PROGRAMME PLANNING, IMPLEMENTATION AND EVALUATION 2(1+1)

Lesson 30 : Participatory Rural Appraisal – PRA

Importance of Participatory Rural Appraisal

As PRA, basically came into existence in response to the disappointments and the criticism of the assumptions upon which earlier development work of planning and implementation was based, PRA has the added advantage of participation of local people which positively affects the planning, documentation and implementation of a programme.

Following are some of the advantages of PRA which makes it important for a programme.

1. Target group’s real priorities are identified
   In PRA, the target group i.e. local people are asked about the immediate problems, that they are facing. The outsiders do not impose their own solutions on these problems; rather they explore the solutions with the local people in which they are really interested.

2. Delegation of responsibilities
   PRA encourages self-reliant development with most of the responsibilities to manage and execute the developmental activities done by local people. This creates a sense of ownership and enthusiasm among the local people and thus the efficiency to achieve the goal also increases.

3. Motivation of local development workers
   The local development workers of non-governmental organizations, government or other agencies, who are involved in the developmental projects or programmes, get motivated through their participation in PRA activities, by knowing the grass-root level problems and priorities of the people. PRA helps to ensure better understanding and commitment of local workers; in return people at administrative and organizational levels also become aware about the requirements and priorities of workers and community.

4. Use of local resources
   PRA encourages participation of the local people and they design the activities by keeping in mind the availability of the resources that are present in their surroundings. This makes complete use of existing local resources like manpower, time, material resources and others.


Use of Local Resources in solving their needs

5. Sustainable developmental activities
   As local people plan and execute the activities themselves and which are technically, environmentally, socially and financially appropriate to local conditions, which lead to more sustainable developmental activities.

6. Brings desirable behavioural changes
   PRA methods encourage participation by providing visual basis like resource map, which stimulates the thought process and encourages local people to offer their views which are appreciated and included in the activities, increasing their confidence to participate more.

7. Use of indigenous knowledge
   Every community has an indigenous knowledge system which it acquires through work experience and solves problems in its own specific situations. This knowledge is shared by the local people of community while participating in the activities.

PRA is also important because:

1. It provides basic information where little is known.
2. Getting a better picture of needs and ability of the organizations to meet them.
3. Developing and transferring appropriate technologies.
4. Planning projects that are more relevant, restructuring administration, assisting in decision-making and policy formulation.
5. Providing guidelines for survey
6. It helps in individual and collective decision making and problem solving
7. Participation by the proper elements presents the ‘Hijacking’ of programme benefit selection of the community.