Participatory Appraisal Research Articles

Participatory Nutrition Capacity Assessment and Capacity Development in Six Regions of Ethiopia

Abstract Objectives The multi-faceted causes of malnutrition make capacity development in nutrition complex. Defining capacity development actions requires an understanding of the landscape actors utilize to address the determinants. Thus, six regional health bureaus (RHB) in Ethiopia, in collaboration with Alive & Thrive (A&T), conducted participatory capacity assessments to identify capacity strengths and gaps, and co-developed appropriate maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN) capacity development plans linked to achieving targets outlined in the national nutrition program. Methods From April to June 2019, 143 nutrition practitioners in six regions of Ethiopia conducted rapid participatory assessments of their respective regional capacity. They used an adapted assessment tool based on WHO's six system building blocks, and a four-level scoring guide to identify MIYCN capacity strengths and gaps on 87 statements of excellence. Validated by RHB's leadership, the assessors and A&T co-developed region-specific MIYCN capacity development plans for areas rated ‘poor’ and ‘fair’. Results An aggregate assessment score for six regions revealed presence of adequate MIYCN implementation capacity – excellent (25.3%), moderate capacity with basic ones in place or in use – good (37.9%), low capacity needing attention – ‘fair’ (23.6%), and no capacity or critical capacity limitation needing urgent attention – ‘poor’ (9.4%). Using a prioritization matrix, MIYCN-focused performance strengthening plans were designed, tailored to each region's context. Beginning in July 2019, the six RHBs incorporated key MIYCN improvement action items targeted towards ‘poor’ and ‘fair’ performance areas with relevant indicators into their annual plans, budget structure, and M&E framework. A&T and other partners provided technical assistance and coordinated their efforts with RHBs to spirally build regional MIYCN implementation capacities. Conclusions The participatory capacity assessment served to establish a baseline of existing MIYCN implementation capability; and create a strong and shared commitment within the health sector identifying areas for improvement that can be addressed by the government, with little or no external assistance. Funding Sources The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Estimation of the noise emissions generated by a single vehicle while driving

This article presents a method of calculation that allows us to separate the contribution of a specific vehicle to the overall noise pollution in an urban environment. This method will provide local authorities with new operating models so that the cost of noise can be allocated to a vehicle according to factors such as the number of people it affects, the distance traveled and journey time, the driving style and the type of vehicle and tires. The proposed methodology can be adapted to different noise emission and propagation models, and we select as a basis the CNOSSOS-EU framework for compatibility with the European noise mapping strategy. This method will make it possible to reduce road traffic noise using two long-term strategies: (a) separate distributions of the costs of noise among the vehicles that generate it, with the aim of achieving (b) an increase in pro-environmental behavior with regard to this pollutant. • Assessment and tracking of the contribution of a single vehicle to community noise. • Dynamic mapping of noise emissions of separate single vehicles. • Participatory assessment of noise environment in low emissions zones.

Perspectives on Telehealth Projects in Northern Communities: Lessons Learned for Decolonized Participatory Design and Assessment

Northern and Indigenous communities face well documented challenges to accessing services and are impeded by significant infrastructure and technological limitations prompting the urgency to adopt innovative approaches to overcome these barriers. Telehealth – the means of accessing healthcare services and information across distance – promises to augment services to address access issues, yet notable utilization and structural constraints remain. Drawing on a recent community-based study capturing the perspectives from four Northern Saskatchewan communities on telehealth utilization, this paper draws attention to the importance of community collaborations as crucial to better decision-making and pathways forward. Specifically, this work identifies the need for decolonized participatory design (PD) and participatory technology assessment models that consider broader socio-cultural and technical factors to inform Indigenous technology design, adoption, and assessment for long-term community benefit. Further, to this is the need for community driven approaches and engagement through knowledge mobilization strategies that could better inform future community development.

Pemberdayaan Masyarakat Kelurahan Air Hitam Kota Samarinda di Era New Normal

The community empowerment of Air Hitam Kelurahan, Kota Samarinda was carried out by the PkM team to open business opportunities, skills, innovation, and awareness of health protocols in community activities, especially in the new normal era. It is hoped that this service activity will provide direction to the community to create an atmosphere, condition or climate that allows the potential for the community to develop, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. Based on this focus, the objectives of PkM are (1) Community empowerment through waste paper processing programs, especially for PKK mothers, (2) Improve health protocols for transportation services, and (3) Simultaneous Pilkada preparation in the New Normal Era. The method of implementation is through the Participatory Need Assessment (PNA) approach and also assistance in collaboration, idea contributors, facilitators with local communities. The result of this PkM is to hold a training program for making used newspaper crafts which aims to open business opportunities for housewives for members of the Air Hitam Village PKK, as well as to socialize the application of Health protocols in transportation services and the implementation of Pilkada to stay safe during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Time is on our side: operationalising ‘phase zero’ in coproduction of mental health services for marginalised and underserved populations in London

ABSTRACT Coproduction is increasingly positioned as the gold standard for improving health engagement with marginalised groups. Yet little is known about how key factors such as power, position and culture impact success. Our research aims to identify the psychosocial factors and resources that enable successful coproduction between Black, Asian and other Minority communities and statutory agencies within a coproduction network for mental health services in London. Within our multi-site ethnography, 53 individuals completed: participatory learning appraisal (PLA) workshops, focus groups, and semi-structured interviews. Unstructured observations of network activities were also completed. Data were analysed using thematic network analysis. The findings highlight that coproduction is enabled by symbolic, relational and material resources. Resources are input before coproduction activities begin, within a newly conceptualised ‘phase zero’. Unconstrained by typical funding cycles, the phase shifts power, resources and relationships through recognising and addressing power asymmetries and histories of oppression facing marginalised groups. Implications for coproduction are discussed.

Mapping local participatory assessment of ecosystem services of natural resources

It is important to identify and manage regional natural resources to maximize ecosystem services. Although several studies have assessed ecosystem services using natural resources, they have failed to interpret the results spatially and to present regional policies. This study used factor analysis to map the results of an assessment of natural resources made by local ecologists to identify the main ecosystem services of the target area and their distribution. Spatial patterns were analyzed in the Namyangju area of South Korea, a water source for the Han River, where ecosystem services are paid for in monetary terms. Analyses revealed that cultural services predominated in the urban area, supporting services predominated in the mountain and river areas, and regulation services were emphasized at the points where mountains meet rivers. Mapping the results of inhabitant participation in the rapid function assessment of ecosystem services complements the mapping of general ecosystem service assessment, and can facilitate practical utilization.

Analysis of Ecological and Economic Benefits of Rural Land Integration in the Manas River Basin Oasis

Land consolidation is an effective means of promoting the regularization of fragmented arable land, optimizing the allocation of land resources and improving the environment in farming areas, as well as an important means of increasing the economic returns of farming households, and it is important to scientifically assess the ecological and economic benefits of agricultural land consolidation. In this study, participatory rural assessment (PRA) was used to investigate, in detail, the meaning, satisfaction and changes in farmland rehabilitation before and after implementation. The accuracy of the remote sensing data was verified through an experiment on the net cultivation coefficient. We used a sample of 447 farmers from nine villages in Manas County to study the differences in plot area, crop unit value, income and irrigation before and after the farmers’ integration. We found that, after the integration of farmland, the cultivated area increased significantly, the crop unit yield increased by at least 42.66%, the average income of farmers increased by a value of RMB 4324/ha and the water savings were all higher than 7.18 m3/ha. At the same time, after the integration of farmland, the number of plots was significantly reduced, the arable land became more regular and the microclimate of the farmland improved significantly. The government and individuals should follow the concept and construction requirements of the “community of life in mountain, water, forest, lake, grass and sand”, consider the economic and ecological benefits of land consolidation, ensure the quality of farmland ecosystems, actively explore new models of land consolidation and stimulate the economic vitality of rural areas.

Assessment of Livestock Water Productivity in Seno and Yatenga Provinces of Burkina Faso

The expected increase in livestock production to meet its increasing demand could lead to increased water depletion through feeds production. This study aimed at estimating the amount of water depletion through feeds and its corresponding productivity in livestock within the three dominant livestock management systems namely sedentary-intensive, sedentary-extensive, and transhumance in Yatenga and Seno provinces in the Sahelian zone of Burkina Faso. Using a participatory rapid appraisal and individual interview, beneficial animal products, and services were estimated, and consequently, livestock water productivity (LWP) as the ratio of livestock products and services to the amount of water depleted. Our results showed feed resources are mainly natural pasture and crop residues are common in all the management systems though the proportion of each feed type in the feed basket and seasonal preferences varied. Consequently, water depleted for feed production was similar across the systems in both provinces and ranged from 2,500 to 3,200 m−3 ha−1 yr−1. Values for milk (40 US$US$/household) and flock offtake (313 US$/household) derived from the transhumant system were higher (P < 0.05) than those from other systems in the Seno province. With higher returns from the beneficial outputs, LWP was higher (0.11 US$ m−3) in the transhumant system than other systems in Yatenga, but similar with sedentary-intensive in Seno Province Multiple regression analysis results showed that LWP had a significant positive relationship with flock offtake in Yatenga but milk and flock offtake in Seno. The study concluded that sedentary-intensive and transhumant system with more market-oriented beneficial outputs and much dependence on less-water-depleted feed resources will improve livestock water productivity in dry areas. Besides, interventions to improve livestock water productivity through beneficial outputs must recognize the unique socio-cultural context of the livestock farmers.

Framing Sustainability. Evidence from Participatory Forums to Taylor the Regional 2030 Agenda to Local Contexts

The present article introduces an original theoretical framework to investigate how public participation reframes governmental sustainability topics along four dimensions: exploration, prioritization, embedding, and integration. The literature highlights public participation as a strategic sustainability governance tool that can help governments extract local communities’ knowledge to better design policy. In light of this, the article proposes the participatory assessment grid (PAG) to assessing participatory contribution to framing sustainability. The present study adopts a topic detection method to gauging and comparing qualitatively and quantitatively the seven Veneto region participatory forums’ output. In so doing, the article tests the PAG and highlights the bottom-up contribution to the sustainability strategic plan formulation within the regional 2030 Agenda design. As the analysis reveals, participatory forums’ communicative content gives several potential contributions to government policy formulation that are drivers both to enhance public engagement and improve sustainability policy design.

Addressing community needs through a participatory food security assessment

ABSTRACT Despite substantial evidence describing the overall causes of U.S. food insecurity, in-depth explorations of single communities remain important, to understand geographic variation and identify locally responsive solutions. In one affluent Pennsylvania county, we conducted a mixed-methods community food security assessment, with pantry member surveys, in-depth interviews with pantry coordinators and stakeholders, and community-wide focus groups. Pantry members visited frequently and desired healthier foods, with households with children at highest risk. Food insecurity occurred within broader hardships, including local cost-of-living, inadequate transportation, and documentation fears. Holistic approaches at both individual and policy levels could address immediate needs and foster sustainable community change.

Bringing evidence to bear for negotiating tradeoffs in sustainable agricultural intensification using a structured stakeholder engagement process

ABSTRACT Sustainable agricultural intensification (SAI) has the potential to increase food security without detrimental effects on ecosystem services. However, adoption of SAI practices across sub-Saharan Africa has not reached transformational numbers to date. It is often hampered by lack of context-specific practices, sub-optimal understanding of tradeoffs and synergies among stakeholders, and lack of approaches that bring diverse evidence sources together with stakeholders to collectively tackle complex problems. In this study, we asked three interconnected questions: (i) What is the accessibility and use of evidence for SAI decision making; (ii) What tools could enhance access and interaction with evidence for tradeoff analysis; and (iii) Which stakeholders must be included? This study employed a range of research and engagement methods including surveys, stakeholder analysis, participatory trade-off assessments and co-design of decision dashboards to better support evidence-based decision making in Zambia, Tanzania and Ethiopia. At the inception, SAI evidence was accessible and used by less than half of the decision makers across the three countries and online dashboards hold promise to enhance access. Many of the stakeholders working on SAI were not collaborating and tradeoff analysis was an under-utilized tool. Structured engagement across multiple stakeholder groups with evidence is critical.

Sustainable Livelihood Strategies and Potential Socio-Economic Development Activities in Kampung Kesindu, Simunjan

This study takes place in an Iban community village located at the foot of Bukit Buri in an area called Kampung Kesindu, Simunjan. A part of the community lives in the longhouse headed by a headman named Tuai Rumah Robert Gana anak Jampong, while others have built their own houses around the longhouse. The aims of this study are to study the sustainable livelihood strategies and potential socio-economic development activities in Kampung Kesindu, Simunjan. The study explores how the community livelihood strategies influenced their socio-economic and natural environment. This study combines qualitative survey and participatory research techniques, namely Participatory Research Appraisal (PRA), as an approach to achieve a broad understanding of the livelihood strategies and land use of the community in Kampung Kesindu. The social sciences techniques used in this study are transect walk, seasonal calendar, focus group interview, and questionnaire survey. The study shows the essential aspect of the livelihood strategy in the community is to strike a balance between income security and food security. In addition, natural, social, human, financial, and physical capitals were identified to study the livelihood strategies at Kampung Kesindu. It is also important to realise that the community is dynamic in managing their resources. Government agencies play an important role in providing the subsidy and assistance for agriculture development in Kampung Kesindu. In summary, the current agricultural activities and practices of the community have little impact on the local natural resources. The community of Kampung Kesindu has identified that the community after much experience and observation made throughout the years of carrying out the agricultural activities as top priority that will improve their socio-economic.

食の安全・安心をめぐるコミュニケーション : 参加型リスクアセスメントを通じての相互理解・信頼の醸成(第39回研究発表大会 公開シンポジウム報告2012「食の安全・安心・信頼」)

食の安全・安心をめぐるコミュニケーション : 参加型リスクアセスメントを通じての相互理解・信頼の醸成(第39回研究発表大会 公開シンポジウム報告2012「食の安全・安心・信頼」)

Participatory Assessment of Multi Risks in Urban Regions—The Case of Critical Infrastructures in Metropolitan Lima

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive picture of risk governance and conceptualize an approach to dealing with multi-risks in the Metropolitan Region of Lima, Peru. We argue that the impacts of extreme events are not solely determined by a given place-based vulnerability and risk profile but are considerably influenced by cascading effects caused by service disruptions of critical infrastructures, which may even take place outside the exposed areas. This paper tests a new conceptual framework for assessing criticality and provides an evidence basis for effective risk governance of critical infrastructures in urban regions. The findings are based on a multi-method approach which includes participatory activities. The overall results show that the electricity sector is the sector with the highest systemic criticality, followed by IT and emergency response. These results help to identify gaps in actors’ awareness of interdependencies and show the general criticalities of infrastructures with regard to both physical and actor-related factors. A better understanding of the given interconnection between sectors, but also of specific system elements, is an indispensable prerequisite for resilience building. Furthermore, the analysis underlines specific cooperation and communication needs between different stakeholders but also indicates the requirement for a prioritization of sectors in contingency plans and spatial planning.

Integrated framework for stakeholder participation: Methods and tools for identifying and addressing human–wildlife conflicts

AbstractAs wild areas disappear and agricultural lands expand, understanding how people and wildlife can coexist becomes increasingly important. Human–wildlife conflicts (HWCs) are obstacles to coexistence and negatively affect both wildlife populations and the livelihood of people. To facilitate coexistence, a number of frameworks have been developed to both understand the drivers of conflict and then to find solutions that mitigate conflict. However, each framework has different foci and strengths in particular stages of analysis. Here, we propose an integrated framework that leverages the individual strengths of previously fairly isolated methodologies, allowing for holistic HWC analysis. The framework for participatory impact assessment (FoPIA) provides a toolset for developing wildlife scenarios, selecting assessment indicators and assessing the impact of different scenarios. The social‐ecological framework of ecosystem services and disservices (SEEDS) analyzes the ecosystem services trade‐offs related to scenarios, and the 3i stakeholder analysis approach, supports the identification of stakeholders and provides a mechanism to explore, in detail stakeholders' interests, relative influence, and how outcomes of research are likely to impact different stakeholders. We apply these approaches to eastern Germany, where the increase in several wildlife populations (i.e., wild boar, common crane, gray wolf, and European bison) has contributed to conflict with people. We demonstrate the complementarity of FoPIA, SEEDS, and 3i in identifying stakeholder needs and showing how wildlife dynamics may affect coexistence and create imbalanced ecosystem service and disservice distributions. The integrated framework introduced here provides guidelines for analyzing the multistage process of stakeholder participation and enables a comprehensive approach to the complex challenge of HWCs.

The study of composting system and its use in supporting vegetable cultivation in Kepulauan Seribu - Jakarta

This study aims to test several organic fertilizer production technologies from household waste, and to have the authority to support the growth of vegetable plants cultivated in Kepulauan Seribu. Participatory assessment involving 10 selected cooperators. The assessment activity is carried out in two stages, namely: (1) testing of fertilizer production technology, and (2) testing of having fertilizers produced in crop system plants. Fertilizer production technologies studied include: (a) production technology using a mini composter, (b) production technology using a vermicompost system, and (c) production technology using a burial system. The variables observed included the speed of the production process based on the C/N ratio and fertilizer chemistry, including pH, macro and micro nutrient content. The plant treatment tests included: (a) selected solid fertilizer (compost) and (b) comparative compost (cow manure). The tested plants used included leaf vegetables (mustard greens, lettuce, kale and spinach), fruit vegetables (tomatoes and chilies), and root vegetables (shallots). The observation variables included the growth and yield variables. Observation data were analyzed using descriptive analysis. Based on the results of the study described above, it can be ignored that: (1) fertilizer production technology from organic waste using the vermicompost technology system produces organic fertilizer that is faster to produce, although not according to quality standards of organic fertilizers yet; (2) each of leaf vegetables (mustard greens, lettuce, spinach, and water spinach), and fruit vegetables (tomatoes and chilies), gave a good response to vermicompost, but had not to root vegetables (shallots)

Perempuan dan Banten Pergulatan Status di Tengah Abrasi Simbolisme Keagamaan Pada Masyarakat Bali

The specific objective of this research is to develop a model of the inheritance of a national spirit among generations of women, especially among the people in Buleleng Regency in an effort to transform religious values ​​and share responsibility for the implementation and development of religion. This research will be conducted in Buleleng Regency. The research sample consisted of: Balinese women. The research instrument used: observation sheets, interview guidelines, questionnaires, documentary studies. This research is a development research that combines the Borg and Gall model with the Miles and Huberman model. All research data will be analyzed using cross-site analysis techniques, detailed descriptions, explanation of participatory appraisal (EPA), and SMART. This research will be conducted for 1 year (2020), in which the resulting products are as follows: (1) a profile of religious insights and values, (2) a model of empowering the role of women and offerings in an effort to transform religious values ​​and share responsibility for religious implementation and development. valid, practical, and ready to use, (3) scientific articles, and (4) research reports.

Using a participatory qualitative risk assessment to estimate the risk of introduction and spread of transboundary animal diseases in scarce-data environments: A Spatial Qualitative Risk Analysis applied to foot-and-mouth disease in Tunisia 2014-2019.

This article presents a participative and iterative qualitative risk assessment framework that can be used to evaluate the spatial variation of the risk of infectious animal disease introduction and spread on a national scale. The framework was developed through regional training action workshops and field activities. The active involvement of national animal health services enabled the identification, collection and hierarchization of risk factors. Quantitative data were collected in the field, and expert knowledge was integrated to adjust the available data at regional level. Experts categorized and combined the risk factors into ordinal levels of risk per epidemiological unit to ease implementation of risk-based surveillance in the field. The framework was used to perform a qualitative assessment of the risk of introduction and spread of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) in Tunisia as part of a series of workshops held between 2015 and 2018. The experts in attendance combined risk factors such as epidemiological status, transboundary movements, proximity to the borders and accessibility to assess the risk of FMD outbreaks in Tunisia. Out of the 2,075 Tunisian imadas, 23 were at a very high risk of FMD introduction, mainly at the borders; and 59 were at a very high risk of FMD spread. To validate the model, the results were compared to the FMD outbreaks notified by Tunisia during the 2014 FMD epizootic. Using a spatial Poisson model, a significant alignment between the very high and high-risk categories of spread and the occurrence of FMD outbreaks was shown. The relative risk of FMD occurrence was thus 3.2 higher for imadas in the very high and high spread risk categories than for imadas in the low and negligible spread risk categories. Our results show that the qualitative risk assessment framework can be a useful decision support tool for risk-based disease surveillance and control, in particular in scarce-data environments.

Adapting food systems to the twin challenges of phosphorus and climate vulnerability: the case of Sri Lanka

Two of the biggest global challenges for food security – phosphorus scarcity and climate change – are threatening farmers’ livelihoods, agricultural productivity and environmental integrity. In Sri Lanka, the agricultural sector is comprised largely of smallholder farmers where rain-fed rice is often a staple. Yet climate change projections indicate rice yields could drop by 40%, affecting the majority of farmers, and poverty levels could increase from 17% to 33%. At the same time, fertilisers are highly subsidized, without which farmers in this import-dependent island state would be exposed to future price fluctuations like the 800% phosphate price spike in 2008. Collaborative research between Sri Lankan and Australian researchers investigated the capacity of smallholder farmers, policy-makers and other food system stakeholders in Sri Lanka to adapt to these twin challenges via a participatory rapid integrated vulnerability assessment framework. We find that while Sri Lanka is vulnerable, there are many adaptive strategies already in place or planned. Although these strategies are not driven by climate change adaptation or phosphorus scarcity, they could be strengthened to support phosphorus and climate smart agriculture (PACSA). Sri Lanka’s food production is in the midst of a major transformation, largely driven by the President’s push for organic agriculture and organic fertilisers, waste-to-energy systems implemented through public-private partnerships, and the National Adaptation Plan for Climate Change. There are many ‘win-win’ PACSA opportunities both on- and off-farm, such as developing crop varieties that are drought-tolerant and need less phosphorus fertiliser and improved cold storage in the food value chain to reduce food losses.

From Consultation to Coproduction: A Comparison of Participation in Poverty Research

In this article, we compare two international participatory studies on poverty – one conducted in 1999 and published in 2000 as “Voices of the Poor: Crying out for Change” by the World Bank; the other, conducted from 2016 to 2019 as a partnership between the University of Oxford and the international movement ATD Fourth World, titled The Hidden Dimensions of Poverty. After introducing the subject, we present our theoretical background, distinguishing between participatory poverty assessments (PPA) and transdisciplinary research. We then discuss the methodological tools and processes deployed in the studies, before widening the discussion to broader issues concerning the participation of persons experiencing poverty in poverty research. We explore the extent to which each study empowered participants by involving them at each stage of the research process, whether space was opened up for participants to exercise greater agency through the cultivation of pro-poor alliances; whether power relations were recognized and/or countered, and finally, whether the studies had the potential to achieve transformative results. We conclude that while both studies were participatory in nature, the ATD Fourth World research followed a more demanding methodology, requiring deeper and more intensive participation of persons experiencing poverty at all stages of the research process.