Volume II:RRA and PRA Sectoral andCase Studies

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Table of Contents Volume II

Part I:Using RRA and PRA for Sectoral Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

An Introduction to the Sectoral Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Food Security:Information Needs and the Use of RRA/PRA to Address Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Understanding the Nature of the Food Security Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11

Identifying Vulnerable Populations: Profiling the Food Insecure Population . . . . . . . .14

Exploring Intra-Household Food Management Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Looking at Food Security Patterns Over Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Analyzing the Food Security Situation Using a Cause and Consequence Diagram . . .17

Agriculture/Natural Resource (ANR) Management:Information Needs and the Use of RRA/PRA to Address Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

An Introduction to ANR Information Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Describing Available Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

Describing Who Uses Various Resources and for What Purpose . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34

Understanding Rules for Resource Access and Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35

Learning about Sources of Conflict and Mechanisms for Conflict Resolution . . . . . . .36

Causes and Consequences of Resource Degradation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37

Microfinance:Information Needs and the Use of RRA/PRA to Address Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39

Assessing the Credit Situation/Need . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Existing Credit Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41

Attributes of Credit Sources Already Available . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42

Understanding the Socio-economics of the Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43

Determining Terms of Credit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

Assessing the Impact of a Loan Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45

Health:Information Needs and the Use of RRA/PRA to Address Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48

Information about Community Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Relationship to External Health Care Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49

Health Education/Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Care Seeking Behavior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Illness/Wellness Perceptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53

Nutrition and Feeding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57

Education:Information Needs and the Use of RRA/PRA to Address Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59

Background to CRS Education Programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60

Education Sector Information Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

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Identifying Existing Educational Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61

Relationship to External Education Provision and Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Community Organization and Participation in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .63

Education-Seeking Behaviors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64

Access/Attainment/Achievement Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

State of the Learner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67

Education for Children with Disabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Part II:Case Studies from the Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69

Introduction to the Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70

Case Study: Food Security in Impiron, Kenya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71

Context for the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72

Team Members . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74

Site Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Methodological Concerns Raised During the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75

Background to the Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

The Origin of the Maasai and History Since the Colonial Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .77

Maasai Culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .78

Livelihood of the Maasai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

Recent Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .80

Profile of the Community of Impiron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

The People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

The Geographic Situation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81

Social Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85

The Impact of Recent Droughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Food Production and Consumption Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Food Production in the Upper and Lower Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Consumption Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Constraints to Food Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99

Key Findings Of Potential Use in Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .101

Preliminary Discussions of Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

Conclusions and Next Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

Appendices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

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Part I:Using RRA and PRA forSectoral Research

Introduction

Food Security

Agriculture/Natural Resource Management

Microfinance

Health

Education

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An Introduction to the Sectoral Studies

Volume II of this manual looks at how RRA and PRA can be applied tospecific sectoral concerns. As you read through these modules, keep inmind that the basic principles of the methodology remain the same,whether it is applied to a food security intervention or used in aneducation project. Concerns about bias and the need to triangulate atthe researcher, tool, and informant level remain central to ensuringgood use of the methods. The basic toolkit is also the same (thoughsome tools may prove more useful in one type of study and less so inanother).

While the fundamental methodological principles remain the same, theway that the study will be carried out depends on the type ofinformation that is being gathered, who will use it, and what it will beused for. Hence, every RRA or PRA study must be custom designed.Customizing the study involves:

1. Choosing a team that has the mix of experience and disciplinarybackground appropriate to the issues to be addressed

2. Setting objectives that will guide the team to gathering the mostrelevant information

3. Choosing among the tools available those that will shed most light onthe topics of concern and

4. Devising checklists that touch on relevant questions and using thosechecklists to orient how the tools are applied

Some of the customization issues will be addressed well before theteam goes to the field. This includes, for example, the selection of teammembers and determination of study objectives. Others, such asselecting tools and devising checklists can only take place once theteam gets to the field. There, based on information that is gathered asthe study progresses and increased knowledge of the community inquestion, the team will adjust its approach to the circumstancesencountered.

Given all the adjustments that take place to customize RRA and PRAstudies, no two studies will be identical. An education study will bereally quite different from a natural resource management study, buteven two education studies are likely to have notable differences in theway they are planned and implemented.

This makes it impossible to lay out a clear pattern for, say, an educationor a food security study. This manual will certainly not attempt to dowhat is both impossible and undesirable from a methodological pointof view! The purpose, then, of the sectoral modules that follow is notto guide the reader to standard procedures. Instead, each section will

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highlight the types of issues and information needs that often appearand reappear in CRS projects in that particular sector. It will then pullout a few of these sector specific issues and discuss how the tools ofRRA/PRA might be adapted to address those particular questions.

The purpose of this discussion is not to recommend specific applicationsof the tools since it is not known what your project will be studying inparticular or what the circumstances are in the communities where youwork. Instead, the idea is to stimulate your thinking about the manycreative ways in which these tools can be used with the hope that thiswill help you to customize your own study and make you feel morecomfortable in adapting the tools as appropriate.

Keep in mind, as well, that one of RRA and PRA’s strengths is that themethods are very effective at looking at issues that cut across sectors ordisciplines. The multi-disciplinary team enables us to study issues frommultiple perspectives. Some of the more analytical tools, like matrices,allow us to look at the interrelations between different factors and toanalyze complex situations with the local community. As you puttogether an RRA, you will want to look at the interactions betweenvarious sectors and to search out and try to understand complexinterrelations that characterize life in the place where you are working.After all, human beings do not organize their lives according to health,agriculture, or education. Instead, they constantly juggle all these concerns atonce.

Projects that are to succeed need to understand how people decidewhether they will do something or participate or otherwise changetheir behavior....and look at all the issues that affect people decisionsand patterns of behavior. Therefore, good RRA or PRA studies, even iftheir principal focus is one sector, usually take a more systematicapproach that looks at the sector within the broader context.

Even within a single sectoral study, similar tools will be used to studymultiple issues. The tools are presented here under specific categoriesof information needed for each sector, but in many cases this is anarbitrary distinction. A matrix, for example, that is principally focusedon people’s choice of medical practitioners for different illnesses, willalso look at the attributes of those practitioners. Why are somepreferred over others? What factors determine whether a villager hastrust in the views of different health workers, etc. The same matrix mayalso be very revealing of peoples’ knowledge of various illnesses as itrelates to the type of treatment they seek.

And finally, remember, as you think about your sectoral study, thatmany of the tools described in Volume I will undoubtedly be used inyour study. This manual, for the most part, does not repeat tools in thisvolume that require little more than an adjustment of the checklist tomake them applicable. It does, instead, to show more significantadaptations of the tools that will make them more relevant to the sectorunder consideration. These “sector enhanced” tools will in most cases

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be used alongside the more standard/generic approaches described inVolume I.

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Part II:Case Studies from the Field

Food Security inImpiron, Kenya

Food Security: InformationNeeds and the Use ofRRA/PRA to Address Them

Prepared in collaboration with Jindra Cekan, Ph.D,Food Security Advisor, HQ/Program Quality and SupportDepartment

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Food Security: Information Needs and theUse of RRA/PRA to Address Them

Generally speaking, many CRS programs focus principally on foodinsecurity. The agency works with its counterpart organizations totarget the poor and hungry and give them access to programs whichwill make them more food secure.

Food security (or insecurity) comprises two issues:

• Consumption (what is eaten and how well it is utilized by the body)and

• Livelihood security (assets/savings one relies on, as well as theskills/inputs one needs to produce food, income, livelihoods, and tomeet other basic needs over time)

CRS programs focus on both individual and collective needs andconsider the role of the broader community in people’s ability to securetheir food needs.

• Individuals have a need to eat sufficient and appropriate food. Foodaid programming generally approaches the issue at this level —consumption

• Food security is also a collective matter. People manage their foodand livelihoods in conjunction with others — as households as well asin communities

• At the community level rights to collective resources such ascommunal lands and their products (water, firewood, pasture, wildfoods) are negotiated among the stakeholders. What rights people areaccorded may have a significant effect on individual and householdfood security. Advocacy also occurs at this level, with communitiesseeking to strengthen their rights vis-a-vis others.

CRS programs recognize that individuals have immediate foodconsumption needs. But they also recognize that food security has afuture component in it as well. Hence, CRS projects take into accountimmediate, medium-term, and longer-term approaches to food security.Food security for the family is more sustainable if people are better ableto manage their food security needs across all time frames and are ableto satisfy their short-term consumption needs without jeopardizingmedium-and long-term livelihood security. Sustained food security meansthat households no longer have to trade off between consumption andlivelihood security investments. They no longer have to decide betweenusing the money they get from selling their last goat to buy food fortoday or to pay for the school fees that are investments in their ownand their children’s tomorrows.

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Short-term food security needs are often addressed in emergencyand safety net (GR/OCF) projects. These programs save lives and helppeople meet their immediate food needs in the wake of a crisis. CRSemergency programs increasingly work towards enabling people totransition to viable livelihoods and build their skills to start new ones.

Medium-term consumption and the creation of a food security bufferfor livelihood security are usually addressed in projects that supportfarming, income generation (through poverty lending), and health.These projects aim to improve the availability, access, and/or utilizationof food. Participants in CRS projects often face obstacles such asseasonal climatic and market shocks, lack of inputs such as capital orskills, lack of access to land and problems of personal safety. To helpthem build medium-and longer-term food and livelihood security, theprojects need to determine the key underlying structural issues whichmake their situation precarious, and address those issues whileaddressing the immediate manifestations of hunger. CRS projects needto explore which underlying justice issues are the fundamentalconstraints to food security.

CRS is very concerned with the sustainability of any food securityintervention. Longer-term food security is addressed byinterventions that make investments in improving people’s savingsstrategies, that help them to manage natural resources with a longer-term perspective, that work on solidifying people’s ability to pay fortheir children’s education and improving their own skills. Whereneeded, this may involve advocating for national peace as well asindividual rights (e.g. economic power).

The CRS Food Security Pyramid (see page 10) summarizes the agency’sapproach to food security issues, with the short-term family foodsecurity needs at the bottom of the pyramid, the medium-term issues ofagriculture, income generation, and health across the middle of thepyramid, and numerous longer-term concerns addressed to thepinnacle. The types of responses that CRS offers to these problemsthrough its food security projects are summarized in the secondpyramid (“responses”).

The discussion above offers insight into the complexity of gatheringinformation needed for food security programming where the issues:

1. cross sectoral boundaries

2. address food security issues as they affect people’s immediate,medium- term, and long-term future and

3. confront the intricate dynamics between individuals, families, andcommunities

Capturing all this is indeed a challenge worthy of an experienced

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Immediate food consumption, potable water, sanitation

INCOMEGENERATION

Access tooff-farm income for

food and other purchases

AGRICULTURE

Availability ofon-farm production and income (food

& cash crops, livestock)

HEALTH

Utilization of food (health, nutrition)

Asset Accumulation, Savings

Natural Resource Management

Land Access & Ownership

Investment in Education, Skills(Literacy, Numeracy)

Improved Knowledge/Practices

Empowerment/Human Rights

Advocacy,Personal Safety

I.Short-Term

II.Medium-Term

III.Long-Term

Sustainable Contextfor Food & LivelihoodSecurity

Food Security Buffer

Medium-TermFood Consumption

ImmediateFoodConsumption

The absence of any one of these levels indicates a lack of justice

Family Food Security: Needs

Family Food Security: Responses

Food, Water & Medical Assistance(Emergency Food Aid, CMMB, GR/OCF)

INCOMEGENERATION

Poverty lending,Village Banking

AGRICULTURE

Enhanced Food & Cash Crop

Production, Market Roads,

Livestock, FFW

HEALTH

Food-Assisted Child Survival (FACS), Maternal Health & Nutrition

Asset Accumulation, Savings

NRM (soil conservation, water, etc.)

Land Access & Tenure Advocacy*

Education, Support Skills,Training for Agriculture,

Health, GR/OCF

Advocacy forEmpowerment,

Human Rights, andPersonal Safety

I.Short-Term

II.Medium-Term

III.Long-Term

K E Y :

C M M B = C a t h o l i c M e d i c a l M i s s i o n B o a r d , G R / O C F = G e n e r a l R e l i e f / O t h e r C h i l d F e e d i n g , F F W = F o o d F o r W o r k , N R M = N a t u r a l R e s o u r c e M a n a g e m e n t

T i t l e I I f o c u s ( f o o d r a t i o n s a s s i s t c o n s u m p t i o n A N D f a c i l i t a t e m e d i u m - a n d l o n g - t e r m f o o d s e c u r i t y t h r o u g h a c c e s s t o d e v e l o p m e n t p r o j e c t s

*Advocacy is done not only for land ownership, but also gender equity, conflict resolution, right to work, etc.

Sustainable Contextfor Food & LivelihoodSecurity

Food Security Buffer

Medium-TermFood Consumption

ImmediateFoodConsumption

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RRA/PRA practitioner!

Let us break down what may appear to be a complicated picture tolook at how the tools of RRA and PRA can help us to open a windowonto the problems that people confront in assuring and strengtheningtheir food security.

Understanding the nature of the food security problem

Often food security has a seasonal dimension. The production of foodand therefore the availability of stocks is usually determined by seasonalweather patterns. Employment is also often seasonal, especially insectors that have low skill requirements. Because vulnerablepopulations generally have few reserves to tide them over the leanperiods of the year, their food security typically varies during the year.Calendars are a useful tool that permits deeper exploration of theseasonal dimension of food security. This, in turn, can lead to veryfruitful discussions about whether and how people plan for leanperiods and the strategies they use to forestall or alleviate hunger.

The food security calendar described below was used in anevaluation of food security interventions in Burkina Faso. With someadaptation, you may find it useful for looking at seasonal issues in yourcountry program. The food security calendar, bean ranking, and foodsecurity time line (each described here) may be carried out in successionwith a single group of informants. Alternatively, they can be carriedout with different groups of people to triangulate and cross-check theinformation.

The food security calendar is particularly useful for looking at variationsin food consumption over the year. This is particularly important inplaces that have a distinct “hungry season” due to the seasonalavailability of food, or other constraints. Most communities in ruralAfrica, for example, are subject to this type of problem. The calendarfurther distinguishes between groups which have more or fewer foodsecurity problems, assuming that in every community there are peoplewho are relatively better off and others who are relatively worse off.Thus, calendars permit the situation of different groups to be comparedover the course of the year.

Before beginning the calendar, the team must think about whichsituation they wish to probe. Do they want to know about a goodyear? An average or typical year? Or a particularly bad year? Whateveris decided, it should be discussed with the group that will be doing thecalendar – the respondents should decide on a specific year that theywill keep in mind as they do the activity. (That is, if the questionaddresses an average year, they should think about when the lastaverage year was and then respond in terms of that year, say 1991.)

Next, establish the number of seasons and length of each season thatyear. Either begin the calendar with the first month harvest and move

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forward in time (see calendar below) or begin the calendar with thepresent month and work backward 12 months (if the past year was theyear in question). It may be helpful to note local names for seasons, aswell as the western month equivelants.

Having established the year, the next discussion is about different foodsecurity levels in the community. For the moment, it is enough to talkabout those who have fewer problems in having enough to eat, thosewho are in the middle, and those who have a lot of problems withfood issues. Later, these questions will be probed in greater depth.

After establishing the time axis, begin with the group that is consideredaverage. Ask them first about the months in which people (still in theaverage group) eat until they are full. In each of these month squares,they will put a particular symbol (e.g. a stalk of millet or a corn cob).Next, ask about any months that these average families in an averageyear suffer from hunger. Ask them to put another symbol, such as a

leaf or stone, in these months. The months that are left will beconsidered transition months and can be filled with yet another symbol(perhaps a stick). Once the experience of the average group has beenrecorded, move to either the group that is better off or the one that isworse off and ask the same questions, recording the information usingthe same symbols as with the first group. Finally, complete the exercisewith the third group, thus filling in the entire calendar. Having

Example of A Food Security Calendar

I:Most FoodSecure

II:Medium Food Secure

III:Least Food Secure

Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep

★ Period of Abundance: We eat until we’ve satisfied our hunger

T Period of Transition (the ration is reduced)

• Hungry Period (Two dots indicates period of exceptional difficulty)

★ ★

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

★ ★ ★ ★ T T T T

T T • • • •

T T

• ••

•• •

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completed the calendar, it is useful to go back and interview thediagram, using the categories established in the calendar. This willprovide an information matrix (next page) that summarizes theconsumption patterns of different groups in the community at differenttimes of the year. Begin, for example, by asking about the period ofabundance when families eat until they are full. Ask about each groupin turn (average, better off, worse off) finding out about how manytimes a day they (adults and children) would eat, what their diet is likeduring that period, what types of food management strategies theymight use (e.g. rationing), etc. Other issues that can be discussedusing the calendar as a point of departure are underlying causes ofhunger and strategies people use to supplement or replace their foodstaples as these begin to run out (e.g. wage, labor, debt, etc.), or todeal with its consequences once they find themselves in the hungryperiod. Continue same with the transition and hungry periods.

The way this calendar is used will, of course, depend on the situation.In some communities there may be more than three groups. It may beuseful to define groups based on factors other than food security levels(such as ethnicity or gender or livelihood patterns). People may wishto quantify the amount they eat using larger numbers of stones formore abundant diets, etc. In general, however, it will probably be bestto keep this calendar relatively simple and then to probe greater detailsusing other tools and interviews.

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This matrix can be useful for gauging diet diversity in preparation for aquantitative baseline survey, as well as for MCH/child survival programsand for targeting seasonal food-for-work.

Identifying Vulnerable Populations: Profiling the Food InsecurePopulation

Most projects working on food security issues are concerned about

Example of an “Interview Matrix”to Accompany Food Security Calendar

Typical Composition of Meals by Food Security Status and Season

Group I:Most foodsecure

Group II:Medium foodsecurity

Group III:Most foodinsecure

Period ofAbundance

Period ofTransition

HungryPeriod

Millet flour with

tamarind fruit

Eat porridge every

morning plus 2 meals

Tó (millet) with

complementary

sauces, meat or fish

most days, often

consume dolo (beer)

Eat porridge (during

morning in cold

months plus 2 meals

based on tó with bean

or hibiscus leaves

No porridge; 2 tó

based meals a day;

quantities and

preparation similar to

group II

Eat 2 meals but no

longer consume

porridge and reduce

consumption of meat

and fish; ration may

be slightly reduced in

last months before

harvest

Adult consumptionreduced to 1 meal perday; ration diminishes.Usually no beans.Children continue toeat at least twice a day

Ration diminishes to

apprx what it was

during period of

abundance, meals

reduced to 1/day for

adults; children

continue to eat at least

twice

N/A

One meal a day and

ration is reduced

considerably further

(to about 1/4 of what

is consumed during

abundant period).

Wild leaves may be

used for sauce if

nothing else available

May go for several

days with no

significant cereal

consumption. Often

eat only thin soup of

wild leaves and

sorghum or millet flour

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how many people are food insecure and wish to understand thecharacteristics of the populations that encounter problems, as well asthose who do not. There are several tools that can be used to explorethese issues.

Bean Ranking is a quick and easy way to gather general informationabout populations who are better or worse off. The bean wealthranking exercise described in Volume I can quite easily be adapted tofood security if the piles are redefined as people who are more or lessfood secure rather than those who are more or less wealthy. Thisexercise logically follows the food security calendar, since thecommunity will already have been discussing food insecurity in terms ofthree categories of people. When the calendar is completed, thefacilitator can bring out a pile of beans where each bean represents ahousehold. Ask the informants to place each bean in a pile to showwhether each family in the community falls into the group that is morefood secure, least food secure, or about average. Then, as with thewealth ranking, “interview the piles” asking about the characteristics offamilies in each pile (e.g what do people in this group have that theother groups don’t have? ). This discussion can then move to manydifferent issues related to food security levels such as:

• different strategies for dealing with food shortages

• different strategies for preventing hunger and maintaining food securitysafety nets, e.g. sharing of food within and between families,borrowing/lending relationships

• whether/how a family’s food security status changes over time

• what are the savings/assets used to maintain food security

• types of shocks that might cause a family to move to a lower level offood security, and

• correlation of food security status with wealth, ethnicity, religion, etc.

When more specific information about families at risk is needed, thesocial map is a useful tool for identifying the food security status ofindividual families in order to target those in greatest need. Followingthe procedure described on page 80 of Volume I, informants can beasked to rank families using different papers or symbols to show theirlevel of food security. Other relevant information can be documentedon the same map, such as families that own animals (and what kind),those that have only farm income versus other income sources, thosethat receive remittances from outside the family, etc.

Exploring Intra-Household Food Management Issues

As noted above, food security questions must be addressed at severaldifferent levels. Most of the activities described above are oriented

16

toward understanding the general situation in a community. The studywill also want to look at what happens at the family/household level.One way of doing this is to sample several families and do more in-depth research with them. If you have done the social map (page 81volume I), it will be quite easy to identify one or more families in thefood security categories that interest you (e.g. two wealthy, twoaverage, and two vulnerable, or perhaps you will decide only to lookat the most vulnerable families if those are the ones you plan to workwith). You can then visit those families and carry out detailedinterviews that probe the family situation.

The same type of food security calendar described above can bedone with the families that are sampled from the map. These maps willgo into greater depth on household consumption issues. The purposeof this is both to gather additional information at the household leveland to check the information that comes out of the group activity. Thecalendar can be adapted to list in detail the different foods that thefamily eats during different times of the year and make note of whetherthe foods were grown, purchased, or obtained from another source(such as gifts or food aid). This type of activity may be carried out withseveral “representative” families for the baseline and then repeated inmid-term and final evaluations in order to understand how and whytheir food management patterns may have changed during theproject.

Other useful activities at the household level include probing food stockmanagement by using bean counters. One might, for example, askthe family to draw a circle in the sand for each granary that the family– or individuals in the family – has. Ask them to show what the foodstocks were like after the previous year’s harvest by placing a bean foreach sack (or whatever the local measure is) of grain that was in thatgranary. Then ask them to show what happened to that grain overthe course of the year. How much of it was consumed by the family,how much of it went to other purposes such as paying off debt, beingsold to pay household expenses or school fees, contributing to culturalevents, etc.?

You will probably want to spend time actually sharing a meal with thefamily, if this is culturally appropriate, in order to observe consumptionpatterns, eating groups, the distribution of staple items and condimentsamong the members of the eating group, etc. Ideally such visitsshould not be programmed far in advance so that the family does notchange its food preparation to accommodate the guest. This is a formof participant observation that is particularly useful when studyingconsumption issues.

Looking at Food Security Patterns Over Time

As mentioned above, a common issue in food security studies is tounderstand how families deal with shocks to their food security:

17

• what causes the shocks?

• what do people do to attempt to forestall the shocks?

• how do they react when a shock hits them?

• what are the immediate and longer term consequences (issues ofresiliency)?

One way to look at this issue is by using a food security timeline.

To make a food security timeline, draw a line in the sand to representthe situation of average food security: not a great year and not aterrible one, but somewhere in the middle. Ask people to think of thelast time the village had such a year and make sure that everyone isclear about what year you are talking about. Now ask people to thinkabout last year: was it better or worse than an average year? Place abean above, below, or on the line to show whether the year wasbetter or worse than average. Now go back one year and do thesame thing. Each time someone places a bean on the diagram, askthem what factors made that year better or worse than usual. Continueback as far as people can remember, at least for the last ten years (anexample of a food security timeline may be found in Volume I, page99).

Complete the activity by interviewing the diagram about the types ofissues raised above.

A timeline such as this one can be taken to a higher level of complexityby using a historical matrix to look at the same types of issues.Unlike the historical matrices described in Volume I that took a longview of history (60 years or more) your historical matrix might coveronly the last ten years and each of those years might be one column ofthe matrix. Now, instead of placing a bean above or below the line,people will place a number of beans in the appropriate square to showwhether the population was more or less food secure that year. Othervariables (rows) on such a matrix might be:

• the price of grain

• the price of animals

• level of outmigration

• number of families suffering acute hunger

• availability of outside assistance, etc.

Analyzing the Food Security Situation Using a Cause andConsequence Diagram

Tools that help the local population to analyze their own food securitysituation are particularly valuable when communities are trying to plan

18

interventions. The following tool is thus especially useful in PRAcontexts, though it might also be used effectively by RRA practitioners.The example below is from a study done in Mauritania and reflects theissues confronted by that population. In areas where the food securityissues may be different, the diagram will have to be adjustedaccordingly.

In the area of rural Mauritania where this study was carried out, theprincipal problem is one of procuring adequate food stocks throughoutthe year in order to assure even minimal levels of consumption.Micronutrient deficiencies and even the seasonality of hunger are

secondary to the main problem which issimply a lack of adequate foodstuffsthroughout nearly the whole year. Thevillagers talked about “levleika,” the term thatis used locally to refer to severe hunger.

To begin the exercise, then, a battered foodoil can was placed on the ground torepresent levleika. Below the can, on thediagram that was traced in the sand, wereplaced symbols to represent money that canbe used to buy food, and food that isproduced or gathered locally.

HungerLEVLEIKA

Food Security

IncomeFood

Production

HungerLEVLEIKA

Food Security

IncomeFood

Production

• rainfall

Trees

• rainfall• physical

weakness• fence

Field Crops

• water• varieties• fence• knowledge

Garden

• market• raw

materials

Crafts

• lack ofjobs

• low pay

Salaried Labor

• pasture• sell off prices

Animals

Diagram 1:

Diagram 2:

21

Agriculture/NaturalResource (ANR)Management:Information Needs and the Use of RRA/PRA to Address Them

Prepared in collaboration with Gaye Burpee, Ph.D,ANR Senior Technical Advisor, HQ/Program Quality andSupport Department

22

Agriculture/Natural Resource (ANR)Managment: Information Needs and theUse of RRA to Address Them

An Introduction to ANR Information Needs

Community ANR projects deal with a wide range of complex, dynamicbiophysical and environmental factors, as well as multiple, complexhuman factors. The former includes climate, topography, ecosystemsfactors and natural resources. The latter includes how communities,households, and individuals define, use and manage resources, dealwith conflicts and manage rights and responsibilities.

RRA/PRA can provide important baseline information to communitiesand development workers. This information helps to ensure truecorrespondence between proposed ANR activities and local conditions,resources, needs, and constraints.

The site-specific nature of ANR activities is a point which cannot beemphasized enough. No matter how successful a particular ANRintervention has been in resolving a particular problem in a particularregion, it can never be assumed that it will be successful across theboard. Soils, climatic conditions, and human factors work in differentways in different places and will result in technologies having verydifferent results depending on local situations and conditions.

Overall objectives of different projects can be identical (e.g. to reduceerosion, increase yields, improve soil quality), but the means to achievegoals need to be location specific and targeted to the uniquecombinations of biophysical and human factors, which are constantlychanging. Good RRAs and PRAs can contribute valuable informationthat will help projects to better understand these complexities as theyplan their activities.

This manual has shown the value of RRA and PRA for looking at issuesthat cut across particular sectors or interests. This is important in ANRprojects because they often work with entire systems, such as farming,forest, coastal or watershed systems, and not just with individualcomponents within those systems. An RRA for an agriculture projectwould include information not only about the farming system of agiven community, but also its relationship to the larger watershed. Itwould cover the most important interactions within and betweensubsystems, describing all major crop, tree, household gardening andanimal subsystems and summarize how the subsystems fit into thebroader context of a watershed ecosystem and multiple humanactivities.

The information from such an RRA would be used to targettechnologies appropriate to local agro-ecosystems, and would seek

23

ways to make efficient and profitable use of local human and naturalresources while conserving vital resources.

Describing Available Resources

One type of information that is critical to ANR studies is an inventory ofresources that focuses on such issues as:

• how a community defines its territory and how boundaries/limits areset

• what a community’s internal and external resources are

• what factors beyond the control of the community (historical, political,tenurial, cultural, economic) affect use and availability of resourceswithin the community

There are many different ways to approach these issues. They involveassembling information available in the community itself, as well asusing secondary sources (see below).

A territorial map can reveal community defined boundaries andresource locations. It is important to include all the land that acommunity believes belongs to it, as well as land or resources notbelonging to a community, but used by its members.

A historical map can be drawn with current boundaries and resourcesand then adjusted to show changes from the past. Alternatively, mapsof the present and past can be drawn side by side to provoke adiscussion around changes over time. The historical map below showshow pressures on a pastoralist community in northern Senegalcompressed the territorial boundaries on one side while the departureof a neighboring village allow the pastoralists to expand their territoryin another direction.

24

��������

yyyyyyyy ����

����������������

yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

��yy�y

����yyyy

����yyyy

1.5

kms

Mpal

Teud Bitty

To Mborokn

KeurMomar

Sarr

LacdeGuiers

Ross Bethio

Niassene

Djiby

6.5

kms

2 kms

North

Fields ofMaka Wolof

Fields ofMbojene

Fields ofNiassene

Fields ofYelata

Fields ofSambaNiakuru

Fields ofNdogal

Fields ofGadou Nar

Fields ofMbare

B. TallB.J. Tall

A. Tall (1)

D.Sow

A. Tall (2)

G. Sow

B. Moody

O. Tall

Y. Sow

H. Tall

H. SowS. Sow

S. Ba

InaccessibleWell

KambaMaka

Fields ofNiassene

Legend

Hurum (Territory) Map, Maka Ndandary, Senegal

�y����yyyy

Tracks/Roads (sand)

Pressures on territory fromneighboring villages

Wells

Wuro (compounds)

Hourum Ladde (outer pastures)

Seasonal ponds

Former territorial limits

Current territorial limits

25

Though territorial maps such as these show boundaries, current landuse and location of resources, they are one dimensional and cannotilluminate changes in natural resources that follow changes intopography. When topography is complex or of particular interest,transects provide useful information.

The parallel transects that follow represent the coastal community ofBuen Hombre in the Dominican Republic (Burpee, 1995). One transectruns through developed lands and one through undeveloped lands. Ifthere have been no dramatic long-term changes in climate over time,transects of undeveloped lands can serve as a historical baseline forcomparison to changes that have occurred as a result of humanactivity.

26

The interviews accompanying such transects would deal with issueslike:

• soil and water conservation measures/structures

• soil conditions/problems

27

• “natural” vegetation and implications for conservation and sustainableproduction

• water sources, harvesting, storage, use

• role of animals/livestock in production or food security

• cropping methods/patterns

• post-harvest storage and handling

Case/histories are a good way to explore local production practices,technical innovations, or post-harvest activities. Farmers might describea sequence of production steps by season or they might discuss thefarming practices of their grandparents. Case histories can be used todescribe a problem, its origin and alternatives that were considered,tested, and evaluated. They are effective at revealing trends/patternsover time, sources of innovative ideas, and critical disruptive events.Information presented in case histories can provide the starting pointand background for large group discussions or community widemeetings.

Farmer/indicators are a way of tapping into indigenous knowledgerelated to natural resources in the community:

• what is the local vocabulary for describing soil, plant, and waterresources?

• what indicator plants do farmers use to measure soil fertility and soilquality?

• how do farmers classify local soils and vegetation?

• how do farmers characterize the quality of their resources and makemanagement decisions?

• which soils are suitable for what purposes?

This type of information can be added to a community map to show,for example, which types of soils are most suitable for which types ofagricultural activity, whether cultivated crops, fallow, pasture,agroforestry, etc.

Calendars are important for ANR projects since they will help toidentify the most suitable time for carrying out project activities andavoid introducing activities during seasons when people are alreadyfully committed to other types of work. The calendar below highlightsthe most food insecure months at the beginning of the rainy season inBuen Hombre, a semi-arid farming/fishing community in the DominicanRepublic (Burpee, 1995). Neither of the two main subsistence activitiesis sufficient to meet all community survival needs alone. In May andJune, previously harvested agricultural stocks are non-existent, andturbulence in coastal waters from heavy initial rain prevents reef divingand fishing activities. The calendar also shows that village men aremore available for project activities during certain months and thatwomen’s labor commitments are consistently high, regardless of season.

28

Pictorial questionnaires are another useful tool for rapidlycharacterizing farming systems and showing constraints to agriculture.They are especially appropriate for use in communities where illiteracyrates are high. The example below was developed for use with farmersin Honduras and Nicaragua (Burpee 1997).

29

Buen Hombre Labor Calendar

In some cases, in addition to a general inventory of natural resources,more detailed information about one specific resource may benecessary for problem identification and project design. A donor may

30

have limited resources and decide to work on reversing the process ofsoil degradation in the worst-affected mountainous areas of a country.How would the worst soils be identified?

Overall soil quality or health can be evaluated with a simple self-scoringfarmer friendly questionnaire based on local vocabulary. Thequestionnaire can be used to produce a numeric score for farm-to-farmor regional comparisons and to focus on specific variables of interest,such as depth of topsoil or quantity and quality of vegetative cover. Thistype of questionnaire can also be used to target managementinterventions by identifying specific soil-related problems within afarmer’s plot, or to pinpoint “hot spots” of degradation within awatershed. Variables can be prioritized and weighted to reflect localconditions or constraints.

The box below lists the first three questions for a Soil Quality Scorecarddeveloped for farmers in Central America (Burpee, 1997). The scorecard

was modeled after aquestionnaire developedat the University ofWisconsin. Zero scoresare evidence of poor soilquality; a score of onerepresents average quality;scores of two indicategood soil quality for aparticular characteristic.

More qualitativeinformation, whichsummarizes generalfarmer knowledge ofoverall soil quality, can beobtained using beanranking of soil types. Inan exercise in Madagascar,villagers were asked todivide a pile of beans(representing all the landin their territory) intodifferent piles to show thequality of soil on that land.They started, for example,by giving the local namefor the richest soil in the

territory and pulled aside a pile of beans to show how much of theterritory’s soil was of that type and then did the same for the poorestsoil. They completed the exercise by telling about four other soil types,each time putting a larger or smaller pile of beans to show how muchland had soil of that type. This method can lead to a very interesting

31

Sample Questions from a Soil Quality Scorecard

1. What is the color of the soil when damp?

0 light brown, yellow, light gray, light reddish or almost

white

1 brown, gray, or reddish

2 black, dark brown, or dark gray

2. How fertile/rich is the soil?

0 the soil is poor, infertile. Without fertilizer it will not

produce a crop

1 the soil is somewhat fertile, but needs fertilizer to

produce well

2 the soil is fertile and productive without the addition of

fertilizer

3. How deep is the topsoil layer?

0 there is no layer of topsoil, or it is very thin, less than 2

inches. The subsoil is very near the surface

1 the topsoil is not very deep, between 2 and 5 inches

2 the topsoil layer is thick, more than 5 inches

32

discussion about the causes of soil degradation, how things havechanged over time, farmers’ strategies for dealing with degraded soil,etc.

Much useful information about local resources is also available fromsecondary data sources. Governments often store black and whiteaerial photos of local landscapes taken over a period of twenty orthirty years in national survey or cartography offices. Photos can beblown up or magnified and used to stimulate discussions during villageinterviews, or to triangulate historical land use patterns. Villagers seemto have no trouble recognizing and interpreting their world from thebird’s eye view provided by such photos.

Universities and agricultural research institutes may also have access tosatellite photos (sometimes up to one meter by one meter of resolution)that have been “ground-truthed” and incorporated into GIS(Geographic Information Systems) maps using GIS software andcombined with precipitation, soils, and land use data. Where these GISdata already exist, maps of the region can be produced showing soiltypes overlain on topography, or rainfall with land use (for example).These issues can then be discussed with villagers during the RRA andthe results can be used to target interventions, based on externalinformation and community prioritization of problems.

These secondary data sources are helpful in identifying patterns ofchange in agro-ecological, land use, or tenure systems. Trends canserve as the basis for discussions with communities:

• how valid is the secondary data?

• are villagers aware of emerging trends?

• do they agree with project staff interpretations of secondary data?

• how can this information be used by community members to analyzeproblems and design interventions?

The following table summarizes biophysical variables of interest in ANRRRAs and PRAs.

33

It is often useful to explore change in resource endowments over time.Historical matrices (see Volume I, page 98 )can be used to look bothat changes in resource endowments (e.g. density of trees, amount ofland cultivation, number of cattle, sheep and goats) and at more

Biophysical Variables of Interest For ANR Projects

MapsTopographic maps

Topographical mapsInterviewsDirect measurement (altimeter)

Topo maps, transect walks, interviews,aerial/satellite photos, observation,direct measurement (clinometer)

Historical matrices, calendars, casehistories, meteorological records, directmeasurement

Soil maps, national data, farmerindicators, judging bean activities, directmeasurement, soil quality scorecard

Transect walks, botanical surveys,household/territorial maps,aerial/satellite photos, GIS data/maps

Historical matrices, historical maps,transect walks, ecological surveys,aerial/satellite photos, GIS, data/maps

Community maps, matrices, transectwalks, ecological surveys

Transects, calendars, matrices, maps,case histories, agricultural census data,socio-economic surveys, directmeasurement.

Pictorial questionnaires,household/community maps, matrices,transects, GIS/land use maps,agricultural census data, calendars, orgroup key information interviews

Historical matrices, wealth rankings,transects, household maps, ecologicalsurveys

Location: latitude, longitude,geographic boundaries

Altitude

Topography: landform, slope

Climate (past and present):temperature, precipitation (amount,pattern, regularity)

Soil resources: soil type, soil quality,existing conservation measures

Vegetative/plant cover: coverage,species

Land Use: past and current

Water Resources

Agricultural production: costs/inputs/labor, constraints (pests, diseases),yields (markets/transport),post-harvest systems

Farming/Livestock Systems:farm size/type, irrigated/rainfed,hillside/flatland, land tenure/ownership,production systems

Animal life:Quantity, species

Day length for cropsGrowing seasonSolar radiation

Temperatures for plant growthSuitable species

Potential land useNecessary soil and water conservation(SWC) measures

Species suitability (plant, animal)Growing seasonsPotential land use

Appropriate/potential land useAppropriate SWC measuresCommunity stewardship values

Appropriate/potential land useSoil qualityAnnual precipitation, temperatures

Appropriate/potential land useIntervention and strategies

Appropriate/potential land useIntervention strategies

Current constraints/opportunitiesIntervention strategies SWC strategies

Current constraints/opportunitiesIntervention strategiesSWC strategies

Ecosystem health/diversityPotential survival/production activities

Variable ofInterest Indicator of:

Data CollectionMethod/Source

34

complex questions such as changes in biodiversity or the number ofconflicts over resources through time.

Describing who uses various resources and for what purpose

ANR studies often need to know:

• who uses what resources (by gender, socio-economic class, ethnicity,age, etc.)

• how resources are used and when (e.g. productive activities andseasonal variation)

• what resources are used for (e.g. medicines, income generation, food,etc.)

A resource use matrix is very helpful in understanding how resourceuse breaks down by different categories and for exploring issues suchas who makes decisions about resource use, which users are moreconsideration-oriented, whether those who actually harvest a resource,like wood or medicines, are the end-users, etc.

A matrix like the one below actually combines several mini-matrices.For example, the first mini-matrix concerns resource use by gender.After asking about each resource in turn (do men or women harvestmore wood, more leaves, etc.), continue on to do the next mini-matrix,asking whether richer, average, or poor people are more likely toexploit a given resource, and so on. (For details on how to use thistype of matrix, see Volume I.)

Matrices can lead to interesting discussions about use of resources by“outsider” groups, including migratory populations. If this is an issuewhere you are doing the study, you may want to add a columnspecifically addressing the question of resource use by transient,migratory groups (in the insider/outsider category). This issue can betriangulated in a calendar (described below) when you ask aboutseasonal use of resources by outsiders.

Calendars are useful for addressing seasonal variation. One might findout, for example, at what point different tenure rules (open accessversus individual use rights) might be in effect for various resources.Calendars can be used to highlight, for example, the timing of differentconservation measures:

• when do people compost?

• when do they manure their fields?

• are certain informal rules protecting certain resources seasonal innature?

Understanding Rules for Resource Access and Use

ANR research is often concerned with questions of tenure, who hasaccess to what resources under what conditions. Formal systems (suchas state laws and regulations) as well as local traditional arrangements(formal or informal) are important. This will involve issues such as:

• tenure

• who makes the rules

• who enforces the rules

• how rules have changed over time

• whether rules change seasonally

35

Resource Use Matrix

Gender Wealth Insider/Outsider

Wood

Leaves

MedicinalPlants

Hill-sideLand

ValleyBottomLand

Grasses

36

Many of these issues can be explored in a Venn Diagram that focuseson ANR issues. Be sure that everyone, both within and outside thecommunity with any influence on decision making or dispute resolutionappears on the diagram. One way to interview is to ask what happensin different scenarios:

• if a newcomer wants to gain land in this territory, who should she talkto?

• if a dispute arises between two villagers, who will be involved?

• if a stranger cuts wood illegally in the territory, who will respond ortake action?

Another useful activity is to draw household maps with people fromdifferent income groups. These maps include all land and resourcesthat are owned or used by the family in question. Ask the family toshow different categories of land: owned, rented, loaned, borrowed,etc.. Ask about arrangements for each type of resource transaction:what are the rules for borrowers? what arrangements are made forusing tree products of a tree growing on someone else’s land? And soon. These issues are often very important in ANR projects. In someplaces, for example, land borrowers cannot make improvements, suchas tree planting or terracing. If land borrowing is a common practice,it is important to consider this constraint in project design.

Learning about Sources of Conflict and Mechanisms for ConflictResolution

Issues of conflict can be very revealing in ANR studies, often showingdifferent perspectives of stakeholders with competing claims toresources.

A Conflict Matrix that focuses on natural resources can be very aeffective at getting villagers to address sensitive disputes. There aremany variations on this type of matrix, but the one below focuses onthe disputants in conflicts over natural resources. You would gothrough the matrix horizontally, asking informants:

• when conflicts occur over trees, are conflicts most often betweenvillagers, between villagers and people from neighboring villagers?

• involving strangers?

• with the State?

Villagers then place beans to show where there are more conflicts.

The interview can focus on such questions as how conflicts areresolved, who becomes involved in dispute resolution, what rules areapplied, etc.

38

Flow Diagram: Causes and Consequences ofTree Resource Degradation in Gnigning, Senegal

Degradation ofWoody Vegetative

Cover

Impact on theNumber of Cattle

and TheirProductivity

Use of Cow Dung for

Cooking Fuel

Disappearanceof Fallows

PopulationPressure

Impact on Income

Conflicts

Impact onFood Security

Decrease inSoil Fertility

Animal Traction

Drought

Lack of Water

Can’t water trees

Can’t diversify into othereconomic activities

Productivity of trees down

Trees cut for fodder

Plows cut roots

Plows cut seedlings

Some trees have diedHarvesting

No chance forregeneration

Pruning

Expansion of fields

Expansion of fields

Can’t water treesDecrease in regeneration

Have toincrease

area undercultivation

Lack offuel wood

Lack of forage

Fewer products to sell

Can’tincreaseherd size

Fewer leaves and fruits

Less fertilizer on fields

Little milk

Yieldsdecrease

CO

NSE

QU

EN

CES

CA

USE

S

39

Microfinance:Information Needs and the Use of RRA/PRA to Address Them

Prepared in collaboration with Kim Wilson,Microfinance Technical Advisor, HQ/Program Quality andSupport Department

41

Assessing the Credit Situation/Need

Existing Credit Sources

When a Microfinance assessment is carried out, one of the principalquestions will be whether there are existing sources of credit and whattheir terms and conditions are. There are a number of tools that canbe used to gather this information.

The participatory map can be adapted to discussions of credit issues.In some cases it may make sense to expand the map beyond theimmediate confines of the village, and include neighboring towns orcities if people go elsewhere to access credit sources. You may wish touse different markers on the map to show the type of credit (e.g. incash or in-kind) or put beans on each credit source to showapproximately how many people in the community obtained creditfrom that source during the past year. By “interviewing the map”, youcan then gather additional information about the terms of credit, itsaccessibility to different people, advantages and disadvantages of thatcredit source, etc.

The Venn Diagram can similarly be oriented to looking at creditsources and attributes. One advantage of a Venn Diagram in thisregard is that it may be more likely to reveal the indigenous, non-formalcredit schemes such as the revolving credit systems operated by groupsof women or local moneylenders. These may come out when you askabout groups, committees, associations or individuals that are involvedin credit activities, can be approached for emergency assistance, etc.

If the project will be offering credit through a group or association inthe community, the Venn diagram will also provide importantinformation to help the donor identify the most appropriate group towork with. In such cases the Venn will attempt to flush out the groupsthat are most central to the organizational structure of the community,those that have the broadest membership, or those that are most likelyto be in contact with and have the trust of poorer people in thecommunity.

Once the credit sources have been identified, a matrix such as the onebelow may be useful in determining who makes use of various creditsources. The interview that accompanies the matrix will allow you toexplore why certain credit sources are preferred, or more accessible, tocertain groups of borrowers.

Attributes of Credit Sources Already Available

The project will not only want to know who offers credit, but what thecharacteristics of the other lenders are:

• are they accessible?

• what are the terms of their loans?

• who has access to these loans?

Questions like these will enable the project to determine whether thereis even a need for additional credit in the community, and how itshould be structured to complement (rather than duplicate) existingprograms. Some variation of the matrix presented below may help toflesh out these issues.

42

Use of Credit Sources

Bank

MoneyLender

FamilyMembers

Tontine(SavingGroup)

Gender Livelihood WealthMen Women Farmer Herder Rich Average Poor

Many of these columns can be filled in using actual quantitativeinformation written out on cards (such as the rates or the ball parkamounts that can be borrowed for each institution). Others (such asflexibility and accessibility to poor) can be filled in using the classic beanapproach where more beans suggest greater flexibility or accessibility.The key is to use a matrix such as this one to explore the advantagesand disadvantages of these various credit options with the informantgroup.

Understanding the Socio-economics of the Community

In most cases, CRS Microfinance projects are oriented to providingcredit to those who, by virtue of their poverty, have limited or noaccess to existing credit programs. This, then, requires information toidentify poorer populations, and to understand their constraints as wellas their possibilities (e.g. accessibility to markets and working capital).

43

Attributes of Credit Sources

GovernmentCredit Scheme

CommercialBank

VillageMoneyLender

Women’s“Tontine”(SavingsGroup)

Amount ofLoan Distance Rates

Length ofLoan

Accessibilityto Poor Flexibility

44

Wealth Ranking is a natural tool to explore attributes of wealth andto identify the characteristics of poorer populations. Once the pileshave been divided according to wealth criteria as described in Volume I(page 92), the researcher can interview the activity to learn more aboutthe poorer respondents defined in the ranking, looking at such issuesas:

• what are their sources of livelihood?

• what assets do they typically own (important for establishing a baselinefor tracking asset acquisition over time)?

• what are their sources of credit (if any) as opposed to the other groupsin the ranking?

• if they have access to credit, what do they use it for?

• what are their strategies in times of severe hardship?

• what groups or social networks do they belong to (especially importantfor determining the mechanism to be used by the project to administerthe credit program)?

These same issues can be explored with even greater specificity using asocial map. This type of map can be used to profile the community,first noting down households with different wealth standings (usingcolored papers or symbols) and then going back to overlay informationabout topics such as:

• land ownership (a different symbol depending on whether the personowns land or not)

• principal livelihood activities

• ownership of other assets (animals, agricultural equipment, transport,etc.)

• loan taken out in the previous year

Determining Terms of Credit

CRS uses primairly a village bank methodology to issue loans. Loanterms are typically 4 to 6 months.

While we would like to meet the special needs of borrowers engagedin agricultural activities, our current policy is to extend rural credit to off-farm activities. Agricultural credit tends to require long terms and isthus very risky. We recommend loan terms no longer than 6 months.

We also recommend loan payments be made weekly the first year of anew village bank, bi-weekly the second year, with the village choosingweekly, bi-weekly or monthly there after.

45

Appropriate loan size depends on the client’s ability to repay the loan.We suggest the first loan be about $50 and increase in steps to $300.

Assessing the Impact of a Loan Program

Many factors will go into determining whether a loan program hasbeen successful or not. A study of this type will want to look at howthe program was administered at the community level, rates ofrepayment, record keeping, and so on. It will also probably want to doa series of mini “case studies” on individuals or families who tookloans to get an idea of how the money was used, the rate of return,what happened with the profits, and so on. Especially with peoplewho do not have formal business skills, the best way to do these casestudies is often to talk the informant through, step by step, whathappened in consecutive order:

• how much money did you take out (and when)?

• what did you do with the money?

• what did you buy?

• how much did you buy?

• was there any money left over?

• what happened to it?

• what did you do with the products that you bought? and so on.

It can be useful to carry out this exercise using cards with moneyamounts printed on it, or beans to represent money to make sure thatall transactions are accounted for.

One way to put such a case study in the broader context is to ask theinformant at the end to do a bean ranking of all the people s/heknows who invested in this same activity. Ask him/her to divide thebeans into piles to show how well people did with the investment (e.g.one pile for those who made a lot of money, another for those whomade a little, a third for those who broke even and a fourth for peoplewho lost money on their investment). Ask the informant to show youwhich pile s/he belongs to so that you will know whether this case isan average one, or significantly better or worse than the norm. Alsoask them to comment on the bean piles to tell you why some investorsmay have done better or worse than others.

An Impact Matrix (or some variation thereof) can be used to look atwho benefited from the credit program and to explore why there mayhave been differences in the way different populations were affected. Itcan be interesting to do this matrix using two kinds of markers (e.g.shells and stones). Use one type of marker to show positive impacts,and the other to show negative impacts. Use either type of marker(probably the positive one) for the first line to show whether, for

46

example, more women or more men got loans. When you get to thesecond line, however, use the shells if the loans had a positive financialeffect on women. The more shells, the more positive the impact. Askthe informant to use the stones if there were any negative effects. Hereagain, use more stones to show that the there was a greater negativeimpact. Depending on the nature of the program, there may be othertypes of impact to be explored, such as the impact on food security orhealth.

Impact Assessment Matrix

Number ofPeopleReceivingLoans

FinancialImpact

Labor/TimeImpact

Socio-culturalImpact

Gender Ethnicity WealthMen Women Wolof Pulaar Serer Rich Average Poor

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Health: InformationNeeds and the Use ofRRA/PRA to Address Them

Prepared in collaboration with Robb Davis, Ph.D.,Health/Child Survival Technical Advisor, HQ/ProgramQuality and Support Department

48

Health: Sector Information Needs and theUse of RRA/PRA to Address Them

Introduction

In CRS health programming, priority is given to community-based,focused health interventions that have been demonstrated to havehigh impact, and to the establishment of sustainable communitystructures that are capable of coordinating community activities with allhealth and development partners. Program interventions focus onactivities such as:

• immunization

• diarrheal disease control4

• pneumonia and malaria control

• safe motherhood/delivery care

• breast and complementary feeding and lactational amenorrheamethods of birth spacing (LAM), nutrition and micronutrientsupplementation and

• HIV/AIDS/STD activities (within the context of CRS/USCC guidelines)

Given these priority areas a variety of information needs exist duringproject design and ongoing monitoring and evaluation efforts.Information needs concerning the epidemiological profile of thepopulation, including morbidity and mortality, are not included here asthey are available through a variety of standardized surveys (DHS, MOHsurveys, etc.) and through disease and death reporting and surveillancesystems. Qualitative information needs center on the knowledge andattitudes concerning illness and care-seeking as well as issues related tocoverage of health care providers.

Some of this information can be collected using standardized surveyssuch as the KPC (Knowledge, Practices, and Coverage) survey, but RRAmethods allow us to go into much more detail concerning beliefsrelated to health and to better understand the “why” behind the resultsthat the KPC yields. Qualitative RRA studies and quantitative KPCstudies are very complementary when gathering health sectorinformation.

4 Water and sanitation projects should incorporate behavior-change communication concerning diarrheal dis-ease control. Similarly, diarrheal disease control interventions are encouraged to assess the local water andsanitation problems that may increase the incidence of diarrhea and seek resources to improve the situation.

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Information about Community Organization

Given the primacy of community involvement in the development andmanagement of CRS health projects, key information needs include:

• internal community organization - including leadership, interest groups(women, youth, farmer, etc.)

• existence of structures that are already interested in health-relatedactivities (including care provision)

• formal and informal health-related structures in the community

• health-related activities in the community

• key individuals or groups - formal or informal - engaged in health-related activities (including care providers)

• activities and locations in the community that have a health-relatedfunction

• level of participation in community activities

• level of access to health-related sites, individuals and structures withinthe community

• existence and role of volunteers in community-based activities

• existence and state of health-related infrastructure in the community(besides facilities things like latrines, water systems, etc.)

Most of these issues can be addressed by orienting the map and VennDiagram to health questions. It is important to probe deeply in theVenn diagram to ensure that informal structures are listed in addition tothose that receive the blessing of the authorities. When doing themap, you may wish to do a regular village map, but then also doanother that shows health facilities outside the community that areused by local people.

Relationship to External Health Care Providers

Experience has shown that community-based health efforts are difficultto sustain in the absence of supportive health structures outside thecommunity. In particular this concerns linkages between thecommunity and formal care structures maintained by private providersand the MOH (Ministry of Health), for example. Given the importanceof external linkages the following information needs arise:

• formal and informal health care services used by community memberswhich exist outside the community.

• distance (geographical and time) between these providers and thecommunity

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• use by various groups (men, women, young, old) in the community ofthese services

• perception of quality of these services by various groups (men, women,young, old) in the community

• care-seeking behavior (chronological) related to these services

• characteristics of preferred services

• characteristics of less preferred services

• characteristics of the interaction between care seeker and provider inthese services (interpersonal)

The map described above, as well as the Venn Diagram will lay outthe various services used by community members. When it comes tounderstanding who uses services and for what types of problems, itmay be time to turn to a matrix. The matrix below could be used infocus group discussions with different groups of people (e.g. men,women, old people). You might then bring the groups together todiscuss the matrices, differences that arise between use patterns, andwhat reasons underlie those differences. Be sure to probe to find outnot just what people do as their first choice of health provider, but alsowhat they do if the first choice outcome is not satisfactory. You maywish to use one type of counter (stones) for the first choice and asecond kind of counter (leaves) for the second choice care giver.

Choice of Care Giver for Various Illnesses/Medical Needs

Prenatal Care

Childbirth

PostnatalCare

Malaria

Headaches

Diarrhea

Self-treat Village MidwifeVillage Health

workerTraditional

Medicine ManRegional

Clinic/Hospital

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In the interview of this matrix, as you explore why people choose onecare giver over another, you will want to learn more about theattributes of different care providers:

• who is perceived to have the most knowledge about differentillnesses/situations?

• who carries the most trust?

• who is most affordable and where do people feel there is the greatestlikelihood that their problem will be resolved?

Another perspective on these issues can be obtained from an illnessmapping exercise. You might do this with one person or, perhaps, agroup of mothers. Using a map prepared in an earlier activity, askthem to show you what happened the last time a certain situationoccurred (e.g. their child had diarrhea). Where did they go to seektreatment? What happened in each place? In a group activity, differentmothers could map out their treatment trail. In some cases you maywish to complement this with a transect walk that follows themother’s treatment trail and allows her to further elaborate on herdecisions and the outcomes.

Health Education/Communication

Given that many PHC (Primary Health Care) interventions include healthcommunication efforts, it is necessary to assess issues related tocommunication. The goal of health communication does not stop withthe simple presentation of facts but involves an ongoing dialoguewhich promotes behavior change. This requires an understanding ofhow local people perceive specific illnesses/states of well-being (seebelow) as well as both barriers to and factors encouraging changes inbehavior. It also involves structuring situations in which communitiesanalyze root causes of health problems. The following are key healtheducation information needs:

• perceptions of community members on who knows about health issuesin the community

• communication concerning health in the household

• role of mothers and mothers-in-law in passing health information on tochildren

• communication networks in the community - how is information onvarious topics received, disseminated and debated?

• factors that might enable change concerning a given intervention (e.g.breast-feeding promotion or diarrhea control)

• factors that might act as barriers to change concerning a givenintervention

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• role of formal education in passing health messages

• religious or other forms of education that pass health information

• communication with outside entities - other villages, merchants, formalhealth sector

• penetration of various media such as radio or television into thecommunity

People’s perceptions of illnesses can be explored using a matrix thatranks illnesses according to different criteria, such as those below.

Interviewing the Venn Diagram will be useful in finding out abouthealth knowledge and decision making in the community. You mayspecifically wish to ask the informants to add sources of healthinformation to the diagram, showing (for example) whether they haveaccess to radio, TV, or other health messages. You might also use theVenn diagram to provoke a discussion about what types of beliefs areheld by different people in the diagram:

• what do each of these different health workers/opinion leaders knowabout diarrhea and its treatment?

• how do they share information?

• how much confidence do people in the community have in theinformation provided by different care givers?

The same types of questions can be asked at the household level bycreating a household Venn Diagram. Each person who plays a rolein family health care would show up on the diagram. You can then

Illness Perception Matrix

Severity

Frequency

Most Feared

MostExpensive toTreat

Malaria Diarrhea Conjunctivitis Appendicitis Scratching

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interview the diagram to find out who has what types of knowledge,who makes what types of decisions, who finances health seekingactivities, etc.

Role Playing, or skits, can be used to explore different pressures onpeople as they make health related decisions. Create a scenario andthen ask a group of women to prepare a skit that shows what types ofadvice they would get from different people in their families orcommunities. Suggest that they take different roles such as thehusband, mother-in-law, midwife, head of compound, and anyone elsewho would give them advice. You might ask them what wouldhappen if they have a child who is slowly wasting away and doesn’twant to eat. What advice do women get when they first getpregnant? When they bear their first child?

Care Seeking Behavior

While the issue of perception of quality (see above) has an impact oncare-seeking behavior, other issues such as perception of severity ofillness and gender play a role in how care is sought in a givensituation. The following information helps to better understand thisissue:

• perceptions of causality of various illness (e.g. pneumonia, diarrhea,malnutrition)

• existence and form of home remedies related to various illnesses

• husband/wife decision-making related to various illnesses (roles indecision-making)

• care seeking decisions for boy versus girl children

• definition of severity for various illnesses

• chronological process of care seeking relative to perception of severity(where do people go first, second, third, etc. and why - what is thebasis for these decisions)

• differences within the village concerning patterns of care seeking

• historical changes in care seeking

Illness/Wellness Perceptions

For each area of intervention there are a host of perceptions related tohealth and well being. These attitudes affect several of the aboveissues - care seeking and openness to behavior change for example.Understanding perceptions of illness is thus a prerequisite for designingmutually acceptable and coherent interventions. Information needs aresimilar across intervention areas once overall perceptions of health areunderstood. Key issues include:

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• classification of specific illnesses in the community - which areconsidered most serious for various groups - men, women and children

• relationship between various illnesses - this goes beyond the issue ofcausality for a given illness and gets at “domains” of illness orclassifications concerning the similarity or dissimilarity of illnesses asperceived by the population

• community perceptions of good health at the individual, family andcommunity level - what factors contribute to good health for variousgroups - when is a person healthy?

• which illnesses are most feared, most expensive to treat and mostcommon?

• what terms do people use to describe specific illnesses - how do thesediffer from medical terms?

• causes and consequences of specific illnesses

• actions taken to prevent specific illnesses and constraints to takingaction

• historical changes in illnesses in the community - how have theyhappened?

• distribution of illnesses throughout the year

Social Maps are a way to find out patterns of health problems in acommunity. In each compound, ask people to put down differentmarkers (colored papers, different types of stones or beans, etc.) toshow people who are sick in the community. The map can be doneeither to show what the situation is on a given day, or to show whathas happened over a specific time period (e.g. families in whichsomeone has had malaria, malnourished children, conjunctivitis sincethe rainy season began). To the extent that patterns of diseaserecurrence can be observed (perhaps many cases of diarrhea around acertain well, or all the malnourished children in just a few families), theinterview can be used to flesh out people’s understanding of theseissues and how the families involved coped with problems theyencounter.

Calendars are useful in analyzing the various factors that arecorrelated with disease in a given situation. By finding out whencertain diseases are the most common and correlating that with othersituations that may be taking place at the same time, you will begin toget ideas of possible causal relationships that can be explored morefully. If diarrhea is found to be particularly prevalent during a givenseason, is there something else going on at that time of year that couldhelp to explain the seasonal peak?

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Problem Trees are particularly useful in understanding people’sperceptions of illness and what causes illness. These are especiallyimportant in designing health education messages since the more theproject understands how people perceive illness and health problems,the more the intervention can be targeted to correcting erroneousinformation and guiding people to useful interventions.

The preceding section on food security presents an example of a Causeand Consequence Diagram used to dissect the hunger issue inMauritania. A similar approach can be used to analyze diseases. Oftenthese are set up in the form of a tree, where the disease is put on thetrunk of the tree and its causes are listed underneath as tree roots.Consequences, or problems that arise as a result of the illness are thenput on the branches of the tree as in the example below:

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Health Problem Tree Djabuda Porto, Guinea Bissau

Death after 6months if

not treated

Can’t workin field

Treatmentbefore 6

months - OK

Women are asource of trans-

missionWomen whohad a “stuck”

delivery

Womenwho had

twins

Walking on the graveof a child who died

in (obstructed)“stuck” birth

Women who were afirst birth or born with

protruding teeth

“Psunh” Illness(an unidentified STD)

Women who gotpregnant before going

through “ceremony”

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Nutrition and Feeding

For the specific issue of nutrition and feeding the following issues areimportant

• attitudes towards breast-feeding and complementary feeding - whatfoods, what quantity and when should they be added to a child’s diet?

• constraints to breast-feeding

• the action of feeding children - who does it, when and how?

• what is malnutrition, how is it recognized and dealt with?

• what foods are consumed by male/female children, men, and women?

• foods eaten by pregnant women

• treatment of pregnant women

• sources and consumption of protein, energy and micro-nutrients

• seasonal and inter-annual variation in food consumption

Most of the tools outlined above will also be useful to gatheringinformation on the specific nutrition and feeding issues presented here.In discussing causes of malnutrition or the advantages anddisadvantages of breast-feeding, it can also be useful to provokediscussions using photographs or drawings of particular situations.A set of cards with pictures of women nursing their babies, or feedingthem with bottles or cups could be used to generate discussions on thepros and cons of breast-feeding, for example. Pictures of children withdifferent symptoms of malnutrition could be used to probe people’sperceptions of these problems and how they are dealt with. It may beinteresting to hold focus group discussions with different interestgroups: mothers, fathers, older women, children, etc.

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Education:Information Needs and theUse of RRA/PRA to AddressThem

Prepared in collaboration with Jennifer Smith NazaireEducation Technical Advisor, HQ/Program Quality andSupport Department

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Education: Information Needs and the Useof RRA/PRA to Address Them

Background on CRS Education Programs

CRS is currently in the midst of an action research phase with regards toeducation sector programming. For several decades, CRS has beenknown for its school feeding programs, which have provided hotlunches to children in primary and secondary schools. However,starting around 1995, CRS began expanding its school feeding activitiesto focus on more comprehensive support to primary education, andstarted experimenting with new types of education programming.

Currently, CRS is supporting or implementing education activities in0ver 20 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America & the Caribbean, andEastern Europe. Because CRS is still experimenting with multipleprogramming models and strategies, it has yet to define its corecapacity and vision for the education sector. However, the majority ofCRS education programs tend to focus at the primary or pre-primarylevel and are implemented through the formal education system.These programs address:

• access to education

• quality of education or

• community involvement in education

and often work in several of these areas at the same time

CRS education programs often work directly to improve educationalattainment, but sometimes use schools and the school system as adelivery mechanism for other types of services or interventions. Anexample of the latter type of education program would be a health ornutrition project that provides food to children in schools in order toaddress short-term food security or micronutrient deficiencies.

CRS implements or supports education activities in three types ofcontexts:

• areas in crisis

• areas in transition from crisis to stability and

• areas considered to be relatively stable

In crisis areas, CRS education programs tend to be more operational,whereas in relatively stable areas, CRS does its best to work throughand with partners. Partnership strategies in transition areas varyaccording to the circumstances, but are generally somewhere in themiddle of the operationality non-operationality continuum. CRS

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partners for education programs include education ministries, parent-teacher associations (PTAs), umbrella PTA groups such as NationalParents’ Associations, diocesan offices concerned with education, andlocal NGOs.

Beneficiaries and participants in CRS education projects are schoolchildren, their parents and other members of the larger community,teachers and administrators, and the project partners mentionedabove.

Given that CRS is in an action research phase in regard to its educationactivities, a wide variety of programming is in progress. Programminggoals include:

• promoting girls’ education;

• strengthening parental/community involvement in education;

• improving access to education;

• improving the quality of education;

• improving infrastructure and school environment;

• promoting inclusive education;

• promoting adult education and literacy;

• promoting health/hygiene/nutrition/sanitation through schools; and

• promoting short-term food security.

Education Sector Information Needs

Identifying Existing Educational Services

One of the primary information needs involves finding out whatalready exists in terms of educational services, especially within thecommunity in question. This will mean finding out about:

• formal and informal education-related structures and activities in thecommunity (e.g. formal schools, literacy classes, Koranic schools)

• traditional forms of education and the extent to which they continue

• activities and locations in the community that have an education-related function

• existence and state of education-related infrastructure in the community(including facilities at/near school sites like latrines, water systems,school gardens, income-generating activities)

• use by various groups (girls, boys, women, men) in the community ofthese services

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• perception of quality of these services by various groups in thecommunity

• extent of coverage of local schools (this community only, coverneighboring villages/districts/communes)

Community mapping exercises will be helpful in identifyingeducational resources in the community. Be sure to ask not only aboutschools (which would tend to focus the activity on the formal sector)but also more generally about places (or people) involved in teachingof any kind (e.g. are there any other places in the community wherepeople go to learn? ). Household mapping can be used to exploretransmittal of indigenous information by looking at who is mostknowledgeable about different subjects and talking about how theirknowledge is transferred to others.

Once you have identified the principal educational resources in thecommunity, you may explore use patterns using a matrix such as theone above (see Volume I, page 95 for additional details on how to dothis type of a matrix):

This matrix can then be used to discuss constraints faced by differentgroups, the advantages and disadvantages of different learningopportunities, etc.

Relationship to External Education Provision and Resources

Often inadequate education infrastructure and resources exist withinthe community to ensure the optimum quantity and quality of

Gender Ethnic Group Wealth Matrix

GovernmentPrimary School

DistrictSecondarySchool

Koranic School

Learn FromGrandmothers

Literacy Classes

Gender Ethnicity WealthMen Women A B C Rich Average Poor

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organized and perpetuated year after year? Often, finding out howcommunities have organized sustainable systems in the past will giveclues to how outsiders can best strengthen local community initiatives(rather than creating new, and often short-lived structures).

Education - Seeking Behaviors

As many of CRS’s education projects focus on increasing access toeducation, it is important to understand community members’ attitudesand decision-making roles with regard to school going and literacyattainment. To do so, you may collect information on the following.Be sure to get information from all groups (women, men, girls, boys).

• attitudes perceptions of usefulness, and communication concerningeducation/literacy in the household, generally and/or specifically forvarious levels (preschool, primary, secondary, adult literacy)

• education decisions for boy versus girl children

• attitudes of religious leaders and institutions toward formal andinformal schooling for girls and for boys

• characteristics of preferred and less-preferred schools, literacy classes,and teachers and extent to which these characteristics are present incommunity and neighboring communities

• definition of a quality education and extent to which parents/community members perceive quality education opportunities exist intheir community or nearby

• factors that act as a barrier to sending girls and boys to variousschooling levels (pre-primary, primary, secondary) school or to adultsattending literacy classes; main reasons for dropout for both sexes

• role of mothers and fathers in paying for school-related expenses andin encouraging/ discouraging school enrollment and attendance

Calendars are often helpful in understanding barriers to seekingeducation since these are often related to either fees or laborconstraints, both of which tend to have a seasonal dimension.Calendars can explore when school fees are due, relative to patterns inhousehold revenue. They can also explore the demand for youth laborand how this conflicts — or is compatible — with the educationalcalendar.

A social map (see Volume I, page 81 ) can be used to identifyhouseholds which participate in various educational activities and thento explore why some are more active and others are not. It will beuseful to use different markers to show how many girls are in school,and how many boys. You might use papers of different colors to showwhat type of educational activity they attend (formal school, Koranicschool, etc.)

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Perceptions of constraints to education can be investigated using anadaptation of a problem tree (see health sector, page 56). The trunkof the tree might be non-attendance at school. The causes (roots) andconsequences (branches) could then be explored in focus groups withdifferent categories of people (children, parents, grandparents, religiousleaders, etc.). The tree might also be done in a more positive fashion,with attendance at school on the trunk, and the facilitating factors asroots and advantages as branches. You might even be able to find away to get both the good and bad consequences of schoolattendance on the same tree by using, for example, rotten fruits toshow the negative and fresh fruit to show the positive. Use yourcreativity!

A matrix that explores parents’ perceptions of the most valuable use oftheir children’s time (by gender and age) may help to illuminate thedecisions that they make about whether to send their children to

school or not. This matrix would be done vertically, asking the parentsto show which activities they think are most important for, say, 5-8 yearold boys.

Another type of matrix can help you look at concerns of variousgroups in order to find out who is having a positive or negativeinfluence on educational attendance and what their concerns are. Youmight do two matrices, one looking at concerns/worries and the otherlooking at supportive behavior...or the two could be combined asillustrated below. The last rows of this matrix examine who has themost influence over a decision to send (1) a girl or (2) a boy to school.

Parents’ Preferences for Use of Children’s Time Matrix

GuardingAnimals

Working inFields

Taking Careof OtherChildren

FetchingWater

Boys 5-8 Girls 5-8 Boys 8-12 Girls 8-12 Boys >12 Girls >12

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The information from a matrix like this one will help the project figureout who to target in their efforts to influence attendance patterns.

Access/Attainment/Achievement Patterns

While the ideal means of getting information on school enrollment,attainment, and achievement is through school records and ministriesof education, the reality in many countries in which CRS works is thatsuch data is not collected, or if collected is not recorded, compiled,aggregated or disaggregated in such a way as to provide usefulinformation. Thus it is important first to determine whether such dataexists, can be accessed, and is generally valid, and if not, to collectinformation about perceptions of access, attainment, and achievementfrom knowledgeable persons – such as principals, teachers, andparents – as a second-best option. All the data that is collected should

Adult Views on School Attendance Matrix

ConcernsAbout

Labor Cost

Cost of School

Loss of CulturalValues

Pregnancy

Supportive of Girls’Education

Supportive of Boys’Education

Contribute toSchool Fees

Importance in DecisionMaking re: Girls

Mothers Fathers Grandmothers Grandfathers

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type of information can be followed up, verified, and completed bydoing household interviews in greater depth with a sample offamilies in the community. The sample can be taken from the socialmap so that families who are richer and poorer are interviewed. Thesehousehold interviews can be oriented around mini case studies ofindividual children that will explore the decision to send them toschool, their experience in school, their attendance record and reasonsfor any absences.

These issues can also usefully be explored with the children themselves.A variation of the food security calendar (see food security, page 12)could be carried out with a group of children during lunch recess tofind out whether they eat breakfast and lunch during different seasonsand then to interview to find out the composition of the meals andwhether they feel hungry or not.

For more ideas on how to use PLA techniques to gather information onhealth issues and practices, see the chapter on Health.

Education for Children with Disabilities

In at least one country program, CRS is supporting education forchildren with disabilities. In order to adapt the standard educationprogramming to meet the needs of these children, the RRA and PRAtools outlined above may be used to explore the following issues:

• attitudes towards children with disabilities

• practices towards children with disabilities

• school enrollment and attendance frequency of children with disabilities

• barriers to enrollment and attendance of children with disabilities

• availability of community based rehabilitation

• extent of training of teachers in working with children with disabilities

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Part II:Case Studies from the Field

Food Security inImpiron, Kenya

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INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE STUDY

Volume II, Part II presents an RRA case study that took place in thecontext of CRS’s projects in the field. The case study comes fromImpiron, Kenya where, in 1997 a team of CRS staff and counterpartsfrom the Loitokitok Parish (CRS’ counterpart) carried out a study of foodsecurity issues.

This part of the manual will grow as field practitioners send in casestudies of RRA or PRA experiences that would be of interest to others inthe CRS network. If you have a case study that you would like to haveincluded, please send it to:

Technical Services DirectorProgram Quality and Support DepartmentWorld HeadquartersCatholic Relief ServicesBaltimore, Maryland USA

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Case Study:Food Security inImpiron, Kenya

by Robb Davis, Ph.D.edited by Karen Schoonmaker-Freudenberger

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Food Security in Impiron, Kenya

Context for the Study

CRS Kenya has a long history of working with local counterparts toprovide food aid to villages. These programs have been scaled downin the last few years due to CRS funding constraints as well as arecognition of the difficulties of managing quality programs by partnerswith limited experience in this domain. The purpose, then, of the RRAexercise was to help the Diocesan staff to better understand thecommunities in which they work and to focus their attentions on themost critical food security issues so that they can more effectively targettheir interventions.

The Ngong Diocese was chosen because (1) the Ngong region isamong the neediest regions (in terms of food insecurity) that CRS worksin Kenya, (2) the Diocese had been encouraged by CRS to improvetheir project management abilities and wanted to improve their use ofinformation from the field, and (3) the Diocese and CRS had apartnership relationship that would facilitate the transfer of RRA skillsand increase the likelihood that they would be used in future projectactivities. As the Diocese had a particular interest in health issues, aspecial emphasis was included in the RRA.

Initial RRAs were carried out in two communities: Oln’gosua andImpiron. Oln’gosua was a more traditional Maasai community wherepastoralism continues to be the mainstay of the livelihood, while theresidents of Impiron have diversified into a broader range of agriculturaland commercial activities. Thus, this case study presents the results ofthe Impiron study.

While these studies were carried out as RRAs, they were not intendedto be one-time activities. Instead, they were the first step in a longerprocess that would evolve toward PRA planning activities as the processevolved.

Methodology

Objectives. The objectives for this study were as follows:

Theme: To explore the food security situation in Impiron and to use theresults to plan (in collaboration with the community) for long-terminterventions to improve food security.

(NB: wherever m/f follows an objective or subobjective it means thatdifferences between men and women will be explicitly addressed)

I. Describe the village, its development and current profile.

a. historical development — key events and crises

b. key productive and revenue generating activities and changes

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over time

c. internal village organization, leadership, and household organization

d. key external relationships—organizations, individuals and villages

e. key village infrastructure

f. external interventions and results

II. Describe key features of food production and consumption including seasonalvariation, inter-annual variation, crisis and vulnerable or at-risk groups.

a. key foods consumed and consumption patterns throughout theyear (m/f)

b. production of food throughout the year (m/f)

c. characteristics of good, average, and poor food years(production/consumption)

d. distribution of average, good and poor years over time

e. coping strategies in times of crisis

f. differences within the village in terms of food production andconsumption

g. coping strategies for different groups throughout the year

III. Describe constraints to increased food security in terms of food availability,access to food and utilization of food (biological)

a. food production systems — investment in and problems with (m/f)

b. interhousehold food sharing arrangements (m/f)

c. intrahousehold food sharing arrangements (m/f)

d. income sources (m/f) and household differences within the village

e. income uses (m/f) and household differences within the village

f. food production versus food purchasing throughout the year

g. types, sources and uses of credit (m/f)

h. remittances from migrants — availability and use

I. key maternal and child health concerns

j. key sources of health care for maternal and child health problems

k. perceptions of causality and treatment of major maternal and childhealth concerns

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l. allocation of resources to deal with health concerns

IV. Identify potential solutions/interventions for overcoming constraints andprotecting vulnerable groups

a. existing programs — successes and failures

b. community indicators of improvement in food security (m/f)

c. key areas to address first in relation to food security (m/f)

d. existing strategies for helping vulnerable groups — strengths andweaknesses

e. technical constraints to be overcome

f. food production versus income generation solutions

The first objective provided the context for the RRA. The second helpedthe team to assess the chronic, seasonal, and/or transitory nature offood insecurity. The third gauged the sources of food security. Becausethis was an RRA, rather than a PRA, the focus was not so much onplanning with the community as it was on information gathering tohelp CRS and its counterpart to better understand food security issuesin the area. It was anticipated that Objective IV would receive moreattention when the counterparts returned to the village later to do amore comprehensive PRA with the population. This would then lead toa community action plan for attacking the food security problemsidentified through the RRA and PRA.

Team Members

The team was composed of men and women representing differentdisciplines and backgrounds as described below.

Florence Zake CRS-Kenya Assistant Country Director

Bernard S. Ole Leiyian St. Luke Catholic Church — Social Workerand Community Development Animator

Kiayanjui Joakim Suiyanga Diocese of Ngong Development Office— Development Worker

Priscilla Pello Loitokitok District Hospital — Staff

Helen Chania Loitokitok Community Based Health CareProgramme Trainer

Elias Mpelele Loitokitok — Volunteer

Peter Kimeu CRS-Kenya Project Officer (Peace & JusticeSpecialist)

RRA activities because they would be fully occupied trying to securetheir immediate food needs.

Once in the village, the team continued systematically to explain thepurpose of the study and clarify the objectives for the community. Theprocess began with protocol activities in each village. The purpose ofthese protocols was to review the objectives of the team’s stay anddiscuss logistics. Since the parish counterpart is well known in theregion for providing food aid during hardship periods, there was someexpectation of this in Impiron. To avoid confusion, the initial protocol inthe village contained a lengthy description of how the RRA wasseparate from the emergency relief program. Villagers were then askedwhether the team should stay or leave and come back later. Theyoverwhelmingly (probably for hospitality reasons) agreed that the teamshould stay and the field work went ahead with no significantproblems and a high level of voluntary participation.

Nevertheless, carrying out the research in a drought period hadimplications for the study and its results. One advantage of thissituation was that it was possible to evaluate people’s coping responsesduring times of food shortage because many such strategies were inuse while the team was in the village. The disadvantage was that itwas more difficult to evaluate how things are in normal times. Inaddition, some of the most vulnerable groups had already left thevillage and thus could not be interviewed. (The team was told that tenentire families had left Impiron because of their inability to survivethere.) RRA has numerous strategies for overcoming biases, however,and the study was able to compensate for these problems by usingtools and techniques that shed light on temporal issues, comparecurrent situations with average years, explore wealth differences, etc.

The team was satisfied that — despite the suboptimal timing of thestudy — it gained usefulinformation during the RRAand felt that the stage was setto carry out further planningactivities in the villages, whichwas one of our objectives.Villagers expressed greatsatisfaction with what they hadtaught us and what we hadlearned. Indeed, they clearlyunderstood that this seminarwas different from others inthe past since the outsiderswere not teachers but learnersand they were the onesleading the seminar.

The feedback session, in whichresults of activities and key

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lessons learned were presented after the RRA, offered a forum for livelydebate and villagers expressed an interest in addressing a variety ofproblems that had been explored during the field study. Ongoingcontacts between the diocese, parish and the villagers have beenplanned and, at the time of this writing, villagers are evaluating theinformation in order to propose the steps to be taken over the nextmonths.

Background to the Case Study

Impiron is a mixed village of about 300 households (roughly 2,000people), most of whom are farmers. There is also a significant minorityof Maasai herders. As seen in the map above, the village is located inMaasailand, in the Kajiado District, not far from the town of Loitokitok.Because of the numeric importance of the Maasai in this area and thechanging land utilization practices in Kajiado, the following sectionprovides some background on the Maasai and the evolution of landuse in areas they have traditionally utilized.

The Origin of the Maasai and History Since the Colonial Period

The history of the Maasai is one of movement in two different senses.Theirs is, first, a story of long-term movement in the 9th century C.E.when they migrated south from southern Sudan to present day Kenyaand Tanzania where they mixed with the indigenous Cushitepopulations. From this mix, the present day group known as theMaasai evolved. Second, the Maasai and their ancestors have alwaysengaged in pastoralism which has meant short-term movements withtheir herds in search of water and pasture.

From the advent of British imperialism in the 19th century up to thepresent, the story of the Maasai has been one of ever greaterrestrictions on their access to territory and the grazing and waterresources upon which their livelihood depends. This has resulted in anow constant tension between the Maasai’s need for movement andincreasing constraints on where they can go. The Maasai were allottedland reserves by the British but these reserves have shrunk in size overtime due to: a) the influx of people (essentially arable cultivators) ofother ethnic groups into land they traditionally occupied, and b) thedesignation of land as game reserves. This process continues up to thepresent in the arid and semi-arid areas of southern Kenya where thisstudy took place.

Alongside the gradual shrinkage of space available for their pastoralactivities has come pressure on the Maasai to move from subsistenceherding into commercial livestock ventures. Several initiatives havebeen introduced since the 1940s to create ranches on which theMaasai could more productively raise their cattle. The early GrazingSchemes of the 1940s and 1950s, which involved infrastructuredevelopment as well as mandated stocking levels and collective landmanagement, failed due to the herders’ unwillingness to sell their

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marriage transaction. This has had an impact on the willingness ofmen to permit their daughters to go to school. Though animals maybe owned by women in a household, decisions related to their sale orslaughter is the decision of the male elder. Women have the right,however, to sell excess milk.

The ideal of human beauty to the Maasai is the moran or warrior. Thisgroup plays a critical role in Maasai society. The morans protect thetribe and are responsible for the herding and protection of cattle (smallstock are herded by children). These warriors are assured a proper dietbecause the community provides animals and blood to them forconsumption. As the evolving leadership, they represent the key tocontinuation of the Maasai way. Moranhood is blamed for low schoolenrollment among Maasai children, but all attempts to eliminate it havefailed. Authorities, including the colonial power and the independentKenyan government, have tried to eliminate moranhood since it isperceived as the key to maintaining traditions that governments wouldlike to suppress.

Livelihood of the Maasai

Although the Maasai tribe is divided into a number of sections (Iloshon),during droughts, members of one section can move to any othersection in search of pasture and water for their livestock (cattle, sheep,goats and donkeys). Many Maasai still live a nomadic lifestyle as aresult of inadequate pastures during dry seasons and periodicdroughts. The lack of permanent water sources over large areas ofMaasailand results in trailing of stock long distances to and from watersources.

The traditional management of the range by Maasai is simple rotationfrom wet weather grazing areas, where temporary surface water isavailable, to dry weather grazing areas where permanent water pointsexist. Maasai cattle are small East African zebu. The zebu aremaintained for their hardiness and resistance to drought and a varietyof diseases - especially tick-born diseases. Fully grown steers areretained in the herd because of their color, shape of horns or becausethey look good as leaders of the herds. Because of their color, suchanimals add prestige to their owners. Culling out productive stock isnot practiced and females are retained in the herd until they die. Themaintenance of a large proportion of female stock is part of thetraditional Maasai coping strategy that enables them to quickly rebuildherds after losses due to drought or epizootics (livestock epidemics).Such risk-management strategies led, at least in part, to the failure ofthe group ranch program discussed above. While the project focusedon encouraging the Maasai to commercialize their livestock, theMaasai’s own priority was to ensure the sustainability of their herds andthe survival of their livelihood in the face of unpredictable andcapricious weather patterns.

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Recent Changes

The Maasai way of life, based on community, has changedtremendously in recent years, due in part to immigration of non-Maasaiinto the area and the attendant changes in land use occasioned by theforces discussed above. Change is uneven, however. Some Maasaihave settled around new water sources (but continue to dependprincipally on herding) while others have taken up agriculture. Thosestill living on group ranches maintain many aspects of their nomadiclifestyle. About 95% of the Maasai still depend directly on livestock forthe mainstay of their livelihood.

Leadership is also changing among the Maasai. In previous times,traditional leaders played a very important role. Today, instead ofleaders being selected by the group during organized meetings for thispurpose, they are appointed by the government. The Maasai areslowly accepting the importance of formal education for their childrenand most enroll their children in primary school. Each localitycontinues to have its own traditional healers and birth attendants andothers who carry out circumcision of males and females. Increasingly,however, they also have the option of consulting nurses and physiciansin government and private clinics.

The foregoing general description of the Maasai provides a briefdescription of the traditional Maasai lifestyle that is needed tounderstand the challenges that the Maasai now face in assuring theirfood and livelihood security. Impiron is a village that reflects many ofthe changes that the Maasai have undergone over the past fewdecades. While part of Impiron is located on a group ranch, theprimary agricultural areas (both irrigated and rainfed) are located onland that was previously owned by Maasai families. This land was soldto members of other ethnic groups who began moving in from outsidebeginning in the 1970s. All the land originally belonged to Maasaifamilies, but now the Maasai are a minority population in the village.Hence, this case is an interesting one insofar as it provides insights intowhat happens when the Maasai sell their land to outsiders and liveoutside the group ranch in mixed communities.

While some of the Maasai are among the wealthiest people in Impiron,others (including one family who owned much of the land in therainfed zone) are among the poorest. Having lost their copingmechanisms due to breakdowns in traditional social structures and theloss of livestock, they are caught between cultures: they do not fullyparticipate in farming activities, nor do they have a way to reestablishtheir herds. Several families have been reduced to carrying out manuallabor for various land holders in the irrigated areas in order to survive.

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Profile of the Community of Impiron

The People

Impiron was occupied almost exclusively by indigenous Maasai up untilthe early 1970s. In the early 1980s an increasing number of Kikuyuand Kamba farmers bought most of the land from the Maasai. At themoment there are an estimated 310 households with a total populationof 2,336 persons. The majority of the Maasai living in the village arestill pastoralists while the immigrant population are predominantlyagriculturalists and are involved in cash and food crop production aswell as small business ventures.

The Geographic Situation

Impiron village is situated in Impiron sub-location of Kimana location inLoitokitok sub-district of Kajiado District in the south eastern tip of theRift Valley province of Kenya. There are ten springs and a good roadnetwork in Impiron village. Most of the vegetation cover has beencleared except for a few acacia trees and shrubs mostly in the easternside of the village. The village has rich volcanic soil ideal for cropproduction.

In terms of agricultural activities and production, the village is dividedinto two distinct zones:

1. The “lower zone” to the north is an irrigated zone in which a variety ofcash and food crops, including a variety of fruits and vegetables, aregrown. All ten springs are located in this zone and are the source ofthree man-made irrigation canals that serve the entire zone. Thefarmers in the lower irrigated zone have an average of 0.5 - 1 to oneacre of land while those in the upper zone have an average of 3 - 5acres (see Box 2, on page 83, for more details on agricultural activitiesin Impiron).

2. The “upper zone” in the southern part of the village (upper because itselevation is higher) has essentially no water supply of its own and allfarming activities carried out there are dependent exclusively on rainfall.

These two zones appeared clearly on the map of the village which wasdrawn by villagers on the first day and detailed by several women andmen over the rest of the team’s stay. Though the entire village isknown as Impiron, it became increasingly clear that the existence ofthese two zones means that the village is really two villages. As theresearch developed, the team was careful to establish the zone towhich information referred and several activities were repeated in eachone.

Impiron Village Map

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Box 2Overview of Agricultural Activities in Impiron Village

Soils: Volcanic soils Rainfall: Bimodal - Long Rains from October to December,Short Rains from March to April

In terms of agricultural activities Impiron village is divided into two zones: a rainfed upper zone and an irrigated lower zone.

I. Irrigated Lower Zone - mixed farming zone with crop and livestock activities throughout the year. Farms have an average of 3 - 4 hours of water use for irrigation every 14 days.

• Population - Approximately 210 families

• Land Holding - Average of 0.5 - 1 acre per familyAbout 5% of families own more than 2 acresAbout 10% of families also rent land in the upper zone in good years

• Cash Crops - Onions, Tomatoes, Mangos, Oranges, Kale and Cabbage

• Food Crops - Maize, Beans, Potatoes, Kale

• Livestock - Cattle (both local zebus, exotic pure breeds (Ayrshire) and various cross breeds), goats, poultry and rabbits

• Production - Onions - 8400 - 9800 kg/acre/year (assumes 2 growing seasons)Tomatoes - 17500 - 21000 kg/acre/year (assumes 2 growing seasons)Milk: Local Zebu 1 -2 liters per day

Ayrshires 6 - 12 liters per dayCrossbreeds 4 - 6 liters per day

• Constraints:High incidence of crop disease and pestsFarm inputs - fertilizers, pesticides and seeds are expensiveShort crop rotation cyclesNo cooperative to market produce and subsequent exploitation by middlemenLoss of irrigation water through seepage

II. Rainfed Upper Zone

• Population - Approximately 100 families

• Land Holding - Average of 3 - 5 acres per farm family

• Crops - Maize and beans both grown as food and cash crops

• Livestock - Cattle (zebu, exotic pure breed and cross breeds), few goats, poultry

• Production - (in good years): Maize: 10 - 15 bags (90 kg each) or 900 - 1340 kg per acreBeans: 9 - 10 bags or 810 - 900 kg per acre

• Consumption - assuming 1:3 ratio beans: maize in diet; an average family of 7 - 2 adults and 5 children ranging from 5 to 12 years of age:

Adult Consumption: Maize: . . . . .180 - 270 kg/yearBeans: . . . . .60 - 90 kg/yearTotal: . . . . . .240 - 360 kg/year

Child Consumption: Maize: . . . . . .90 - 135 kg/yearBeans: . . . . .30 - 45 kg/yearTotal: . . . . . .120 - 180 kg/year

Household Consumption: Maize: . . . .810 - 1215 kg/yearBeans: . . . .270 - 405 kg/yearTotal: .1080 - 1620 kg/year or 1350 kg/year on average

• Constraints:Limited diversification of farm enterprisesInadequate farm machinery for cultivating landSeeds are expensivePeriodic prolonged droughts

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The difference between these two zones also reflects the historicaldevelopment of the village. The entire village, as noted above, wasoriginally populated by Maasai herdsman but agricultural activities firstdeveloped in the lower zone as outsiders moved into the area andpurchased land from the Maasai beginning in the late 1960s and early1970s (see historical profile in Appendix 2).

Early on, irrigation committees were formed to allocate water tolandholders in the lower area and, as time has gone on and more andmore people have moved into this zone, the role of these committeeshas become more important. Current residents see little possibility offurther expansion of agricultural activities in this zone due to wateravailability constraints. Those carrying out farming activities in this zoneinclude indigenous Maasai families but most are newcomers from theoutside.

The upper zone was essentially rangeland until the early 1980s exceptfor a few farmers who moved into the area in the 1970s. The currentpopulation of this zone is made up almost entirely of those who haveimmigrated from other areas of the country.

Land sales and clearing of land for farming began in earnest in themid-1980s but has slowed in recent years due to the prolongeddroughts. Villagers agree that land in this area is potentially more fertilethan land in the lower zone but production is constrained by lack ofrainfall. Box 2 (page 83), which summarizes information learned intalks with villagers during transect walks and during semi-structuredinterviews with the government agricultural and veterinary agents,provides details on the agricultural and limited cattle raising activities ineach zone. This box illustrates that while the lower zone produceslarge quantities of valuable cash crops the upper zone is a potentialsurplus producer of food staples.5 Much of the land in the eastern partof the upper zone (see the area on the map, (page 82), near theOlturesh Pipeline and the Kilaguni Road) is still largely rangeland andhas not yet been cleared for farming.

The map also shows key village infrastructure including the primaryschool (to standard eight) which was an important topic inconversations with villagers. The school is located in the lower zoneand is a symbol of both opportunity and frustration for many —especially those in the upper zone. Villagers recognize its importanceto permitting their children to find opportunities in the world outsideImpiron but are often frustrated by the costs of schooling — especiallyin this period of drought. The young people discussed theseparadoxical feelings during an activity with them and wished for morepractical training to accompany the formal education they received inthe school.

5 The production figures for the upper zone refer to a year in which there is adequate rainfall.

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The other key infrastructure issue concerns the village’s water supply.The springs in the lower zone provide not only for irrigation but for allhousehold and animal consumption in the village as well. None of thesprings are protected, and besides the gravity-fed canals, no watercanalization system exists. The Olturesh Pipeline passes by Impiron (asshown on the map) but the village has no access to its water. Aproposed plan would channel water from the pipeline to households inthe upper (and perhaps lower) zones for domestic consumption (seebelow). Developing a more adequate and protected water supply is aconcern for many villagers.

Social Organization

The relatively recent history of Impiron, and the arrival of manydisparate groups from outside has had a significant influence on thedevelopment and current state of the internal organization of thevillage. When compared to Oln’gosua (the other village that wasstudied using RRA methods), it is notable that Impiron appears to havemany more formal institutions but much less informal sharing ofresources. These issues were brought out in Venn Diagrams preparedby both women and men which are illustrated below.

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Women’s Venn Diagram

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Church groups dominate the Venn Diagram. Most of these havewomen’s organizations that provide assistance to the neediest membersof the community who are part of the churches. There is collaborationamong some of the churches as they deal with community needs butothers act independently and have nothing to do with anyone besidestheir own members.

In addition to these church groups there are a variety of women’sgroups formed to have a merry-go-round system. This system involveseach member contributing a sum to a common pot and then takingturns to collect the entire pot. The women noted that suchorganizations are designed only to meet the needs of their ownmembers. There is also a funeral group that collects money to give tofamilies who must bury a member.

Besides these groups, which provide some assistance to villagemembers, the most important organizations inside the village are theirrigation committees and the elders committee (according to thewomen). The former exist solely for the purpose of allocating irrigationtime and maintaining the three irrigation canals. The latter are involvedin mediating land and other disputes. In addition to these formalgroups all participants in these discussions pointed out the importantrole played by the ten villagers considered to be the wealthiest. Thesewealthy individuals play an important role in volunteering their vehiclesand other resources to help villagers in need. Thus, despite theapparent formal nature of internal organizations, the wealthy play animportant informal role in assisting villagers in need.

While there is evidence of less informal sharing in general and limitedinformal food sharing in particular, there is also evidence that the arrivalof the newcomers has led to some conflict with the indigenous Maasai.There is an example of this problem in the story of Ole P. (see Box 5,page 98). The team also learned that a conflict between the originalinhabitants and the newcomers has disrupted the functioning of a keyvillage committee concerned with developing water resources inrelation to the Olturesh Pipeline. Thus the relatively young age of thevillage has led to less informal and more formalized sharingarrangements and the potential for conflict between the originallandholders and those moving in from the outside. This apparentlyinfluences the food security situation of the most vulnerable groups inthe village.

The key external relationships noted by the women and the menconcern the economic life of the village as well as locations of markets(see the Venn above), casual labor destinations and those interveningin the economic life of the village (the Parish, ASAL and World Visionare examples of this). The men in the upper zone noted in particularthe importance of the various border towns in Tanzania where manymen go to seek employment — especially during the drought years. Alarge number of families send members to these towns to work. Theyare also market areas in which products from the irrigated zone can be

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sold and staples purchased in drought times.

The Impact of Recent Droughts

While the village is of relatively recent origin it has already undergonenotable changes due, especially, to the drought of the last four years.The middle class farmers have been increasingly reduced to carryingout casual labor for others while some poorer families have essentiallyfallen to beggar status. Some families have simply left the village. Theindigenous Maasai have witnessed major changes (as noted above)which began before the most recent drought but have, no doubt,been worsened by it. Many have lost a majority of their herds andengage in casual farm labor or shepherding for others or have becomesmall mixed farmers.

Families with holdings only in the upper zone have been hardest hitbecause they do not have the ability to compensate for rain shortageswith irrigation water, as those in the lower, irrigated zone do.6 Thesepeople are essentially all new arrivals who immigrated from other areasof Kenya due to cheap land prices in the 1980s. This is not to say thatall those in the lower zone are immune to the effects of drought. Tothe contrary, limited access to irrigation water leaves many in the lowerzone vulnerable as well. These issues are discussed in more detail inthe following sections.

Food Production and Consumption Patterns

The two zones discussed (Box 2, page 83) are key to understandingthe important features of food production and consumption in thevillage.

Food Production in the Upper and Lower Zones

The Food Security Diagram below illustrates the greater variety offood produced in the lower zone vis-a-vis the upper zone. Whereasthe upper zone produces essentially maize and beans (with somefamilies having milk cows) the lower zone produces these (in smallerquantity) as well as the fruit and vegetable cash crops listed in Box 2.In years in which there is plentiful rainfall, the upper zone apparentlydoes much better than the lower zone and about 10% of lower zonefamilies lease upper village land in such years. In these years cashcropping in the lower zone is limited by greater spoilage which occursdue to rainfall.

6 It is perhaps important to note that the springs which flow from underground and feed the irrigated zoneoriginate on Mount Kilamanjaro where rainfall has not diminished in these drought years. There is some concern that spring levels have been reduced by the increased tapping of these underground sources closerto the mountain in recent years.

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Food Security Diagram - MenLO

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FOOD PRODUCED FOOD PURCHASED

1. Maize

2. Beans

3. Onions

4. Vegetables

5. Fruits

6. Chicken and eggs

7. Potatoes

8. Milk

9. Sweet potatoes

10.Bananas

11.Sugarcane

Most Important FoodFor Consumption

1. Maize2. Beans3. Vegetables4. Milk

5. Bananas6. Potatoes7. Fruits8. Tomatoes

Source of Income

1. Sale of Onions2. Sale of Tomatoes3. Sale of Vegetables4. Sale of Fruits5. Sale of Chicken6. Sale of Milk7. Sale of Eggs8. Sale of Bananas9. Sale of Goats 10.Casual Labor11.Sale of Sugarcane12.Names of

employers13.Remittances14.Relief food

Food Bought

Other Expenses

1. Buying seeds2. Pesticides3. Fertilizers4. Land preparations5. School expenses6. Clothing 7. Health care8. Transports9. Contributions10.Land leasing

1. Maize2. Beans3. Sugarcane4. Cooking fat5. Milk

6. Salt7. Meat8. Potatoes9. Tea leaves10.Bread

1. Casual labor2. Sale of chicken and eggs

3. Sale of goats and sheep4. Borrowing from friends

Big Source of Income

Usage of Big Income For Both Zones

1. Food 2. Land Preparations 3. Education 4. Land Leasing 5. Health Care

FOOD PRODUCED FOOD PURCHASED

1. Maize2. Beans3. Potatoes4. Peas5. Milk6. Eggs7. Chicken8. Meat

1996-1997

1. Chicken2. Eggs3. Milk4. Meat (occasionally)

Most Important Food ForConsumption

GoodYearGoodYear

Source of Income

1. Casual labor2. Sale of chickens3. Sale of goats4. Borrowing from

friends5. Gifts from friends6. Buying and

selling of veg.7. Relief food

Others

1. Remittances2. Employers3. Small business

men4. Sale of cows

Food Bought

Other Expenses

1. Food2. Buying seeds3. Pesticides/insecticides4. Land preparations5. School expenses6. Clothing7. Health care8. Transports9. Contributions10.Land leasing

1. Maize2. Beans3. Vegetables4. Sugarcane5. Cooking fat6. Salt

7. Potatoes8. Milk9. Tea leaves10.Fruit11.Meat12.Bread

1. Maize2. Beans3. Potatoes

4. Eggs5. Chicken6. Milk

91

The men of the lower zone noted that in drought years they canpotentially harvest more cash crops because they are able to plant yearround. However they are constrained during droughts by the greaterthreat of crop destruction by wild animals who enter the fields insearch of food. In drought years in the upper zone there may be littleor no harvest and farmers are forced to seek other forms of income.Their first strategy is to get paid work in the lower zone. These pointsare illustrated in the food security diagram in which the key source ofincome for those in the upper zone (this refers to the current droughtperiod only) are casual labor and the limited sale of produce —essentially distress sales of chickens and goats.

While those in the lower zone can grow maize and beans the diagramshows that even in good years they must supplement their productionwith purchasing these basic foodstuffs. They use the profits from cashcrop sales to do this. Interestingly, families in the upper zone alsopurchase maize and beans, even in good rain years, despite the factthat they produce a surplus that surpasses their subsistence needs. Thisis due to the lack of storage facilities in the upper zone and theirpractice of selling their maize and bean production immediately afterthe harvest. Thus, even though they produce a surplus in good years,they are not as food secure as might be expected.

Consumption Patterns

The major difference between the two zones in terms of consumptionappears to be that those in the lower zone consume vegetables andfruit more frequently than those in the upper zone. This is not surprisinggiven their greater access to vegetables on the farm. According to whatthe team learned during the consumption calendars there is littledifference between the two zones in terms of the seasonality of theirdiets. This can be seen in the agricultural/consumption calendarscarried out with women and men (see diagrams on pages 92-93) inthe upper zone.

Though the women pointed out more clearly that poor, average, andwealthy families eat differently, both men and women agreed thatthere is essentially no change in the way people eat throughout theyear. The only seasonal differences concern the source of foodconsumed. In the post-harvest period people consume what theygrow while at other times they purchase even staples such as maizeand beans for reasons noted above. In the lower zone some fruit andvegetables may be consumed more in the dry season (when there isno drought) but the consumption of maize and beans does notchange throughout the year.

92

Agriculture/Consumption Calendar - Women

Activity

Land Prep.

Planting

Maize

Beans

Millet

Potatoes

Peas

Hoeing

Harvesting

Maize

Beans

HH Purchase

Meals

AverageFamily

RichFamily

PoorFamily

Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

XXXX

X X

X X

X

X

X X

XX

X X

X

X

good year - 3 meals/day

• Breakfast: tea with “uji”, and leftovers• Lunch: githeri or ugali (alternate: chapo - plus potatoes and vegetables/greens)• Dinner: githeri or ugali (alternate: chapo - plus potatoes and vegetables/greens)

• Breakfast: tea, milk, with “uji”, eggs, bread• Lunch: githeri, ugali, chapo, rice• Dinner: meat and more vegetables - no leftovers

• Breakfast: uji - no sugar• Dinner: uji - no sugar, githeri or ugali

93

In contrast to the lack of seasonality in diets in the village there areimportant interannual variations in diet which are due entirely to rainfalland affect the upper zone more than the lower zone. Indeed the menin the lower zone said that they are basically unaffected by drought interms of consumption whereas those in the upper zone spoke aboutpoor, average and good years both in terms of production andconsumption. This is most clearly seen in the men’s consumptioncalendar in which there are two daily meals plus breakfast in good andaverage years but only one meal without breakfast in poor years(except for wealthy families in the upper zone who can always buyfood).

The change in diet is due both to lack of production and the morelimited options for income earning via paid labor during droughtperiods when everyone is looking for work. The basic composition ofmeals does not change between good and bad years, but the size ofservings and number of meals is reduced.

Agriculture/Consumption Calendar - Men

Activities

Number ofMeals in aGood Year1993

Bad Year1992/96

MealsComposition

Breakfast

Lunch

Dinner

CopingStrategies

Long Rains Short Dry Short Rains Long Dry

Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct

Tea or porridge

Maize, beans, potatoes, vegetables, tomatoes if available

Same as lunch or ugali with vegetables from farm

Children eat to their fill regularly from the table

• Borrowing • Casual labor (not always available) • Skip meals• Relief food from Kenya Government (okay but negligible)

Planting,weeding

starts

Weedbeans &

are greens

Harvestbeans

Plantstarts

Land prep.Plantbeans,Harvestmaizestarts

Weedbeans,Harvestmaize

Weed-ing

Cold months

Harvest beans

Two Meals

One Meal

plus Breakfast:(tea or porridge)

Breakfast a luxury, composition same as a good year but quantities less All food bought

94

During the historical profile (see Appendix 2), a group of men from theupper zone stated that a good year is one in which people and

animals haveenough to eat,people are happyand healthy andthere is a strongrelationshipwithin the family.In such yearspeople eat threemeals per day(includingbreakfast).

Average years arecharacterized bypeople gettingenough to eatbut not in greatquantity. In such

years they have less to sell but people still eat three meals per day.

In poor years (such as those since 1993) there is a lack of rainfall, manyanimals die, crops dry up and wild animals (like elephants and zebras)destroy fields. In such years people eat one or two meals per day.

The Food Security Trend Line shows how these men rate the yearsin these terms since 1964. This figure illustrates that poor years comealong every ten years or so and also last for three or more consecutiveyears. Thus the vulnerability faced by families in the upper zone can beexpected to be a rather regular and common occurrence.

Food Security Trend Line

Year

Poo

rA

vera

ge

Go

od

65 67 69 71 73 75 77 79 81 83 85 87 89 91 93 95 9764 66 68 70 72 74 76 78 80 82 84 86 88 90 92 94 96

95

Food insecurity due to interannual changes in rainfall is not limited toupper zone families however. Not all lower zone families consumelarge quantities of vegetables and have regular food stocks available tothem or access to stocks via income earned. There are poor andvulnerable families in the lower zone despite the security provided byirrigated agriculture. While the people in the upper zone define wealthas a function of having paid employment (to which only 10-15 familiesin the village have access) and having a plot in the irrigated zone,7 themen of the lower zone acknowledge that owning land is no guaranteeof wealth.

About 1/4 of those living in the lower zone were classified as poor in

Box 3

Mama M came to Impiron in about 1977. She moved from the Ngong area; as a farmer, she and

the family were attracted to Impiron for its agricultural potential and then affordable land. The Ms’

settled in the lower zone of Impiron in the valley which enjoys year-round water from 3 springs

which have their source on Mt. Kilamanjaro. Mama M was given a small piece of land by the

Maasai owner to build her house and farm for food crops. In addition, she rents 2 small plots for

additional farming. The Ms’ live in a 2-room mud house with a thatched roof and dirt floor.

During the last 20 years, Mama M’s children have all grown up and moved away. Currently, Mama

M remains in Impiron with 4 grandchildren, ranging in age from 2 to 18, and one great-grandchild

who is about 4 weeks old. Of her several children, one has died, leaving her with 2 grandchildren,

and 2 others provide some remittances which assist Mama M in providing food for the children.

Although the Ms’ live in the valley with potential for irrigation, Mama M’s meager resources are not

sufficient to afford the inputs (e.g. fertilizers, insecticides) necessary to grow cash crops, or to keep

any animals. As such, until the past 3 years, Mama M was only able to grow maize and beans in

sufficient quantities to feed her family. Since 1993, all the household food needs have been

purchased. Mama M works as a casual laborer on other farms in the irrigated lower zone (e.g.

weeding, digging). In addition, until her baby was born, the eldest granddaughter had been in

Nairobi working as a housemaid. Along with the remittances mentioned above, this income

enabled Mama M to purchase maize, beans, corn meal prepared as ugali, and some fruits (i.e.

bananas) and vegetables (i.e. kale) to feed the children. When additional cash becomes available,

Mama M purchases potatoes or rice for the youngest children.

Since 1993 when Mama M last harvested maize and beans from her 3 small pieces of land, there

has been significantly less cash coming into the household. All the income earned is spent on

food; the children are not in school and there is no surplus cash for health care. Mama M can no

longer afford 3 large meals per day. During these difficult times, the children still eat 3 times per

day, but they are more likely to eat ugali, kale and porridge than maize and beans. The

interviewers suspect the size of the meals is also smaller than during good agricultural years.

7 13 families in the upper zone own land in the lower zone and a further 30 families routinely lease someland there.

96

wealth ranking exercises and half of this group owns land. Poverty,then, is considered not only a function of landlessness but is also related to theinability to farm the land one owns. The people who own land in thelower zone and are still poor are either unable to afford inputs such aspesticide and fertilizer or have limited or no access to irrigation water.

Mama M, whose story is told in Box 3, is an example of a farmer whocan not afford the inputs needed to valorize her land. The team alsomet several families who had no access to irrigation water. One Maasaifamily owns ten acres of land in the lower zone but has no irrigationrights. The family sold off its irrigation rights when it sold other parcelsof land surrounding the ten acres. Thus this family lives in conditionscomparable to families in the upper zone who are completelydependent on rainfall to grow crops.

The recent droughts have brought to light the vulnerability of familiesin the upper zone who do not own land in the lower zone. Mostfamilies in the upper zone have had no harvest in three years. As aresult, formerly average or middle class families have become poor.The situation faced by these families is illustrated by the case of the K Nfamily (Box 4, below). Such families have been forced to carry outcasual labor in the lower zone in order to be able to purchase foodduring the recent droughts. Though they are surviving on the short-term employment they find they are vulnerable and frustrated by theirinability to farm their very fertile land. As one person stated, “we arefarmers, we want to farm”.

97

Perhaps the mostvulnerable groups inthe village are drawnfrom the originalpopulation of Maasaiherders who havesold land in thevillage and findthemselves withdiminished herds andlacking farming skillsthat would enablethem to farm. Not allMaasai families arepoor and destitutehowever. Indeed,one of the wealthiestfamilies in the villageis Maasai, but thisfamily has benefittedfrom the educationreceived by several ofits sons who aregovernmentfunctionaries.

The Maasai as agroup appear to befacing greatuncertainty. Thosewho have taken upfarming are doingwell but those whohave not are facingfood insecurity,especially in thisperiod of drought.Two such families arecontrasted in Boxes 5

and 6 on the next pages.

The poor, and those sliding into poverty, cope with the lack of rainfallby hiring themselves out as paid labor. The first choice of employmentis in the lower zone, preparing plots or harvesting the crops. Somepeople also earn some money by purchasing cash crops and resellingthem in local markets such as Loitokitok or Kimana. Thus there is aready source of income within the village but wages are low and thework hard.

Box 4

The KN Family settled in Impiron in 1973 when there were only two

other immigrant families in the area. The family is composed of the

husband, wife, 8 children, and 6 grandchildren. Four of the

grandchildren were left behind by a daughter whose current

whereabouts is unknown to the family. The family farm is 11 acres:

8 of these are good for farming while the rest is rocky with steep

slopes. The main family house is made of timber off cuts with a tin

roof and the older children have their own separate houses on the

land.

In the past, the family had cows and goats but they have all been

sold and the income used to buy food and pay for medical

expenses. The wife’s last two pregnancies resulted in twins and she

has been weak and ill since, spending considerable time in hospital.

In good years, before the current drought, the family usually ate at

least three meals composed of ugali, vegetables, maize, beans and

occasionally chapati. In those years the children could eat up to six

meals per day with the quantities for both adults and children

decreasing in the long dry season.

In bad years, such as the last three, the family has only one meal

composed of maize and sometimes maize porridge.

Five family members currently carry out casual labor in the lower,

irrigated zone of the village. The income from these activities is used

to purchase food, pay medical expenses, and pay school fees. The

family postpones paying school fees until the children are expelled

for nonpayment. They sometimes become indebted in order to pay

school fees and are forced, at times, to skip meals in order to pay for

educational expenses. The family has two sons living outside the

village who are also engaged in casual labor. They are not able to

offer any assistance to their parents, however, due to their paltry

income.

98

Others go further afield to Tanzanian border towns in search of work oron to Nairobi. All farmers in the upper zone voiced frustration abouthaving to resort to these options. Other coping strategies in times ofdrought include seeking aid from relatives, borrowing money fromfriends, skipping meals and receiving aid from the government,Catholic church, or other non-governmental agencies. This latteroption is very limited however. Coping may also involve pullingchildren out of school to save money on school fees and supplies and,while numerous families have apparently done this, informants stressedthat this decision should be avoided at all costs.

Box 5

The Ole P family is poor. They own no land, have only one cow, and do manual labor as the

mainstay of their livelihood. Their house has mud walls with a thatched roof. Ole P lives with his

wife and 6 children in a compound, that at first appearance, looks like any other Maasai “boma”

(compound) normally occupied by members of the same extended family. However, the other

members of this compound are not “family” and Ole P notes that there is little sharing of food or

anything else by members of this boma. “We are living like hyenas here,” he notes, indicating that

each is looking only to fill his own stomach in this period of drought.

The family labors for others in the irrigated zone. They may receive a small wage based on the

number of tomato or onion plots they prepare or receive payment in the form of maize and beans

from the land owner for whom they work.

Things were not always this difficult. Eight years ago this family owned 8 acres of nearby land, 1

acre of which could be irrigated year round to produce maize and beans. Ole P was wealthy

enough in cattle and goats to sell goats to pay hired labor to farm this land for him. However, he

gave this land to his brother (possibly as required by inheritance laws?), and his brother is now too

poor to support him in return. When he owned the land he was unaware that he could earn

money by planting cash crops of tomatoes and onions. His brother plants these now but the yields

are limited by too little irrigation water (the land is at the “end” of the irrigation canal).

The family survived on their cattle and goats in the years following the loss of land but all the goats

have died of disease and hunger in the last several years and this has forced the family to turn to

casual labor in order to survive. The children do not go to school - there is no money for school

fees or books - and hard decisions must be made each time a family member gets sick.

Among the Maasai there is an old practice of “loaning” cows for milking to poorer households and

we asked Ole P about whether his family benefitted from such an arrangement. He responded

that the people here do not share in this way “because the village is a mixed group (ethnically), not

only Maasai. In Maasai areas, where there are just Maasai, they share - if anyone has need they just

ask - the people know. Here people are just copying the habits of others” (other ethnic groups).

The Ole P family lives from day to day. They eat at most two meals a day of maize and beans and

in the dry season may eat only once per day. Whereas they used to slaughter two or three goats

in each season they now no longer eat any meat at all. There is no milk and few vegetables.

100

information on technical constraints in these zones is discussed in thekey lessons and potential solutions section below.

Food access is assured in Impiron for many families due to theavailability of paid labor opportunities within the village itself. Thus,even those in a difficult situation in the upper zone have the option ofgoing to work in the lower zone. As noted, while many families dothis, it is considered to be a crisis coping strategy, and is quicklyabandoned when times improve. Other income-earning optionsinclude small-scale marketing of vegetables by those not owning landin the lower zone and petty commerce such as retail shops and smallbusinesses in town. These are apparently not very profitable. Theyoung people noted that lack of training in how to run a business hascaused many such endeavors to fail. At the same time they sense thata lack of unity among the young people has kept them fromdeveloping small enterprises that might benefit all of them. Technicaltraining that might enable them to expand into such areas as enginerepair, carpentry or masonry is also lacking.

Various income-earning options exist outside the village in surroundingtowns and along the Tanzanian border. During one transect walk agroup of men from the upper zone listed a variety of income-earningopportunities outside the village but noted that all were essentiallyshort-term and very uncertain. Because of this one can never be surethat one will find any job on a given day or during a given week. Insome cases people can go for extended periods without finding work.Upper villagers expressed a great deal of frustration about this. Thuswhile opportunities exist that enable most villagers to survive times ofdrought they are fraught with uncertainty.

Compared to the situation observed in the nearby Maasai communityof Oln’gosua, the team saw relatively little interhousehold sharing inImpiron. The population in Impiron is more heterogeneous and thereis apparently less intrahousehold sharing as well. The reader is referredagain to the comments of Ole P about the lack of sharing within thecommunity (see Box 5, page 98). Both the group of men discussingthe historical profile and the women discussing the food securitydiagram pointed out the stresses on sharing that accompanydroughts. In good times there is solidarity in the village and peoplecan request food from their neighbors freely. In times of drought, thewomen explained, a family seeking food may be given uncookedmaize and beans one day. If they return a second time they may begiven only cooked food and then sent away. After that they willreceive nothing and be spoken of poorly by villagers. Thus in droughtthe system of sharing breaks down.

The women also noted that the many women’s groups are facing agreat deal of stress and many are failing as a result of the drought.Despite this, one new group of twelve women has formed to pooltheir money to buy maize (in bulk) at a discount. For the most partsolidarity groups are slowly disappearing as the drought drags on.

101

Intrafamily sharing is complicated by the problem of children who areabsent but leave their children with grandparents. In two of the familyprofiles discussed above this phenomenon was noted. In both cases,children had either returned with small children in need of food or lefttheir children and disappeared leaving children to be fed by theirgrandparents. This problem is apparently widespread in Impiron andremittances from adult children outside the village is limited. Mostfamilies stated simply that such assistance was essentially non-existentbecause those leaving to search for employment are in such poorconditions themselves. Thus people fostering children in their homesface the burden of caring for their own needs and those of dependent

children as well.

Finally, utilization of foodamong children is an issue inthat 2 of the 5 most frequentillnesses ranked by mothershave direct implications for childnutritional status. The womenof Impiron are quiteknowledgeable, however,about the treatment fordiarrhea and other illnesses.The team sensed that manypeople had come to the villagehaving received healtheducation messages elsewhere.

Key Findings OfPotential Use inPlanning

As noted above, planningquestions will be primarilyaddressed in future PRAs.However, a certain number ofkey issues were pulled out ofthis study and presented back

to the community in order to begin stimulating a deeper reflection onthese issues. In presenting these findings to the village, they werediscussed in terms of opportunities and constraints faced by villagers, asopposed to potential solutions to problems. For example, instead ofsaying that the villagers need to plant trees or practice organic farmingtechniques, the observation is presented in terms the decline in vegetalcover and soil fertility. This was done to set the stage for futureplanning exercises and to avoid jumping on solutions proposed by theoutside team.

The exception to this is found in the second phrase found underObservation # 4, below. This is included because the villagers oftendiscussed piped irrigation schemes but seemed to have little

Women’s Ranking of Children’s Health Problems

Measles

Kwashiorkor

Tuberculosis

Scabies

Chicken Pox

Venereal Disease

Eye Disease

Ear Infections

Malaria

Pneumonia

Tinea

Tape Worm

Chiggers

Skin Diseases

Mumps

1

5

2

3

4

3

4

1

2

1

4

3

7

6

2

4

Most Feared

Most Frequent

Most Costly to TreatIllness

102

information on the cost or technical feasibility of this solution. Thusdespite the fact that they may seem a bit general, the team believesthat these observations form the basis for future discussions andcapture the major issues that affect food security in the village. (Theobservations are presented in no particular order, priority or need.)

Observation #1There is marked evidence of environmental degradation due to lack ofvegetative cover and declining soil fertility.

Observation #2Cyclical droughts appear to be inevitable and their effects on foodsecurity are worsened by:

a. a reliance on middlemen for marketing drives down prices;

b. limited variety of drought-resistant food crops grown;

c. limited carryover of food stocks from year to year; and

d. limited alternative sources of income.

Observation #3Most recurring child health problems are preventable and have a directbearing on child nutritional status.

Observation #4Some households in lower zone have no access to irrigation water butthere is potential to improve availability and access to water andthereby the intensity of land use. We question the viability of pipedirrigation.

Observation #5Problems paying for primary and secondary education havesignificantly worsened as a result of the prolonged drought; schoolattendance has declined.

Preliminary Discussions of Solutions

Potential solutions to some of these issues were discussed by the teamand future discussions with the community will revolve around some ofthe following issues. It should be noted that the village of Impiron hasalready evaluated some of these solutions. Any future PRA will involvemore systematically analyzing opportunities and constraints in dealingwith the problems identified.

1. Water A primary area of concern for the villagers living in both zonesis water. In the upper zone (non-irrigated), domestic consumption isthe first priority given the need to travel long distances to fetch waterat one of the spring sources. Domestic consumption from a protectedsupply is also a concern for villagers living in the lower irrigated zone.Many who live in this zone take water for consumption from one of theirrigation canals. This water is of doubtful quality due to pesticide and

103

animal pollution.

For both zones a more protected water supply could involve, first of all,protecting the springs and then considering how spring water mightbe delivered to households in each zone. There is a study underway,as noted above, to draw water from the Olturesh pipeline and pipe itinto the village for domestic consumption. While this proposal is aimedat caring for the needs of the upper zone, a branch line is beingconsidered to deliver drinking water to the lower zone. The nominalconnection fee has already been paid but the research team believesthat a full cost analysis of this project is necessary and that otheroptions (such as using the existing springs) should be explored. Inaddition, there appears to be some confusion concerning the proposedpiping scheme. Some villagers believe that this pipeline could also beused for irrigation in the upper zone. The team doubts the feasibility ofthis and the issue must be clarified in future meetings.

While domestic consumption is one concern, improved use of water forirrigation in the lower zone is a second area to be analyzed. Currentlymuch water is lost through seepage thus reducing the amount of timethat various landholders can access water for irrigation. As notedpreviously, some families in the lower zone currently have no access atall to irrigation water (having sold the rights with other land holdings).In any case the potential exists for improving the irrigation canals toincrease water flow and thus more extensive and intensive water use.The ASAL (Arid and Semi-Arid Lands) project of the Government ofKenya has proposed a project to line the current irrigation canals withthe villagers paying 50% of the cost. Further analysis is required todetermine why this project has not yet moved ahead.

2. Marketing Concerns Another area of potential work concerns themarketing of produce in both the upper and lower zones. The issue ofmarketing is most pressing in the lower zone because of its greaterpotential for cash crop production. The villagers in this zone haveexperienced one failed cooperative marketing effort that would haveenabled them to potentially obtain higher prices for their produce.Therefore, they are hesitant to consider a cooperative at this time. Atthe same time, several villagers in this zone own and operate transportvehicles. The team suggests that an effort be made to understandcurrent constraints to cooperative action. The future role of outsidersmay be in the area of community organizing and/or in providingtraining in basic business management and accounting as the lack ofthese in the past most likely contributed to the failure of thecooperative. In the upper zone marketing concerns include theunwillingness and/or inability of farmers to hold excess food crops instorage after the harvest in order to wait for better prices and also topermit them to consume more of their own production throughout theyear. This raises the issue of storage options for cash crops such asmaize and beans. Currently there is very limited on-farm storage andno community grain storage. This means that carryover from season to

105

due to the coping strategies developed above, it is clear that a varietyof steps could be taken to improve food security even in hard times.The village’s location in a semi-arid zone means that periodic droughtscannot be avoided. However, the research team is convinced thatimproved food security is possible despite the climatic constraints.Diversification into new activities or agricultural products seems to be acommon denominator. Another is improving access to food via improvedincome-earning activities. This issue will be largely dependent on thedevelopment of a better educated population.

Conclusions and Next Steps

At the end of the research phase the research team returned to Impironvillage to share what they had learned from the villagers and to discussthe next step. The team realized that, despite their continued attemptto reduce expectations during the research process, villagers expected apackage of solutions to be presented during the sharing of results. Thekey lessons learned were discussed but the team refrained fromproposing which issues should be addressed first or possible solutions.Instead they proposed that the villagers begin a process of prioritizationand ongoing community dialogue. They agreed to assist thecommunity in these discussions as a moderator if so requested.

A commitment was made by the parish and the diocese to returnbefore the end of four months to continue the process of planning.Catholic Relief Services has offered any necessary technical or groupfacilitation support. By sharing lessons learned the team sought tocontinue the dialogue started with villagers during the research.Villagers expressed the opinion that the research had brought to lightmany issues of which the villagers were already aware, but in a waythat permitted a clearer discussion of how to resolve them. Whilevillagers expressed disappointment over the failure of the team toreturn with a set of solutions and proposed interventions, they agreedto evaluate together the issues that needed attention first and toprepare to discuss potential solutions in the ongoing meetings.

107

Appendices

Program of Activities in Impiron

108

Appendix 1

Date/Time Activity Team Members Village Participants

17 MarchMonday am

17 MarchMonday pm

18 MarchTuesday am

18 MarchTuesday pm

19 MarchWed am

19 MarchWed pm

20 MarchThurs am

Protocol andexplanations

Village Map

Transect with men(upper zone)

Transect with men(lower zone)

Venn Diagram withwomen

Transect with women(upper zone)

Venn Diagram withmen

Map deepening (begin)

Food Security FlowChart (men)

Food Security FlowChart (women)

Consumption Calendar(men)

Home visits withwomen to discusswealth

Map deepening (finish)

Consumption Calendar(women)

Consumption Calendar(men) in lower zone

SSI* with veterinaryofficer

Historical Profile (begin)

All team members

All team members

Robb, Peter

Kiny, Philip

Elias, Joakim, Helen,

Priscilla, Florence

Elias, Joakim, Helen,Priscilla, FlorencePhilip, Kiny, Peter, Robb

Joakim

Men — Elias, Philip,Kiny, Robb

Women — Peter,Florence, Priscilla, Helen

Robb, Kiny, Elias, Philip,Peter

Florence, Helen, Priscilla

Joakim

Peter, Priscilla, Florence

Robb, Joakim, Kiny

Philip

Elias, Helen

70-100 men andwomen

70-100 men andwomen

4 men (3 young)

4 men

25 women (all ages)

4 women

15 men

3-6 men and women

15 men

20-25 women

14 men

2 homes

2 young men

27 women

9-13 men

Immaculata Gathoni

5 older men

(continued next page)* Semi-structured interview

109

Program of Activities in Impiron

Appendix 1(continued)

Date/Time Activity Team Members Village Participants

20 MarchThurs pm

21 MarchFri am

21 MarchFri pm

22 MarchSaturday am

22 March, Saturday pm

23 March, Sunday

24 March, Monday

25 March, Tuesday

25 March, Wed pm

Preliminary analysis

Health Ranking andHealth Venn

SSI with ag officer

Youth activities andproblem ranking

Historical Profile (finish)

Household Interviewsin three groups

Household Interviewsin three groups

Return to Loitokitok

Day off in Loitokitok

Team analysis of allinformation

Preparation fordebriefing of villagesand governmentofficials

Debriefing of villagersof Impiron

All team members

Florence, Helen, Priscilla

Philip (with Kiny)

Peter, Joakim

Elias, Bernard

Florence, Philip, Joakim,Elias

Peter, Priscilla, Bernard

Kiny, Robb, Helen

Helen, Robb, Kiny

Florence, Philip, Joakim

Peter, Elias, Priscilla

Entire team

Entire team

Entire team

Entire team

N/A

13 women

Peter Kimani

9-15 young people

6-10 older men

wife of a poorer family

2 brothers of a poorerfamily

5 members of a middle family

1 male head of a poorer family

1 female head of a poorer family

husband and wife of a middle family

About 80 villagers

In addition to each day’s activities, each morning the team met toprepare the day, deciding which activities would be done, how theywould be carried out, who would lead them and who would beresponsible for note taking and back up. Each evening the team metto review all activities and research objectives.

110

Appendix 2Impiron Historical Profile

1962-3 • Prolonged drought that killed almost all the animals and some people. Local peoplewere given relief food from the government using planes. The year is known as “loari lo inkamirika” — the food bags came from the U.S.A.

1964 • Plenty of rain — people began to farm in Impiron area• Elephants destroyed crops in fields

1965 • Election between Iserui and Ilnyangus

1966 • Foot and mouth disease killed cattle

1971 • Irrigation lands (lower village) were divided among individuals.• The beneficiaries were government surveyors, game rangers, and elders• The Africa Inland Church (AIC) started in Impiron was the first church in the village

1972 • The group ranches began to register people

1973 • Modern houses with zinc roofs first built• First water allocation committee formed in irrigated area• Later arrivals in the irrigated area

1974 • “Olari loimorrongoni” (year of the potatoes) drought. People from Impiron went toTanzania to work as casual laborers harvesting potatoes. The Catholic Church andgovernment gave food relief

• Buffaloes ravaged farms

1978 • Introduction of improved breed cows• New skills for irrigation introduced (training)• First water timetable (rationing) introduced in the irrigated area• Nursery school built by the Catholic Church• Jomo Kenyatta’s death

1979 • Shapihsina Primary school built in the village by the late MP of the same name

1980 • Many people began selling land (Maasai) at 900 Ksh per acre in the upper zone

1981 • “Mashamba mapya” (new farms) — demarcation surveying of land to establish claims• Wild game raided many farms — a recurrent problem• Rainfed area (upper zone) settled

1982 • First tree nursery began• A fair harvest of beans

1983 • Bumper harvest (maize and beans)• Production of beans: 8-12 (90 kg) bags per acre in the first season and 6-8 bags in

the second season• Production of maize: 5-15 (90kg) bags per acre

1984 • Drought — loss of crops, no harvest; help from Catholic Church• Malaria became severe

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1985 • A fair harvest

1986-7 • Good harvest in other areas but pests destroyed maize and beans of somefamilies locally

1987 • Second tree nursery started

1989 • Long rains came and season began well. Short rains too little

1990 • Donkey ploughs introduced (not many use them now)• Donkey carts introduced• Some beans destroyed by heavy rains

1992-3 • “Olari loikarick” — heavy rains and people had enough to eat

1993 • Army worms invaded farms and destroyed grasses

1994-7 • Drought and no harvests; help from Catholic Church, World Vision, and government

Appendix 2Impiron Historical Profile (continued)