Rapid Rural Appraisal How to find out what’s going on!

1. Rapid Rural AppraisalHow to find out what’s going on!

2. Overview • What is Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)? • Why do we need RRA? • Planning for a RRA • Some simple RRA techniques • Semi-structured interviewing • Mapping and modeling • Seasonal and historical diagramming • Preference ranking

3. Rapid Rural Appraisal • Series of techniques for "quick and dirty" research • Compared to quantitative survey techniques generate results: • Less apparent precision • Greater evidential value • More efficient and cost-effective • Particularly useful for learning about agricultural systems

4. Why Use It? • You may think you know the answers, but what is the question? • Learn about the agricultural production system • Identify constraints and opportunities in the local agricultural systems • Better identify issues in target population

5. The Process Explore the farming system Identify the target population Identify the problem Investigate the nature of the problem Explore possible solutions

6. Preparations • What are the objectives of the exercise(s) • Why is the work being done? • What type of information do you need? • Define the study area • Province • District • Community • Review “secondary” data: • Reports, maps, photos • UN, Govt., NGOs etc.

7. Preparations (cntd) • Direct observation • Learn about the area • Only a “starting point” • Do not assume you know! • Prepare check-lists

8. Check-Lists • General information • Agro-ecological zones • Climate • Main economic activities of local population • Socio-economic information • Distribution of assets • Gender roles • Land tenure system • Interest groups • Labor use patterns • Access to services and markets • Cultural attitudes towards farming • Farming system information

9. Check-Lists: Farming system information • Physical resource base: land, soil, water, vegetation, etc. • Land use patterns: agriculture, livestock, forestry activities • Cropping patterns: crops, varieties, patterns, rotations, varietal preferences • Assets available (e.g., major tools) • Yields per crop per unit of land • Quantities of physical, variable inputs used per crop per unit of land • Labor used per crop per unit of land • Prices for: inputs, outputs, labor, land, capital

10. Planning Community Meetings • Location of meeting • Mosque or other communal meeting place • Private compound • Seating is important • Time • Who can and cannot attend? • Who will facilitate exercises? • Group or individual meetings? • Culturally will everyone participate equally?

11. Know Your Audience! • Butawata, Uganda • Community meeting • Men dominated discussions • Split into two groups by gender • Asked to discuss and prioritize issues • Women ranked labor shortage #1 • Men did not even mention labor! • Bring two groups together • Share what was discussed • Discuss issues

12. Common RRA Techniques • Semi-structured interviewing • Mapping and diagramming • Seasonal and historical diagramming • Preference ranking

13. Semi-structured interviewing • Semi-structured interviewing is a form of guided interviewing • Some of the questions are predetermined • New questions are usually generated during the interview • Use a checklist of questions as a flexible guide rather than a formal questionnaire • Interviews take the form of discussions • Interviewer and interviewee learn from each other

14. During the Interview • Use checklist to stimulate discussion and a participatory dialogue • Ask questions around existing information on the community, or visual material such as diagrams, photographs, or maps • Use “open-ended” questions: who? why? what? when? where? how? • Listen!!! • Take some notes during the interview • Better to complete notes immediately after the discussion

15. After the Meeting • Finish the discussion politely • Have evening brain-storming sessions with the team to complete notes and to prepare for the following day • Establish report writing procedures with the team making sure enough time is allocated

16. Mapping and Diagramming • Simple schematic devices • Present information in a condensed and readily understandable visual form • A simplified “model of reality” • Draw in the presence of different categories of people (women and men, young and old, etc.), as their perceptions, viewpoints and information will often differ

17. Mapping and Diagramming (cntd) • Greatly simplify complex information • Facilitate communication • Stimulate discussion • Increase consensus among community members • Are an excellent way of involving community members

18. Uganda

19. Information Collected with Mapping • Physical infrastructure • Social infrastructure • Cropping systems • Water sources • Woodlands • Major physical features • Land tenure systems • Grazing areas

20. Ethiopia

21. Participants, Location and Equipment • Groups should generally not be too large (no more than 15) • Select a comfortable place, free from distractions • Equipment: Maps can be prepared with a variety of tools on a variety of surfaces. The most common combinations are: • sticks, stones, leaves, etc. on cleared smooth areas of ground • colored chalk on cement floors • colored pens on paper

22. Mapping • Explain the purpose of the exercise • Guidance should be kept to the minimum - give some assistance with the first features • The map is a tool: discussion can take place on its features and questions can be raised about items on the checklist • Copy the map when it is completed • A copy should be shown to the participants and a copy should be left with them

23. Transects • A diagram that is produced during a walking discussion with villagers • Shows the key features of different land use zones in a community • Gain a basic understanding of the agriculture in an area: constraints & opportunities • Check-lists are useful: soils, slopes, food crops, cash crops, land-tenure, livestock, water etc.

24. Uganda

25. Seasonal and Daily Activity Calendars • Diagrams showing the timing and/or importance of events over a period of time (a year, a production season, a day) • Examples: • Food availability • Rainfall and temperature • Production and post-harvest activities • Prices • Marketing • Income • Labor or levels of work activity • Debt

26. Seasonal Calendar (example from North Kordofan, Sudan)

27. Daily Activity Clocks: Zimbabwe Women - Winter Dry Season Women - Summer Wet Season

28. Daily Activity Clocks: Zimbabwe Men - Summer Wet Season Men - Winter Dry Season

29. Pair-wise Ranking • List set of priorities, compare each priority with all others

30. Questions?