adopted highlighted the need for more collaboration and synergy of effort between various institutions. The social, ecological and economic aspects of the regions play a major role in defining the backbone of management plans for cedar forests in Lebanon. The present paper proposes guidelines for the establishment of a network of cedar nature reserves in Lebanon adopting collaborative management and assigning a separate role for each reserve; the details rely on the site's natural features, as well as socio-economic and cultural characteristics.

A livelihoods approach positions individuals, situated within households, as active agents within processes occurring at various scales. Environmental conservation efforts represent one such process with direct implications for local sustainable livelihoods and the gendered nature of livelihood strategies. In this article, I examine collective processes of socio-environmental identity construction as gendered sustainable livelihood strategies, articulated in and through the activities of women's agricultural organizations in communities bordering the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in rural southern Mexico. I present group histories and visual evidence from group activities – adapted from participatory rural appraisal (PRA) methodology – to highlight two important concepts. These are: (1) that gendered livelihood strategies are outcomes of negotiations within households and communities, in response to specific gendered opportunities and constraints; and (2) that gendered livelihood strategies consist of linked material and ideological aspects.Un enfoque basado en los medios de vida posiciona a los individuos, situados dentro de los hogares, como agentes activos dentro de procesos que ocurren a varias escalas. Los esfuerzos de conservación ambiental representan uno de esos procesos con implicancias directas para los medios de vida sostenibles y la naturaleza generizada de las estrategias de los mismos. En este artículo, exploro los procesos colectivos de la construcción de identidad socioambiental como estrategias generizadas de medios de vida sostenibles, articuladas en y a través de actividades de organizaciones agrícolas de mujeres en comunidades que limitan la Reserva de Biosfera de Calakmul en el sur rural de México. Presento historias de grupos y evidencia visual de actividades grupales – adaptadas de una metodología participativa de evaluación rural – para remarcar dos conceptos importantes. Estos son: (1) que las estrategias generizadas de medios de vida son el resultado de negociaciones dentro de los hogares y de las comunidades, en respuesta a oportunidades y restricciones generizadas específicas; y (2) que las estrategias generizadas de medios de vida consisten en aspectos materiales e ideológicos conectados entre sí.

This paper reports work done to assess the status of groundwater extraction technologies and practices in the Indus basin of Pakistan and hence to improve these technologies for sustainable groundwater extraction. A socio-technical approach was used which involved a field survey using participatory rural appraisal (PRA), monitoring of existing farmers' wells for hydraulic and hydrosalinity behavior of these wells, and simulating hydrosalinity behavior under skimming wells using appropriate groundwater and solute transport models. The data collected in PRA shows a variety of wells designs, which reflects the absence of design code for these wells. Consequently, farmers have to choose one of the design options provided by the local drillers.

It is often useful to have a framework for guiding decisions about process when carrying out or facilitating some intervention. This paper describes such a framework, developed out of combining participatory rural appraisal (PRA) with various OR/systems methods, that we have used in work in both developing and developed countries to enable local people to obtain, share and analyse knowledge of their life and conditions and to plan and act according to that knowledge. The paper begins by examining the framework provided by PRA, indicating why we felt it necessary to develop something slightly different. This paper will then outline the approach which we refer to as PANDA (Participatory Appraisal of Needs and the Development of Action). Applications are illustrated by means of a case-study taken from a developing country context. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd

This paper explores seven methodological issues in some detail to illustrate the ways in which aspects of the research process usually considered to be the same for both adults and children can pose particular dilemmas for adult researchers working with children. It argues that research with children is potentially different from research with adults mainly because of adult perceptions of children and children's marginalised position in adult society but least often because children are inherently different. Drawing on classroom-based research carried out in rural Bolivia, the advantages and disadvantages of using five task-based methods (drawings, photographs, PRA techniques, diaries and worksheets) are highlighted in order to illustrate how such research techniques often thought to be suitable for use with children can be problematic as well as beneficial.

Farmers in five districts of northeastern Uganda were interviewed to generate information on sweet potato production and constraints, with emphasis on damage by millipedes, Participatory rural appraisal methodology was used to interview 148 farmers, The peak period of planting sweet potato was from the end of May till the beginning of July in order to produce dried form food (amukeke) for storage in the dry season, which sets in around November. Vine cuttings were usually planted on mounds and weeding was mostly done only once, Osukut, Araka Red and Araka White were the most popular varieties, Many respondents obtained planting material from volunteer plants, Separation of plots over time and in space was often not practised, Sweet potato crop rotations were diverse, Millet, groundnut and maize were commonly grown after sweet potato, Cassava, sweet potato, groundnut and maize are host crops for millipedes and were often grown in succession, Millipede incidences were not statistically different for the three agro-ecological zones of northeastern Uganda, but depended on the frequency of millipede hosts (including sweet potato) in the crop rotations, Groundnut planted after sweet potato had high levels of millipede attack, Millipede incidence was often associated with the incidence of weevils , The results of this inventory show that most farmers consider millipedes as a pest of sweet potato and other major food and cash crops, but that many farmers lack the knowledge to control them,

Women are important and without them our livelihood would be diffi cult as well as in the fi sheries sector'. This perspective was frequently mentioned by men during the conduction of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) in the Lower Songkhram River Basin (LSRB) in the Northeast of Thailand, to investigate the basic information of communities in particular relation to the fi sheries sector. However, why we debate and/or emphasize on gender in the fi sheries development in the LSRB, and what women can do for fi sheries management, the various reasons are documented in this report. The paper describes gender status toward fi sheries management in the LSRB, including fi sheries activity profi le and how women can participate in fi sheries management. Moreover, the situation of gender to gain access to fi shery resources is assessed and suggestions are made on how to challenge gender issues in fi sheries management is presented in order to ensure equal gender participation in fi sheries management, which is considered to lead to more sustainable fi sheries management.

The Insect Resistant Maize for Africa (IRMA) project is currently developing Bt maize for Kenya. So far, Bt genes with resistance to Chilo partellus, Chilo orichalcociliellus, Eldana Sacharina, and Sesamia calamistis, four of the five major stemborers were succesfully incorporated into elite CIMMYT maize inbred line (CML216) and tested in insect bioassays in Kenya. Participatory Rural Appraisals showed that stem borers are indeed a major pest problems for farmers. Four seasons of on-farm crop loss assessment showed an average crop loss of 13.5%, or 0.4 million tons, valued at US$ 80 million. If the project manages to find a Bt gene that is effective to the fifth stemborer, Busseola fusca, adoption rates are likely to be high, and therefore the returns. Under standard assumptions, the economic surplus of the project is calculated at $ 208 million over 25 years (66% of which is consumer surplus) as compared to a cost of $5.7 million. Geographically, the project should focus on the high production moist-transitional zone. However, if such gene cannot be found, Bt maize technology would only be effective in the low potential areas, and adoption rates would be fairly low, although benefits would still exceed costs.

Traditional ecological knowledge and local experience of resource management and the usefulness of plant species can make important contributions to attempts to understand forest ecosystems and to develop effective sustainable management strategies for them. Therefore, the utilization of tree species by local people, their perceptions of changes in the surrounding forests, and suggested solutions for associated problems, were studied in the Sissili province of southern Burkina Faso. Information was collected through a combination of participatory rural appraisals, household interviews, and observational methods. Principal component analysis was used to analyze the consumptive values of woody species and their respective parts. A total of 82 species were identified, 90% of them were used for medicinal purposes, 78% for fodder, 73% for food, 67% for house construction, and 58% for wood carving. This suggests that forests play a key role in sustaining the rural livelihood and contributing to poverty reduction. The various stakeholders perceived that vegetation clearing for cultivation of cash crops (agribusiness) was the main driver of the change in forest cover. Species reported to be declining in the area included Parkia biglobosa, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Afzelia africana, Bombax costatum, Tamarindus indica, and Diospyros mespiliformis. Thus, a concerted effort should be made to manage the remaining natural forests in the country. Appropriate management strategies should be developed jointly by the local communities and external support groups to integrate the valuable local knowledge about forest species with the stakeholders’ suggestions in order to promote sustainable management of the region’s forest ecosystems.

This paper values the savanna woodland resources of two neighbouring villages in Zimbabwe. Households receive a diverse range of products from a variety of ecologically contrasting sites, and a large number of products are marketed. Whilst the rules and regulations regarding tree-based resources are similar in the two villages, there is a greater degree of enforcement in Jinga, where ecological sustainability is also more promising. Using a derived demand approach, it was found that, in both villages, fuelwood for household cooking, wild fruits and poles are the most important in terms of contribution to total value. The total values obtained for the woodland products investigated are sizeable by comparison to annual cash income. Non-market values (water retention, rainmaking functions, etc.) were ranked highly during participatory rural appraisal techniques. The valuation of a select range of products based on market prices is thus a small component of total economic value. Este artigo avalia os recursos dafloresta de savana de duas aldeias adjacentes no Zimbabwe. Asfamílias recebem uma série de produtos de uma variedade de locais ecologicamente diferentes, e grande número dos produtos são comercializados. Enquanto que as leis e regulamentos em relação aos recursos derivados de árvores são semelhantes nas duas aldeias, existe um major cumprimento da lei em Jinga, onde a sustentabilidade ecológica é tambem mais promissora. Usando um método derivado de avaliação, verifocou-se que, em ambas as aldeias, lenha para cozinhar, frutos silvestres e estacas são mais importantes em termos de contribuição para o valor total. Os valores totals obtidos dos produtos florestais investigados são consideráveis comparados com o rendimento anual. Valores não-comerciãveis (retenção de água, funções de produzir chuva, etc.) foram classificadas no topo da lista durante as técnicas de diagnósticoparticipativo rural. A avaliação de uma série de productos selecionados, baseada em preços de mercado, é assim, uma pequena componente do valor económico total.