Poor Rural Communities Development Project : participation manual

56649 POOR RURAL COMMUNITIES DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PARTICIPATION MANUAL Prepared by PRCDP with ITAD ITAD PRCDP For DFID/World Bank DFID/ Final Draft January 2005 2005 1 1 INTRODUCTION : ..................................................................5 1.1 About this manual ................................................................................. 6 1.2 Participation in PRCDP; PRCDP ....................................................... 9 1.3 Concept of Participation .................................................................... 12 1.4 The Participation Approach of PRCDP; PRCDP .......................... 17 2 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH TO USING PARTICIPATION .................................................................32 2.1 Participatory Poverty Analysis (PPA) (PPA) ................................. 34 2.2 Participatory Village Development Planning (PP) ......... 47 2.3 Participatory Implementation; ............................................................... 66 2.4 Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) (PM&E)....... 86 2.5 Annexes Chapter 2 2................................................................................. 107 : 1: Annex 1: Case studies ............................................................................... 107 2: Annex 2: Practical Guidelines .................................................................. 163 3: .......................................................................... 183 Annex 3: Practical Examples 3 CHAPTER 3: INSTITUTIONAL AND MANAGEMENT ISSUES ............................................................................................200 3.1 Overviews: Roles & responsibilities on Participation; 203 3.2 Roles of Government staff in participation ...... 204 3.3 The facilitators as key-personnel in participation 207 3.4 Capacity Building ..................................................................................... 214 3.5 Costs and Benefits of Participation ..................................... 231 2 3.6 Annex Chapter ; 3.................................................................................. 241 4 ASSESSING THE PARTICIPATION PROCESS...................................256 4.1 Objective of this Chapter ..................................................................... 257 4.2 How do we know we're doing participation well? 257 4.3 How to develop indicators on participation? ...................... 264 4.4 Methods and tools for observing participation .......... 266 4.5 How to participate: Indicators for Assessing the Quality of Participation ............................................................................................ 267 4.6 Who participates: Indicators for Assessing the scope of participation ......................................................................................... 270 4.7 Assessing the Impact of Participation ................................ 272 4.8 Reporting systems ................................................................................... 277 5 ANNEX: SOME SOURCES FOR FURTHER LEARNING .............................................................................280 5.1 Introduction: Purpose of this Annex .................................... 282 5.2 Outline of a Learning System for PRCDP; PRCDP ......................... 284 5.3 Training on Participation in PRCDP PRCDP ............................... 296 5.4 , PRA PRA Tools and Facilitating Skills ........................................... 309 3 Chapter 1: Introduction : 4  : Introduction 1 INTRODUCTION : ..................................................................5 1.1 About this manual ................................................................................. 6 1.1.1 Objective and contents of this Manual .................................. 6 1.1.2 Who should use this manual? ................................................. 6 1.1.3 How this manual has been written............................................ 7 1.2 Participation in PRCDP; PRCDP....................................................... 9 1.2.1 Background ................................................................................................... 9 1.2.2 Progress on participation .............................................................. 11 1.3 Concept of Participation .................................................................... 12 1.3.1 What is participation? ................................................................ 12 6 1.3.2 Who should participate? .......................................................... 13 1.3.3 Who are the project primary stakeholders? .... 15 1.4 The Participation Approach of PRCDP; PRCDP .......................... 17 1.4.1 Objective and Rationale .................................................................... 17 1.4.2 Main Characteristics and Principles of the Approach ..... 19 1.4.3 A phased approach to PRCDP; PRCDP............................. 22 1.4.4 Principles for Rolling-Out the Participation Approach; .. 23 1.4.5 Participation in the four stages of the PRCDP project cycle. PRCDP ................................................................................. 24 5  Introduction 1.1 About this manual 1.1.1 Objective and contents of this Manual The Participation Manual aims to provide guidance to management staff and facilitators at County and Township levels on how to implement and monitor the participation approach in PRCDP. PRCDP Box 1: Contents of this Manual; 1: Chapter 1 Concept, objective and approach to participation 1 Chapter 2 Methods for participation o Objectives, rationale and principles 2 o Main steps and recommended methods o Practical cases, examples and guidelines o Indicators and checklists for M&E Participatory Poverty Assessment PPA PPA Participatory Planning PP PP Participatory Implementation PI PI Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation PM&E PM&E Institutional arrangements, Capacity Building, costs and benefits of Chapter 3 participation 3 Assessment of the participation process (Chapter 4) Chapter 4 4 4 Sources for further learning on participation (Annex 1) Annex 1 1.1.2 Who should use this manual? The manual is written for several different groups: provincial project officers, county-level project planners, project managers, and township facilitators. Given differing modes and levels of involvement in PRCDP, we suggest that certain 6  Introduction chapters and sections may be focused on by particular staff depending on their involvement in the project. PRCDP Provincial and County-level project (management) officers need to understand the project cycle of the entire PRCDP, and basic principles and quality requirements of the participatory approach in the PRCDP. They should therefore focus on Chapters 1, 3 and 4 and some of the `good practice' cases. PRCDP PRCDP County and township project planners and implementers will need to refer to all sections of the manual, particularly Chapters 1, 2 and 3, dealing with procedures and methods of PPA and PP. They should read carefully the practical cases, examples and guidelines included in the annex of Chapter 2 and 3. The indicators and checklists on participation are a useful reference for project workers throughout the participation process. PPAPP Project management and supervision should refer to the indicators and checklists included in each chapter to assess the project performance. 1.1.3 How this manual has been written This manual is the result of one year of discussion, learning, reflection and practice on participation within PRCDP as part of the cooperation between PRCDP and ITAD. It includes contributions from project staff, facilitators and practitioners in the three Provinces. The principles, methods and indicators have been developed through a series of workshops and trialled in places within the project areas1. Practical cases and examples written by the facilitators provide valuable sources for learning on participation within the PRCDP area2. The 1 Guangxi has contributed a valuable document on this process. It is included in the Annex of Chapter 3 (learning system in Guangxi).3 2 Please, refer to the Annexes of Chapter 2 and 3 for the cases.23 7  Introduction manual has been compiled and edited by ITAD, based on the contributions from the Provinces. PRCDP PRCDPITAD PRCDP ITAD 8  Introduction 1.2 Participation in PRCDP; PRCDP 1.2.1 Background Over the past few years, governmental, public sector and non-governmental organizations have devoted considerable time and resources to the development of poor areas and particularly the poorer sections of the community. At the same time, government at all levels and social organizations have come to recognize that reliance on top-down planning and decision-making is unlikely to result in sustainable development and capacity building of local communities. Local communities, local government organizations and NGOs are seen to play equally important and decisive roles in poverty alleviation. PRCDP aims to improve livelihoods and capacities for sustainable self- development of the poorest groups in Provinces within the project. Effective cooperation between the government, Project and target groups has become the key condition for success of PRCDP. To achieve this, PRCDP is working to ensure sustained and effective participation of poor groups, women, ethnic minorities and marginalized groups throughout the whole project cycle: from poverty analysis and development planning to implementing, monitoring, evaluating and revising project activities. PRCDP PR CDPPRCDP Poverty alleviation projects in China are increasingly using participatory approaches. However, there are wide differences in understanding of participation with no guidelines or manuals covering areas such as poverty assessment, limited relevant practical experience, and a shortage offacilitators. As a result, the use and impact of genuinely participatory approaches throughout the project cycle have been severely limited. The most serious problem has been the failure of poor groups to participate effectively, particularly in decision- making, which has directly impacted on the success of development projects. 9  Introduction Box 2: Key elements of a participatory approach; 2: